Chapter One
As the car pulled into the circular driveway of her home, Beatrice Whitlock yawned. She covered her mouth then smiled at Aidan, who sat in the driver’s seat.
“Glad to be home?” he asked.
She nodded. “We’ve had a fantastic six months abroad, but I’m grateful to be back on Coral Island. I’m ready to put my feet up and relax for a bit. Travelling is tiring.”
Aidan laughed as the garage door rolled up and then accelerated gently into the garage. “What are you going to do first?”
“I have a few phone calls to make.”
“Dani and Harry?”
“You know me well.” Both her children were studying in Sydney, and she hadn’t seen either one of them in three months since they both flew to Paris to spend a week with her and Aidan during their summer break.
Fudge, her adorable chocolate-coloured pug, and Nelly, Aidan’s golden retriever, both bounded out of the vehicle. They’d stayed with Evie for the past six months, and she’d been teary when Bea and Aidan had arrived from the ferry to pick them up. Bea was glad to see the dogs after so long away. She’d worried Fudge wouldn’t remember her, but he was overjoyed to see her, licking all over her face. He’d slowed down somewhat, and there were some grey hairs around his face that hadn’t been there when she left. It was a stark reminder that he was getting older and wouldn’t be with them forever.
She and Aidan lugged their bags into the house, then up the stairs to their large master suite. Beatrice left everything outside the walk-in closet. She filled the dogs’ bowls with water and food, then left them happily eating in the kitchen and headed for the shower. One entire wall of their bathroom was a large, glass panel that looked across the ocean. The shower wall shared the same view. As she took a shower, she watched seagulls diving and waves curling to shore along the empty beach.
The past six months had been a whirlwind of flights, hotels, walking trails, tourist destinations, and delicious food. She and Aidan had stopped in Hong Kong on the way to Europe, where they’d toured around much of the continent, then back via Phuket for a final two weeks at a beach resort before landing in Brisbane that morning.
They were both exhausted from the travel, but the entire trip had been the jaunt of a lifetime for them both. Bea had never felt so relaxed and happy. She and Aidan had spent almost every moment together and they’d enjoyed each other’s company, tried new food, hiked various trails, and seen more sights than she could possibly remember. It was the kind of adventure she’d dreamed of having for so many years, and she’d finally been able to do it.
They’d sat in an olive grove to watch the sun set over Florence while sipping Chianti. They’d stood in line for hours to admire Michelangelo’s David. They’d trekked part of the Camino de Santiago and eaten tapas at a small streetside café still bathed in sweat. They’d hiked the base of the Alps and gotten a tan on a beach in Nice. They’d eaten chocolate and dessert every single day. It’d been like a dream, and she’d shared it all with her one true love.
It was still surprising for her to believe that she’d ended up marrying her high school sweetheart, and that he was the down-to-earth, humble, and fun boy at heart she remembered him being even after so many years as a professional footballer. She had to pinch herself sometimes to remember it wasn’t a fantasy but her reality.
Beatrice pulled on a velour strapless dress that felt more like a bathrobe than clothing and wandered into the kitchen to fix them both a snack. Aidan had brought in the two bags of groceries they’d purchased on the way home, and set them on the kitchen bench. She poured two glasses of cold iced tea and sliced cheese to sit on top of crackers alongside a handful of olives. Then she took everything out onto the deck to wait for Aidan.
With her feet up on another chair, she leaned back and relaxed, taking in the view. It was good to be home. Even though this house had been Aidan’s before they were married, he hadn’t lived there long, so she’d been able to make it theirs in the short time they’d spent before their trip away. Sometimes she missed the cottage, but now that Charmaine had moved in, she could visit whenever she liked without disturbing the tenant. She was grateful to be able to help her friend get more settled on the island after everything that had happened with Charmaine’s brother.
Even thinking about Sean set her nerves jangling. She hoped he never came back. Perhaps the police had found him, although she was sure her friends would’ve mentioned that in one of the dozens of emails they’d sent her while she was away.
She picked up her phone and dialled Harry’s number. He answered right before she hung up, sounding sleepy.
“Are you napping in the middle of the day?” she asked with a laugh.
