A Second Chance Read Online Free PDF Page A

there’s one more thing,’ Amy said.
‘It’s the headstone—Charlie’s headstone. I can’t go away till it’s
arrived, it wouldn’t seem right.’
    Trust that man to make things awkward one
last time, Sarah thought to herself. ‘When’s it to come?’
    ‘Another three weeks yet, I’m afraid. They
said it’d be here around the end of the month.’
    Sarah considered the matter. ‘I can’t stay
here that long myself. It’ll mean you’ll have to travel up to
Auckland alone. Do you think you could do that?’
    ‘Oh, yes, of course I could.’
    ‘Very well, then, you’re to come up as soon
as it’s arrived. And I’ll be trusting you to see that she’s on that
boat in three weeks’ time, David.’
    ‘I’ll have her on the boat all right,’ David
said stoutly. He took Amy’s free arm and tucked it through his.
‘I’m starving, Ma. Is it morning tea yet?’
    ‘I was coming down to call you in for it.’
Amy caught Sarah’s amused expression, and gave a rueful smile.
‘Well, I suppose it was mainly an excuse to see if you two were
getting on all right.’
    ‘Of course we are,’ said Sarah. ‘We’re the
best of friends.’ She planted a kiss on Amy’s cheek. ‘Let’s go and
check on these scones of yours. I want to see if they really are as
big as I remembered.’
     
    Amy walked between them, revelling in the
closeness to both. Sarah and David were chatting easily, but Amy’s
heart was too full for words as she looked up at first one animated
face, then the other, while she tried to match their long
strides.
    ‘Hey, I can smell those scones now,’ David
said when they neared the house. ‘Hurry up, Ma, they smell
good.’
    ‘I can’t keep up with you two. You go on
ahead,’ Amy said, attempting to slip her arms out of theirs.
    She saw Sarah catch David’s eye over the top
of her head, a mischievous expression on her face. Sarah gripped
her arm more tightly. ‘Let’s make her run.’
    ‘I can’t!’ Amy protested. She struggled to
match their fresh pace, laughing helplessly. ‘I can’t,’ she panted
out. ‘I’m too old to run.’
    ‘Then we’ll have to help you,’ Sarah said,
her smile more mischievous than ever. ‘Ready, Dave?’
    He nodded, and took a firmer hold on Amy’s
arm.
    ‘One, two, three, up! ’ Sarah
cried.
    They hoisted her aloft, the three of them
giggling like children. Amy wanted to shout the news to the world,
but she made do with a wordless cry of delight. It was decided; it
was settled. She was going to Auckland.
     
     

2
    There was one task Amy dissuaded Sarah from
attempting.
    ‘I’ll ask Lizzie about looking after Dave,’
she said. ‘I’d rather do it myself. Not today, either, there’s no
need to rush. And I’d like to… Sarah, would you mind if I told
Lizzie about you? Who you really are, I mean. I won’t if you don’t
want me to.’
    ‘Tell the world if you want,’ Sarah said
easily. ‘I’m not ashamed of you, dearest.’
    ‘No, not the world. Only Lizzie, I
think.’
    ‘You’re not going to tell Dave?’
    ‘I… I don’t think so,’ Amy said after a
pause. ‘Not yet, anyway. I might one day. Do you think I should?’
she asked anxiously.
    Sarah gave a small shrug. ‘It’s your
decision, not mine. I’ll admit to a little idle curiosity as to how
he might react. I’d be able to tell him it’s my right to order him
about, since I’m his big sister.’
    It was more than idle curiosity that Amy
felt; it was something akin to fear. How would David take the
knowledge that she had borne a child before her marriage? Could he
ever think of her in the same way again? And the darkest question
of all whispered from a deep recess of her mind: would he still
love her? Why search for the answer when it was so easy to avoid
the question?
     
    *
     
    Letting Sarah go was a wrench for Amy. But
she had her trip to Auckland to look forward to, and before then
she had a job to do. It was time to go and see Lizzie.
    Few enough of Amy’s