The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club by Faith Hogan

Author:Faith Hogan [Hogan, Faith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aria
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

18

Lucy

‘What is it?’ Lucy’s antennae were already on high alert. It had been a busy morning in the surgery and she hadn’t slept properly any night since the visit to the oncologist with her mother. She was too drained not to pick up on even the slightest little cue.

‘Oh, nothing. Not a thing at all,’ Elizabeth said a little too brightly.

‘There is something and if you don’t tell me now, I’m going to assume the worst, so you might as well just say it.’ She smiled at Elizabeth. They had met each other when they were both, to say the least, at low ebbs of their contentment scales. It broke down some of the usual nuances around blunt honesty.

‘There’s absolutely nothing wrong.’ Elizabeth was smiling now, but there was still a trepidation playing around her eyes. She took a deep breath. ‘Really, it’s nothing, well, not on the scale of the worries you’ve been carrying about the place for Jo and Niall.’ She stopped for a moment, perhaps trying to fix the correct phrasing in her mind for what was coming next. ‘No, it’s just I got my first payment demand this morning from one of the banks.’ She passed the letter across the table to Lucy, topping up their coffees while she read.

‘Oh, dear, they’re not exactly subtle, are they?’ Lucy said.

‘I’m not worried about it– no more than I was a week ago, anyway.’ She sipped her coffee. ‘It’s addressed to Eric, so they’re not talking about drawing down on his estate, such as it is.’

‘No?’

‘Well, no, and you see, I’ve been looking about the village and there are plenty of small houses I could pick up for very little. They’re not exactly what I’ve set my heart on, but at least I’m fairly sure that I wouldn’t be without a roof over my head. For now, if we can just keep ahead of the banks, perhaps I can make some small dint on the repayments with the money from the surgery, just to keep the wolves from the door for long enough for a cottage that I’d like to come up and then…’

‘You’re thinking of moving?’ Lucy said and she clapped her hands. ‘But, that’s the best news ever.’ It was exactly what Elizabeth needed: a new start, a place to call her home. And it would be an actual home – as opposed to the mausoleum that the grand old Georgian had become around her.

‘Yes, but that leaves this place…’ Elizabeth said, meeting her eye levelly – they both knew the score. Her husband had left a thriving practice behind him and a huge house, but both were on the brink of ruin. He had also left gambling debts that would swallow any cash made on the sale of either and so Elizabeth was in many ways as trapped now as she’d been when he was alive. ‘That’s why I wasn’t sure if I should mention it, just yet. You have so much already on your plate,’ she said softly.

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