The Empty Nest by Fiona Palmer Page A

forever travelling and Paul’s parents lived locally and they didn’t want to put anyone else out. It was a big ask to take on an extra kid when you already had your own to manage. Boarding was the only possible option, and thank God they had government help for that.
    It had been Gracie who’d set them at ease. She told them she’d cope, that boarding school would be okay and that she could do it. At the start of school earlier in the year Gracie had plastered on a smile and walked bravely into the hostel while Sandi had fought back tears. But two weeks in and Gracie became really homesick. It had torn Sandi to shreds listening to her baby sobbing into the phone. ‘Mummy, I want to come home,’ she’d begged. Sandi had cried herself to sleep that whole week. And instead of being able to help Gracie through it, it was the supervisors and her new friends who ultimately did. It was hard not being the one Gracie could turn to.
    Sandi had realised that she was the one who couldn’t cope. She was left at home alone, in her empty nest, with no laughter in the house. Now it was just her and Paul eating or discussing the weather. It was a horrible reality. When the stress of the farm dragged Paul away from her, it had always been her children who’d kept her going. Without the kids, what did she have? A quiet, empty house, a grumpy husband and the dog. Was it time to get a cat?
    â€˜Race you to the top, Mum,’ said Gracie, saving Sandi from her thoughts.
    They’d arrived near the base of Rocky, at the edge of the farm. Sandi let her have a head start before chasing her. They followed a well-worn path through the bush that started from the edge of the paddock. Further through the shrubs and grass they ran until they reached the granite rock. It swirled with colours under her feet as she raced after Gracie up the gentle incline to the top. When Sandi arrived, Gracie was sitting on a large boulder on top of Rocky, trying to look like she’d been there for ages, waiting.
    â€˜Come on, Mum. Getting slow in your old age,’ she teased.
    Sandi wondered if that cheeky comment came from being away at school and from the influence of others. Already she had changed a little bit and she’d only been gone a term.
    â€˜Maybe I am. Who’s going to come here with me now? Mothers’ Day won’t be the same,’ Sandi said with a frown.
    Gracie reached over and hugged her tight. ‘I’ll still be thinking of you, Mum. You’ll have to come here with a flask of hot chocolate and a good book. Okay? Have a picnic just for you.’
    Sandi smiled as she brushed back Gracie’s fringe. ‘Okay. But only because I’ll have nothing better to do.’
    Mothers’ Day had always been a special day for Sandi because her kids did spoil her. They showered her with hugs and kisses, cooked her breakfast, picked her flowers and gave her handmade cards. And they always had a picnic at Rocky. Sandi made chocolate-chip biscuits and caramel slice the day before so that all she had to do was make the hot chocolate and they were set for their morning picnic at the rock. And it was always perfect. The kids would run around, exploring the familiar areas, looking for tadpoles and lizards with squeals of delight, acting as if they were seven again.
    She didn’t notice the void as much when Jack left, because she and Gracie had continued with the tradition for the next two years. But this coming Mothers’ Day was going to be awful. No hugs and kisses from either of her darlings. The way Paul was lately, she doubted he’d even grunt to her before leaving for the sheds.
    Sandi normally didn’t miss Paul but now that she had no kids to get to sports or help with their homework, she just ended up sitting around waiting for him to arrive home. Sometimes that would take ages. She could only check Facebook or clean the house so many times, and the freezer had never been