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CHAPTER ONE

After the worst few days of her life, Hazel McCleod gazed out the window of the shabby bus.

Her head was resting against the glass, hot from the afternoon sun. A large bump in the road had the bus airborne for a second, long enough for Hazel’s head to collide with the window handle. She whimpered as she rubbed her head, trying to soothe the giant lump she was sure would form.

The bus was empty, apart from an older man who was sitting up front chatting softly with the driver. Sighing deeply, Hazel turned her gaze back to the window.

Along the journey from the city, high-rises had turned to suburban homes, homes to farms and finally, to grass. The only way into Bells Bay was via a long bitumen road, which was well worn out by now. The road was full of potholes, and Hazel felt like she was trapped in a jeep on safari. But there were no interesting animals to see out here. Just dry grass. Hazel watched the uninspiring landscape pass by as she tried to think of somewhere prettier. Sure, Bells Bay was an idyllic little coastal town, but there wasn’t much to see on the way there.

Closing her eyes, a peaceful scene immediately emerged. Crisp white sand and almost translucent water that turned a darker shade of mesmerising blue as the water deepened. A small hut with a thatched roof was floating above the sea. Tiny specks of sand were caught in the rough wooden planks that lined the floor of the hut, gaps between them just big enough to see the azure ocean below. Under the hut was a reef, a whole other world vibing with sea creatures that stretched out in the water. A tiny group of clownfish clustered within an isolated patch of swaying anemone. The little fish darted in and out of the tendrils of coral, following the current. The clown fish retreated further into the anemone as a thick red tentacle, laden with suckers, began to strangle the coral. Hazel could feel the tightness in her throat, as if the tentacle was wrapped around her neck.

Her eyes flew open. That was definitely not part of the scene. She groaned. That tentacle must have belonged to her octopus of an ex, Tim, who had decided the time to end their relationship was during a snorkelling tour in the Maldives. The timing had made the rest of the trip extremely awkward.

At least she hadn’t still been in love with him. The writing had been on the wall for a while, neither of them brave enough to end things. In fact, Hazel hadn’t really felt much at all when Tim had uttered the final words of their relationship. Finally, she’d thought. Someone had finally said it. Apart from the relief, the only other thing she felt was a mild annoyance. Did he have to do this right now? They were snorkelling in paradise! Couldn’t this wait?

Tim had been offended by her lack of feeling. He spent the rest of the tour screeching and splashing about, going on and on about how wrong it was that she hadn’t burst into tears. She’d just looked at him and rolled her eyes, continuing with her silence.

Her final blow was delivered when they were on the boat heading back to the resort, when she finally snapped at him, revealing that she didn’t really care. A small sense of triumph flurried through her as she realised that even though she had been the one who was dumped, she’d actually won the breakup, and in record time. You can’t lose if you don’t care.

At that, Tim’s face had gone bright red with anger and, speaking through gritted teeth, admitted that he’d been seeing someone else. Hazel had simply shrugged her shoulders and said, good for you. From that moment on, Tim refused to speak to her. As it was their last night, Hazel had decided to sleep on the verandah in the hammock, which had been surprisingly comfortable. It was very peaceful falling asleep to the sound of the ocean, instead of the loud snores she had endured over the last year and a half. When they’d reached the airport in Malé, Tim had marched straight over to the check-in desk, while Hazel dawdled around a small café by the main door. She’d enquired about her seat when she dropped her bags off, relieved to find that Tim had already switched seats. She’d thought she might bump into him again during the flight, or in the customs line when they arrived home, but he seemed to have vanished. After two years together, they’d gone their separate ways without a word.

The bus suddenly came to a stop in front of literally nothing. A bent signpost that was faded and rusty was the only thing around. The older man who had sat towards the front exited the bus. Hazel wondered where he was going. There was nothing around except dry grass. As the bus lurched forward again, Hazel shook her head, perplexed by this place.

She closed her eyes and tried to relax once more. Instead of resting, her brain decided another flashback was in order. The previous day started playing in her mind. Groaning, she rolled with it, too tired to try and think of something else.

After returning from the Maldives, she had dropped her luggage off at her apartment and headed straight to work. The flight arrived early in the morning, so when she got to the office, she was only ten minutes later than she would have been on a regular day.

