As she laid her head against his chest and ran her fingers through the hairs, she reminded him of the bookcase he’d talked about buying. ‘Where will you put it?’ she asked.
‘I think it’ll look really good in the dining room.’
‘Then you should go and get it, before someone else does.’
She’d never seen him pull his clothes on quite so fast. After he gave her one more kiss of course.
Now she realised that she was smiling at the memory as she sat in his chair in this beautiful cottage in Driftwick Bay. He would hate the way she was now. He’d want her to pull herself together and rejoin the world. He’d remind her that this cottage and this town were her home. And she knew he’d be devastated that she was even considering selling the bookshop to the developer.
But a piece of her was missing. Things had changed. The world was different now without Howard.
And it would be different for the rest of her days.
16
MARGOT
Margot took a seat in the Georgian-style tearooms to wait for Faye. It had a charming wooden interior and was hidden away on a side street just along from the bakery. Despite the onslaught of rain overnight, the sun had come out again.
Alistair had come to visit her. At first she’d not wanted him to disrupt his routine and his hard work, but when she saw him she realised how much she’d needed to see his face. They’d got Sebastian on FaceTime too and even though nothing had really changed since they last spoke, it made Margot feel as if things were going to be okay. She’d thanked them both again for the money and despite her anxiety at how she was quite going to do it, she assured them that she would be paying every single penny of it back. She felt a camaraderie between them that they’d likely always had but one that was coming to the fore now she’d left Perry.
Margot popped a napkin under one of the legs of the table, on top of a questionably levelled floor with flagstone tiles, and when she looked up again Faye had arrived.
They hugged each other hello and with the waitress so attentive immediately ordered scones with jam and cream plus tea.
‘How’s work going?’ Margot asked Faye. No matter that she’d done enough cleaning in the house near Ascot to last her a lifetime, she still envied Faye. The world of work felt alien to Margot, but she longed to do something useful, earn her own money, be able to support herself. She had to believe that she would, eventually.
‘I’ve had some extra vans to clean and I’m a bit knackered, but it’s all good.’
‘I don’t suppose they need any more help there, do they?’ She might as well ask. She had experience after all.
‘I’m not sure. I’m only filling in and the regular people are back today. I’ll ask though.’ Faye poured them both a glass of water from the carafe on the table. ‘Do you work back near your home?’
‘No, I’ve been a housewife for a very long time.’
‘So you do work, just not outside the home.’
Margot liked that distinction.
Thankfully Faye didn’t focus on Margot and her life because she leapt onto another topic. ‘So… the bookshop, open again. How about that?’
Faye had sent her a WhatsApp message to say that Driftwick Bay Books had reopened. ‘It’s a good thing,’ said Margot. ‘I’ll have to go inside and see it for myself.’
‘I think Howard would be glad it’s open again, even if the hours are limited.’ She sighed. ‘It’s such a shame that the three of us never got to meet.’
‘I know. It would’ve been incredible.’
‘I went to knock at the cottage again earlier,’ said Faye. ‘And this time I saw Bonnie.’
‘You did? How is she?’
‘She’s okay. But she didn’t talk much, and it felt like she couldn’t wait to get rid of me.’
‘That’s a shame. But I suppose Howard always said she loved her own company.’
‘He also said how bubbly she was.’
Faye had a point. ‘He’d hate that she’s struggling,’ said Margot. ‘But it’s early days.’
