Chapters (48)
- Cover
- Praise
- About the Author
- Also by Tricia Stringer
- Title Page
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Author’s Note
- Acknowledgements
- Excerpt
- One
Natalie was shocked to think her parents had maintained a relationship with her ex-boyfriend. Still did, by the sound of it. How could she not have known?
The kettle boiled and Bronwyn carried their cups to the table. “Listen, thanks again for coming at such short notice. I didn’t want to let the kids’ teacher down. She deserves a medal, that woman. She’s nearly as good at her job as you are.”
Natalie smiled. She’d always loved teaching, since her very first prac teaching experience. A young boy had been sitting beside her reading in the stop-start fashion of someone who can decode but not really understand what he’s reading. But as he’d read his tone had changed, his fluency had improved, and with it came understanding. He’d leaned forward over the page then turned bright eyes to her. “I can read,” he’d said, in a voice so full of awe it was as if she’d given him open access to a room full of chocolate. “I can really read,” he’d said again.
“Yes, you can,” she’d replied and he’d dropped his gaze to the page and continued on, the funny repetition of Dr Suess’s Green Eggs and Ham coming alive on the page as his confidence grew. She’d heard the difference in his voice, the moment when a chore had turned to something exciting, the secret code of letters and spaces and punctuation suddenly making sense, and just like that a door had opened to a whole big world for him. She’d been hooked on helping children to open doors ever since but lately, just this year probably, she hadn’t felt that same enthusiasm that always enveloped her at the start of each new school year.
Bronwyn blew on her tea. “I feel bad taking you away from your class.”
“I’ve got plenty of leave up my sleeve and it’s only for a few days. We’ve got a new principal; he’s going to take some of my lessons this week.” Natalie allowed herself a small smile. “He wasn’t even born when I started teaching.”
“Like the doctor who’s looking after Mum. I swear he looks younger than Marcus.” Bronwyn groaned. “I feel so old.”
Natalie chuckled. “Trust me, fifty-two is not old.”
Her sister dragged her unruly curls back from her face, something she’d inherited from their father while Natalie had straight hair like their mother. “It feels old when you’re the mother of teenagers and two ten-year-olds.”