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Back Where The Story Starts Save as PDF
Chapters (65)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. CONTENTS
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. 55
  60. 56
  61. 57
  62. 58
  63. BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS
  64. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  65. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

As she said the words, she knew that they were true. She had never thought about it before, but the ocean was part of her. She couldn’t imagine ever living somewhere where she couldn’t hear the waves crashing on the shore or see the gulls circling overhead.

‘Don’t you worry about any of that,’ said Ray, planting a kiss on her forehead. ‘You are going to love it.’

28

28

MELISSA – THEN

Their wedding night was lovely but the next morning couldn’t come fast enough for Melissa. Even before room service had delivered their continental breakfast, she was itching to get up and out to see their new home. Ray, sensing her impatience, kept trying to slow her down.

‘Look at you! You’re like a kid at Christmas,’ he laughed as she scampered around the room in the hotel robe. It trailed from her, clearly designed for a person twice her size, and she kept getting caught in its folds. ‘We will get there this morning, I promise,’ he said as she threw her dress into the overnight case that Ray had secretly packed for them. ‘But until then, couldn’t we just try to enjoy ourselves here for a bit?’

As was usual, Ray’s time off work was limited. Yesterday, 25 September, their wedding day, had been a Tuesday. Melissa had sniffed at this when he had first given her the date. Who got married in the middle of the week? But Ray had explained that given the short notice, there hadn’t been a great choice of slots. Then it had dawned on her that as none of their friends would be at the wedding anyway, it made no difference which day it was on.

A Tuesday wedding was special, she decided, once she’d got her head around it. Melissa loved that her relationship with Ray was so unconventional. It stood her apart from all those other girls she knew who had organised huge weddings on tick and then spent years paying back (or dodging) the credit. Her Ray was so much more original than that with their romantic, middle-of-the-week, elopement adventure.

The downside, however, was that he could only get a couple of days off work to celebrate. They had almost rowed about it the week before.

‘But it’s our wedding,’ Melissa had whined. ‘Surely your boss will understand that?’