*

Life still felt so fragile and temporary. Grace woke each morning startled at where she was and wondering when things would get back to normal. Then it would hit her – there was no going back. This was her new normal. And then Daisy would come into her bed for a morning cuddle, and her mother would call out that breakfast was ready.

Sometimes it felt almost as if Lawrence had gone away somewhere, but he was just in the city, apparently overwhelmed with dealing with his business affairs and their immediate situation. Grace had offered to come in and help with paperwork, sort through whatever had been salvaged. There wasn’t much, so they’d taken it to his office he’d said, and he insisted that he could look after it all on his own.

She tried to be sympathetic and supportive when they spoke on the phone. He’d asked her to stay at the beach with her mother while he ‘dealt’ with matters, saying he was so busy anyway he was really only returning to the hotel to eat and sleep.

‘That doesn’t sound very comfortable, darling,’ Grace said.

‘The room’s fine and better than trying to commute. By the time I drive up to your mother’s and back in the traffic, it takes an hour or more each way. It’s all too hard. I can work late here.’

‘Lawrence, let me help. I can get things organised –’ But he’d cut her off.

‘Grace, I am in the middle of trying to get a business deal off the ground. Plus, I’m trying to deal with the paperwork for the insurers: God knows when we’ll see the money from the house insurance, it’s a nightmare! So if this deal doesn’t get up, we’re stuffed. For the moment,’ he added.

‘What about renting a small place temporarily, to be together and sort things out?’ she suggested.

‘That would be nice, but inconvenient and . . . difficult. I might have to travel. I need to know you and Daisy are safe and comfortable.’

‘That’s thoughtful of you, sweetheart. But for how long, do you think?’

‘Bloody hell, Grace! How do I know? Just let me worry about the finances!’

It was hard to think about juggling work, their situation, and helping Daisy to cope with losing their home and all the upheaval in her life. Grace still had nightmares about the fire, and some days she just wanted to stay in bed. She felt like a wounded animal. Her friends in their old neighbourhood were doing their best to keep in touch, but she didn’t feel ready to catch up with them.

With her mother’s help Grace settled Daisy into the local school, sharing the school drop-offs and pick-ups between them. Lawrence continued to stay in town, coming out on Friday nights for the weekends.

Grace knew that she had to get back into the routine of working, no matter how hard that might be as her thoughts kept going back to the fire, or wondering about their future. And, gradually, she came to realise that perhaps work was exactly what she needed. She was passionate about producing film and television projects, even if they were just advertisements and small documentaries. It satisfied a deep creative urge. Also, it was important to her, now more than ever, that she was bringing in her own income.