It Was Always You: a page-turning and uplifting love story you will never forget by Emma Cooper

Author:Emma Cooper [Cooper, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2022-05-31T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

Then

December 2001

At least ten years of dirt and grime obscured the view of the narrow garden. Over the last decade, the fir trees had been edging closer and closer to the small patch of lawn, like a game of grandmother’s footsteps. The whole house was tired. It had been so long that it had felt new energy; the light from the smiles of the young couple’s faces seemed to burn into the beams, smooth over the tired walls and soothe the creaks and cracks of the staircase’s spine.

Ella leant forward towards the window, her bump skirting the edge of the kitchen counter. She knew that this house didn’t make sense. One half of it was beautiful, the beams strong and confident, the tiles surrounding the fireplace ornate enough to demand attention, but subtle enough to not shout for it: a blushing debutante in the corner of the room. The other half of the house was forced, like an ugly sister trying to make the glass slipper fit: seventies décor, carpets sick with too many rich colours, age-old deep-fryer fat clinging to the fibres, beige kitchen tiles, avocado bathroom. But as Ella roamed beneath the cobwebs, she could feel the house opening up, its walls stretching, the old bones and joints flexing, the back walls straightening, welcoming them home. She turned and met Will’s eyes, and she knew he felt it too. They were home.

‘It’s a fixer-upper, that’s for sure . . .’ the estate agent brushed off the dust on his navy trousers, ‘but it’s got great character. Original beams, cellar, open fireplace.’

Will and Ella had been married for a little over a month, renting a small flat in the middle of town. Will had returned to Music Maestro, working full-time and giving extra music lessons in the evenings, while Ella worked at the checkout in a local supermarket.

He joined her at the window, his arm wrapped around her thickening waist; he didn’t let anyone see the wince of pain as he did this. He hadn’t told Ella that he could no longer play for hours on end without painkillers: he didn’t want to worry her; she had enough on her plate. She was regaining some of the weight in her face, the softness beginning to return to the sharp angles and pale skin that had seemed to be stretched across her cheek and jaw bones. Will had felt helpless, watching her day after day battling in a constant state of dehydration and nausea, watching her try to stay upright so she could begin working on her collection, only to have to nap after an hour.

‘There is no upwards chain,’ the estate agent continued, rolling something sticky and greasy between his thumb and index finger while trying to still encourage the young couple. Personally, he wouldn’t touch this property with a barge pole; it had been on the market for almost ten months and although he could see the potential, it needed a lot of work. The couple would be wiser to go for the nice compact semi-detached property he had shown them earlier in the week.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.