He grunted. “Mum?”
“I’m back on Coral Island.”
“That’s great, Mum. I’m glad you’re back. I can’t wait to see you.” He sounded tired, but happy.
“It’s been a long time. I’m looking forward to one of your hugs.”
He laughed. “Will you come to Sydney?”
“I have no desire to set foot on a plane for a while, but maybe you can come here during your next break. Or over a weekend.”
“Okay, that’s fine. If you’re paying, I’ll come next week. I miss you.”
“That’s wonderful—I’m so excited. I’ll pay, and I’ll even throw in a few home-cooked meals. How are your classes going?”
He sighed. “Medicine is harder than I thought it’d be. There’s so much to learn.”
She imagined him running his long, agile fingers through the dark curls that flopped across his forehead again the moment he let them go. “It’s difficult, but I know you can do it. You’ve always been able to tackle anything you wanted.”
“Thanks, Mum, but that doesn’t make me feel better. It puts more pressure on me. I can’t handle any more pressure.”
“Fine,” she replied. “No pressure. I won’t say anything except I love you and miss you. I’m looking forward to seeing you soon.”
“You too, Mum.”
She hung up the phone and then called Danita. She’d managed to convince her daughter to remain in the interior design degree she’d been enrolled in for the previous two years. Danita was in her third year of studies and had resisted her boyfriend’s urging to switch to architecture, at least for now.
“Hi, Mum,” Danita said in her patented busy tone of voice.
“Are you in the middle of something?”
“I have an assignment due, and I’m running a little late, so I’m typing like a madwoman. Are you home?”
“I’m home!”
“That’s great, Mum. I’m looking forward to seeing you. We both are.”
“Both? You mean you and Harry?”
Bea could almost hear the eye roll. “No, Mum. Me and Damien. We’re living together now, remember?”
How could Bea forget? Her beautiful, young university student had moved in with one of her professors. A man who eschewed furniture for cushions and who liked to reject Bea’s cooking — something she had yet to forgive.
“Oh, yes, of course. Well, I can’t wait to see you. Harry’s coming up next weekend. Do you want to come then too? My treat.”
“We’d love to. My assignments will be done by then, and that’s exactly the break we need.”
Bea’s heart sank. The invitation hadn’t been intended to include Damien, although she supposed that was how her daughter travelled now. With a middle-aged professor in tow. She bit down on her lip — her attitude was going to cause friction with Dani. She had to pull herself together and learn to accept this intruder into her family whether she liked him or not. Aidan had warned her not to drive Dani away, but it was so difficult to hold her tongue. She’d spent two decades telling her daughter how to live, and now she should disapprove in silence?
After she hung up the phone with Dani, she wandered inside to see where Aidan was. The cheese was getting shiny, and the crackers would be stale if he didn’t hurry. She called out to him, but there was no response. Perhaps he was in the shower.
Her laptop sat on the bench beside a pile of unopened mail. She’d tackle the mail later. Instead, she picked up her laptop and carried it back out to the deck, where she fired it up. There were dozens of unread email messages. She hadn’t kept up-to-date with her emails while she was away. She’d taken the laptop but had only replied to the urgent messages, since they’d kept so busy touring, walking, and eating out.
Suddenly, a slew of emails filtered into her updating inbox with the same subject line.
RE: RSVP for the Reunion!
She froze, her heart hammering against her ribcage. The reunion. She’d forgotten all about it. Before she went away, she’d thought it would be a great idea to put together a reunion for Coral Island High. It’d been thirty years since she, Taya, Evie, Penny, Rowan, and Aidan had graduated from high school, and she thought they should celebrate.
But now the reunion was only a couple of months away, and she hadn’t done anything about it other than sending out the initial save-the-date invitation. There were at least thirty RSVPs in her inbox. How had she missed them before now? The entire event had slipped her mind. If she was going to go through with it, there was so much to organise before the date rolled around. She wasn’t sure she could manage it.
Or if she even wanted to.
What was the point of bringing together a bunch of people she hadn’t seen since high school? The people she cared about still lived on the island—well, most of them. Penny and Rowan were itinerant now, going where his job took him all over the world. But the others were still here, and she could see them any time she liked. Did she want to see the other high school graduates who’d run away from the island and hadn’t looked back?
