Chapter 13
Bright sunshine promised a hot and sultry day, the New Zealand climate keeping its dishonourable intentions to itself. Hana cleaned her house before heading to the mall at Chartwell on foot to waste a lonely Saturday amongst busy shoppers.
As her walk progressed, bright azure skies blinked under cloud cover and the day degenerated into awkward showers and an unpleasant gusting wind. Hana arrived buffeted and blown, her umbrella inside out and her jacket soaked. Not excited about the forty-minute walk home, she ordered coffee and sat down to watch the world go by. It gave her a peculiar feeling of detachment for a woman who’d once felt too busy, watching other parents ushering along whingeing children while she sat alone. Hana recognised the despondent slump of the mothers’ sho
