3.26
The day was hot and windy, the pavement had little shade. Following her doctor’s advice, she’d enrolled in natural birthing classes at a community centre on South Terrace. She lumbered on down the road, knowing she was late. Ten minutes after the time she needed to leave she’d been caught in a hiatus of doubt about whether or not to ask Heather to join her. She’d decided to go alone, leaving Heather at home and unaware. The intimacy had seemed too much, even as she thought her friend might be waiting to be asked.
The community centre must once have been a family home. She pulled open the gate, then a few paces later the fly screen.
Inside, the original weatherboard cottage was high ceilinged with rooms to either side of a wide hallway. She followed a sign cut in the shape of an arr
