Read Online Feels Like Home by Lisa Ireland - Free Book Online Page A

she would have to experience life outside the confines of Linden Gully.
    She picked up the box and rifled through the envelopes again. Right at the bottom of the box she found what she was looking for, a tattered envelope containing a faded computer printout. She remembered the thrill of opening that letter to discover an offer of a place at Melbourne University. It was her ticket out of this place and to her it was better than winning the lottery. The day the offer had arrived in the mail Ryan rode his pushbike all the way out to Yarrapinga to tell her the news that he’d got in to Veterinary Science at the same university. It seemed they were destined to be together.
    Katherine had been less than thrilled to find that Ryan would be at Melbourne Uni too. She spent hours lecturing Jo about not wasting her opportunities, and Jo assured her that was one thing she didn’t need to worry about. Her mother did all she could to make sure Jo didn’t set up house with Ryan, paying for a room in the Halls of Residence that Jo rarely used. Ryan shared a house in Carlton with two other students and she’d spent most of her time there. In her youthful naivety she thought her willingness to spend every night in Ryan’s bed was proof of her love. She didn’t think she needed to wear his ring as a sign of her commitment to their relationship.
    Sometimes she wished she could wind back the clock to their last night together. If only she hadn’t been so full of herself and her own ambition. If only she’d explained herself better, given Ryan reason to believe it wasn’t the end, maybe…
    Maybe what? She and Ryan would be happily married and living on a farm here in the Gully with two kids and a couple of dogs, her dream of writing a novel still just that — a dream? Ryan might have settled for that life, but she feared that — just like her mother — she would have been sent slowly insane being a farmer’s wife here in the middle of nowhere. And she would have blamed him eventually. Resented him the way her mother resented her father. Living in Linden Gully had killed her parents’ marriage and, as young as she was when she left, she’d already worked out that history was bound to repeat itself unless she did something to break free.
    She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. There really was no time for this. She couldn’t agonise over every single paper stored or take endless side trips down memory lane. At this rate the job would never be done.
    Whatever was to be kept would have to be sent to New York, so she needed to be ruthless. Reluctantly she placed the letter back into the box and replaced the lid without looking at another thing. It was easier that way. The box went in the stack to be thrown away, along with the Christmas-card box, school reports and a number of other papers.
    Before long only one box remained. It was sealed tight with layers of packaging tape. Jo picked at the edges of the tape but quickly realised she would need scissors or a box-cutter to get through the layers of adhesive. She brushed herself off once more and climbed downstairs to search the kitchen for the appropriate tool.
    The sun streamed through the windows above the sink, warming Jo’s back as she rifled through the drawers. A sudden rap on the window startled her and she dropped the can opener she was holding on her foot. ‘Dammit!’
    â€˜Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.’ Ryan’s voice came from outside. ‘Are you okay?’
    She looked up to find him peering at her through the dusty glass. What now? Was he here to berate her further for yesterday’s attempt at smoothing things over? ‘No. You made me drop the can opener on my foot.’ She opened the door.
    He appeared to be suppressing a grin. ‘Again, sorry.’
    She resisted the temptation to laugh, but it was hard. He’d always had that ability to disarm her with his smile. But