Page 2 of Happier Days (Family Life in Somerley #1)

CHAPTER TWO

Only Ava’s train could be delayed for over an hour, causing her stress levels to go through the roof.

She’d intended on arriving in time for dinner at Sapphire Hotel, but she was going to miss her reservation.

It was now half past six. The journey from Euston would take a couple of hours, and from there, she had a thirty-minute taxi ride to the outskirts of Somerley.

Finally able to board, Ava pushed her suitcase into the luggage rack and settled in by the window. The train began to fill, and she prayed she might not have to sit close to someone. She wasn’t good at making small talk.

She placed her handbag on the seat next to her and got out her Kindle so she could put her head down. Obviously if the train was full, she would move her things. She wasn’t that rude. But for now, she wouldn’t catch anyone’s eye.

Thankfully, a few minutes later the train started its journey, and she sighed with relief as the carriage was only half full, the seat next to her empty. She emailed the hotel to say she would be late, then got out the details of her assignment.

Although she’d visited many times in her childhood, with fond memories of long summers, it would be strange to be in Somerley again. She wondered how much it had changed in the twenty-two years she hadn’t been back. She certainly had, that was for sure.

The refreshments trolley arrived, and she loaded herself up with caffeine and sugar, gratefully biting into an overpriced chocolate bar as if she’d never had one before.

She glanced out of the window, the darkness giving rise to her fear of going into the unknown, and tried not to think about her ex-husband, Giles.

After marrying him when she was twenty, Ava had thought they’d be together forever.

Now, she couldn’t help thinking she’d given him the best years of her life.

Finding out about his affair – no, his latest affair – had been the turning point she’d needed.

She reminisced about the night in question. Giles had told her he was working late, again, having a meeting about a takeover that was happening shortly where he worked as a business analyst. Nancy had persuaded her to go for something to eat after work.

She’d spotted Giles with a woman as soon as they’d been seated at a table. Giles was holding her hand up to kiss her knuckles. The woman, who seemed to be ten years younger than him, was tittering, looking all coy. It was clear it was no business meeting.

Ava had seen red. She’d walked over, quite bravely she’d thought afterwards, and introduced herself as Giles’s wife, taking a slight satisfaction when the woman’s face had paled.

‘Oh, you clearly didn’t know about me,’ she’d said. ‘Mind, I’m not surprised as he’s done this so often, I bet he forgets who he’s told and who he hasn’t. Unless he tells none of you that he’s married.’

Giles protested that it wasn’t as it seemed, which obviously made things worse for his companion. The woman stood up and, after a few choice words, threw her wine over Giles before walking out.

Ava had gone back to Nancy, and to her surprise found that she wasn’t as upset as she’d imagined. So they’d ordered meals and a bottle of wine and made a toast to new beginnings.

When she’d finally got home that evening, an almighty row had broken out. For once Ava hadn’t backed down. Eventually he’d got the message, packed a suitcase, and left.

It hadn’t been easy. Giles had put up a good fight, always charming to her friends yet hostile to her when he managed to get her alone.

She laughed to herself when she recalled that as soon as their divorce papers were signed, the woman he’d been with at the restaurant was engaged to be his wife.

During the months afterwards, she’d realised that when they’d been together Giles had seemed to take immense pleasure in putting her down.

She’d become a shadow of her former self, not going out much unless it was with him.

In a way, he’d controlled her every move by belittling her at the slightest opportunity.

He was never violent, nor angry. He was just… charming with a hint of menace.

Time flew, and before she knew it, the train rolled into the station. Ava gathered her belongings and parked her thoughts for now.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped onto the platform.

Anyone would think she was eloping or on the run from something, the emphasis she was giving to this trip.

It was only four weeks. She would stay for the allotted time, get her head down; perhaps by then, she’d be ready to figure out what to do next with her life.

Once in a taxi, the shadows of houses, the odd lights in windows illuminating them, made way for rolling hedges. Ava finally relaxed a little in her seat.

Half an hour later, the vehicle took a right, a sign indicating Sapphire Lake was a mile away.

Although she couldn’t see much, Ava did recognise some of the bends in the road.

Her memory of riding on a push bike or going out with her parents in the car came back as they went underneath the railway bridge.

Back then, the field to her left had homed several donkeys but was now a row of businesses across from a garage forecourt.

An Italian restaurant stood at one end, a convenience store and post office at the other, and a florist, hairdresser’s, and a small bakery sandwiched in between.

Up to the roundabout, the car went right again, turning into Lake Road.

It was narrow there, pavement on one side only, and cars parked in whatever spaces they could find.

Then it opened up, houses to the left on a steep incline.

Further along would be the cottage she had stayed at most summers as a child.

It would be bittersweet to see it again.

But for now, she sighed with relief when the sign for Sapphire Hotel came into view.