Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Nothing could have prepared Juliette for the feeling of overwhelm that crashed through her as she and Danny drew up outside their new home. You couldn’t get anything more picturesque either. Yet it was what she’d left behind to move here that gave her a gut punch as they drove through the gates.
Over the past few months, they had visited properties in the Midlands to see what their money would buy them.
They’d finally secured a small rental flat for Danny and had their eye set on a cottage.
It had been the end of June before the sale had completed.
It was a big move and they’d wanted to be prepared, but they were here at last.
‘Ready for our adventure?’ Danny leaned over to squeeze her hand as she tried to contain her tears.
‘Hmm-hmm,’ was all she managed to reply.
Abbey Cottage was on the outskirts of both the Staffordshire Moorlands and Stoke-on-Trent. The village of Mapleton was a mere five minutes’ walk, where there were shops of all kinds along a terraced high street.
The cottage was set almost at the top of a hill.
The view was the thing that had drawn them to it.
From the kitchen there were rolling hills and fields, horses in the distance.
They’d been told the lane itself was quiet except for the odd tractor and car.
They were off the beaten track, enough to be secluded but equally near enough to civilisation to feel semi-rural.
Even though they were hoping they’d adapt to country life, it was the mixture they both needed after living in the capital for most of their lives.
Losing Emily last year had been hard for them both but luckily Juliette’s business working as an online bookkeeper was portable.
Danny was an architect, well sought after in the capital.
Hopefully something would open up here too, but they hadn’t wanted that to stop them.
Danny was to commute to London during the week and come home at weekends. It was an hour and half by train.
‘Still in love with it?’ Danny asked before getting out of the car.
‘Oh, yes,’ Juliette admitted. The property needed a little work, but it was liveable and workable around that.
The previous owner had moved into residential care seven years ago and the house, although checked on by two sons, hadn’t been lived in since then.
However, once the owner died, the sons renovated a lot of the property themselves.
Some parts were great, some not to their taste but definitely fine to live with until they could afford to change them.
Juliette got out of the car, stretching her arms in the air for a moment, stiff after such a long journey. The removal van was a few minutes behind them, after stopping to refuel, and for now it was peaceful as she surveyed her new surroundings.
She closed her eyes and listened to the chattering of birds. She couldn’t hear anything else. It both unnerved and soothed her. It would take a while to get accustomed to missing the lull of traffic that would send her to sleep. The voices shouting, the horns beeping. Sounds of life going on.
There were only two houses for a few hundred metres: theirs and their closest neighbours.
The double-fronted stone cottage was set off from the road and quite a way back.
At the front of the garden was a large hedgerow that separated them from the lane.
A cobbled driveway led to several outbuildings and a double garage at the side of the property.
To the rear were three acres of garden and fields.
Juliette still couldn’t imagine walking out of the house into so much greenery.
Their old home in London had been landscaped with decking to minimise the work they’d have to do keeping it tidy.
Here if they didn’t employ a gardener, she recognised it would take them both the best part of a day to make a dip in it.
She made a mental note to check if there was someone local to hire.
Danny reached for her hand, and they went inside through a wooden door that needed a shoulder to budge it.
She sniffed the air. There wasn’t a hint that the property had been empty for so long.
It smelled of fresh paint, the walls having been replastered throughout after asbestos had been found on a survey.
Everything had had to be stripped out and redone before the bank would grant them a mortgage, luckily at the vendor’s cost. There was dust everywhere but only a few days’ worth.
Someone had been in and cleaned it in readiness for them, which was extremely kind and rare having moved from London where they never even spoke to their neighbours.
She walked a few steps forward into the kitchen, a large sunny room at the back of the house overlooking their garden and the field.
Cream Shaker units and a large fridge-freezer and Aga in matching shades of red.
An island to sit four and space for a large pine table in front of it, overlooking the garden.
Juliette’s heart went into her mouth as she thought of her daughter.
Emily would have loved it here. Memories were portable but would it be more painful not to see their daughter running from room to room here?
She had no idea but had to believe that it was the right thing for them to do.
The property would make an excellent home for a new family, even if she was thirty-five now.
Danny was forty-two and there was still time to try again.
Upstairs in the back bedroom, she paused at the window. This would be ideal for a nursery if they were blessed with another child. The sun filtering in made it feel bright and welcoming.
Behind her, she heard movement and turned to see Danny pop his head around the door. ‘The removal van is here. Let’s find the tea box. I’m desperate for a brew.’
‘When are you ever not?’ she teased, following him down the stairs and outside.
‘Hi there,’ a voice shouted. They turned to see a man in the garden to their right. He looked to be in his mid-forties. ‘I’m Richard. Welcome to the neighbourhood.’
‘Hi.’ Danny waved. ‘I’m Danny, and this is my wife, Juliette. It’s nice to meet you.’
‘Likewise. I’ll leave you to it for now. I’m sure you have lots to do.’
‘Yes, we’ll be… oh, he’s gone.’
‘Perhaps he keeps himself to himself.’ Juliette shrugged.
‘Knowing our luck, he’s probably the neighbourhood watch foreman.’
‘I hope not.’
‘Well, at least there’ll be someone watching over you while I’m away during the week.’
‘I’m quite capable of looking after myself.’ Juliette slapped him playfully.
As the removal men came towards them with the first of a gazillion boxes, Juliette breathed in deeply. A new start was going to be great. And what better place than here.