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CHAPTER ONE
AS SASHA WILSON reached the first sharp hairpin bend on her descent from the top of Takaka Hill into Golden Bay she eased off the accelerator,even slower than her previous snail’s pace
A shudder rolled through her chilled body, nothing to do with her friend’s entreaties for her to est mistake ever lived but all about the treacherous road conditions While there was frost on her heart, it was the black ice at every corner and coating ht now As it had done for thehorass and tree-covered banks, blinding-white frozen water glittered back at her
‘Winter sucks,’ she growled, and swiped the back of her glove-covered hand across the condensation on the windscreen ‘If only it wasn’t so i, I could’ve waited until the weather cleared’ Then her voice softened and her hand briefly touched the bump over her stomach ‘At least you’re tucked up nice and warm in there, Flipper And safe from that selfish man who accidentally fathered you The man anted me to terminate you’
Gasp ‘Wash hts, would she? Because no matter her own opinion of theto visit that on her daughter
Gripping the steering-wheel, she continued her diatribe ‘It’s like someone threitch onthe best snow and hurtling down ski slopes, and going to those a après-ski parties to rub shoulders with some of the best skiers in the world’
Not any more Her skis were in a cupboard at the back of her parents’ shed Her fancy outfits were folded away in cases filling the wardrobes in the tiny cottage she now lived in on the edge of the family orchard
‘We don’t even like the cold, do we, Flipper?’
The baby kicked none too gently
‘You’re quite the swimmer, aren’t you?’ Sasha smiled as she sucked in a breath ‘The inside of nancy was a Every day seeirl Completely and utterly Fiercely She’d protect her with her life
On the radio a song finished and the announcer piped up in his false cheery voice, ‘Co up to eleven-thirty on the clock, folks I hope each and every one of you is tucked up warm and safe by now’
‘I wish Big tier in the direction of her radio ‘You obviously haven’t listened to your station’s weather forecast, buster It’s been blowing a blizzard up and do Zealand for et ho chaos’
Successfully negotiating a tight bend, she let relief spread through her ‘One down’ The relief evaporated instantly ‘Plentyup outsid
e her house now She was so over this trip
A new, cheerful song filled the interior of the car as Sasha leaned forward to peer through the windscreen ‘It’s hideous out there, Flipper’ Not even the possue for dinner She shivered and hunched her neck down into the warmth of her leather jacket
Her mouth stretched wide as she yawned She was tired beyond tired The long drive down to Christchurch on Thursday, the pre-wedding celebrations, in which, as brides yesterday—she’d been on the go non-stop for three days And then today’s endless drive fro her job wasn’t so iet home But it funded her decision to return to the one place on earth where she felt safe, where there were people she could trust, where her family lived Where Mum needed her
Golden Bay with its small township of Takaka had become her bolt-hole, the place where she could lick her wounds and harden her heart, the district she wanted to settle down in and raise her daughter Earlier she’d briefly considered calling one of the doctors she worked for and explaining that she’d be a day late getting back, but they’d been adaet a permanent position at theexcept illness, she had been told on h-school days just wouldn’t go away Small communities had a lot to answer for But that hy she was here, that sense of a blanket being wrapped around her and keeping her safe and warm had also drawn her in
Another yawn lifted her shoulders, filled her lungs Rubbing her eyes, she spoke loudly in an atte her ‘Hey, Flipper, ready to tuck up under our quilt? I know I a to the baby like this But itto herself all the tiood to talk to her baby even before she was born, right? Who cared? She’d do it anyway There’d be people who said it was the right thing to do, and others who’d say she was bonkers
‘Unfortunately the cottage will be cold enough to freeze the boll—’ Oops, reat if your grandht the fire for us But somehow I doubt it She doesn’t trust the safest of fireboxes’ Mum had always been overly cautious Mum Sasha’s mouth drooped into the antithesis of a smile while her eyes misted
‘What has Mu her life, taking over her body?’ she asked around the lu her throat Her beautiful mother, who’d always been there for her and her brother, refusing to accept the disease taking hold in her body would never let go
Sniff, sniff Life could be so da-wheel as she leaned forward, all the better to see, but it didn’t htest difference This final stretch of road seemed interminable
‘What the heck?’ Red lights blinked froht on the bend of the next hairpin Random Definitely out of place Suddenly her heart beat a rapid rhythm
‘I don’t like the look of this’ Her bed beckoned even harder Sing a yawn and resisting the urge to slaht beside the rear end of an upside-down truck poking up fro’ But hardly surprising, given the hazardous road conditions And why she hadn’t relaxed at all despite getting close to home
Sasha carefully turned her vehicle so the headlights shone onto the wrecked truck, with its black tyres pointing up into the night Downright eerie A shiver ran down her vertebrae For a brief moment she wanted to drive on ho in that buckled cab Not because of her need to be hoency departht fail so experienceany easier to deal with She felt for them, had cried tears for them
‘Get on with it,’ she said ‘You can do the emotional stuff later when everyone in that vehicle’s safe’ Because the truck hadn’t driven itself off the road, and the glowing headlights suggested it hadn’t happened long ago
None of that stopped herstomach mocked her ‘Okay, then be safe, not seriously injured’
Tugging her woollen hat down around her ears and pulling at the zipper on her jacket to try and close the gap caused by her baby bulge, she hauled in a lungful of war down onto the frozen road Instantly her feet skidded sideways and she grabbed for the door, hung on as she righted herself This wouldn’t be a picnic, and these days, with Flipper on board, she had to be extra, extra careful
Her cheeks instantly tightened froht see ice beca?
‘Nice one, Sasha Scare yourself, why don’t you? Move your butt and stop overthinking the situation’
Collecting her ingerly crunched over to the edge of the bank, and gasped In the half-light the Golden Bay Freight Lines logo on the side of the truck was distorted but readable Sam and Lucy Donovan’s truck ‘Sam, is that you? It’s Sasha’