by Loretta Hill
‘I’ve seen ’em,’ Jack helped himself to a plateful of coleslaw. ‘And I’ve gotta say, I’m pretty jealous.’
‘I’m glad he’s enjoying himself,’ Lydia commented as she took a portion for herself. ‘But I do miss him terribly. I hope he doesn’t mean to migrate to Italy permanently so that we never see him again. Or worse, do a five-year stint there the way Jack did in France!’
‘Well, he’ll have to be here this time next year.’ Jack put a hand on the back of her neck and she turned to meet his laughing eyes. ‘Cause I’m going to need a best man.’
Lydia’s fork clattered to her plate and she squealed. ‘You’re getting married!’
Bronwyn tore her gaze from Jack’s twinkling eyes to meet the expectant looks of the family. She held up her hand on which a diamond ring winked officially. ‘We got engaged last night.’
‘And you didn’t tell me?’ Claudia cried, jumping up from her place at the table and racing around to her seat. ‘As the best friend, I should have known at least a couple of hours before anyone else.’
Bronwyn stood up and hugged her. ‘We wanted to tell everyone at the same time.’
After that, there was nothing but talk of weddings. When, where, and what she might be wearing. The boys soon got bored and went off to play cricket on the lawn. Elsa raced around between them, barking cheerfully every time someone hit the ball.
As Lydia stood up to clear away the dishes, Claudia reached out and grabbed Bronwyn’s hand.
‘I gotta say, Bron, when you first suggested we should swap places I never imagined it would turn out like this.’
‘Why?’ Bronwyn smiled. ‘You don’t think my grass is greener?’
‘Well, it wasn’t at first!’ Claudia retorted. ‘It was just like you said. Bloody awful.’
‘So was yours,’ Bronwyn pulled a face. ‘The truth is, it was never about swapping our lives exactly. It was always about making the most of our own.’
‘So,’ Claudia said with a slow wink, ‘what you’re really saying is, the grass is greener on the other side, but only if you water it.’
Bronwyn threw back her head and laughed. ‘Absolutely.’
Acknowledgements
It’s been a very busy year! Along with writing a book and caring for four children, I had to move house as well. There are so many people I have to thank for helping me get through it all in one piece.
My family, of course, leads the pack. Mum, Dad, Shirley, Steve, Aunty Moira, Uncle Richard, Jacenta, Tim, Lena and Ang. Thanks for everything. Not just for the babysitting to give me more time to write but for helping with the move and the renovations as well. We couldn’t have achieved it all without you.
To my critique partners, Karina and Nicola. You were the ones who kept me sane. Ladies, your reassurance and support meant so much to me. You both knew exactly when I needed a confidence boost. Thank you so much.
My warm appreciation to our nanny Elysha, who worked extra hours whenever I needed it. I was so thankful for your flexibility and enthusiasm. You are a pleasure to have in our home. Thank you also to my mum and sister Jacenta, who provided extra babysitting especially when my deadline was looming dangerously close. You guys were lifesavers.
As for the actual story itself … where would I be without my gurus?
Thanks firstly to Ben Gould, vineyard owner and winemaker for Blind Corner – birthplace of delectable, organic and sustainable wines with unique and diverse flavours. Ben has been such a wonderful source of information over the years and has been so generous with his time. Thank you so much for all your help and for agreeing to read random chapters without a murmur of complaint.
Special thanks to Andrea Jennings, my legal eagle; I sincerely hope you don’t find any mistakes in my work! And if you do, I take full credit for them. You were such a great sounding-board for all of Claudia’s court dramas. Thank you so much for your time, your war stories and your advice. I had such fun throwing plotlines at you and you were such a good sport about it. Hugs.
Thanks to everyone at Random House who worked on this book with me, especially my publisher, Beverley Cousins, editor, Kathryn Knight and publicist, Jessica Malpass. Thank you for getting behind yet another of my books with so much enthusiasm.
Thank you also to my wonderful agent, Clare Forster, for all your support and advice behind the scenes.
To my husband, Todd. You have been so patient, so understanding and so supportive. At the end of the day, you have put as much into this book as I have. Love you so much.
And finally, my kids. Luke, James, Beth and Michael. Yes. Now mummy will take a long break. Let’s go out!
Author’s note
Dear Reader,
This story follows the antics of two best friends who swap lives. Half of the story is set in Perth, exploring the fast-paced legal profession. The other half is set in the south-west region of Western Australia in a quiet town called Yallingup – a place very dear to my heart.
Yallingup is a small slice of the Margaret River wine region, most famous for its world-class wine, surfing and gorgeous natural limestone caves surrounded by beautiful jarrah and marri forest. If you ever have time to visit this part of the world I highly recommend you do, if only to enjoy the organically grown produce and delicious wine. I have family there, so it’s where my husband and I always choose to spend our holidays.
While I wanted to keep the book as real as possible for readers, I want to clarify that Rickety Twigg Road, which cuts from Bussell Highway to Yallingup, is not a real road, nor do any of the estates mentioned on it, such as the Oak Hills Winery, exist. This road and the surrounds, however, are based on Wildwood Road – the real gateway to Yallingup.
There are so many other gorgeous wineries in this region similar in operation to Oak Hills and definitely worth the visit. I’ve tried to keep the winemaking part of this story as real and authentic as possible; to do so, I drew on the experience of my good friend Ben Gould, who owns and runs vineyards in Wilyabrup and Quindalup, also part of the Margaret River wine region. His winery is called Blind Corner.
