.

be cautious because she was so star-struck by him that she could easily babble out something inappropriate.

      “I don’t have a boyfriend. I dated a guy earlier this year, back in the States, but we broke up a while before I left.”

      That wasn’t true. She’d broken up with her abusive ex only a couple of weeks before leaving, and one of her main reasons for traveling overseas had been to get so far away that he couldn’t follow and she couldn’t change her mind.

      Cassie couldn’t give Ryan the correct version. Right here and now, watching the white crests of the distant waves roll to shore, she wanted him to think that her last relationship was far in her past. That she was serene and unscarred and ready for a new one.

      “I’m glad you shared that with me. It would be wrong of me not to make sure,” Ryan said softly. “And I assume you must have ended things, because I can’t see it being the other way round.”

      Cassie stared at him, hypnotized by his pale blue eyes, feeling as if she were in a dream.

      “Yes, I did. It wasn’t working out and I had to make a hard decision.”

      He nodded.

      “That’s what I sensed about you from the first time we spoke. Your inner strength. That ability to know what you want, and to strive for it, and yet you have this amazing empathy and gentleness and wisdom.”

      “Well, I don’t know about wise. I don’t feel very wise most of the time.”

      Ryan laughed. “That’s because you’re too busy living life to be overly introspective. Another great quality.”

      “Hey, I feel that while I’m here, I might learn from an expert in that regard,” she countered.

      “Isn’t life the most fun when you spend it with somebody who makes it worth living?”

      His words were teasing, but his face was serious, and she found she couldn’t look away.

      “Yes, definitely,” she whispered.

      This didn’t feel like a normal conversation. It meant something more. It must.

      Ryan put his glass down and took her hand, helping her out of the deep cushion. His arm slid round her waist, casually, for a few moments as she turned to go back inside.

      “I hope you sleep well,” he said, when they reached her bedroom door.

      His hand brushed the small of her back as he leaned toward her and for a moment her amazed eyes took in the shape of his mouth, sensual and firm, framed by a soft outline of stubble.

      Then his lips touched hers for just a moment before he drew away and said, softly, “Good night.”

      Cassie watched until he’d closed his bedroom door and then, feeling as if she were floating on air, she checked that Madison’s light was out and returned to her room.

      With a jolt, she realized she’d forgotten to tell Ryan about the shoplifting.

      There hadn’t been the opportunity. The evening had not turned out that way. It had gone in a completely different direction, an unexpected one that had left her feeling amazed and hopeful and expectant. With that kiss, she felt as if a door had opened, and beyond it she’d glimpsed something that might change her entire world.

      Had he meant it in a friendly way? Or had he meant something more by it? She wasn’t sure, but thought it had. The uncertainty made her feel nervous and excited, but in a good way.

      Back in her room, she checked her messages again and found Renee had texted her back.

      “The woman said she was calling from a pay phone. So no number. If she calls again I’ll ask her name.”

      As she read the message, Cassie had a sudden idea.

      This mystery woman had called from a pay phone, fearful to leave her details, and had contacted a school friend who was one of Cassie’s only friends who still lived in her old hometown.

      Cassie’s father had moved away from where they’d grown up. He’d moved several times, changing jobs, changing girlfriends, and losing his phone just about every time he went on a drunken rampage. She hadn’t been in touch with him for ages and never wanted to see him again. He was aging, his health was broken, and he’d created the life he deserved for himself. However, this meant he was no longer contactable by family looking to get in touch. Even she wouldn’t know how to get hold of her dad now.

      There was a chance—a chance that seemed stronger the more she thought about it—that this caller was her sister, Jacqui, doing her best to trace Cassie again. An old school friend would be the only connection if you weren’t on social media, and Jacqui wasn’t. Cassie looked for her often, searching whenever she had the time, hopeful that her detective work might uncover a clue to her sister’s whereabouts.

      Goosebumps prickled Cassie’s spine as she considered the possibility that it had been Jacqui who’d called.

      It didn’t mean Jacqui was in a good situation, but then, she’d never thought she was. If Jacqui had been settled down, with a stable job and an apartment, she would have been in touch long ago.

      When Cassie thought of Jacqui she always imagined uncertainty, precariousness. She visualized a life teetering on a fragile balance—between money and poverty, drugs and rehab, boyfriends and abusers, who knew the details? The more uncertain Jacqui’s life was, the harder it would be for her to make contact with family she’d left long ago. Perhaps her circumstances didn’t allow it, or she was ashamed of the situation she was in. She might be spending weeks and months on the road or off the grid, high out of her mind, or begging for food, or who knew what?

      Cassie decided she was going to have faith, and take the chance this was Jacqui reaching out.

      Quickly, knowing that Ryan might turn off the Wi-Fi at any moment, she messaged Renee back.

      “It could be my sister. If she calls again, please give her my number.”

      Hoping that her hunch was right, Cassie closed her eyes, feeling she’d done what she could to reestablish contact with the only family she still cared about.

      CHAPTER EIGHT

      The next morning was organized chaos, as Cassie tried to help the children dress for school. School uniform items were missing, shoes were muddy, socks were mismatched. She found herself running back and forth between the kitchen and the bedrooms, juggling breakfast with everything else.

      The children wolfed down tea, toast, and jam before resuming the search for school items that seemed to have migrated to an alternate universe over the weekend.

      “I’ve lost my badge!” Madison announced, pulling on her blazer.

      “What does it look like?” Cassie asked, her heart sinking. She’d thought that they were finally done.

      “It’s round in shape and bright green. I can’t go to school without it, I was last week’s class captain and someone else has to get the button today.”

      In a flat panic, Cassie got on her hands and knees and searched the whole room, eventually finding the badge on the closet floor.

      After this crisis had been averted, Dylan shouted that his pencil case had vanished. It was only after the children had left that Cassie found it behind the rabbit’s cage, and rushed down the road to the bus stop where they were waiting.

      When they’d safely boarded the bus, she took a deep breath, and the happy thoughts from the previous night bubbled up inside her again.

      As she tidied the house, she replayed the interaction between her and Ryan in her head.

      He’d been flirting, she was certain of it.

      The way he’d touched her, taken her hand, asked her if she had a boyfriend. That on its own was an innocent enough question, but it was what else he’d said.

      “It’s wrong of me not to make sure.”

      That indicated he was asking for a reason. Making sure.

      And that