LITMIR.BIZ

      CHAPTER ONE

      THIS is a perfect moment.

      The thought surprised Rosie as she sat on the sparkling gold sands of Bondi Beach, looking out over the clear blue water.

      It surprised her because, only a moment before, she’d been reflecting on the one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn her life had pivoted through two months ago, and every day since: the loss of her beloved brother and sister-in-law; her instant transformation from aunt to the guardian of her twin eight-year-old nephew and niece; the break-up with Philip; the consequent move from Canberra back to Sydney. Since then, she’d been in shock, grief-stricken and feeling like she’d never get on top of her new life.

      Yet, sitting here, with the morning sun warming her face, in her first quiet moment that week, she had a brief glimmer of hope that things might somehow work out okay. She picked up a handful of sand and let it trickle slowly through her fingers. The top inch of sand was warm. A little deeper, where the sun’s rays hadn’t yet penetrated, the sand was cool and damp against her skin.

      Another glorious summer day lay ahead. Later on, the beach would be crowded. Right now, it was relatively empty and it didn’t take long to scan the beach to check her niece’s whereabouts. The junior surf lifesavers had come out of the water and were packing equipment away, Lucy among them. Rosie stood, shaking the sand off her sundress, and walked along the beach towards the group.

      ‘How did you go this morning, Luce?’ Her niece had bounded up to her, still full of her usual energy.

      ‘I got a personal best time for the sand sprint. Did you see me?’

      ‘I was watching but you were going so fast you were just a blur!’ Rosie hugged the little girl, pulling her into her side. Lucy chatted non-stop as they climbed the path leading from the beach to the esplanade, only pausing for breath once she had her usual post-training Sunday milkshake in hand.

      Coming out of Marie’s Milk Bar, Rosie nearly tripped over a small dog that dashed past the entrance. She stopped suddenly and felt Lucy bump into her back. A young boy ran past, calling out to the dog. The dog had no intention of obeying and dashed out into the road.

      She could see disaster unfolding in front of her.

      ‘Stop!’ she yelled, but the boy neither paused nor looked as he chased the animal. Rosie watched with horror as a car swerved sharply to the left to miss the dog, colliding instead with the child.

      The car wasn’t travelling quickly, the esplanade was too narrow and too busy for that, but it still struck the boy with enough force to send him spinning up into the air before he crashed to the bitumen.

      Traffic came to a stop and the hum of dozens of conversations ceased as people processed what had just happened. For a brief moment there was silence before voices began again and witnesses and bystanders swarmed onto the road.

      ‘Wait here,’ Rosie said to Lucy, handing over her takeaway latte before joining the gathering crowd.

      ‘I’m a doctor.’ Rosie raised her voice as she pushed her way through the throng. ‘Let me through.’

      The driver, a young female, emerged from the car, shaky and pale. ‘I didn’t see him, I didn’t have time to stop.’

Скачать книгу