One year Later

Bill and Kate sat in the window seat in a crowded café. He drank a latte and she an americano.

For some weeks now, he’d been avoiding contact with her, even stopped showing up at the car boot sales.

Silently he sat and recalled the day Kate posed her questions to him.

Out of the blue, as they walked along their favourite stretch of the riverbank, she’d unexpectedly stopped and turned to him. “Where do you see our relationship heading? What would you like to happen to us?”

To Bill, they were perfectly reasonable questions, but he could not find it in himself to answer there and then.

He knew he liked Kate and enjoyed her company. They seemed to have found a rhythm over the last year, and their easy friendship helped renew his confidence.

But some nights as he lay in bed, a pang of nagging guilt kept him awake.

When his two daughters realised there might be a woman on the scene, raised voices ensued. He’d come to terms with the girls being difficult at the best of times, spoilt by their mother, squabbling with each other, and greedy for attention.

“We’re glad you’re happier and look better than we’ve seen you in years. But, if there’s a woman sniffing around, we hope you’re not thinking of moving her into our family home? We don’t want any woman waltzing in to get her feet under the table. Our dear mother spent years creating this home and we have to consider our inheritance?” They almost spat the words out.

Bill felt ill-prepared for their voraciousness, and the arguments continued. The family rift widened, and with great sadness, he realised, he’d never felt a bond with the girls, not even on the day they were born.

Added to this, he’d allowed them to manipulate him over the years with their constant demands for money.

They started to drop by the house unexpectedly- on the pretext of caring about his welfare.

One such visit riled Bill beyond his wits. “It’s none of your bloody business, who I bring into my home. You’ve chosen your life and now I’m choosing mine. If that means selling these bricks and mortar, starting over with a kind lady friend, so be it. Now shove off and leave me in peace.” Exasperated, Bill felt his face redden.

He knew Marjorie would cry tears of sorrow that her passing had not made the family a tighter unit. Instead, resentment lingered, and long sobering silences followed.

After five years of living on his own, Bill still found it hard to make personal decisions. But he’d be damned if he’d allow the terrible twins (as he called them), to try and control whatever life he had left.

The best option, he had decided, would be to stay away from Kate. And he couldn’t face further jibes from the stallholders. ‘Car Boot Sales, where love stories begin,’ they’d already teased.

Now sitting opposite each other, sipping their coffees in the café, Kate spoke first.

“I asked for us to meet today, to hear if you’ve given any thought to my questions? Have you made any decision, and do we have a future together?”

She reached for his hand and placed it in hers.

Then she repeated to Bill how she’d come to terms with her husband’s passing. “I loved Jeff with most of my heart. My son Stuart is all grown up and happy. The only responsibility I am left with, are the two dogs. I am ready to start over and I want to make plans. If that includes you, all the better, but I refuse to die wondering,” Kate laughed.

After some moments Bill spoke. “Thanks for your patience, but can you give me a little more time?”

Kate removed her hand gently from his, finished her coffee, and stood up. “Of course, but don’t take too long, for time is precious.” She kissed him on the cheek, leaving him to ponder some more.

He sat surrounded by the chitter-chatter of customers, the barista machine hissing, and in the background, he could hear The Style Council ‘You’re the Best Thing,’ playing.

More guilt inveigled his space.

If he decided to start a new life with Kate, would it count as a betrayal against Marjorie? The woman he’d been married to for more than thirty years. Could he bear to leave her, decayed, buried under clay and dirt?

A Week Later 

Bill walked through the squeaky iron gates and along the cobbled path to the graveyard. In one hand he carried Lucy’s cage and made his way to Marjorie’s tombstone. Kneeling on the damp grass, he placed the cage on the ground. It surprised him at how quiet the bird seemed these days. He removed the dead leaves that had gathered since he’d last visited and raked at the soil. A single red rose still bloomed in a pot. He ran his fingers over the gold inscription set against the black granite.

He’d been skipping the weekly trips and usual chats with Marjorie. Instead, he’d spent days making notes, writing; a plea for her blessing, he supposed.

Standing now, courage at his side, he read aloud, hoping for a sign, Marjorie would understand. 

When he’d finished reading the letter, he knew for sure he could not, must not lose Kate. The time had come to go forward with his life.

He kissed the cold slab of the gravestone, picked up a silent Lucy in her cage, and slowly walked away.

Bill Brown Part 3….to follow soon.