Chapter 13
Shrugging her tote bag off her shoulder, Polly dropped it to the floor before kicking it beneath her desk. The office was empty, but then she’d caught the earlier bus, so what had she expected?
Gazing out of the window, she watched as a lone dog walker unclipped his dog’s lead and let it run ahead along the winding path, pausing every few feet to sniff the undergrowth.
Polly swallowed. She’d expected it to be a little busier at this time of the morning.
An early-morning stroll through the reserve would be the perfect way to start a workday, surely?
In fact, now she thought about it, besides the group of runners she’d spotted twice now over the last few days and the odd parent walking with children clasping bags of food to feed the ducks, it hadn’t been that busy.
The reserve attached to the head office where she’d volunteered had always had a constant footfall, people enjoying the area at times to suit them even in the dead of winter.
Besides, the weather was nice today. Uncharacteristically warm for late October.
The sky was a beautiful clear blue and there was the crispness in the air which Polly craved during the warmer months.
The trees lining the pathway had already turned an assortment of colours, from rustic reds to fiery oranges and yellows, their leaves carried on the slight breeze, clustering beneath their trunks, tempting piles for visitors young and old to crunch through. She’d miss this place.
Shaking her head, she knelt down and pulled her metal water bottle from her bag before tugging her striped scarf off and re-wrapping it properly in place.
Fastening the top button on her coat, she turned, ready to leave for her walk, pausing as she felt her arm knock her bottle and heard it drop to the floor with a clang.
Drat. She watched as it rolled across the floor before knocking into the small wastepaper bin between her and Zac’s desk, the contents duly spilling across the thin threadbare carpet.
Sighing, she sank to her knees and began to gingerly pick up the banana skin she’d thrown in there yesterday, the once waxy yellow already turning a mushy brown.
Yuck. As she began picking up the rest of the rubbish – fortunately a combination of crisp packets and discarded notebook pages – she paused as the words ‘Matthews Marketing Ltd’ caught her eye.
Isn’t that where Zac had worked before making his career change into conservation?
Taking the discarded paper, she stood up and unfolded it.
Laying it on her desk, she smoothed out the creases and frowned.
It was a list of companies, all wealthy-sounding corporate ones by the looks of it.
Some had ticks next to them whilst others had been scored out with a heavy line through the middle.
She’d known Zac would be taking the route of corporate sponsorship in order to raise the funds.
Plus, he now had his dad on board, if last night’s conversation was anything to go by.
Picking the paper up, she turned it over and frowned as she spotted an array of numbers scribbled in a list. Great, she literally had no chance if that was how much he’d secured already.
Scrunching it back up, she threw it into the bin before retrieving her bottle, placing it on her desk and heading to the door.
As soon as the cold autumn air hit her cheeks, Polly let the tears begin to fall.
This was it. It was over. Her new life in Meadowfield was over.
Heck, her new career was over, too. Maybe she should message Stacey and ask if there were any jobs going back at Daisy Chain Primary.
She’d suggested there was, and if not, she’d know of at least one teaching vacancy.
That was one positive of there being a teacher shortage, Polly supposed.
Swiping at her eyes with the back of her hand, she crossed the narrow bridge over the stream and just kept walking.
As she ambled alongside the lake, not even the early-morning sun reflecting on the dark waters could raise a smile.
She just felt… bereft. She’d worked so hard to get here.
So hard, and now all she could do was to focus on the truth lying in front of her. She had to leave.
At least her grandparents’ flat hadn’t sold. Silver linings and all that. If it had, she’d be homeless as well as jobless.
She laughed, the sound hollow even to her own ears.
‘Excuse me, please?’ a voice called from behind.
Taking a deep breath, Polly quickly wiped her cheeks dry with the end of her scarf before plastering a smile on her face and turning around. A young couple with a toddler happily gripping a yellow teddy in her pushchair walked over to her. ‘Hi, can I help?’
‘Sorry to bother you, but little Maddie here is desperate to feed the ducks. It’s our first time here and we’re not sure where to go.’ The woman smiled kindly.
‘Oh… umm… there’s a little jetty on the other side of the lake by the swing park, which is a great place to feed them.’ Polly pointed ahead to where the path curved around the lake.
‘There’s a park here too?’ The woman looked down at her daughter. ‘Did you hear that, Maddie? A swing park! Shall we have a play in the park after feeding the ducks?’
The small girl kicked her yellow wellie boots against the footrest of the pushchair whilst holding her teddy in the air and nodding.
‘Thank you.’ The man nodded and began walking in the direction Polly had indicated.
As she watched them amble past her, Polly frowned. ‘Sorry, can I just ask you something?’
‘Yes, of course.’ The woman paused and turned back to face her.
‘Are you new to Meadowfield?’
The woman shook her head. ‘No.’
‘But this is the first time you’ve been to the reserve?
’ Realising the questions she was asking might sound a little odd coming from a total stranger, Polly pulled her lanyard from beneath her buttoned coat and brandished it in the air.
‘Sorry for the questions. I work here and we’re looking at ways to improve the reserve, how to make it more visitor-friendly and the like. ’
‘Oh, right.’ The woman smiled. ‘No, we’ve lived in Meadowfield for about a year and a half now.’ She glanced at her partner, who nodded. ‘But, to be honest, we’ve never really ventured up here to the reserve. If we’d known there was a swing park here, we probably would have done.’
‘Okay, thank you.’ Polly waved at Maddie as the woman turned the pushchair back around and they continued on their way.
Huh. How hadn’t they realised there was a park here?
If they’d been living in Meadowfield for over a year, they must have spoken to people who frequented the reserve, mustn’t they?
Polly turned towards the lake and watched as two gulls dipped and dived across the water, no doubt chasing an early-morning snack.
It really was beautiful here. Peaceful, tranquil.
And it had so much to offer the local residents and people travelling from further afield, too.
From what she knew about the local area, Meadowfield Reserve was the biggest one in at least a twenty-mile radius.
It should be attracting families, dog walkers, runners, wildlife enthusiasts, everyone.
There was everything here – a park, birdwatching hideaways, the lake, a meadow, a café, everything anyone could want from a reserve, so what was the problem?
What was stopping people from visiting? Yes, it was a little way out of the village centre, but there was a good car park, which was free, and it was only a short walk from the outskirts of the village.
Yes, she’d taken the bus the last couple of days, but she could definitely walk here in the future.
So location wasn’t a problem. She drew her thumb to her mouth and bit down on the nail.
She needed to figure this out. Even if she wasn’t going to get the promotion, maybe she should hang around for the three months before quitting.
She had her accommodation paid for and, yes, the wage for this role wouldn’t allow her to get her own place but she should at least see these three months out.
After all, working full time for the trust had been her dream.
If she could have it for even a short while before going back home and facing reality, then maybe she should.
Plus, there was the chance she could actually make a difference here.
Meadowfield Reserve was stunning and if she could at least draw a few more daily visitors to the reserve, then she’d have felt she’d contributed a little something to the future of the trust before turning her back on her dreams and heading back to her old life.
Yes, that’s what she’d do. She couldn’t compete with Zac, but that was okay. Well, not okay, but she could still do something.