If you would like to taste Ben’s label – and you should, it’s delicious! – you can find his wines in many fine restaurants throughout Australia. Or check out Blind Corner’s website to order at www.blindcorner.com.au.
Apart from great food and wine, this book is about starting again. I think at one stage or another we’ve all been stuck in a rut. You feel like your life is going around in circles and you’re never going to get out of it. It’s easy to look at our friends, neighbours or work colleagues and wish we had what they have. The grass is always greener on the other side, right? I really wanted to write a book exploring that theme because I felt that, like all great theories, it was definitely flawed. Someone else’s life would never perfectly suit. You’d always have to adapt to it or make it adapt to you. True happiness doesn’t come from being someone else but from being our best selves.
I really enjoyed pushing my two heroines, Claudia and Bronwyn, to discover just that. I hope you enjoy their journey too.
Happy reading,
Loretta Hill
Loretta was born in Perth, the eldest of four girls. She enjoyed writing from a very early age and was just eleven years old when she had her first short story published in The West Australian newspaper.
Having graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering and another in Commerce, she was hired by a major Western Australian engineering company and worked for a number of years on many outback projects. She drew upon her experiences of larrikins, red dust and steel-capped boots for her bestselling novels The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots, The Girl in the Hard Hat and The Girl in the Yellow Vest. Her fourth novel, The Maxwell Sisters, was set in the Margaret River wine region, where she returns for her fifth novel, The Grass is Greener.
She lives in Perth with her husband and four children.
The Maxwell Sisters
by Loretta Hill
All families have their problems. No more so th
an the Maxwells of Tawny Brooks Winery. Situated in the heart of the Margaret River wine region, this world-renowned winery was the childhood home to three sisters, Natasha, Eve and Phoebe.
Today all three women are enmeshed in their city lives and eager to forget their past – and their fractured sibling relationships. Until Phoebe decides to get married at home …
Now the sisters must all return to face a host of family obligations, vintage in full swing and interfering in-laws who just can’t take a hint. As one romance blossoms and others fall apart, it seems they are all in need of some sisterly advice.
But old wounds cut deep. Somehow, the Maxwell sisters must find a way back to one another – or risk losing each other forever.
From the author of the bestselling The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots comes a heartwarming romantic comedy about three extraordinary women on a journey to find love and rediscover family.
The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots
by Loretta Hill
Lena Todd is a city girl who thrives on cocktails and cappuccinos. So when her boss announces he’s sending her to the outback to join a construction team, her world is turned upside down.
Lena’s new accommodation will be an aluminium box called a dongar.
Her new social network: 350 men.
Her daily foot attire: steel-capped boots.
Unfortunately, Lena can’t refuse. Mistakes of the past are choking her confidence. She needs to do something to right those wrongs and prove herself. Going into a remote community might just be the place to do that, if only tall, dark and obnoxious Dan didn’t seem so determined to stand in her way …
Loretta Hill’s bestselling debut is a delectable story of red dust and romance, and of dreams discovered in the unlikeliest of places …
The Girl in the Hard Hat
by Loretta Hill
To tame a bad boy you will need:
a. One hard hat
b. 350 sulky FIFO workers
c. A tropical cyclone
Wendy Hopkins arrives in the Pilbara to search for the father who abandoned her at birth. So getting mixed up in construction site politics is not high on her ‘to do’ list.
But when she takes a job as the new Safety Manager at the iron ore wharf just out of town, she quickly becomes the most hated person in the area. Nicknamed ‘The Sergeant’, she is the butt of every joke and the prime target of notorious womanizer, Gavin Jones.
Giving up is not an option, though.
For, as it turns out, only Wendy can save these workers from the coming storm, find a man who wants to stay buried and … put a bad boy firmly in his place.
From the author of The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots comes another funny and deliciously romantic tale of a woman in a man’s world.
The Girl in the Yellow Vest
by Loretta Hill
‘We can’t choose who we fall in love with. It could be our best friend … or our worst enemy.’
Emily Woods counts cracks for a living. Concrete cracks. So when her long-term boyfriend dumps her, she decides it’s time for a change of scenery. Her best friend, Will, suggests joining his construction team in Queensland. Working next door to the Great Barrier Reef seems like just the sort of adventure she needs to reboot her life … until she realises that Will is not the person she thought he was.
Charlotte Templeton is frustrated with the lack of respect FIFO workers have for her seaside resort. But picking a fight with their tyrannical project manager, Mark Crawford, seems to lead to more complications than resolutions. The man is too pompous, too rude, and too damned good looking.
As both women strive to protect their dreams and achieve their goals, they discover that secrets will come out, loyalty often hurts, and sometimes the perfect ma n is the wrong one.
A scintillating romantic comedy, set on the beautiful Queensland coast, from the author of the bestselling The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots and The Girl in the Hard Hat. The perfect summer read!
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Version 1.0
The Grass is Greener
9780857984340
First published by Bantam in 2016
Copyright © Loretta Hill 2016
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
A Bantam book
Published by Random House Australia Pty Ltd
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www.randomhouse.com.au
Random House Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com/offices.
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Hill, Loretta, author
The grass is greener/Loretta Hill
ISBN 978 0 85798 434 0 (ebook)
Best friends – Fiction
Families – Fiction
Life change events – Fiction
A823.4
Cover images (woman) © Tomas Rodriguez/Corbis, (vines)
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Cover design by Christabella Designs