“Oh, wow.” Free PR by a local businesswoman would be ideal. “Thank you.”
Harriet gave her a quick smile. “It would be my pleasure, honestly.” She turned in to a gravel drive on the edge of a pastoral-looking meadow, a wood skirting on one edge and a tranquil pond glinting on another. “Right, time to exercise this lot,” she announced.
“I don’t need to be exercised,” Mallory complained, while William hurled himself out of the car as soon as Harriet had put it in park.
“This bit is open to the public although you have to pay for the formal gardens,” she explained as she slapped her National Trust membership card on the dashboard. “And dogs are allowed off lead, thankfully, or Daisy would go mad.”
Harriet helped Chloe out of the car as Mallory slunk behind and William ran ahead with a ball. Harriet clipped on Daisy’s lead as Chloe slipped her hand into Emily’s, looking up at her with wide blue eyes.
“Where are your children?”
Emily let out a surprised laugh. “I don’t have any.”
“Why not?”
“Well…I’m not married, for a start.”
“You don’t have to be married to have children,” Chloe stated matter-of-factly. “My friend Izzy’s mum isn’t married. She doesn’t even have a boyfriend.”
“Oh. Well.” Emily met Harriet’s gaze in a laughing plea for help.
“Emily might have children one day,” Harriet said as she rounded them all up and directed them to a narrow path that wound through a deep wood. “She’s a bit young.”
“How old are you?” Chloe asked.
“Er, twenty-six.”
“Izzy’s mum is only twenty-five—”
“That’s enough, Chloe.” Harriet gave her daughter a gentle push. “Go kick the ball with William. Mallory, no phone.”
Emily glanced behind them to see Mallory sulkily tucking her phone in her jeans’ back pocket. Did Harriet have eyes in the back of her head? That must be a mother thing, except her mother had never been like that.
Chloe’s words continued to rattle around in her head—where are your children? Why don’t you have any? Questions she’d never considered for herself before, because the whole concept of children, family, husband, all of it, had been completely out of her experience and even her imagination.
Yet now…now she felt differently. Now she felt that a relationship could be possible, if not with Owen, then maybe, one day, with someone else. And yet just the thought of “someone else” made her heart twist inside her. She didn’t want someone else. She wanted Owen.
“So how are you, really?” Harriet asked in a gentler voice as Mallory lagged behind and William and Chloe raced ahead. They’d crossed the sunny meadow and were now walking through the wood, the path twisting through the trees among pools of sunlight and wells of shadow. The air smelled of damp earth and freshness, and despite her sadness about Owen, Emily’s spirits lifted just a little.
“I’m all right, I suppose,” she said.
“Ava mentioned your mum’s in hospital, but coming out soon?”
“Yes, in just a few days.” Of course the Wychwood grapevine was sizzling with the news. Emily wasn’t surprised, and she tried not to feel raw. She certainly didn’t feel anywhere near as prickly and defensive as she once would have been.
Harriet laid a hand briefly on her arm. “It’s not gossip, it’s concern,” she said quietly, seeming to see the struggle Emily still felt. “Although I know one can feel like the other. But we’ve all been through rough times, and we want to support each other. No one’s an island, you know.”
“I am learning that, actually, thanks to everyone here.” Emily managed a smile. “You’ve been through rough times?” Harriet seemed so confident and capable, Emily had trouble imagining it.
“Yes, I have,” Harriet answered frankly. “I’ve had my whole life upended, actually, and while it turned out to be a good thing in the end, it certainly didn’t feel that way at the time. It felt absolutely horrible.” She heaved a sigh of memory before continuing, “My husband Richard lost his job…we lost our house…I lost my friends, or at least the people I thought were my friends. It felt as if I had absolutely nothing. That’s why I ended up in Willoughby Close for a time. Richard and I separated for a few months.”
“I’m sorry,” Emily said quietly. “I didn’t know any of that.”
“It was very humbling,” Harriet continued, her face set in grim lines of memory. “I thought I had it all together. In retrospect, I was a bit arrogant, and I needed taking down a peg or two. I probably still do.” She gave Emily an abashed smile. “I don’t think we had the best start, and I know I’m a bit bossy, but I do want to help, you know.”
“Thank you,” Emily murmured. She was grateful for Harriet’s honesty, but she wasn’t sure now how she could help. Owen was still uninterested. No matter how capable she was, Harriet couldn’t make him change his mind.
“So, Owen,” Harriet said as if making an announcement, and Emily looked at her warily.
“Yes…”
“I’ve been where he is,” she continued with relentless determination. “Losing everything. Feeling as if you have nothing to offer anyone. And let me tell you, it hurts when you’ve always been the one who takes care of things. Who’s used to being in charge, and having all the answers, and bailing people out of their own scrapes.”
“I know that is how you are,” Emily said with a small smile, “but do you really think that is how Owen is?” She realised she hadn’t had a chance to find out.
“He was with you,” Harriet said bluntly, and Emily grimaced. Ouch. “I don’t know the ins and outs of course, but I know how hard it is for a man who likes being seen as the veritable knight in shining armour to suddenly lose his steed and his
