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Bea didn’t respond. She’d barely had the strength to tell Harry and her friends about the divorce. She certainly wasn’t ready to tell a stranger. And besides, for some reason, she felt odd about telling Preston she was headed to Coral Island. He knew her history with the place better than anyone else, and he’d have plenty to say about the move. Right now, she didn’t want his judgement or his advice. All she wanted was to sign the paperwork and get out of there. Being so close to him made her sweat.
The solicitor left them to it while he poured himself a cup of coffee in the next room.
“Are you okay?” Preston asked in a low voice. “With everything that’s happening?”
Was he concerned? He hadn’t seemed very worried when he walked out. “I’m fine, thank you.”
“I’ll contact you about the divorce settlement soon,” he said. “We should get things rolling.”
“Have plans, do you?”
“We want to get married, if that’s what you’re asking.”
She swallowed down a retort, and her eyes filled with tears. “Congratulations.”
He didn’t reply.
“If you need to reach me, please send correspondence to our post office box. I’ll forward it when I have a new address.”
“Oh? Where are you going?”
“I haven’t figured out all the bits and pieces yet,” she said. “I’m still living at the house. I’ll be heading home now to get the last of my things.”
He grunted. “Don’t live in your car, Bea. It’s tacky.”
“What do you care?”
He glared at her. “You know I care.”
“Really? Because you certainly hide it well.”
“Don’t go there. Not today,” he hissed with a glance out the open door at Geri, who was pacing and bouncing the baby as she walked up and down the hallway.
“Fine with me.”
Their exchange had cemented her resolve not to tell him anything more about her plans. He didn’t deserve to know, and she didn’t want his negativity. She was excited and nervous about going back to the island after so long away. She wanted to guard that part of her heart carefully, since even the slightest dampening might make her change her mind.
They finished up with the paperwork, and Preston said a muffled goodbye and hurried away. She watched him go, gaping at the suddenness of his departure. He’d seemed desperate to get away from her and back to his real life with his new family and impossibly young fiancée.
With a sigh, she slung her purse over her shoulder and wandered out to call a cab to take her back to the golf club to pick up her car. She was suddenly very sober and ready to get back to the house for her last night there.
Five
The flightto Proserpine in northern Queensland was a short one. Bea had only packed two bags, one she’d checked and one carried on, plus a laptop and purse. She had a scarf wrapped around her hair and wore oversized sunglasses. It made her feel as though she was going on some kind of romantic journey to find herself. And helped distract her from the fact that she was leaving her entire life behind and was about to surprise her adult daughter at the airport. She ate the small packet of pretzels the flight attendant brought her and sipped a cup of ginger ale in the hopes that it would help calm her stomach.
She anticipated the surprise would be a good one. She’d brought a box of chocolates with her as a peace offering. Dani loved chocolate. Even when she was a toddler, she’d managed to sniff out any Bea might have hidden around the house. Once, Bea found her in the pantry with both doors shut and a box of chocolates beneath her arm, brown encircling her mouth like a thick trail of lipstick. She’d startled when Bea flung open the pantry doors to look for a box of flour, and her lower lip had quivered until Bea burst out laughing. She couldn’t admonish her—Dani was so cute and vulnerable standing there, chocolate covered and repentant. Instead, she’d scooped her up into her arms and kissed her sticky sweet cheeks.
“You’re such a sweet tooth,” she said. And Dani had smiled then, revealing her brown-coated teeth. Bea had laughed again and blown a raspberry on her soft, pudgy tummy.
Bea’s only hope was that she could manage the same reaction today — chocolates, kisses and a broad smile.
The plane was a small one with only two columns of seating. She was near the front and grimaced every time the aircraft lurched or bumped in the turbulence. Heart thumping, she clung to the armrest as the plane sailed onto the runway. She breathed a sigh of relief as it taxied to a parking space. As she walked across the tarmac and into the tiny airport, the change of temperature felt as though she’d stepped into an oven. She’d have to strip off several layers before she went much further or she’d pass out. She certainly wasn’t in Sydney anymore.
She stood in the airport, removing her coat and scarf as she scanned her surroundings for any sign of her daughter. Dani had told her she was taking a flight that landed a little earlier than Bea’s, but she should still be waiting for the shuttle bus that would take the passengers to the jetty in Airlie Beach where they’d catch the ferry across to the island.
Outside the airport, with her luggage rolling behind her and her laptop bag, carry-on, and purse hanging from her shoulders, Bea trudged along the footpath to join the line of people waiting for the shuttle bus. She spied Dani near the front of the line. Her blonde hair shone beneath the sun and she wore a cute little fedora tipped to one side, her head lowered to look at her phone screen.
Where are you?
