Page 33 of The Second Chance Supper Club

Just a few years ago, they’d been a steady married couple: Cath, the maths teacher, and Trevor, the company accountant. And now, separate houses, separate lives. Adam now evidently feeling at a loss in the no-man’s land in between them. That made her feel so very sad.

Having Adam back, their son, had stirred up a wasp’s nest of memories and feelings.

All those ups and downs of her life, all the way from those early uni days with Trevor, the excitement of discovering a new love …

to the bitter recent end, and the hurt. And here she was on this new track. In her new home.

Second chances – that’s how she had to think of it.

Keep thinking positively. She had new friends.

And like Lily, she could still look forward to lots of new opportunities.

She was fine. It was all going to work out in the end.

In fact, she had felt the roots already forming here, it was beginning to work out already.

But all the change that had been launched upon her, it sometimes felt overwhelming.

How life had altered in the past two years.

It was no wonder Adam had wanted to go off travelling and get away from it all.

Just because your children were adults, it didn’t mean the changes didn’t affect them too – of course, they did.

But they couldn’t have stuck together, after all that pain, for the mere sake of it.

They’d have just ended up feeling like a patchwork family, with all the seams running loose.

It might have been easy-ish to take Trevor back, when he’d arrived at her cottage the other day, to try again, perhaps even go back to the old life they both knew.

But, somewhere deep inside she knew that wouldn’t have worked either, not in the long run.

They had both changed too much. It was staring them in the face.

But they could try and be friends. They needed to be, for their son’s sake.

Having Adam here brought that home, all the more.

She’d try her best to move forward positively, for Adam and herself.

After all, Trevor’s appalling behaviour had given her the chance to look at and live life in a totally new way.

As well as a gutful of hurt and loss, it was in fact a brand new chapter and a fresh chance at happiness that her ex had given her.

A few days later, and after sorting out mounds of sweaty, dirty and occasionally mouldy washing, Cath was now on to the mountainous ironing pile.

Her mobile rang.

‘Hey, Cath, how’s it going?’ Susie was on the line. ‘I was thinking of coming up to see you, if that’s okay. I’ve got a few days off next week … and well, I’d love to catch up with you at last, see your new place.’

‘Ah, Suz, that would have been brilliant. I’d love to see you, but …

well, there’s no room here at the cottage just now.

Adam’s back … and,’ she lowered her voice, ‘his stuff is everywhere. There’s only the two bedrooms.’ The new dynamic of having a youth in the house was giving her a reality check. It was feeling cramped already.

‘Oh, I see.’ Her sister sounded disappointed.

‘I suppose you could stay at the pub, or there’s a B this wasn’t what normally happened at home. ‘Ah, right.’ Then he went quiet.

Cath let the silence sink in for a bit. Mum did not mean ‘mug’. And yes, whilst it had been lovely to spoil him those first few days, if he was planning on sticking around for a while, he’d need to help out sometimes at least. New rules would soon be coming into play.