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
She glanced down at her bag where a pile of travel brochures poked from the top. She’d felt so annoyed at his last rebuttal she’d suggested she might go by herself. That had silenced him, then one of the girls had called out and their talk had ended. Another unsatisfactory conversation with her husband.
Besides Laura’s updates, there’d been one text from Bree and a call and a text from Kate. They were all managing without her so she was to stay as long as she needed, according to Bree, but they missed her and hoped she would be home soon, from Kate.
Natalie took a sip of her coffee and reached into her bag, drawing out the bundle of brochures and piling them on the table in front of her. On her walk yesterday she’d called into a travel agency and collected a wide selection of holiday options. Regardless of Bree going away – Natalie wondered if she’d told her dad about that yet – and Milt’s rumblings that there was too much to do, there was definitely going to be some kind of holiday this year. Not to the usual beach, not to Victor, but to somewhere far away, interstate or even overseas. Her friend Brenda always said you had to put two state borders and a body of water between you and home to have a proper holiday.
Natalie pictured Brenda’s vibrant smile. Dear Bren, they’d been through a lot together, helped each other through the good and the bad. Brenda had never known about Milt and Veronica though. That had happened before she married Martin and moved to the property next door. Natalie was glad her friend didn’t know. Brenda thought Milt was a saint second only to her own dear Martin. There’d been times over the years when Natalie had felt angry with Milt over something and Brenda with Martin and they’d vented their annoyance together. Sometimes Natalie had been sorely tempted to confide in Brenda, let her friend know about Milt and Veronica, but she’d always held back. Once that cat was out of the bag there was no putting it back and the past was the past.
Natalie picked up the top brochure. It was well thumbed; they all were. She’d pored over them last night after her parents had gone to bed, excited by each new possibility, looking for something that would be so irresistible that Milt would want to go without putting up an argument. Hong Kong had always fascinated her, and Singapore. She’d toyed ever so briefly with the idea of a teaching position in an international school there once but she would’ve had to commit for two years and that had been out of the question.