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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

She winked at him. She was testing the water here, but why shouldn’t they get married? They’d been together for almost a year and a half. They got on well and now there was Leah. Actually, tying the knot wasn’t something they had ever discussed; if Melissa were being honest, she wasn’t sure if the subject had just never come up or whether she’d been avoiding it for fear of hearing his answer. She suspected it was the latter.

‘But we’re all right as we are, aren’t we?’ Ray replied, pulling her into him more closely as they walked.

Melissa felt the disappointment as keenly as if he had dropped it on her head.

‘Well, yes,’ she said. ‘I suppose so, but it’s not just us now, is it? There’s Leah, too. It’s going to be tough on her growing up without a dad around.’

‘I am around,’ Ray said indignantly.

‘You know what I mean. It’s when she goes to school and she’s Leah Jackson, not Leah Allen – that’ll be the worst, like. Most of the kids in her class will have mums and dads that know me from way back. I’ll be just another girl who had a baby without being hitched. They’ll nod their heads and say that they always knew Melissa Jackson would never amount to much. Just for once, I’d like to prove them all wrong.’

Melissa could feel tears pricking in her eyes. She hadn’t realised that she felt like this until she said it out loud, but she knew exactly what everyone in town would say: that the apple never falls far from the tree. That wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted people to be talking about her because she’d caught herself a handsome, classy bloke from out of town. She wanted people to stop talking when she and Ray walked into the pub, to nudge each other and cock their heads, to say, ‘That’s him. That’s the one that’s married Melissa Jackson.’ Not that they ever went to the pubs in town, but that wasn’t the point.

Ray steered the pram to a bench and flicked on the brake. ‘Sit down,’ he said.

Melissa did as she was told, tears now released and trickling down her cheeks. ‘We know that we’re rock-solid,’ he said. ‘We don’t need to get married to know what we mean to one another, to Leah. I know I’m not here as often as I’d like but that’s just my job. I can’t do anything about that, and you knew how it would be when we first got together. I’ve never given you the idea that I would be around full-time.’