Page 58 of Happy Days Ahead in the Cornish Village

Megan reversed a little, backing up further down the lay-by. She was closer to the road now, still over enough so not to prevent other vehicles from driving into the lay-by, but further away from the tree with the dodgy branch. She glanced behind her. Her car was likely visible from the road but at least she’d feel a little safer.

With the evening drawing in and further darkening the sky, Megan checked the clock on the dashboard once again before turning the ignition off. It was only half past seven. She’d tried to stay at Wagging Tails for as long as she possibly could, but with Flora worrying about people driving in the storm, she hadn’t been able to stay indefinitely. Never mind, she was here now, and the storm wouldn’t last forever.

Crossing her arms over the steering wheel, she fixated on the branch dancing in the wind. With each gust, she could hear the wood creak and splinter from the trunk. Should she move from the lay-by? Try to find somewhere safer? But where was there? She couldn’t park up in a car park due to parking restrictions.

She closed her eyes, letting her forehead dip to her arms. She could feel the tiredness creeping in and if she’d still been at the bed and breakfast she knew she’d have been asleep within minutes of her head hitting the pillow. But here, with the wind and the rain battering the car? She kept her eyes squeezed shut. She might just be able to fall asleep. Even a nap would be better than nothing at all.

A loud bang echoed, visions of a giant yellow vehicle, a bulldozer hitting the side of a building. Another bang, louder this time, encroached on her dream. A version of herself watching as the old marital home was razed to the ground. Lyle was there. Grinning from ear to ear, telling her that if he couldn’t have the house, then no one would. He was happy. She wasn’t.

Again, the giant iron ball smacked into the brickwork, the house falling like a pack of cards around her.

‘Megan!’

Who was calling her? She turned and looked at Lyle, his eyes still fixated on the house as the glass from the window smashed around them, a million little pieces snowing down on them.

‘Megan! Wake up!’

Jolting to consciousness, Megan blinked and stared out of the windscreen. The branch had fallen, missing the bonnet by half a metre.

Another bang, a loud tap this time, to her right. She turned and jumped as Jay’s face came into focus. Winding the window down, she spoke, her voice thick with sleep.

‘Jay? What are you doing here?’

‘I could ask you the same question. It’s dangerous out here. Why have you pulled up?’ He held the hood of his coat over his head, the wind trying to tug it from his grasp.

‘I…’ She looked in the rear-view mirror. He’d parked behind her, the orange of his hazard lights flickering on and off.

Peering through the window, the muscles in his cheek twitched. ‘Follow me to my place.’

‘What? Why?’ She started the ignition. ‘I’ll just get back to the bed and breakfast, that’s all. See you tomorrow.’

She wound the window up again, the sheet of glass obscuring his words.

Jay tapped on the window again, waiting for her to open it once more.

‘You’re sleeping in your car, aren’t you?’

‘No. Of course, I’m not. Why would I be?’

How did he know? She’d have to get going somewhere else, anywhere but here, pretend everything was fine.

‘Megan, please?’ His voice was almost lost as a huge gust tore past them. ‘Just come back to mine and we can talk. Or I can take you to Flora’s if you don’t want to come to mine. You can’t stay out here. The road is flooding and there’s already been one tree down and that’s just between Wagging Tails and here. It’s only going to get worse.’

Megan looked out of the windscreen. He was right, from the little she could see through the sheets of rain cascading down from the sky, the wind was relentless. He was right, she couldn’t stay here. If she did and the car became damaged, she’d have nothing.

She nodded.

‘Follow me back.’ He indicated his car before running towards it.

Megan waited until Jay had reversed out of the lay-by before doing the same. She couldn’t pull forward, not with the huge branch lying across the ground. Back on the road, she gripped the steering wheel as she followed him, keeping the speed low and the windscreen wipers on high. Not that it was making much difference. She could barely see the red glow from his back lights, let alone anything else.

As they approached West Par, Jay’s car stopped suddenly and Megan slammed on the brakes, her bag on the passenger seat falling to the floor, her clean, damp clothes spilling across the footwell. She wound her window down as she watched Jay running towards her.

‘Another tree has just come down; we’ll have to turn around and go the other way.’ His voice was laced with urgency.

‘Okay.’ She nodded before he retraced his steps back to his car.

What had she done? If anything happened to Jay on their way back to his… She shook her head, turning her thoughts instead to focusing on the road, to turning around down the narrow lane, to following his car.

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