made a surprising discovery. She felt calmer and happier than she had in...ages...
Looking around at Heidi’s honey-toned timber cupboards and simple open shelving, at the jars of homemade preserves and pots of herbs on the window sill, she realised that she’d completely forgotten how very comforting a farmhouse kitchen could be.
This room had such a timeless and welcoming quality with its huge old stove pumping out gentle warmth, with Heidi’s home-baked cookies on a willow-pattern plate...a yellow jug filled with bottlebrush flowers...dog and cat bowls in the corner...
It brought to mind Milla’s childhood here in Bellaroo Creek. She’d been happy back then.
Chatting with Heidi was so very different from socialising in LA, where the women’s conversations had been more like competitions, and the topics centred on shopping, facials, pedicures, or gossip about affairs.
Heidi simply talked about her family, who were clearly the centre of her world. She told Milla about Brad’s farming innovations with the same pride she displayed when she mentioned her son’s success in his first year at school or her little daughter’s playful antics.
The conversation should have been boring, but Milla found to her surprise that she was fascinated.
It was all a bit puzzling... Heidi’s hair was still exactly the same as it had been in high school—straight, shoulder length and mousey brown. She spent her days working on the farm with Brad and growing vegetables and raising chickens, which meant she lived in jeans and cotton shirts and sturdy boots.
She had freckles and a few lines around her eyes, and her hands were roughened, her fingernails chipped. But Milla, looking at her friend, knew she was as happy as a pig in the proverbial...
‘I’m doing exactly what I want to do,’ Heidi happily confessed. ‘Maybe I’m totally lacking in ambition, but I don’t want to do anything else. And it might sound crazy, but I don’t have any doubts.’
This was a major surprise, but to her even greater surprise Milla found herself opening up to Heidi telling how she’d clocked many, many miles and tried a ton of different jobs in exotic locations, until eventually, she’d arrived in America and fallen head over heels for a charming and handsome multimillionaire adventurer, who had, incredibly, asked her to marry him.
She told how those first years of her marriage had been such a heady time. Harry had so many celebrity friends in his social circle and he’d flown his own plane. ‘He used to fly me to Paris for a dinner and a show, or to Milan to buy a dress I could wear to the Oscars.’
Heidi’s jaw dropped with a satisfying clunk.
‘We would fly to New Orleans for a party,’ Milla went on. ‘Or to Buenos Aires to watch a polo game. I never dreamed I’d ever have such excitement and fun, such astonishing luxury and comfort.’
‘I used to hear bits and pieces,’ Heidi said, overawed. ‘But I never realised you were living like a princess. Wow! It must have been amazing.’
‘Yeah.’ Milla wished she could sound more convincing. She couldn’t quite bring herself to tell Heidi the rest of her story—about Harry’s gambling and endless affairs, and if she mentioned the baby she would burst into tears.
Crazy thing was, she’d come back to Bellaroo Creek full of pity for Heidi, but, looking back on her own life, she felt as if she’d achieved next to nothing that really counted. In terms of happiness and self-esteem, she was at an all-time low.
And it wasn’t long before she sensed that her friend had guessed. She could see the questions and the dawning compassion in Heidi’s eyes. And then, out of the blue, as if they’d never lost their best-friends-for-ever closeness, Heidi jumped out of her chair, circled the table and gave Milla an enormous hug.
‘Mills, you have to tell me why you’re here on your own and looking so sad,’ Heidi said gently. ‘And what are we going to do about it?’
CHAPTER TWO
AT LAST...A road sign announced: Welcome to Bellaroo Creek... Population 379...
Ed slowed the car and surveyed the cluster of tired houses and the narrow strip of faded office buildings and shops set in the middle of wide, almost featureless plains. It was like arriving on the set of a Western movie. And potentially as risky, he thought wryly.
A new tension replaced his frayed and jet-lagged weariness as he pulled over, took out his phone and punched Gary Kemp’s number. He’d given Milla no warning of his arrival—he’d more or less come here to ambush her. It wasn’t a pleasant prospect.
‘Mr Cavanaugh,’ the Australian drawled, recognising Ed’s number. ‘Welcome to Oz.’
More like Kansas than Oz, Ed almost told him. ‘Milla still here?’ he asked. ‘Still staying at the pub?’
‘Sure, her room’s booked through till Wednesday and she’s still in town, but you’re more likely to find her in the old bakery across the road.’
Ed frowned. He’d heard of pregnant women developing food cravings, but he couldn’t imagine his slender sister-in-law wolfing down endless strudels.
‘Apparently her family used to own the bakery,’ Gary Kemp clarified. ‘It’s closed now, but she seems to have the keys.’
‘OK, that’s helpful.’ Ed scratched at his jaw, finding a patch of stubble he’d missed during his hasty shave at Sydney airport. ‘I’ll take it from here.’
‘Glad to hear it, Mr C. I certainly don’t want to hang around in this hole any longer than I have to. It’s probably safer if you and I don’t meet. I’ve just fuelled up on the other side of town, so I’ll head off.’
‘So the bakery’s easy to find?’
‘Can’t miss it. In the main street, opposite the pub and about three doors along.’
‘Thanks.’ Ed edged his car forward, cruising into the almost deserted main street where a few battered pickup trucks and dusty sedans were parked. A couple of pedestrians crossed the road at a shuffling snail’s pace—a young woman, arm in arm with an elderly, white-haired man huddled inside a tweed jacket.
Further down the street, two women holding laden shopping bags were deep in conversation. A spotted dog slept in a sunny doorway.
Otherwise, the street appeared empty, but despite the lack of people the town didn’t look completely neglected. A neat and colourful strip of garden cut the wide street in half, clear evidence that someone cared. There were shade trees, too, and noisy, brightly coloured birds were feeding in the blossom-filled branches.
The taller buildings were no higher than two storeys, but they looked solid and stately and over a century old, signs to Ed that the town had seen better days. Opposite the post office a memorial had been erected to fallen soldiers and there seemed to be a hell of a lot of names on it.
Bellaroo Creek had boasted a bigger population at one time, he decided as he parked a few doors away from the pub and took off his sunglasses, conscious again of his tiredness after the long flight and the five-hour drive on the wrong side of the highway.
Tension nagged and he grimaced. He wasn’t looking
