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
“Thank goodness you’re here, Bubbles.” The thought of staying alone in the big empty house behind her filled her with dread. This morning she’d suggested she drive Kate but Bree had been adamant she would. Then Laura had thought she could go too but they didn’t know how long Kate would be in Adelaide and someone had to stay home to feed the animals and keep an eye on things.
Laura took Bubbles and went back inside. The house felt brooding instead of the happy place she’d grown up in. She never liked being here alone but today she was extra uneasy.
Nothing had been quite right since she’d come home. Her mum had been distant then left, there’d been the money trouble with Granny and now Kate could lose the baby and Laura was all alone. She would have gone to town for a while to see Paul but he’d had a full day of schoolwork planned. There was always her grandmother to visit but it was way too early and she’d seen her only yesterday.
She locked the back door behind her and went into the kitchen where at least there was some warmth from the fire Bree had brought back to life before she left. Bubbles immediately jumped from her arms and settled himself on the mat in front of it. Laura took off her coat and hung it over a chair. She turned on the radio, found her favourite station, increased the volume then looked around. Everything was tidy except for the two cups and plates she and Bree had used for breakfast. She stacked them in the dishwasher then turned and leaned against the bench. What was she going to do to keep busy?
Her gaze drifted to the cookbooks on the top shelf above the desk. It had been a while since she’d done any baking other than the pudding they’d eaten when Paul had come for dinner. The supplies in the freezer were getting low and cooking would keep her busy and her mind off the empty house.
She’d just put her first batch of choc-chip biscuits in the oven when her phone rang. It was her dad checking in. Laura cleaned up – she’d learned to do that as she went, especially seeing there was no-one to help her – and had moved on to mixing a batch of little cakes. She was about to pour the mix into the patty pans when her phone rang again. This time it was Bree to say they’d arrived at the hospital in Adelaide and were waiting for Kate to be seen. The cakes were in the oven and she was considering making some slice when her phone rang next. It was Spritzi and they talked so long Laura nearly had a disaster with the cakes but she managed to get them out of the oven before they were ruined.