Years After You by Woolf Emma

Author:Woolf, Emma
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Amberjack Publishing
Published: 2019-05-12T16:00:00+00:00

Once Lily had told Cassie and Celia about the baby, they persuaded her to take a few weeks off work: she had accrued a lot of holiday anyway, and the office was quiet at that time of year. Just before Christmas, Colin had held a formal memorial service for Harry, to which Lily was conspicuously not invited, but heard about from her colleagues. Obviously she was aware that it was for Harry’s wife, and she wouldn’t have gone anyway, but she was relieved to be away from the office during that time.

And it was good to finally stop working and take stock. Cassie came and spent a few nights at her flat in England’s Lane; they took long walks on the Heath, did some yoga classes, talked and shopped and cooked—and it helped.

But still, life wasn’t simple. A week after Christmas Day, the next hurdle came around: New Year’s Eve. Lily spent the day with Cassie and Olivia, bargain-hunting in the pre-January sales. They returned to Cassie’s flat for hot chocolate and leftover Christmas cake, and began preparing for the festivities. Olivia was going to a New Year party later on, and Cassie and Charlie were having a group of friends over for dinner. Lily watched Olivia getting ready, and helped Cassie make an apple crumble for dessert, but she’d decided not to join them, despite their insistence. She simply wasn’t in the mood. It had been comforting to celebrate Christmas with her family, but she felt too raw for New Year’s Eve. It was not quite four months since Harry had died, and she was still adjusting to this new, emptier world.

Lily escaped around six p.m. despite her sister’s repeated invitations to dinner, and promised to ring if she changed her mind. Even though Cassie didn’t want her to be on her own, Lily knew that she understood.

Coming out of the Tube station, she drifted around the shops in Belsize Park, vaguely thinking she might cook. She bought some food and a good bottle of wine, a white Burgundy—Harry’s favourite—although even as she bought it, she knew she wouldn’t open it. A small glass would be fine and wouldn’t harm the baby, the midwife had told her, but she hadn’t felt like alcohol for months. She walked home along England’s Lane, passing noisy pubs and restaurants, hearing the music spilling out, dodging the gaggles of revellers who’d started early, feeling removed from it all.

Lady Archer was away with friends at a country house party, so the house was blessedly silent. Lily desperately needed to be alone. Still, she smiled to find a luxurious bottle of sparkling elderflower champagne and a card propped up against her front door: Happy New Year Lily! Non-alco bubbly to put some fizz in your celebrations . . . Susan x

She let herself into the flat and exhaled in relief, resting her head against the closed wooden door. She ran a bath and lay there, reading. It was a collection of poetry which Harry had given her a week before he killed himself.

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.