Summer at West Sands Guest House: A perfect feel good, uplifting romantic comedy. Maggie Conway

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СКАЧАТЬ their neighbours appeared happy enough with families coming and going. Some mornings Molly would see a group of women clad in tight black Lycra, meeting after the school drop to go for a power walk. Other days they morphed into sleek looking businesswomen, suited and booted, jangling keys and driving off in their Mercedes or BMWs. She thought maybe she’d join their ranks one day but anytime she raised the subject of children, Colin managed to sidestep the issue. Now she was certain he’d never had any intention of starting a family and the thought made her stomach knot in anger.

      Wandering through to the front room, Molly wasn’t sure how she had got through the last few months. She’d rattled about the house on her own, trying to find comfort in being able to leave clutter lying around, cry at romantic films and read until midnight with the light on, her once endearing habits that had clearly come to annoy Colin.

      Colin hadn’t wanted to take much and there was little evidence that he’d ever lived here. She almost marvelled at how efficiently he had extracted himself from her life. He handled the dissolution of their marriage the way he handled everything, and she was subjected to his ruthless efficiency for one last time. She certainly didn’t want to prolong it or demean the situation further by haggling or stalling for time but all the same was shocked by just how quickly and clinically Colin was treating their divorce.

      Apparently, if neither of them contested their ‘irretrievable breakdown’, it could all be over in weeks. With no children involved, all they had to do was agree over property and financial matters. He’d done all the paperwork and she just needed to sign on the dotted line. All so simple.

      When Colin had brought round the papers for signing, Molly had inadvertently seen The Other Woman pacing up and down at the side of Colin’s car, taking a phone call. She had to admit, she didn’t look a total lush. Ultra slim with a sleek bob and a dark business suit, Molly couldn’t help thinking she’d been traded in for a more efficient model. Because although Molly hadn’t grilled Colin for details, that hadn’t stopped her imagining who the other woman was, how much more beautiful and talented she must be. In some ways, that she looked so normal made her feel worse; it was easier to think of her as some evil temptress intent on wrecking their marriage.

      Molly also discovered that day why Colin wasn’t overly concerned about the house and its contents. Not even trying to conceal his excitement, he told Molly he was relocating to the company’s head office in New York – presumably with her. When he told Molly it was a dream come true, she had swallowed with difficulty. It was a dream he had never shared with her.

      In the kitchen now, Molly glanced at the oversized retro clock hanging on the wall, willing time to speed up. Now that she was going, she wanted to get on with it. More for something to do than a desire for caffeine, she decided to make herself a coffee. She’d never got the hang of the fancy coffee maker Colin had insisted on buying despite its astronomical price. Still, it had outlived her marriage, she thought savagely as she watched the thick black liquid trickle into a cup.

      Carrying it through to the hall Molly studied her reflection in the hall mirror.

      On the surface, she looked more or less the same. Her auburn hair was longer than usual and the shadows beneath her large, dark brown eyes were certainly more pronounced. But inside, Molly knew she was different. Her self-esteem had as good as packed its bag and left with Colin.

      Miserable introspection had been her constant companion these last few weeks and she knew her confidence had vanished. Anger, sadness, resentment all vied for each other as she tried to work out how she had got it so wrong. Each time she thought she had some sort of handle on her emotions, she veered another way until now there was just emptiness.

      Taking a deep breath, she whispered her mantra to her reflection; I’ll be fine.

      She wasn’t sure what would come next, it was almost impossible to contemplate. Her marriage may be over but so much of her identity was connected to Colin. It was odd to be considering a future without him. Occasional moments of optimism surfaced – hope for what the future might bring – but those moments were eclipsed just as quickly by fear.

      At times anxiety and regret threatened to spill over but she forced them back down, determined not to give them a voice in her head. Her life with Colin had been dismantled and now she had to somehow reassemble her life on her own.

      The walls had started to close in on her and she knew she had to make a decision. Selling the house was the only option – she certainly couldn’t stay here, not now. The house was ready. Colin’s penchant for minimalism had ensured Phil Spencer’s top tip for selling – depersonalise and declutter – had been easy to achieve. No doubt a few eyebrows would be raised tomorrow when a For Sale sign was hammered into the small patch of clipped grass that constituted their front garden. There had been something liberating about handing over a set of keys to the estate agent’s, entrusting them with the viewings. The young estate agent had all but rubbed his hands together when she’d given him the instruction, no doubt anticipating his commission thanks to the recently published league table which had put their house in the catchment area for one of the best performing schools in the country.

      Molly checked, perhaps for the fiftieth time that day, her holdall sitting by the front door ready to go tomorrow. Hopefully she’d remembered everything she needed for the next few weeks. Now that her temping job had ended, she was free to embark on her summer escape, as she had taken to calling it.

      A whole summer lay ahead of her and apart from selling the house she had made no other decisions. Something about it felt seismic, a sense she was on the cusp of change. This time tomorrow she’d be at West Sands Guest House and she couldn’t wait.

       Chapter Two

      It may have been June and technically summer but that had never stopped the clouds sweeping in from the Atlantic and unleashing their load onto the west of Scotland and today was no different. Molly hated motorway driving, even more so in wet conditions, and her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly as she concentrated on the road ahead. Huddled in her faithful little red Ford, she stayed in the slow lane, silently cursing every time a lorry thundered by and sent spray lashing onto her window screen.

      Earlier that morning she had slipped out of the house, locked the front door and driven out of the quiet cul-de-sac without looking back. In a few hours she’d be at West Sands Guest House in St Andrews and once again, she thanked her lucky stars the way things had worked out.

      Molly had resisted running to her parents no matter how effusive she knew their welcome would be – that was assuming they even had room for her in their bijou apartment overlooking Palmira’s golf course which was proving to be a very popular destination for friends and family to visit.

      Molly’s parents had waited for her to finish university before selling the family home in Glasgow where Molly had grown up and retiring to Portugal. Molly had in effect gone from living with her parents to living with Colin. This was her first time flying-solo as it were – albeit not by choice – and she needed to prove to herself as well as to them that she could stand on her own two feet.

      She couldn’t imagine anything sadder than having your divorced daughter barge in on your well-earned retirement. The thought of facing them, of seeing the disappointment in their faces was something she was quite willing to delay. Her fear was that she would somehow simply crumple and lose herself under their love and attention.

      The truth was, Molly felt ashamed. Her happily married and loving parents would somehow reinforce her guilt and shame that she had failed to make her marriage work. СКАЧАТЬ