Penelope sits on her mat, stretching her legs out in front of her. She loves the stillness of yoga, the subtle moves being able to extend not only the body but the mind. She easily blocks out the chatter around her and begins focusing on her breath. She feels it all the way down in the pit of her stomach. Her eyes naturally close as she begins to concentrate on her body. She hears the door creak open and absentmindedly thinks the instructor really should fix it considering it’s a place of quiet Zen.

‘Am I late?’ The voice is panicked. ‘Oh good, you haven’t started yet.’ She answers her own question as she pads across the floor. ‘I thought I was going to be late again.’

‘You’re just in time,’ the instructor tells her.

‘If it’s not one thing, it’s another,’ the woman goes on. ‘The kids were right off this morning. The kitchen has mess from one end to the other, but I just had to tell myself to get out of there today. Sometimes you just have to walk away from it. I’m sure this will make me feel better.’

Penelope tries to ignore the woman and the noise she’s bringing into the studio. Breathe in, breathe out. In … out … In … out.

‘Oh, it’s you!’ the woman says.

Penelope focuses in a little tighter. In … out … In … out.

‘Excuse me, hello?’ The words are a little louder now and project towards Penelope.

Penelope opens her eyes and turns her head. The woman is familiar, but it takes her a second longer to place her. It’s the woman from the seaside cafe, the one whose mother died. ‘Oh, hi,’ Penelope says.

‘You found our little sanctuary.’ She smiles, apparently pleased to see her again.

Penelope nods. ‘Here for my first class.’

‘Oh, it’s great,’ she enthuses. ‘Mind you, I can’t do half the stuff she tries to get us to do.’

‘Okay guys, we might get started,’ the instructor calls from the front of the room. ‘If I can get you to stand on your mat to begin.’

Penelope pushes up to stand as the woman sets up beside her.

‘We could go grab a coffee after this,’ the woman whispers to her.

Penelope offers her a polite smile in return but knows that instead of embracing the calm and letting herself get lost in the class, she’ll spend the next hour coming up with an excuse not to go for coffee.

Chapter 6

6

Bonnie’s fingers fly over the keys, replying to an email, when the door pushes open. She looks up and her breath is immediately knocked away.

Sophie Nix.

Oh God, she isn’t ready for this. Bonnie had expected Oliver to break up with Sophie days ago, but he’d texted to say she’d gone away for work and he’d need to wait until she got back.

So, she’s back.