How To Save a Marriage in a Million by Leonie Knight

parent. They would sit on the benches, reading magazines, occasionally glancing up to make sure their child hadn’t drowned but otherwise leaving the hapless youngster to their own devices. The poor kid was usually decked out in such an elaborate array of floating devices that he or she could hardly move, let alone protest, and if the child became involved in a mêlée the parent would intentionally ignore the fact their son or daughter was involved and leave someone else to sort it out.
    And the third type of parent was…Joanna. Well, she was a perfect example. She came into the poolwith a smile on her face that said she was glad to be alive and even more overjoyed to have a beautiful, happy, healthy child to share that joy. She was capable of totally shedding her inhibitions and playing , in the fullest sense of the word. That meant blowing disgustingly loud raspberries, splashing great spurts of water, not only at the kids but at often bewildered parents, throwing children high in the air, sorting out disagreements by distractions that always left both the aggressors and victims laughing.
    He’d seen that natural love of the simple things in life when he’d observed Joanna playing with the toddlers on Matilda Ward. It cut a hole in his heart. Why had someone who loved children so much, who had such a natural affinity for nurturing and mothering, been deprived so cruelly?
    He had spent many hours ruminating over this question during the course of Sam’s illness but he still hadn’t come up with an answer.
    It was meant to be?
    Every cloud has a silver lining?
    What goes around comes around?
    All glib clichés that lost their relevance in the brutal reality of life, he thought.
    Joanna…
    He watched her climb the stairs and wondered if he was falling in love with her all over again, for different, more enduring reasons.
    There was no doubt she was still the full package in the looks department. He loved her new curves that she’d displayed so tantalisingly in that gorgeous almost see-through costume. The naked-but-not-quite-naked look had blood coursing through his veins at a speed he definitely wasn’t used to. And not only was her body different but she was happy again.
    She’d been stick thin and gaunt when he’d left to go overseas and she’d rarely smiled. Her GP had diagnosed depression and done all the right things. Referred her for grief counselling, suggested a support group and prescribed an antidepressant. But she’d not followed through with his recommendations and said she would get through in her own way and her own time. He’d felt so guilty when he’d left but Joanna had made it quite clear that his presence in her life was making her recovery more difficult. Her telling him that, over and over, had been like a series of body blows butit had probably been her way of trying to spare him the pain of experiencing her suffering.
    No wonder she didn’t want to get close to him again.
    Her new life seemed to have left the past where it belonged. And good for her.
    But—there was no other way of saying it—his heart still ached for her and he still wanted to be the one to be there for her, her significant other.
    She stood at the top of the stairs, gazing around the shop, looking for him.
    He waved and she manoeuvred her way through the scattered tables to where he sat.
    ‘Hi, sit down. I haven’t ordered yet. What would you like?’
    ‘A white tea, thanks.’
    ‘That’s all? Nothing to eat?’
    ‘No, thanks, just the tea.’
    They were carrying on a conversation like wary strangers. Richard got up to get the drinks and came back with a packet of sandwiches and Joanna’s favourite chocolate bar. He smiled sheepishly, expecting to be reprimanded.
    ‘They had a special on chocolate and I thoughtwe deserved an indulgence as a reward for our hard work in the pool.’
    It was worth the risk—she actually rewarded him for his humour with a smile.
    ‘I don’t know whether I deserve any. I spent