Page 12 of Sunny Sundays at Primrose Hall

‘Yeah, we’ll take a leisurely ride, along the country roads. It should be a good day.’

‘Great,’ said Pia, with a forced smile. What else could she say? Jackson knew how she worried about him when he went out on his bike, but it was something he’d done ever since he was a lad, so it wasn’t as though she was ever going to stop him now. He was a grown man, an accomplished and safe rider, but even so she knew she would probably spend the whole day worrying and she wouldn’t be satisfied until she heard the familiar sound of his motorbike returning along the drive to Primrose Hall.

11

Sophie dashed into the big superstore on the retail park on her way home from work. She picked up a box of eggs and a loaf of white bread, planning to have scrambled eggs on toast for her dinner, but was also tempted by a bottle of white wine and a sharing bag of chocolate buttons, not that she had any intention of sharing them with anyone.

Just as she was putting her items through the self-serve checkout and popping them into her tote bag, she heard someone calling her name. She didn’t need to look around to see who it was, the familiar tone sent her heart plummeting to the bottom of her stomach.

‘Hi, Kyle,’ she said, turning around to greet her ex, despite the overwhelming desire to turn and run in the opposite direction.

‘Hey, Sophie, you look well. How are you?’

‘Good, thank you.’ It felt strange looking into his face, so familiar, and yet so unsettling here in the supermarket where she would least expect to bump into him. She collected her bag and moved out of the way, allowing the person behind her to use the till, and Kyle fell in step with her, walking out towardsthe car park. The scrutiny of his gaze on her profile made her uncomfortable, causing her skin to prickle. She had no idea what to say to this man whose life she had shared for so long. She was tempted to ask about his mum and dad, and his brother, just to break the awkward silence between them, but she didn’t want to get embroiled in a conversation, to bring up the past and give him the wrong idea that she might be interested in what he was doing now. In that moment, all she really wanted was to get away, to get home to the peaceful sanctuary of her lovely little cottage.

‘Why did you do it, Sophie?’

‘What?’ She swallowed hard, biting on the inside of her cheek. This was no place to have this kind of conversation. Besides, he would definitely know the reasons why. It was all in the past now. What was the point in bringing up old wounds?

‘You left so suddenly without giving me any warning. Walking away from me is one thing, but you walked away from our home, your job, my family without so much as an explanation. It was shit, Sophie, not only having to deal with my own bloody hurt, but having to contend with all the questions from my folks. You could have given them some notice at work. We had to get a temp in.’

Sophie’s gaze drifted around the car park, unwilling to face Kyle’s questioning expression. Part of her wanted to laugh in derision. Was that his main issue with her leaving? The inconvenience she’d caused to the staffing plan? She suppressed a sigh. She couldn’t allow her emotions to get the better of her. Not when she’d come so far. Nor would she let him make her believe that she had acted unreasonably in walking away from the situation. She had done nothing wrong. She’d walked away to save her own peace of mind and sanity.

‘I had to leave. Things hadn’t been right between us for months. You must have realised that. It could hardly have come as a big surprise to you.’

‘It did, Sophie. It bloody destroyed me. I tried contacting you, but you blocked me on every single means of communication. Where did you go? It was almost as though you vanished off the face of the earth. You clearly didn’t want me to find you.’

‘I thought it was the best way. Look, I’m going to have to get going.’ She glanced at her watch, as though she had somewhere else she needed to be. ‘Give my regards to your parents, won’t you?’

‘C’mon, Sophie, don’t be like this.’ Kyle reached an arm out to her, his gaze imploring her to stay, as she made to walk away. She recoiled from his touch. ‘We could go for a drink or something, we need to talk about this properly.’

Sophie’s eyes widened and her eyebrows shot up involuntarily.

‘I didn’t mean like that, Sophs. Give me a break. I’ve cut right down on my drinking. Just speak to Mum and Dad, they’d tell you. I meant something like a coffee.’

‘No, Kyle. I’m sorry. There’s nothing to talk about.’ She took a deep breath, steadying her emotions. ‘I’ve moved on. Made a new life for myself. You need to do the same.’

He blew out his cheeks, shaking his head, frustration threatening to get the better of him, but Sophie could tell that he was making a conscious effort to remain in control of his emotions, to not fly off the handle as he had done so many other times in the past.

‘Have you met someone else, is that it?’ he said evenly.

‘No!’ She shook her head emphatically, annoyed at his assumption. ‘There’s no one else. I’m at a point in my life where I want to be on my own. I don’t wish you any ill will, Kyle, but…’ There was no easy or kind way to say what he must surelyalready know. ‘It’s over. Now I really must go.’ Her patience was running out and she would rather be anywhere than here having this pointless conversation with Kyle.

‘Can’t we stay in touch, Sophie? Let me have your number at least. I’ve still got some of your stuff at home. I can drop it off round at yours, just let me know where you are.’

‘It’s fine. Keep it,’ she said, with a shrug of her shoulders, determined this time to get away. She marched towards her car, not looking back, relieved at least that Kyle wasn’t following her. She had nothing to feel bad about, but she couldn’t help feeling a pang of regret and sadness for everything that they’d lost, the fact that he was still obviously upset. She’d loved him once and her heart wasn’t completely made of stone.

During the car journey home, she managed to hold it together, ignoring the thoughts taunting her mind – could she have handled the situation differently? Perhaps she shouldn’t have even entertained a conversation with him and simply walked away, but Kyle hadn’t really given her the opportunity. Had talking to him simply stirred up old grievances, especially when she’d been at a point when she was moving on in her life, feeling a freedom and an excitement for the future that she hadn’t felt in years?

Arriving back at the cottage, she couldn’t get through the front door fast enough. With the adrenaline still buzzing around her body and tears threatening to fall, it took all her emotional strength not to succumb to the feelings. Instead, she threw down her coat and bag on the sofa, and went into the kitchen, filling the kettle and switching it on at the wall. Then she took a moment, closing her eyes as she rested against the worktop, taking a few deep breaths to settle her nerves. It was fine. She had it all under her control, or at least she thought she had, until a loud rapping on the door made her jump out of her skin.She startled, looking across at the front door as though someone might come charging through it at any moment.

It couldn’t be Kyle, surely? He wouldn’t know where to find her and she was certain he hadn’t followed her from the supermarket because she’d made sure to check her rear-view mirror on her way out of the car park, wanting to avoid that possibility. There it was again, louder this time, the sound sending a frisson of fear along her body so that she held herself stock-still, certain that whoever it was outside would hear her breathing. She was just giving herself a stern talking to about not being so ridiculous when a familiar voice came wafting through the letter box.

‘Come on, Sophie. Open up! I know you’re in there!’

Relief flooded through Sophie’s body on hearing Greta’s familiar voice, and she went rushing across to open the door to her friend.

‘Oh, thank goodness it’s you!’

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