Chapter 4 #2
Gray had been heartbroken at first and Holly had tried to repay him for all the kindness he’d shown her.
She’d been thrilled when he met his new partner, Janey, and when his daughter chose to move back in with him.
A decade later, and years after Holly had left the hotel for a life on the road, he seemed to have got the best revenge possible, by finding happiness.
But it had been the discovery, in a phone call from Gray just a few days ago, that the man Louise had left him for was cheating on her with half the women at the police station, that had restored Holly’s belief in natural justice.
Maybe she shouldn’t have taken such pleasure in discovering what had happened, but she couldn’t bring herself to feel one scrap of sympathy for her friend’s ex-wife.
A glance at Louise’s social media had revealed that she was still describing her partner as the ‘hero who’d saved her’, and as the kindest, most loyal man she’d ever known.
It was a reminder, if Holly had needed one, that so much of what was posted online was make-believe.
The reality of Louise’s wonderful new life had also given her hope that things might not have turned out so perfectly for the men who’d hurt Holly.
She’d never know for sure because she’d cut them out of her life and trying to track them down, even just online, risked opening up a whole can of worms she wasn’t willing to deal with.
Maybe she was using Louise’s situation as a substitute for all those feelings, but either way she’d known she wanted to talk about it on her next ‘Woody’s Words of Wisdom’.
She’d considered making the slot about cheating, but wasn’t sure her followers would want to share their own stories, or that she’d feel equipped to give them any advice or guidance if they did.
Her mantra in any cheating scenario was LTB, online shorthand for ‘leave the bastard’, and it didn’t matter to Holly whether the cheater was a man or a woman, or what mitigating circumstances they might claim.
In the end, she’d decided to focus the video she made on the importance of not believing in everything you see online and asking her followers to share things they’d seen online which turned out to be a world away from the truth.
She always enjoyed interacting with her followers and hearing their stories too. She felt less alone, almost as if these online connections could fill the void of the friendships she’d never really made.
Holly tapped out a message to accompany her latest video and uploaded it to each of her online profiles, knowing that within minutes the comments would start to ping through.
Standing up, she flicked the kettle on and looked out of the side window of the van across the Elan Valley, where she’d been staying for almost two weeks.
She loved Wales, but the pull of the open road was starting to tug at her consciousness, and it would be time for a change soon.
She had no idea yet where she wanted to go, just that she had to keep moving.
Maybe a little trip across the Irish Sea was in order.
Picking up her phone again as she waited for the kettle to boil, she fully intended to open Google, but instead she clicked on her emails, and the first one had the subject line ‘Can you grant a dreamer’s wish…’ It was from someone called Tristan.Eddy@
Opening the email she scanned the message.
Dear Holly (and Woody!)
I’m a huge fan of the HollyWoody Hills and I love your videos, especially the travelogues and the words of wisdom chats.
With a lot of research and channelling my inner Colombo (I’ve already got the shabby dress sense), I managed to track down your email address, but it’s okay I promise I’m not a crazed fan who’s going to bombard you with messages, but if I don’t take the opportunity to ask this, I’ll never know if you might have said yes.
For a moment Holly wasn’t sure if she even wanted to read on, despite the appeal of Tristan Eddy’s self-depreciating style, but something prompted her to do so.
There’d been a sense of restlessness lately that even her nomadic lifestyle couldn’t seem to satisfy.
She needed something that she couldn’t define to fill the emptiness inside her that seemed to be growing; she just had no idea what – but the message was intriguing.
It was why she didn’t just delete it, as she had so many others.
Maybe the reference to Colombo had helped, because it provided a link to her old life that she hadn’t even known she needed to feel.
Anyone who watched her videos regularly would know she was a big fan of seventies TV shows and that early Colombos were right at the top of her list, having first been introduced to them by her lovely stepdad.
Maybe it was because Colombo always solved the crime and as the viewer, she knew who the guilty party was right from the start.
It played into her sense of justice and her need to know who the good and bad guys were from the outset.
Either way it had made her warm to Tristan enough to read on.
My family have just opened a campsite on the farm we run, and it would be an absolute dream come true for you to feature it on one of your travelogues. We can offer a fully serviced pitch with direct sea views free of charge for the duration of your stay – however long you might choose that to be.
It was sounding quite appealing now and maybe the message arriving when she’d had no idea where to go next but had known she needed to move on, was serendipity.
She’d have to check out the details of the site of course, and make sure it was all legitimate.
She didn’t want to end up walking into a dangerous situation.
She didn’t need to be Colombo to know that offers that came via email weren’t always what they seemed to be.
Going back to the message she read on to the end.
We’re situated in the Three Ports Area of the Cornish Atlantic Coast. It’s absolutely stunning and I’ve noticed that in all your travelogues of the UK, you’ve never visited this part of the country, so it feels like it’s meant to be.
If you’ve got any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me and, if you’d like to look at the campsite itself, you can check out our gallery at
Yours in hope
Tristan Eddy
Holly stared at the email. The word Cornwall seeming to pulsate across the screen, her heart thudding in her ears in time with it.
She should just delete the message and block the sender because the offer he was making wasn’t one she could ever accept.
She didn’t want to go back to Cornwall. It was where all the worst things that had ever happened to her in her life had taken place and she’d decided to leave all of that behind years ago.
She had no intention of going back – not now, not ever.
So she had no idea why she was clicking on the button to reply and typing out a response that seemed to suggest she was interested in accepting Tristan’s offer, especially now she knew they had a connection he clearly wasn’t aware of, but which could cause big trouble for them both.
Not even Colombo would be able to solve that mystery.