Aidan sat down at the table with her and reached for his glass with a sigh. “It’s hot.”
“I forgot how hot it gets here, and it’s nearly winter.” She laughed and raised her glass. “Let’s toast to being home.”
“Home sweet home,” he said, clinking his glass against hers with a wink. His hair was wet, and he wore a pair of board shorts that hung low around his waist and no T-shirt. She loved being married to him; she could stare as much as she liked.
“I’m enjoying you back in board shorts,” she said.
He laughed. “Not as much as I’m enjoying your little sundress.”
She squinted at the computer screen as the flood of emails brought her back to the moment. “Do you remember me saying I was going to arrange a school reunion?”
He reached for a cracker with cheese. “Mmmm.”
“I sent out the invitation before we left.”
He arched an eyebrow. “You did? For what date?”
“The eighth of July.”
“This year?” He took a bite of cracker.
“Yes, this year. In two months. I can’t believe I did that, knowing we were going away.”
“I’m sure you thought you could manage it.”
“I believe my thinking was that I’d delegate while I was away, but I forgot all about it. We were having too much fun. And now I have no one to help me, and no idea what we’re going to do. I mean, I suppose we could all meet at the Surf and Sea for dinner, but that’s boring. And when you get a whole bunch of people around a long table, no one gets to talk to anyone other than the people seated right next to them. It’s not a great way to catch up after so much time.” She chewed on a fingernail. “I don’t know. Maybe I should talk to Evie and Taya. They’re bound to have better ideas than that.”
“I think that’s probably wise. And what about Chaz? She was great at planning our wedding. Maybe she can help too.”
“That’s brilliant,” Bea said, perking up immediately. “Chaz can help with it.”
Aidan laughed. “But it’s not her reunion, so you can’t dump it on her.”
“I’m not saying she should pull the whole thing together, but so long as it’s not all on my shoulders. I’m tired—we’ve had a busy six months. And besides, I can’t remember why I wanted to plan it in the first place. I’m going to call Chaz and ask her to be my party planner.”
“Speaking of the future,” Aidan said, “have you thought about what you’d like to do now that the café is gone?”
Bea swallowed. She had thought about it, but she was nervous. Not about what Aidan would think of her idea, but about whether it made any sense. Could she handle it?
“I’d like to go back to university,” she said. “I never finished my degree all those years ago, and I’d like to do that.”
“Weren’t you studying accounting or something?”
“Business,” she said. “I might’ve ended up in accounting, but I hadn’t decided yet. Still, I don’t think that’s what I’ll study this time around. I’m thinking of studying food science.”
“I didn’t know that was a degree,” Aidan said, “but it sounds perfect for you.”
“It may not lead to a job. I have no idea. But you know how much I love food, and I like the idea of studying nutrition and the process of food development from the moment the seed is planted in the ground until it’s eaten and then how the body processes and uses it for energy. There’s so much value in nutrition. It can make our bodies healthy or sick, it can heal us or make us worse, it can give us good mental health or bad. I don’t think there’s enough emphasis on it, and I’d like to get a better understanding of it all.”
Aidan reached for her hand and squeezed it. “That would be amazing, and exactly the kind of thing you’d enjoy doing. I say go for it.”
“You don’t mind that I won’t be earning any money, and it may not result in me having a career at the end of it? I mean, I hope it does, but I don’t know how many jobs are out there in the field of food science. It’s not exactly mainstream.”
Aidan shrugged. “It doesn’t matter to me. We have plenty to live on for the rest of our lives. I only teach PE because I like it. I won’t be earning until next year either, although I’m going to check on a real estate development I’ve got going over in Blue Shoal later today. I’ve been slack in following up with the builder, and the project has practically ground to a halt.”
Bea wanted to squeal with delight. Instead, she climbed into Aidan’s lap and kissed him softly on the mouth. “I’m so grateful for you.”
She still wasn’t accustomed to having a husband who supported her choices no matter what they might be, but she would never stop being thankful for him and for the second chance they’d had to find each other and spend their lives together.
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