How the Other Half Lives: Part Two: On Holiday by Sharon Booth

Author:Sharon Booth [Booth, Sharon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Green Ginger Publishing
Published: 2021-09-26T16:00:00+00:00

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The market place was a hive of activity as they stepped outside, but they quickly realised there was more to the square then market stalls. As well as another pub, The Lady Dorothy, named after one of Josiah Lavender's most famous paintings, there were plenty of shops, including a bookshop, an art gallery, a pharmacy, a gift shop, a hairdresser's, and a café. There were also several stone cottages, and a large house not far from the church which, upon closer inspection, they discovered was the vicarage.

All Hallows itself was impressive, and they wandered the church grounds, before sitting on a bench in the shade of a beech tree, astonished at the views of farmland that lay before them.

'This has to be the most beautiful churchyard I've ever seen,' Rafferty said.

'You're not kidding! It's gorgeous. Massive, too.' Sally sounded quite awestruck, and he couldn't blame her as he felt the same. He imagined the residents of Tuppenny Bridge must visit here regularly to sit, to talk, to contemplate and put the world to rights.

There was a paddock to the rear of the church grounds, where a few sheep grazed, but straight ahead of them as they sat on the bench, beyond Lavender Lane was open fields with the hills providing a spectacular backdrop.

'You'd never think there was a busy market going on just back there,' Sally mused, jerking her thumb in the direction of the entrance gates. 'It's so peaceful. I could sit on this bench for hours, thinking.'

Rafferty noted the wistful tone in her voice and shuffled a little on his seat. 'Is everything okay, Sally?'

His question seemed to put her on alert, as she eyed him nervously. 'What do you mean?'

'I'm not prying,' he said slowly, 'but I've noticed things between you and Jason aren't quite right.'

She sighed. 'That obvious?'

'Only because I know how much you adore him, and this week you've barely looked at him. I always held you two up as the ideal of a happy marriage, so I couldn't help but notice the difference since the last time I saw you together.'

'The ideal of a happy marriage?' Sally gave a bitter laugh. 'That's irony for you.'

'I'm sorry,' he said. 'I've obviously struck a nerve.'

'It's not your fault.' Her shoulders dropped and he waited, wondering what on earth had happened between them. Things were clearly far from ideal.

'Thing is,' she said at last, 'I'm not sure if me and Jason have a future any more.'

Rafferty swallowed, hardly believing what he'd heard.

'You won't say anything to anyone will you?' she asked. 'I don't want anyone to know. It's humiliating enough as it is.'

'I won't say a word,' he promised. 'I'm really sorry to hear that, Sally, but I can't believe things are that bad. I mean, you and Jason, you're...'

He broke off, unable to say what they were.

'Remember when I told you what he was like when we first got married?' Sally asked him.

He nodded. 'Yes, I remember. Don't tell me he's made that mistake again?'

'Oh yes.'

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