On her twenty-fifth birthday, she and James had the biggest and best wedding ever held at the hotel. They had honeymooned in Cyprus, leaving Willow with her grandparents, and then they’d moved in with him, a couple of miles outside the village.
Everything had been going well until one morning, nearly five years later, when Eliza awoke to find the bed empty. It was quite early, the alarm hadn’t gone off, so she got out of bed and went downstairs to James.
She found him on the kitchen floor after having a fatal bleed on the brain. He was a week off his thirtieth birthday. Her world had come crashing down.
Since then, she’d been in a few relationships but nothing special enough to commit to long term. It was over eight years since James had died, and she still felt like a part of her was missing.
Eliza took a coffee through to her mum, who was working in the office.
‘Strange to see Harry back after all this time, isn’t it?’ Eliza said as she popped the mug onto the desk. ‘Especially after seeing Ava, too. It’s as if time has stood still. Mind you, Ava looks far better. Harry seems worn out.’
‘His father is dying. I thought he might have told you.’
Eliza grimaced. ‘No, he never said, but I didn’t catch him to speak to much last night. Is he back for good, do you know?’
‘He told me he’s clearing out the house and then moving on afterwards. I expect he’ll be here for a few months.’ Stella smiled. ‘It brought back so many memories seeing him. When they were younger, we’d call him, Jack, and Dan the three amigos. You couldn’t tell one from the other, can you remember? People used to ask me if I’d had triplets when they were in their teens.’
‘I can recall when he was working behind the bar. He’d always end up helping his dad home when he’d had too much to drink. I had thought Harry might turn to alcohol, too, but it seems not.’
‘Yes, I’m glad about that.’ Stella paused. ‘Are you going to speak to him about?—?'
‘Must dash, Mum,’ she interrupted. ‘Lots to do.’
‘But we must talk.’
‘Yes, we will, when I’m not as busy.’
Eliza dashed out of the room and away from her mother’s stare. She couldn’t cope with that right now. Because it had been a shock as well as a pleasure to see Harry last night.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The time to leave that afternoon came around quickly for Ava, and she was grateful for Jack’s offer of a lift to the train station. They pulled up in the car park, and he turned to her with a grin.
‘Safe journey home,’ he said to her. ‘I’m looking forward to working with you again next week. What time is your train back on Sunday?’
‘I should get here for half past six, if there are no delays.’
‘I’ll pick you up, if you like?’
‘Are you sure? I don’t want to trouble you.’ Nevertheless, Ava went all warm inside.
‘It’s no bother at all. Message me once you’re on your way.’
There was a weird silence in the car as she sat for a few seconds. Wait, was she expecting him to kiss her goodbye? Blushing furiously, she gathered herself together and got out quickly. Her case was in the back, so she grabbed that, too.
‘Well, see you on Sunday, then,’ she said.
‘You will that.’
Ava waved when Jack drove off. Her smile was so wide her mouth was aching. What a lovely week, and she had three more to go. Part of her didn’t even want to go back to London, but shewas only in Somerley for work. It wasn’t a holiday, even though it seemed that way at times.
Once she was settled on the train, her mind went over the events of the past week. Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun, she mused. This time last week, she’d left the office filled with trepidation about what was to come. A few days later and she already felt as if she’d been at Sapphire Lake for months.
For some reason, she seemed to fit as well now as she had done back in her childhood and couldn’t believe she’d never visited since. It did have a special place in her heart but, because of the death of her father and then heading off to university, the little village had become a tiny dot in her memory, a certain boy a distant moment in time. And there were so many places that she hadn’t visited, she hadn’t seen the need to come again.
She was definitely glad that she’d never brought Giles there. He would have sullied any good memory she had. She was certain, too, that he would never set foot in such a tiny place. Giles was very materialistic and wouldn’t settle for peace and tranquillity when he could have a booze cruise or a flashy holiday in Florida or sun-soaked Barbados.
The places they’d been together had been amazing, though, and on a trip to Antigua, Ava had found pleasure in taking photographs. It was something she felt she was good at, that held her interest, and as soon as she’d got home, she’d enrolled on a beginner’s photography course.
