Page 25 of The Runaway Wives

Babs looked around at the now clear section of beach and the bags of rubbish they’d collected. Multiply this by the number of beaches in this part of Cornwall alone and she could understand why Glenn was angry. He had a job and his daughter to look after, so it really was good of him to give up his morning to organise the beach clean-up. All the other people here, too, a mixture of ages, giving up their spare time to make a difference. Some of them were retired, like her, so was it to fill their days? Or because life was passing them by and they wanted to grab the days and do something useful with them?

Like Geoff wanting to do something with his life before he got too old? That’s why he wanted to go to Spain, he’d said. She could understand him longing for new horizons and adventures, but why couldn’t they simply go on more holidays? A couple of cruises, perhaps. Why did he insist that they turn their whole life upside down?

18

DEE

She’d enjoyed the beach tidy up, being part of the community, and liked the idea of being involved with the Port Telwyn Artists’ Studios committee even when she went back home, Dee thought when they were back at Sunset View. She had lots of fundraising ideas already. They could do a Facebook page for the group, introducing all the artists and their work, with maybe links to each artist’s individual pages. If there was enough interest maybe they could do a GoFundMe page to raise more. Perhaps they could do an online shop too, where the artists could sell their wares, and they could offer workshops on Zoom or YouTube. She jotted down all her ideas, ready to discuss with Kenny later.

Her mind flitted to Nigel in Portugal. She hadn’t heard from him since she’d refused to go back home to collect his parcel, she wondered if he’d arranged for it to be redirected, or redelivered on Saturday as he’d be home early that morning. She didn’t want to miss the fundraising garden party in the afternoon though, so she and Babs were planning on going home afterwards. It wouldn’t hurt Nigel to come home to an empty house for once.

She could hear Babs on the phone in the garden and wondered if she was speaking to Geoff. He’d phoned her several times, trying to talk her into going home, but Babs wasn’t showing any sign of wanting to go back. And Dee couldn’t blame her.

‘Honestly, he makes my blood boil!’ Babs exclaimed as she stormed into the lounge.

‘Who? Geoff?’

‘Yes, bloody Geoff! He’s still going ahead with the house-viewing trip to Spain. I’ve told him that I’m not going and he can cancel any viewings whilst he’s away too, because I’m not having people traipsing around my home. I’ll double-lock the front door and take the bloody “For Sale” board down!’ She sank down onto the sofa. ‘He’s still going ahead with exactly what he wants and ignoring everything I say.’

‘Maybe you should go back and talk. You’re not going to sort this out when you’re not even in the same location,’ Dee pointed out.

Babs shook her head. ‘Stop trying to send me back home or I’ll be thinking you don’t want me here! I’m staying put. I’ve never been away without Geoff before and it was a bit strange at first, but now, well, I’m enjoying it. It was good to be involved in the beach clean-up today, and the fundraising do next Saturday, instead of the same old life.’ She took a deep breath. ‘The thing is, Geoff said he’s been bored since we sold the shop, well I have been too. I miss the interaction with the customers, the busy days. All this has made me think that maybe we’ve grown apart. It might be the end of the road for us.’

‘Oh, Babs.’ Dee turned to face her friend. ‘Are you sure that it’s not because of this moving to Spain business? You’ve always seemed to get on so well.’

‘We worked well together, we’re a good team, but now there’s no structure to our day. It’s all so “samey” and okay, I’ve just got on with it but I’ve felt alive since I came down here. Like I can be myself.’ She shook her head. ‘I don’t want to go back to how my life was before.’

‘I feel the same,’ Dee admitted. ‘I think it’s because we’re on holiday, we’re doing things we don’t normally do. The novelty would soon wear off after a couple of weeks. And surely you don’t want to throw all those years of marriage away.’

‘It’s Geoff who’s thrown them away,’ Babs reminded her.

They both turned as they heard a miaow at the French doors. It was Snowy. ‘I think he wants lunch,’ Dee said, opening the door so Snowy could come in. Then she took out the opened cat food tin from the fridge and put the remains into Snowy’s bowl. He immediately tucked in.

‘At least I can tell Edna that Snowy is well, and eating,’ she said. Her gaze went to the clock. ‘Actually we need to go soon if we want to go shopping before afternoon visiting.’ They’d both showered and changed already.

‘Should we leave Snowy inside, do you think?’ Babs asked.

Dee considered this then shook her head. ‘This isn’t his home and he might go a bit crazy being locked in here without us. We’ll let him back out. We know he’s happy enough to sleep on the chair in the garden. Plus it means he can go back and check on his home if he wants to.’

She put a dish of milk outside to coax Snowy out then closed the French doors.

‘Right, we’d better be off.’

* * *

‘This would suit you.’ Babs held up a pair of rose-coloured cropped trousers. ‘Why don’t you try them on?’ They were in one of the many smaller clothes shops in Truro.

Dee looked around, a pair of beige linen trousers in her hand. ‘They’re a bit bright…’

‘Go on, be daring. And look, you could wear this top with them.’ Babs held up a black and rose flowered top. Dee bit her lip, the top was definitely too loud for her but maybe she would buy the trousers. She had a lovely white top that would go with them.

‘Just try them,’ Babs persuaded her. She picked up a red maxi dress too. ‘And this. It would look great on you.’

‘Okay, I will,’ Dee agreed. Babs had an armful of clothes in pinks, yellows, orange and bright green. On impulse, Dee grabbed a black top with tiny rose coloured dots on it, too, then she and Babs went over to the changing rooms.

She was pleasantly surprised when she studied her reflection in the mirror. The trousers fit her beautifully, and the top was a perfect match.

‘Let me see,’ Babs shouted from the next cubicle.

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