‘Don’t be like that. You’ve got to believe in a happily ever after for yourself.’

Oh, geez, she’s going to start all the positive-thinking talk again.

Bonnie had happily gone along with Carla’s vision boards, and she does believe that you can attract success and happiness. She’d effectively done that for her business. She just always seems to bomb out when it comes to her personal life.

‘This is your chance. You owe it to yourself.’

Maybe she does owe it to herself, but is she ready to put herself out there when she’d almost handed Oliver her heart again?

‘What is it?’ Carla says, realising there’s more to it than resisting going on live television. ‘Is this about Oliver being back in town? You haven’t seen him again, have you?’

‘No,’ Bonnie lies.

Carla eyes her warily. ‘Maybe being away from here will be good for you.’

Bonnie knows she means being away from Oliver. Her heart squeezes tight. As much as she doesn’t want to admit it, maybe her little sister is right.

Chapter 11

11

Penelope adds a book to the pile she has stacked at her feet. She pulls another from the shelf and flips it over to read the back cover. The local library is surprisingly well stocked and much larger than she’d imagined.

A dull thumping in her head, just across the back of her eyes, tells her she needs a coffee. The addiction has taken hold so quickly. The noise from the kids’ section isn’t helping either. There’s been singing, dancing and even instruments playing for the last half an hour. Maybe she’ll grab a flyer on her way out so she knows what times to avoid in future.

She pulls out her new library card and makes her way from the non-fiction area to the front of the library. She’ll go buy a coffee and flick through some of the books she’s borrowing. Her skin is craving sunshine.

On the new releases stand she sees a book by his favourite author. She wonders if he knows there’s a new one out. She picks it up and begins to read the back. It’s not her thing but reading it would feel like spending time with him; she could imagine what he’d think of the characters and the action-adventure plot. She could pretend … but at the last minute she puts it back on the shelf.

Penelope borrows the armload of books and heads towards the exit at exactly the same time that the woman from the restaurant, the same woman from her yoga class, comes out of the children’s area. A grubby toddler sits in the pram and a little blonde-haired girl walks behind her.

‘Hello, again,’ the woman says.

‘Hi.’ Penelope smiles, reminding herself to be friendlier than what comes naturally.

‘Did you finish your deadline?’