In a Far Place by Liz Harris

Author:Liz Harris
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781913687205
Publisher: Heywood Press

25

A week later

* * *

‘I like the atmosphere here,’ Claire said, glancing round the small Italian restaurant when the waiter had gone to the kitchen with their order. ‘What a shame the others couldn’t get the time off.’

‘I suppose I ought to own up,’ Alex said with a wry smile. ‘There were never going to be any others.’

She stared at him in amazement. ‘Why not?’

‘I figured you might still be feeling a bit jaded, and I thought it might help you to talk things through, and you wouldn’t be able to if there were other people around.

But if I’d suggested you coming out on a Saturday night with just me, you’d have said no. It would have sounded too much like a date and you won’t yet be ready to start dating again.’

‘Wow, that’s really thoughtful of you, Alex. I wouldn’t have put you down as a sensitive type, but I was obviously wrong. To be honest, I almost cancelled this evening. The closer it got, the more I was dreading having to make light-hearted conversation, feeling the way I still do.’

He smiled with understanding. ‘I thought that might be the case.’ He leaned forward and took a bread stick. ‘So what are your thoughts at the moment?’

‘Pretty much the same as four days ago. No, that’s not quite right. I’ve probably moved on a little, but only a little. Today’s the first day I didn’t wake up and find my pillow wet.’

‘That’s a definite step forward.’ He paused as the waiter approached the table with a bottle of Chianti encased in raffia and started to pour them each a glass of the wine.

‘Have you any idea about what you want to do in the future, whether you’re going to stay on here or move away?’ he asked when the waiter had moved away.

‘Not really—it’s still early days. And at the moment, I can’t bear the thought of leaving a place that’s so full of memories of Peter. Not yet, anyway.’

He picked up his glass and waited for her to pick up hers. ‘Whatever you decide to do, cheers,’ he said. ‘To happier days.’

‘I’ll certainly drink to that—I must be awful company at the moment.’ She clinked her glass with his, took a sip of wine and then put the glass down.

‘To be honest, I haven’t a clue what I’ll do. But I think I’ll probably move somewhere else, though Heaven knows where. It’ll depend on the jobs that come up.’

‘Even though you’ve got friends here? At a time like this, it’s usually a good idea to be among friends.’

‘I can see that. But while it’s inevitable that I’m wallowing in thoughts of Peter at the moment—and I need to wallow for a bit longer—I won’t always want to be surrounded by memories.

I don’t think I’d want to live in a tiny country town on my own, but if a job came up in something medium-sized, I’d probably go after it. I’m no keener on living in a large town than Peter was, and we were always going to move away from here, just not as far away as Australia.

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