Page 77 of A Seaside Escape
Mallory scrunched her brow. ‘What on earth is that?’
Josie cleared her throat and wiped at her eyes. ‘Erm… it’s a… erm… Maple tree, Mally. We thought you could plant it in your lovely garden up there in Scotland.’
Mallory’s lip trembled and she grappled the pair into a bear hug. It was such a wonderful sentiment and she was lost for words.
‘Yeah, daft bat forgot you were on the train,’ Brad laughed, trying to lighten the mood even though it was clear from his voice that he was emotional too.
Mallory wiped at her eyes and gazed at the sapling. ‘It’s the best gift ever. Sam would’ve loved it and I can’t wait to plant it.’
Whilst she was in Yorkshire she caught the train into the city just because she could and she covered for Josie in the shop, enjoying being back on the frontline again. It was like old times and it felt comfortable. The thought of opening the second shop at Easdale began to dance around her head again.So many things to think about and so little will to face them.
After boarding the train to make her journey home to Scotland, Mallory secured the huge tub and the sapling it contained in the luggage rack. Once seated, she got chatting to an elderly lady, quite out of the blue. The lady enquired as to her marital status, as old folks tend to, and when the train broke down due to an engine fault, she found herself telling this complete stranger all about Sam and Greg. It felt good to talk to someone who just listened without preconceived ideas and without any prejudice.
The lady, who introduced herself as Edith, spoke candidly, reminding her of her Aunt Sylvia. ‘You know, my dear, after the Second World War things were tough. We had little money back then but we were so relieved to have peace. I loved my husband-to-be so dearly. Geoffrey was such a handsome fellow – a bit older than me, but I couldn’t wait to be his wife. But then war broke out again, this time in Korea and he was called up to serve his country and my heart broke. It’s a war that people don’t really think of any more but my Geoffrey was killed in action the first week out. I couldn’t believe it. I never thought I’d ever love anyone again. But it just goes to show that love doesn’t follow strict timings.’
‘Whatgoes to show, Edith? What happened?’ Mallory asked enthusiastically.
‘Well, there were all these “yanks” as we called them, still in the UK after the Second World War. Many of them chose not to go home. Stanley was one of the “overpaid and over here” lot.’ Edith chuckled at her memory. ‘He was handsome, sure enough. But I was grieving for my Geoffrey. The trouble was, Stanley fell head over heels for me and was determined to make me do the same.’
‘What did he do?’ Mallory was intrigued by the romance of the story.
‘Oh… he gave me extra rations for my family… he brought me silk stockings and chocolate when they were virtually impossible to get hold of… he picked flowers for me.’ She smiled fondly. ‘He was a true gentleman and slowly but surely I realised that life was too short to look backwards. I was never going to get Geoffrey back, but I had a chance at happiness again.’ She looked directly at Mallory, her eyes filled with sincerity. ‘If you love someone enough, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks, dear. It doesn’t matter what’s in his past. If he truly loves you and no one else and youknowthat deep in your heart… well, I wouldn’t be sitting on a broken-down train chatting to some daft old lady. I’d be on my way to wherever he was.’ She squeezed Mallory’s hand and Mallory immediately realised that the story had come back to her and Greg.
Mallory’s eyes stung. ‘But… his wife… he lied.’
The old lady took a deep breath. ‘Now dear, I think seeing as I don’t know you, I can be brutally honest. The wife he has is what you youngsters these days call “emotional baggage”. He doesn’t love her. It sounds to me like he doesn’t even think about her long enough for her to become a concern for him andthat’swhy she never came up in conversation. What you need to decide is whether you’re prepared to accept that?’
The train jolted into life again and Mallory sat back, open-mouthed at the clarity that Edith had brought to her situation. The train pulled into the next station and Edith rose to alight the carriage.
‘Edith!’ Mallory was shaken from her thoughts. ‘What happened… to you and Stanley I mean? Did you get your happy ever after?’ Mallory was desperate to know.
Edith smiled warmly. ‘Dear, we were married for fifty-four years, blissfully happy until I lost him to the dreaded cancer.’ She shook her head. ‘I never regretted a single moment of “rushing into it” with him, dear. He was wonderful. Now see that you don’t miss that chance at happiness. Take care.’ And with that, Edith was gone like a fairy godmother.
Everything suddenly became clear. Mallory knew exactly what she needed to do and just had to pluck up the courage to do it. Another journey beyond her comfort zone was on the horizon, that one thing was certain.
*
Mallory arrived back in Scotland in time for the Halloween bash at the pub. Stella had texted and asked her to come in and help decorate the place with accessories for the party and she had cordially agreed to do so. She was so excited. She had done a lot of thinking about things whilst she was away, thanks to Edith and of course straight-talking Josie. She was looking forward to seeing Greg to ask for his forgiveness over how she had reacted and to ask if he wanted to give things another go.
But before going to the pub, she had a couple of important things to do. After collecting Ruby from Ron she drove along the road to see a little shop in Easdale with a view to renting it. The village, with its whitewashed one-story buildings, had a nice community feel with a couple of restaurants and little shops whereLe Petit Cadeauwould fit in very well.
The place she viewed was perfect. The amount of space was just right and the owner had welcomed her interest. He gave her some figures to look through and she was going to peruse them to see if it could work out running the two shops concurrently. It was an exciting prospect and she couldn’t wait to tell Greg that she would be sticking around after all.
Once she returned home she changed into scruffy clothes and took the little sapling out into the back garden. Ruby followed close behind and helped dig the hole by the workshop where the maple tree would be situated.
After planting the young tree in the soil, she watered it and placed a large pebble with Sam’s name painted on over the newly settled dirt.
‘Sam, I want you to know that I didn’t mean to fall for someone so soon after losing you. It was never my intention to fall in love at all. But you taught me what real love is and so now I know how to recognise it when it happens. But I miss you. And that will never change. But I have to look to the future now. I have to live the life you wanted for us. I will always love you, Sam. And you’ll always be in my heart.’ She closed her eyes as a warm breeze caressed her face and she smiled.
*
After she showered and dressed in clean clothes, Mallory clipped Ruby’s lead to her collar and she set off for the pub with butterflies doing the Highland Fling in her stomach.
When she arrived at the pub Greg was already there. She grinned like a Cheshire cat when she saw him and had to restrain herself from running into his arms. She was about to shout a greeting to him where he stood behind the bar pinning up pumpkin streamers. But before she had a chance to speak and much to her dismay, a pretty dark-haired woman, presumably Kate, walked in from the back and slid her arms around him. Mallory’s heart sank.Oh. Ship = sailed, her subconscious mocked her.
Greg spotted her and waved. ‘Hey! You’re back matey! Welcome home!’
Oh, so we’re back to matey now. ‘Yup. Can’t seem to get rid of me, eh?’ she joked but Greg just frowned.
He took Kate’s hand and brought her over. ‘Kate, this is the very talented Mallory who made my chalkboard. Mallory this is my… erm… this is Kate.’
Kate held out her hand. ‘Nice to finally meet you. I was admiring your signs in Colin’s shop. Greg’s right about your talent. They’re beautiful things.’
Mallory shook the proffered hand. ‘Good to meet you, Kate. And thank you. I’m glad you like them.’
Kate seemed very nice, but a little cagey around her although Mallory had no clue why. She tried hard to be cordial, but found it tricky considering that Kate kept on making romantic gestures towards Greg in Mallory’s direct eyeline. She was like a cat marking her territory, although Greg looked uncomfortable with it all.
