Page 73 of A Seaside Escape
Greg, I’m fine. Please just let me be for a while. I need some space, okay? Concentrate on your own life and let me deal with mine.
She hit send but when she re-read the message she realised that perhaps she had been harsh.Too late now, lady, her subconscious chided.
Josie had arranged for them to go out for a meal with a few friends that night. They had been booked into the Tandoori Palace for eight. Mallory was looking forward to some good Indian food. She slipped on a pair of straight leg jeans, a purple V-neck top and black stilettos and she wore the bracelet from her first Christmas with Sam.
The restaurant was lively and warm when they arrived. The air was filled with the most tantalising aromas of exotic spices. Mallory’s mouth began to water in readiness for the delights she was about to savour. She sat towards the end of the long table with Josie at her right and Brad opposite. It was a kind of an accidental shield created by the friends for their supposedly fragile guest.
The night was filled with great conversation and delicious food but she was surrounded by couples and seeing others so happy made her strangely homesick for her little cottage in Scotland. She missed Greg. And reflecting on things with him she realised that Josie was right. Shehadclung to the first problem they had encountered. And the guilt over feeling she was being unfaithful to Sam was at the root of it all. But the truth was Sam was gone. He would never return and at some point she would have to move on. Life was for living and she knew Sam would want that for her. And Sam had wantedtheirlife to be in Scotland. There had to be something in that too, surely? Being back in Yorkshire hadn’t eased her heart as she had expected and she realised that perhaps relocating once again wasn’t the answer.
The morning after the meal out, she visited the graves of her parents and her Aunt Sylvia who were all interred in the Westerman family plot. She placed flowers there and sat, eyes closed, enjoying the peace and quiet of the tranquil cemetery.
She opened her eyes and tilted her head to rest it on her shoulder. ‘I wish you guys were still around so you could tell me what to do,’ she told the headstone. ‘I think back to the lives you had and the way you loved and I feel likeIshould be the same. Aunt Sylvia, you remained single after Uncle died. Dad you left to be with Mum when she was gone. It doesn’t feel right that I’m even considering moving on from Sam. I don’t know what to do. I loved him so much. But is it possible to have a love that deep again?’ She closed her eyes and as she sat there a warm breeze blew across her face. Something shifted in the air around her and a calm serenity settled over in her tumultuous mind.
If she had any chance of being happy again she had to at least hear Greg out. Give him a chance to explain. It was the only way she could move forward. Being down in Yorkshire wasn’t helping things at all. She couldn’t resolve anything down here.
Mallory decided that the next day would see her return to Clachan Seil and the cottage she now called home. She concluded that perhaps she should give Greg another chance at friendship… it would be a start.
Her early start had meant that the return journey home was fairly straight forward. She took a brief break at the Green Welly stop and took Ruby for a quick walk. Grabbing a coffee and croissant to go, she set off for home once again.
Walking through the door of the house felt good. This was the first time she walked in and felt at home fully; totally. She sighed in a mixture of melancholy sadness and hopeful happiness. She had serious thinking to do.
After taking a nap she headed on over to the pub. Greg was standing behind the bar. Alice was nowhere to be seen thankfully. She walked over and his eyes lit up when his gaze lifted to meet hers.
‘Mallory, you’re back.’ He sounded joyful, but then his expression changed. ‘How long are you here for?’
‘I’m not exactly sure, Greg. Not yet. Can I speak to you in private please?’ The pub was fairly quiet apart from Ron in his usual spot and Colin and Christine eating a meal.Do they ever cook?She smiled to herself. They all acknowledged Mallory with a wave and a smile.
‘Is everything okay, Mallory?’ Greg asked with a look of concern as they stepped outside.
She locked her gaze on his. ‘Greg, I’ve done a lot of thinking whilst I’ve been away.’
His dark eyes were like an open book today – one filled with mixed emotions. He gave a sad smile. ‘I’m not going to like this, am I?’ he winced.
She smiled at him which seemed to relax him a little. ‘I think maybe I was… too hard on you about the whole marriage thing. I think I was waiting for things to fall apart and discovering that was a way out. I think it proved I wasn’t really ready to be anything more than friends. I don’t know if that will ever change now. Maybe there’s too much water under the bridge. But I think we could be friends again… If you want to?’ she asked.
Disappointment creased his brow. ‘Mallory, I love you. I probably always will. It’ll be hard to just be friends, but I would rather have that than the icy chill between us.’ He reached out and stroked her arm, his chocolate brown eyes now tinged with sadness.
‘I’m sorry but friendship is all I can offer,’ she reiterated.
He nodded, a defeated expression replacing the sadness. ‘It’s better than nothing.’
‘So, where’s Alice?’
He sighed and ran his hands over his face. ‘She went home. She… wants to give things another go with me,’ he admitted.
Mallory snorted derisively. ‘Oh, I’m fully aware of that. Did she not tell you about our cosy little chat in the ladies the last time you played?’ Greg’s expression changed to one of anger, but Mallory continued. ‘She accused me of breaking your heart worse than she had and pretty much warned me off you.’
Greg’s eyes widened. ‘Shit! Really? Is that why you went—’
‘Ha! Greg, I won’t be scared off by her or by anyone. I’ve become quite tough lately. I just needed a break. That’s all,’ she said sternly.
‘Okay. Well, I haven’t made her any promises and I won’t be doing so either.’
Mallory raised her eyebrows at him. ‘Not that it’s any of my business, but she told me you’re thinking about getting back together with her.’
‘I’m thirty-eight, Mallory. I admit that I don’t want to be alone forever, and I know now that I can’t have the person that I want but… if I’m really honest with myself, I think I’d rather stick with being alone than go through another relationship with her. She’s asked me to think about things and I said I would, just to appease her enough to make her leave, but deep down I think she knows it’s a no-go—’
‘I know it’s nothing to do with me, but I think she’d hurt you again and, as my friend, that prospect doesn’t sit right. But anyway, I… I’m glad we talked. Look, I’ll be off now. I’m not staying for a drink. I just wanted to see you,’ she said brusquely, backing away and turning to make her way home.
