They knew they were home when their Aeropelican Jetstream aircraft was coming into land and they could see the township only five kilometres from the runway. On the flight Veronica was quiet; her own parents long deceased, she reminisced about the good times and then thought about the only family she had left in Mudgee, her in-laws. She felt her usual insecure self, concerned about seeing Alex’s parents for the first time since she and Alex had officially separated. Before then, she had always been close to his mother, receiving regular Sunday night phone calls, even when Alex was away on business. They had long shared recipes and a love of a good pot of Earl Grey. But the warmth had all but disappeared since the split, now that Alex was living with a new woman. A mother’s loyalty was always going to be to her son, and that was something even Veronica knew she couldn’t argue with. However, she vowed to remain a dignified daughter-in-law and role-model mother, urging her own sons to write and call their grandparents on special occasions.
