Voyage of Discovery

Chapter One

Chapter One 

Scorpio: Beware of getting what you want as it may hurt those around you, on the other hand make a decision and stick to it. This is your chance to start afresh, so go and search for your happy ending

"I can't believe you, Winter! I thought I could trust you! Were you lying to me all the times we made love as well?" Alex's voice held so much malice, it scared her to think how badly she had hurt and betrayed him, yet she had to be true to herself and she knew she had made the right decision. The harsh words from her now ex-fianc\u00e9e still ricochet in her ears and she carried her guilt with her everywhere she went like packed suitcases. 

A year before, after the encounter with Dan in her office, Winter was consumed with both sadness and regret, she hadn't meant to hurt Alex, but her feelings for Dan were still so strong, sometimes it felt like a magnetic field surrounded them, keeping them inside the field, and repelling others. Winter sat in the dark, in her car, leaning her head on the steering wheel, her sobs racking her small frame. She was crying for Dan, the lost love of her life, for Alex and the wedding she would never have. She was mourning for the lost opportunity of having children and being able to grow old with someone. Why did the memories come to her when she was alone and vulnerable?  

Dan was her university sweetheart and she had loved him for so long, but then Dan had received an opportunity of a lifetime to travel and write overseas and wanted Winter to accompany him, but she made the choice to remain in Tasmania and help her father crew in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. It had broken her heart to know he wouldn't wait for her, so she had tried to move on with her life and cover her true feelings for him by marrying Alex. But When Winter told Alex the truth about her affair with Dan, and the miscarriage she had suffered being Dan's baby and not Alex's- it had resulted in Alex leaving her standing alone at the alter of her society wedding. Winter had never managed to find Dan afterwards to tell him what had happened. Was fate trying to punish her again? Had that chance kiss a year ago with Dan in some way started a chain reaction of heartache? Would she ever see Dan again?  

Later that evening, after arriving home from shopping, Winter glanced up at the two-story sandstone townhouse where she lived, in the in affluent suburb of Battery Point, in Tasmania. Most of the original houses were weatherboard with bull-nose verandas and gorgeous gardens full of David Austin roses. The St. George's Church spire was an iconic landmark in the suburb as was the colonial -style architecture and narrow streets. Battery Point had a chequered and ominous history, being one of the worst places in Hobart in the convict times, known for having the most amount of brothels situated in one area! Winter had been on a ghost tour around the area and hadn't slept for a week! 

Winter's heart sank as she saw there were no lights on in the windows and no friendly face eagerly awaiting her return from work. Gone were the days when she would step inside the house to a welcoming hug and a glass of wine from Alex. Winter had negotiated the house as part of the divorce settlement. Now all she had to look forward to was her cat called Molly and a microwave dinner for one. The housekeeper she employed had left for the day, the house immaculate and gleaming, but it was no solace for the loneliness Winter felt surrounded in. Winter collected up her shopping bags and handbag from the car and approaching the house, she recognised her mother's car in the driveway and Winter clenched her teeth, in preparation for the lecture to follow. Unfortunately, being an only child meant that there was no other sibling to take the attention away from her and her problems. But it meant she was well-rehearsed in deflecting her mother's comments and intrusions into her personal life. The past twelve months had been difficult for both of them, Winter had to manage her own grief for her father as well as help her mother with the funeral arrangements and make sure she was adjusting to a new way of life. Before Winter had time to kick off her shoes, her mother appeared from upstairs. "Winter, you're home at last! "Well, I decided to come over and talk to you about going back to work."