The Winter of Our Lives by Sara Barnes

Author:Sara Barnes [Barnes, Sara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008639594
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Chapter Twenty-Six

ANGELA

December

After she’d wiped her hands on the towel by the sink, Angela took a deep breath. It had been a week since Margaret had moved out to stay with her sister and almost the same amount of time since she and Ed had spoken more than ten words to each other. At night, the gap in their bed seemed to grow wider and Ed’s bulk more solid and defensive. If something didn’t thaw out the tension pretty soon, Angela knew she would feel compelled to move out herself – she bet it would then only be a matter of hours before Ed’s mother came home. But that’s not what she wanted, not at all.

Ed mattered to her, and her life on the farm was exactly that: her life. Where else would she go? It wasn’t as if her old life, which now seemed so carefree and simple, even existed anymore. It had just been her and her mother most of her life, which had felt more like two friends sharing a house together. When Angela was only twelve, her father had left them for another woman, who it turned out he’d been having an affair with for many years. Angela had taken care of her mother for months, making sure she ate well and actually went to bed rather than fall asleep on the sofa with an empty bottle of wine in her hand. It hadn’t been easy to witness the devastation, but deep down, she knew her mother would survive and have a happier life for it.

And so she had for quite a few years. Then she was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer and needed care of a different sort. It had drained Angela of any energy she had left after working full time in the local pub. After her mother’s death, she had sold their few belongings, given up the tenancy of their small house, and moved into the accommodation that came with the job at the pub.

A few more years passed where she lived a simple, but peaceful life. The landlords, Bruce and Ann, trusted her implicitly with running the pub on her own if they wanted to take some holiday. She managed everything, including staff, kitchens, menus, and rooms. It was her life and left her no time to dwell on the future or the past. One night a big, smiling man had walked in and turned her world upside down. It was Ed, out for the night with some other young farmers, and from the moment he spoke to the slim, auburn-haired woman behind the bar, he was smitten. A romance that looked perfect from the outside, but it wasn’t without some complications. Not only did Angela not really want to give up the pub, but she sensed already that Ed’s mother didn’t approve of her.

Still, she loved the big man and felt confident enough in what they felt for each other to be able to surmount any problems they faced then or in the future.

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