Gemma
We pull into Clover Lane and my heart pounds. Ethan brakes quickly, and we almost hit a car that has been parked in the middle of the lane. A man with a red bulbous nose comes out, shouting, but we can’t hear him. I open the window. ‘You nearly killed us,’ I yell. I turn my head to check the children are okay and they are, thankfully.
‘No, you nearly killed your family. Stop speeding.’ He points at Ethan. ‘Just watch your driving in future. Idiot.’ He shakes his head and frowns at Ethan. ‘You again. I thought I’d seen the last of you.’ He gets into his car while rudely shaking his head then he turns onto his drive.
Ethan closes the window, and Cora stirs. I glance back at the man, wondering if he lived here when I visited my aunt.
‘Ethan, what did he mean by “you again”?’
‘I almost hit his car last time. He leaves his car in the lane. Forget him.’
‘No, we can’t forget him. That wasn’t your fault. We could have crashed and it would have been his fault, and he came out shouting at us.’
Ethan takes a breath and pulls onto Aunt Dorette’s drive. ‘Let’s drop it, shall we? It doesn’t matter. It really is nothing. I’m tired and I need to get us moved in. We’ll deal with him another day, when we’ve had some food and a sleep.’
I look at him, not sure if I can drop it. We have two children in the car who could have been hurt because of one entitled neighbour who thinks he can park where he likes, when he has a huge drive. Ethan is right, though; there will be time later to deal with that problem. We need to settle the children in. They’re exhausted. While turning onto our drive, I look down, not wanting to catch sight of the entrance to the woods. I take several deep breaths. It’s time to be strong, for my daughters.
As I get out of the car, a youngish woman is peering at us from the window above. She quickly slips away and I can’t see her anymore. One of the neighbours, a woman with what look like old acne scars on her face, runs over with a huge bunch of flowers.
‘Hi, I’m Tessa. I saw you pull up and just wanted to welcome you to the neighbourhood. I met your husband last month when he was working on the house and he said you had planned to move in today.’
My husband, the social butterfly. He’s already been out there making friends, which given my past is not what I wanted, but I smile regardless. ‘Lovely to meet you,’ I say as I unclip Cora from her car seat. I feel a mess in my wide-leg jeans and jumper as she stands there in a leopard print jumper dress and cropped jacket. Though it’s lovely to be greeted with a friendly face after the altercation we’ve just had.
‘She is so cute. Cora is such a pretty name and your other daughter must be Morgan.’ Tessa smiles at Cora with her plump pink lips.
I want to ask how she knows their names but I guess Ethan told her. ‘Yes, that’s our two. Do you have children?’ I hope she does. Morgan could do with some friends while we’re here.
‘No, we were never blessed.’
Damn, here for five minutes and I’ve already put my foot in it. ‘I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.’
‘It’s okay, honestly.’ She holds the flowers out. ‘Oh, these are for you to say welcome to the neighbourhood. Anyway, I won’t keep you. I know you must be busy but we should talk soon. I’m sorry for your loss too. Your aunt was much loved around here.’
‘Thank you, and the bouquet is beautiful.’
I nod to Morgan to get out of the car. I have my hands full and Ethan is wrestling to open the main door.
Morgan finally puts her phone away and steps out of the pickup. Tessa passes the flowers to her.
Tessa waves before heading off. I wonder if she lived here when I used to stay with my aunt. She looks to be about fifteen years older than me. I don’t remember her but I barely took any notice of the neighbours back then, and I’ve changed with age. I’m not that skinny kid with tightly pulled back hair; I’m a little on the ample side now with my hair falling freely over my shoulders. The past needs to stay well and truly there.
I can’t see the four-leaf clover plaque outside the main door. My aunt obviously got rid of it. Ethan ushers me through the entrance hall and up the stairs. I figure he’s not ready for me to be too shocked by what lies outside the apartment yet. He promised me weeks here, not months, and I’ll hold him to that. As we step into the apartment, it’s like being back home. Our furniture has been carefully placed into the main space with love and care. I’d almost forgive myself for not believing we weren’t back in our Bristol snug. The only giveaway is the old floral wallpaper and eighties-style pink lampshades. Ethan hasn’t touched the walls, floors or ceilings.
He brings his arms up behind me. ‘Well. What do you think?’
I shiver. It’s freezing and I’m still struggling to forgive him for allowing our finances to spiral without telling me. As we drove up north it got colder and colder. Here, there is snow on the ground and from what I read in the local paper online, this area can be prone to power cuts. That’s why Ethan has left torches everywhere and we have a generator, so work will continue through anything the weather gods throw at us. ‘It’s better than I thought it would be.’
Morgan dumps the flowers on the worktop at the far end before picking Cora up and storming into one of the rooms off the main living space. She’s barely spoken to either of us on the drive up.
‘I guess she’s still giving us the silent treatment.’ Ethan glances over his shoulder.
I shrug. ‘I get why. I’m not sure if I should still be giving you the silent treatment.’
He faces me and takes my hands in his. ‘Thank you for doing this. I know you didn’t want to and I am so sorry for everything. I’m going to make this right.’
My heart pounds. ‘Hide anything like that from me again, Ethan Houghton, and that’s it. I mean it.’ I decided to forgive him. He’d dealt with unexpected subsidence and several other catastrophes on the properties we chose together – all bad luck. When Ethan explained how things had snowballed out of control, I understood, but what I didn’t get was him hiding it from me.
He draws me in and hugs me. ‘No more lies, I promise. If we’re in trouble, I will talk to you immediately. We are going to make this place amazing in a matter of weeks, then we are going to sell it and move. We’re going to get our life back.’
