A Change of Circumstance by Susan Hill

Author:Susan Hill
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abrams
Published: 2022-03-29T00:00:00+00:00

Thirty-Three

Greta Tonks started work as soon as Olivia had left for school, had a short coffee break and half an hour for lunch, then continued until Liv got home around five, though if something urgent had come in she might go on until six. There was no shortage, a good legal secretary and typist would always be in demand, and she enjoyed the plain, meticulous prose she had to copy up.

This week she had taken half a day out, to have her check with the GP – more a formality than anything now, as it was eight years since her breast cancer and he had told her that she could make the checks every two years from now on, all was well. But the relief was always huge and she walked on air back to her car. It was only ten past three. She would go into town to buy her sister’s birthday present and a new wallet for herself – her present one, which Jeff had given her a very long time ago, was falling apart.

After that, a cup of tea and a scone, a quick call into the book-shop to collect her order, and home around the same time as Liv, who had her own key, but going into an empty house was a bleak thing at the end of a long school day, and Greta had always tried not to let it happen.

It was still very cold but the sleet and dark clouds had given way to a brilliant blue sky. Her relief at coming through the latest health check uplifted her spirits so much that she spent more than she had meant to on Nadine’s present and splashed out on a red Italian leather wallet for herself, larger than her old one with more sections. She also bought Olivia a small yellow rucksack, and a copy of a Maya Angelou novel, when she picked up her own book. In the tea shop in the Lanes she decided on a thickly buttered teacake with her Earl Grey and bought a ginger slice to take home.

Drinking her tea and looking out on the street, it occurred to her that not only had she enjoyed every minute of her afternoon but that she had not felt any need for company, certainly not that of her ex-husband, who hated shopping, hated tea shops, hated what he would have regarded as time-wasting. The thought of how much of his time was going to be eaten by a young wife who would probably love spending his money, and twin boys who would gobble up even more of it for the next twenty years, was a pleasing one.

The front of the house was dark when she got home, which meant that Liv would be in her room at the back. The porch light came on so that she could see to get her key and unlock the door before it snapped off again as she moved inside.

She set down her shopping and switched on the hall light.

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