One
Kate Stone’s life had changed so much in such a brief period of time. Not because of any choices she had made but due to decisions made by those closest to her. Namely her daughter, Beth, and her own mum, Rose.
Even now, six weeks later, Kate could still hardly believe it.
During their customary Christmas and New Year holiday at Granny Viv’s elegant, five-storey, Georgian home in Bluewater Bay, both Beth and Rose had got engaged.
The proposals had happened exceedingly quickly and had taken Kate – and to some extent, Granny Viv … and in truth, possibly Beth and Rose – by surprise.
Kate had been delighted for her daughter, and for her mum, of course, and for their respective fiancés, Avery Remington and Frank Burton. But what Kate had not realised at the time of each proposal, as they had quaffed champagne and celebrated, was how different her own life would become.
Their traditional Christmas break had already been out of the ordinary due to the fact that it was Granny Viv’s one hundredth birthday on New Year’s Eve and they had wanted Christmas andNew Year to be extra special. Granny Viv was Rose’s mum, and therefore, Kate’s grandmother and Beth’s great-grandmother, but everyone called her Granny Viv, or simply Viv.
So, instead of spending the usual four days at Granny Viv’s rather grand home in the tiny seaside village of Bluewater Bay, the four generations of women had planned to spend two entire weeks together.
None of the women had life partners, prior to Christmas. Granny Viv had been a widow for more than forty years. Rose’s husband – Kate’s dad – had died ten years ago when Rose was sixty-eight. Kate’s own husband had left her one month later. They were now divorced and he was living in Dubai with a woman he had met in a bar six months before he left. Kate didn’t miss him. Nor did their daughter, Beth. He was a commercial airline pilot and was away from home more often than not. His betrayal hurt Kate, but the tears she shed that autumn were over the loss of her dad, not the breakdown of her marriage. Since her divorce, Kate had avoided romantic relationships and now, aged fifty-six, she was content without a man in her life. Her daughter, Beth, at thirty-five, had also seemed happy to be single. Or so Kate believed. But everything changed during Christmas and New Year.
It began with Rose’s last-minute invitation to her next-door neighbour, Frank, together with his beloved black labrador, Rufus, to join them at Granny Viv’s for the holiday season.
Frank’s wife, Meg had died in February – but it wouldn’t have been his first Christmas without her at home. Sadly, she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease eight years earlier, and five years ago, Frank had reluctantly moved her into a care home. He had visited her every day, but she had long since forgotten who he was and he had said that he felt as if he had lost her years before. During that final year, she had been very distressed to be left alone with him, which had brokenFrank’s heart. Rose, Frank, and Meg had been good friends for many years, and Rose had been Frank’s “rock” throughout Meg’s illness.
In many ways, it was obvious that the friendship between Rose and Frank might blossom into love once Meg had passed away, and Kate had wondered since, why she hadn’t seen what was clearly on the cards. Yet, until that Christmas holiday, she had no idea.
Rose and Frank had many interests in common and Frank was a mere two years older, but they were also complete opposites in some things.
Frank had white hair, white eyebrows, a snow-white beard, and looked a lot like Father Christmas – only much slimmer. Or the epitome of everyone’s favourite granddad. He wore walking boots, corduroy trousers, and comfy jumpers or cardigans, and he loved his padded jacket in the cold weather.
Rose, on the other hand, was as tall as Frank, and model-slim. Her chin-length bob had been coloured a cool, shimmery silver-grey with a smattering of pale purple highlights for more years than Kate could remember. Rose wore natural-looking make up every day and wouldn’t go outside without a generous spritz of perfume. Rose’s clothes were designer, and leather kitten heeled shoes or boots were her footwear of choice. Even her slippers had kitten heels. Rose exuded a vibe of elegance and fun. Very much like her own mother, Granny Viv.
And yet, Kate had noticed in recent weeks that Frank sometimes looked a lot more smartly dressed, and Rose had occasionally dressed more casually. Still in designer casuals – but casuals none the less.
