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
Bree and Kate helped clear the rest of the table and pack the dishwasher. With everyone busy Laura snuck her phone from her pocket and opened up Facebook. Her mother didn’t use it but Aunty Brenda did. She was often posting photos of her granddaughter or family get-togethers. Maybe she’d posted something about Natalie’s visit. Laura had been so focused on everything else in her life she hadn’t thought to check. Five minutes later she’d given up all pretence of hiding what she was doing and was staring at the pictures on the screen in front of her.
“No phones at the table,” Bree teased as she did a final wipedown.
Laura looked up, ignoring her. “Dad, have you spoken to Mum at all since she left?”
Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him. His shoulders drooped. “We’ve been texting.”
“But her text said she was going to Brisbane?”
“Yes, why?”
“I’ve just checked out Aunty Brenda’s Facebook page and she’s travelling with her family – in Thailand.”
Four puzzled expressions looked back at her then they all started to speak at once. Finally it was her dad whose voice rose to the top.
“Quiet!” He moved up beside her and held out his hand. “Show me.”
Laura lifted the phone and showed him pictures of Brenda at the beach, by a pool, riding an elephant. “Her post from last Sunday was from Brisbane airport.”
“Mum wouldn’t have flown up there as a surprise, would she?” Kate asked. “And not contacted Aunty Brenda first?”
“Surely not,” Olive said.
“Maybe she offered to house-sit?” Bree said.
Olive’s hands went to her hips and she glared at her son. “Are you truly telling me your wife has been gone a week and you have no idea where she is?”
A deep blush coloured Milt’s ruddy cheeks. He dug his own phone from his shirt pocket and strode from the room. Laura’s sisters stared from her to each other.
“Well,” Olive said. “That’s a fine affair of the state. I think I need a strong cup of tea.”
Twenty
Twenty
Natalie glanced around the dimly lit restaurant as she settled in the chair the waiter had pulled out for her. There were several places to eat at the hotel and for her last night she’d chosen a smaller restaurant with Italian-themed dining but before she’d asked for a table she’d done a reconnaissance. There’d been no sign of Bazz. He’d rattled her by turning up at her door but here, in the company of other people in the restaurant, she could almost laugh about it. Fancy someone asking her out. It was just a little bit flattering. She pictured Bazz’s moustache wobbling over his lip, recalled the oily tone of his voice, and knew he was definitely not her type.