Page 16 of Happy Days Ahead in the Cornish Village

‘Because it’s the end of an era in your life. The end of something which was supposed to last forever. The loss of the future you thought you’d have.’ Jay’s voice was kind, his words a statement, not a question.

Sitting back down, Megan slid his mug across to him. ‘Yes. You sound as though you know what you’re talking about?’

‘Thanks.’ Jay took a sip of his coffee. ‘It’s been two years since I divorced my wife.’

‘Oh, sorry to hear that.’

‘Don’t be. It was my decision. Albeit a decision I was forced into.’ He lowered his mug onto the table and unwrapped his sandwich. ‘She cheated on me. I only found out by accident, and I’ve got to admit it floored me for a few months. I didn’t even let on that I knew what she was up to. I figured if I just carried on as normal, it might all go away, I might find out that she’d ended things with him, and we could get on with the rest of our lives.’

‘It didn’t? I mean, she didn’t end things?’

‘Nope.’ Jay shook his head and laid his sandwich on the Tupperware box. ‘Quite the opposite. My wife introduced him to our daughter, who was four at the time. She came home, super excited to tell me that Mummy had taken her to a theme park and then proceeded to tell me how much fun Mummy’s friend Patrick had been and that he’d even bought her an ice cream.’

‘Ouch. That’s awful.’

‘Yep.’ Jay rubbed his hand over his face before shaking his head. ‘And suddenly I knew that I couldn’t carry on the charade of pretending we were a happy little family a moment longer. I found a solicitor the next day.’

‘Sorry, that must have been really difficult. Especially with a young child involved.’

She looked at him. The usual glisten of happiness in his eyes had been replaced with a dullness instead.

‘It was, but I know it was for the best. In the long term. I didn’t want Mia to grow up thinking that was what marriage was supposed to be. And I just couldn’t carry on living a lie any more.’

Megan nodded.

‘So I understand that however much you may or may not have wanted the marriage to end, it’s still a blow. You’ve suddenly got to navigate a life you thought you wouldn’t lead.’

Megan wrapped her hands around her mug, drawing it close to her despite the warmth in the room. ‘Yes, that’s precisely it.’

‘Did your ex cheat too?’ Jay asked.

‘No, he didn’t cheat. Not that I know of, anyway. He worked too much to have the time to cheat.’ She took a sip of her coffee. ‘I found out he wasn’t the man I thought he was. He’d changed too much.’

‘Ah.’ Jay picked up his mug and held it across the table towards her. ‘Here’s to new beginnings.’

Leaning forward, she gently clicked her mug against his and smiled. It was nice to be able to talk to someone who understood, who had been through something similar and really understood the mixed feelings. ‘New beginnings.’

The bell above the door into the reception area tinkled and Flora’s voice wafted into the kitchen. ‘That’s it. Careful! The last thing you need is to make it worse!’

Jay tilted his head and looked at Megan quizzically before leaning back in his chair and peering out of the open kitchen door. ‘Everything okay?’

‘Is that you, Jay?’ Flora called.

‘It is. Do you need a hand?’

‘No, no. It’s fine.’ Percy’s voice joined in.

‘Yes, please, Jay,’ Flora said, her voice tinged with concern. ‘Percy’s only gone and done his back in.’

Jumping up, Jay hurried out of the door.

Megan stood too, unsure whether she should go and help or if she wasn’t needed. But before she could move, Jay and Flora appeared in the kitchen, both of them on either side of Percy, supporting him as he shuffled inside. Megan ran around the table to pull a chair out.

‘Thanks, lovely.’ Flora nodded to Jay, and they lowered Percy to the chair. ‘I’ll get you a hot water bottle.’

‘I don’t need any fussing. I’ll be as right as rain once I’ve had a five-minute sit down.’ Percy groaned as he shifted position.

‘I told you, you were doing too much. The problem with you is you think you’re still twenty years younger than you are.’ Flora tutted as she pulled open a cupboard door and began rooting around.

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