In addition to becoming aware of Rose and Frank’s romance, Kate had been astonished to discover that Beth had been harbouring a secret crush on Avery, the exceedingly handsome,and extremely wealthy, great-grandson of Granny Viv’s next-door neighbour, Millicent.
Only it had turned out to be much more than a crush. Beth had been madly in love with Avery for an entire year, having met him – and had a fling with him – the previous Christmas. She hadn’t mentioned the fling to anyone, not even Kate, because she believed she had been ‘taken for a ride’ by him and she didn’t want to cause any ill-will between Granny Viv and Millicent. Beth had neither seen nor heard from Avery since, but that hadn’t stopped her loving him.
Fortunately, it transpired that Avery’s feelings matched Beth’s. Or possibly even surpassed them. He had spent the year believing Beth had ‘dumped’ him. When they had realised during Christmas they had each been wrong about the other, they had fallen into one another’s arms. Avery had declared his love for Beth and proposed on New Year’s Eve. They made a perfect couple, despite a few differences.
Beth was beautiful; Avery was handsome. He was a self-made millionaire by the time he reached thirty, and now aged thirty-seven, he owned a chain of hotels, and lived in a ski resort in the French Alps. Beth was a Primary school teacher – just like Kate – who lived with her mum in Chelmsford. Avery dined in the best restaurants, flew in a private jet, and lived the high-life. Beth sometimes treated herself to a pizza, or lunch at the local pub. She travelled by car, by foot, or by bus, and the closest she got to a high-life was going upstairs to bed.
The engagements might have taken Kate by surprise, yet at the same time, they had seemed so right. So perfect. And Granny Viv’s one hundredth birthday had been a complete success. Christmas and New Year had been eventful, to say the least.
In January, things began to change.
Kate, Beth, Rose, and Frank all lived in Chelmsford in Essex. Kate lived in the semi-detached 1930s house that she and herformer husband had purchased together shortly before they married, which Kate had kept in the divorce settlement. She loved that house, mainly because it was just a few hundred metres away from a similar 1930s semi, on the opposite side of the road, in which Kate had grown up and where her mum, Rose still lived. She also loved it because it was where her daughter, Beth had been raised, and Beth had lived in that home with Kate since the day they had returned from the hospital after Kate had given birth. In addition to all that, it was conveniently close to the local Primary school where Kate and Beth were both teachers.
Prior to that January, Avery had split his time between his home in Meribel, or visiting his other hotels, or staying with his great-grandmother, Millicent in her home in Bluewater Bay. But with Beth living in Chelmsford, it made it difficult for the newly engaged couple to see one another. Avery was wealthy enough to buy or rent somewhere closer to Beth and had announced his intention to do that, but it was Rose and her fiancé Frank who came up with a solution that Rose believed would suit everyone.
After the Christmas break, Kate, Beth, Rose and Frank, together with Frank’s beloved dog, Rufus, had returned to Chelmsford, and Avery had returned to Meribel.
Avery had arrived at Kate’s on the following Friday evening to spend the weekend with Beth. He was welcome, of course, and Kate had agreed to it beforehand, but although neither Beth nor Avery intended it, Kate was already feeling like a bit of a gooseberry in her own home.
Avery and Beth had been video calling each other all week, every day, morning and evening, and Avery had seen more than he had bargained for one morning. Kate had walked into view of the laptop screen in only her knickers, as she had passed through the kitchen on her way to the utility room to search for a clean bra.
Kate, Beth and Avery had laughed about it afterwards, but at the time Kate had been mortified and since that morning, Kate had double-checked whether Beth was on a video call, or merely scrolling the internet.
Kate remembered what it was like to be madly and passionately in love and she didn’t blame them one bit for wanting to spend as much time together as they could, both via video calls and in the flesh. But when Avery came to stay, Kate was very glad the walls in her house were thick.
Even so, she had inadvertently walked in on them sharing an extremely passionate moment in the kitchen, late one night.
