Happiness for Beginners by Carole Matthews

Author:Carole Matthews [MATTHEWS, CAROLE]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780751572094
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: 2019-02-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifty-Three

So we have a cup of tea and sit on the deckchairs together in the sunshine enjoying the view over the fields. At least, I’m enjoying it. Shelby Dacre seems lost in thought.

I’m rubbish at making small talk and Shelby doesn’t seem in the mood for idle chatter, so we sit in silence, just sipping our drinks, the dogs and Fifty curled up at our feet. I don’t even like to break the mood to ask if he’s taken his antihistamine.

After some time, he says, ‘We got on well before his mother died, you know. All of us did.’ He doesn’t look at me but, instead, keeps staring straight ahead. ‘We were a tight family unit. We did everything together.’

‘The loss of a loved one is a terrible thing. It must have hit you both hard.’

‘You think you can prepare for it. But you can’t. Susie was wonderful. We’d met when I was a struggling actor and she was a dancer. I wish you’d seen her, Molly. She was such a beauty.’ He flicks at his phone and then holds up a photograph of a delicate, dark-haired woman beaming at the camera. She’s wearing a floral shirt and jeans and has a warm, open expression. I can see where Lucas gets his looks from.

‘Gorgeous,’ I agree.

‘I think you’d have liked her,’ he says softly. ‘And she would have loved you and what you’re doing with this place. Have you talked to Lucas about her?’

‘Not really,’ I admit.

‘He adored her. As I did. You never know in this business whether someone wants to be with you for who you are or what you can do for them, rather than the person underneath that.’

I say nothing, just letting him talk as he seems in the mood to share with me. Sometimes the hardest thing is to find someone to listen when you need them to. Shelby has such a busy life that it must be difficult to make the space for simply being.

‘When Susie and I got together we had nothing. We saved hard out of what we did earn and bought a little terraced house in Leighton Buzzard.’ He allows himself a fond laugh. ‘We were so proud of ourselves. In reality, the place was falling down round our ears. We had just two deckchairs in the living room for the first year we were there – just like these.’ He pats the wooden frame. ‘We had one of those Crockpot things in lieu of a cooker. But it served us well. It was our first proper home and we worked on it together. We turned an outhouse into a utility room, painted the cellars, covered all the ancient wood chip with magnolia. All the things that don’t seem like chores when you do them with love.’ He pauses, gathering his thoughts before continuing. ‘When Lucas came along we couldn’t have been more thrilled. I was doing OK by then and so we moved to a bigger place. One with a garden for the baby.

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