The receptionist, Candice, had harassed her from the moment she arrived, desperately clawing at Hazel’s left hand. Poor Candice had truly been shocked when she didn’t find a ring. It didn’t matter how many times before the holiday Hazel had tried to assure her that a proposal would not be happening; Candice just didn’t seem to get it. Candice had sent her a sympathetic look, which Hazel shrugged off. If Candice was surprised that there had been no proposal, Hazel wondered how she would react to news of an opposite sort.

With a shriek was how. Hazel was attempting to reassure Candice that she was fine when her boss appeared, hurriedly asking her into his office. Candice shot her a concerned look as Hazel swallowed, trying to force the discomfort of being called into the boss’s office down her throat.

Apparently, the company was struggling due to the current economy, and it wasn’t a good look to go off gallivanting overseas when you’d only worked for said company for three months. Hazel attempted to remind him that she had notified him of the trip (which had been booked and paid for six months prior) at her interview and also tried to refresh his memory on the fact that she was always the first one in and the last one out. Plus, the training she was promised had never materialised. Her boss had just sighed and looked at her. He then gave her a box and told her to be out by the time the company wide meeting was over. He hurriedly pushed her out of his office, and as she walked back to her desk, she could hear him laughing jovially into his phone. He obviously cared a lot about the fact that he had just fired someone. Hazel had thrown the cardboard box on the floor with a little more force than she’d intended, and instead, packed her items in her handbag. The photo frame of her and her mother, a little jar of sour worms and her cat shaped pen holder were dumped inside. She quickly slunk out before anyone saw her.

Hazel shuddered as she recalled the walk home. Still in shock, it had only dawned on her as she passed Macquarie Place Park that she did not have a job. She didn’t understand. Her career came first. It always had. She was good at her job. Any time she had to stay late for a deadline, work over the weekend or take on a task no one else wanted, she had done it. And never complained. Her last company had loved her. They’d offered her a higher salary so she would stay. But Hazel had moved interstate for Tim, and she wanted an international firm on her resume. Instead of having stellar references and the opportunities to work all over the world, she now had a three-month stint at a reputable company that she was going to have to explain. Wonderful.

The rest of the trip home was a blur. Somehow she had returned to her run-down unit and climbed the stairs to the lobby. Entering her apartment, she had to step over various cardboard boxes that her roommate had left scattered in the hallway.

Since she had moved to Sydney for Tim four months earlier, she had rented a room in the city, in a complete dump of an apartment. In what was supposed to be a month long thing, with the idea that she and Tim would eventually move in together, she’d renewed her monthly lease three times. Tim and Hazel had only managed to look at two apartments, with Tim refusing to rent either of them.

Finally completing the cardboard box obstacle course, Hazel reached her tiny room. She slung her bag on the floor, her eye catching the note on her bed.

Hazel,

Please be out by the end of the week. I’ve got someone who needs the room.

She wants to sign a twelve-month lease.

Reading the note from her roommate and landlord, Hazel fell backwards onto her bed as she groaned. Excellent. She’d just been dumped, lost her job and was now homeless too.

Which was why she was sitting on this creaky old bus heading back to her dull hometown.

Hazel stepped onto the dusty ground in front of the bus stop. The sign above the shade awning read Bells Bay. Written in a cursive font, it was filled with mosaic tiles in differing shades of blue.

The bus stop sat in the middle of town along Beach Road, which, if followed all the way east, led down to the bay. Shops and the odd eatery flanked each side of Beach Road, with glimpses of the ocean more obvious the further one walked. Beach Road eventually reached a small park filled with towering pine trees. Behind the park was the bay. The true jewel of the town, the blue of the water would often glitter in the sunlight. The shoreline curved around to meet the headland where a quaint wooden church sat, completely isolated. It had a tall tower with a single bell that used to ring three times a day. The tinkling of the bell by the bay gave the town its name.

Hazel turned to walk west, towards the hinterland, which led to the outskirts of town. She hauled her backpack over her shoulder and pulled on the handle of her suitcase. Hazel lived light; everything she owned fit into her bag and case.

Trudging along the footpath, she passed the gift shop, the ice cream parlour and the post office. Next to the post office was a new hardware store. It had been a while since she’d been back to Bells Bay and a lot had changed. But a lot was also still the same.