Rachael could see the lavender fields from where they sat at the kitchen table. They stretched in a purple haze over the landscape, the bright sunshine washing over them. The mauve complimented the blue-grey of the Australian bush in the far distance.

Stella crossed to the sink beneath the window to fill the kettle. "Would you like lavender tea?

Shattered thoughts cut through her mind like a chain lightning that zapped her heart, knotted her stomach and riveted her feet to the earth.

Her heart lurched. Perhaps her own grief and sadness called out to Ebony. Rachael didn’t know, but something had happened. It was as if their spirits had touched. Carried through the air like a charge of static electricity, connecting and mingling.

A moss-covered path tended its way around the magnolia tree. Mark started along it, his leg brushing against the perennial border where cheerful yellow daffodils nodded their heads in greeting.

Guilt added to Rachael’s grief. Swirled amongst it like a river of shame.

The house would never be the same again. Her grief painted it with hues of grey.