A Vicarage Reunion by Kate Hewitt

Author:Kate Hewitt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance
ISBN: 9781947636880
Publisher: The Tule Publishing Group, LLC
Published: 2018-01-24T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Esther stood on the threshold of The Queen’s Sorrow, her heart thudding uncomfortably as she perused the crowded pub. She was due to meet Mark Taylor there, as much as she didn’t really want to. After her rather reckless acceptance of his invitation at the coffee morning, she realized she didn’t have his mobile number to cancel, and she’d been reluctant to send the message through Rachel.

For the last few days, her mother’s surprisingly stern words had been ringing in Esther’s ears, and making her chest hurt. I thought I’d raised you better than that. She’d bristled at her mother’s tone, but inside she’d cringed because Ruth was right. Esther hadn’t treated Will fairly, but she also didn’t know if she could have done otherwise. She’d been in such a wretched place, and crawling out of the darkness felt like the hardest thing she’d done, and she’d barely started.

Still, having a drink with a single, attractive man on the heels of all that hardly felt like the right or wisest course of action. Yet here she was.

“Esther!” Mark called to her, waving from a cosy table at the back. Esther plastered a smile on her face and immediately felt it slip. She really didn’t want to be here.

“Let me get you a drink,” Mark said, rising as she approached the table. “What would you like?”

“A glass of white wine, please, but I’ll pay—”

“Nonsense.” She gave him what she hoped was a quelling look, but it seemed to bounce off him. “You can get the next round.”

The trouble was, she didn’t want there to be a next round. Feeling miserable, Esther sank onto a stool and watched Mark weave his way through the crowd towards the pub. The Queen’s Sorrow was the village’s posh pub, with an open fireplace and squashy chairs, and an air of relaxed, restrained cheer that was a far cry from the raucous feeling at The Bell. Not that Esther had ever been in The Bell, but she’d walked outside it on a weekend evening, heard the shouts, jeers, and catcalls.

She let her gaze sweep over the crowd, grateful that for once she didn’t recognize anyone. The last thing she wanted was it getting back to Will that she’d been out having a drink with a man. Of course, just because she didn’t recognize anyone, didn’t mean they didn’t recognize her. That was the joy and headache of living in Thornthwaite and being the vicar’s daughter. Someone here was bound to recognize her, just as the news was bound to get back to Will. She couldn’t avoid it.

“Here we are.” Mark placed a glass of white wine down in front of her with a flourish, and placed a glass of red in front of his seat. Will never drank wine. Somehow, seeing that glass of red, made Esther miss him more.

“I’m not sure I should have come out tonight,” she blurted as Mark settled himself across from her.

He frowned and took a sip of wine. “Why not?”

“Because… because I’ve separated from my husband but it’s still very new.

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