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 shifted on her towel and adjusted her sunglasses. The heat pressed on her and the breeze caressed her skin with the blessing of cool air. At home it would be freezing but at home was the life she’d abandoned and now knew she had to return to. She’d been sorely tested, come to another crisis point in her marriage and this time Clem was not here to offer her a choice. Her girls were grown up, she had no-one depending on her, but she did have a husband, a marriage that she’d invested so much of herself in. She felt stronger now. Today she’d faced up to the fact that she could stay or she could walk away but she couldn’t make that decision until she’d talked to Milt one more time. Her faith had been shaken by the obvious likeness between Milt and Jack. She needed something more tangible than a simple no to the question that had haunted her for so many years. Was Jack his son?
She dug in her bag for her water bottle and her fingers brushed the soft cover of The Model Wife. She’d brought it with her to the beach with the intention of holding a ritual dispersal before she went home and she’d almost forgotten. She tugged it from her bag and gripped the cover, ready to rip it off, but her fingers brushed the smooth face of a photo. Under her fingers her girls gazed back at her along with Milt’s proud smile. Her hold loosened and the book fell to her lap. Looking on their trusting gazes she knew that the book, like her children, her post-natal depression, Olive, her parents, the challenges of her marriage and the many other moments documented in it, were all part of her life. She flipped the pages idly with one finger then closed it gently and stared at the faded red cover. She couldn’t destroy it.
At the sound of a distant vehicle she looked up and shifted her gaze left, searching. A four-wheel drive ploughed over the sand but it was white, not the dark green vehicle she’d wished for. She berated herself. Gabe was gone. She’d been beguiled by the idea of him but thankfully that was all. It embarrassed her now to think that if he’d…she might have…
“Natalie!”
The vehicle had come to a halt further along the deserted beach and Charlie was waving to her from the driver’s window.
She waved back. The other doors flew open and the happy sound of children chatting and laughing drifted on the slight breeze as they made their way to the water. Charlie trailed along behind them. He’d said he’d pick her up when he brought the kids for a swim.