February wind tugged hard at his coat and he flipped the collar up, hunching slightly to keep his ears warm.
Daniel started to regret his spur-of-the-moment decision to leave town. He’d been feeling stale for a while, completely lacking in inspiration. Every image he framed in his mind’s eye seemed either trite or derivative. All he’d ever wanted to do was take photographs. From the moment his parents had given him his first disposable camera to capture his holiday snaps, Daniel had wanted to capture the world he saw through his viewfinder.
An engine grumbled to life and the noise turned Daniel’s thoughts outwards again as a dirty estate car crawled out of the car park and stopped in front of him. The side window lowered and the woman from the train leant across from the driver’s side to speak to him.
‘You all right there? Is someone coming to pick you up?’ Daniel shuffled his feet slightly under the blatantly interested gaze of the older woman.
His face warmed as he realised he would have to confess his predicament to the woman. He had no idea where he was or what his next move should be. He could tell from the way she was regarding him that she would not leave until she knew he was going to be all right.
‘My trip was a bit spur-of-the-moment. Do you happen to know if there is a B&B nearby?’ he said, trying to keep his voice light, as though heading off into the middle of nowhere on a freezing winter’s day was a completely rational, normal thing to do.
The older woman widened her eyes slightly. ‘Not much call for that this time of year. Just about everywhere that offers accommodation is seasonal and won’t be open until Easter time.’
Daniel started to feel like an even bigger fool as the older woman continued to ponder his problem, her index finger tapping against her lip. The finger paused as a sly smile curled one corner of her lip and Daniel wondered if he should be afraid of whatever thought had occurred to cause that expression.
He took a backwards step as the woman suddenly released her seat belt and climbed out of the car in a determined manner. He was not intimidated by someone a foot shorter than him. He wasn’t.
‘What’s your name?’ she asked as she flipped open the boot of the car and started transferring her shopping bags onto the back seat.
‘Fitz…’ He paused. That name belonged in London, along with everything else he wanted to leave behind. ‘Daniel. Daniel Fitzwilliams.’
‘Pleased to meet you. I’m Madeline although my friends call me Mads and I have a feeling we will be great friends. Stick your bag in the boot, there’s a good lad. I know the perfect place. Run by a friend of mine. I’m sure you’ll be very happy there.’
Daniel did as bid, his eyes widening in shock as unbelievable! Madeline propelled him in the right direction with a slap on the arse and a loud laugh.
‘Bounce a coin on those cheeks, Daniel! I do so like a man who takes care of himself.’ With another laugh, Madeline disappeared into the front seat of the car and the engine gave a slightly startled whine as she turned the key.
Gritting his teeth, he placed his bag in the boot before moving around to the front of the car and eyeing the grubby interior of the estate, which appeared to be mainly held together with mud and rust. He folded his frame into the seat, which had been hiked forward almost as far as it could. With his knees up around his ears, Daniel fumbled under the front of the seat until he found the adjuster and carefully edged the seat back until he felt less like a sardine.
‘Belt up, there’s a good boy,’ Madeline trilled as she patted his knee and threw the old car into first. They lurched away from the kerb. Deciding that a death grip was the only way to survive, Daniel quickly snapped his seat belt closed, scrabbled for the aptly named oh shit! handle above the window and tried to decide whether the journey would be worse with his eyes open or closed.
Madeline barrelled the car blithely around the narrow country lanes, barely glancing at the road as far as Daniel could tell as she sang along to the latest pop tunes pouring from the car radio. He tried not to whimper at the thought of where he was going to end up. What the hell was this place going to be like if it was run by a friend of Madeline’s? If there was a woman in a rocking chair at the window, he’d be in deep shit.
The car abruptly swung off to the left and continued along what appeared to be a footpath rather than any kind of road. A huge building loomed to the left and Daniel caught his breath. Rather than the Bates Motel, it was more of a Grand Lady in her declining years. In its heyday, it must have been a magnificent structure. The peeling paint, filthy windows and rotting porch did their best to hide the beauty, together with the overgrown gardens.
His palms itched and for the first time in for ever, Daniel felt excited. He wanted his camera. Head twisting and turning, he tried to take everything in. A group of outbuildings and a large barn lay to the right of where Madeline pulled to a stop on the gravel driveway.
Giving a jaunty toot on the car’s horn, she wound down her window to wave and call across the yard to what appeared to be a midget yeti in the most moth-eaten dressing gown Daniel had ever seen. Not good, not good, oh so not good…
It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. Mia lay on her back staring up at the large water stain on her bedroom ceiling. She squinted a little to try and work out if it looked bigger than the day before. There were many cautionary tales about money pits and impulse buys and buying sight unseen and Mia had disregarded every single one of them.
She’d thrown a large portion of her widow’s settlement into what she thought would be the perfect new start at Butterfly House. Her lip twisted at the romantic name attached to the monstrosity she now owned. Whoever had owned the place had a wild imagination to attach such a pretty name to the ugly old pile.
She couldn’t regret the purchase though, even if the reality had failed to live up to the romance of the name. Two years of inertia, surrounded by everything they had made together, their friends, their special places, had finally come to a head when she realised that she couldn’t remember a day when she hadn’t cried. She felt terrible, looked worse, and in her heart knew that Jamie would’ve hated it if he’d had any idea.
Not going there, not today… Mia gave herself a mental shake and contemplated leaving the cosy nest she had made in the middle of the double bed that dominated the small but airy room she had set aside for herself. Well she hoped it would be airy in the summer, but just now on a dank, cold February morning it was not that appealing.
Taking a deep breath, she slid her leg from beneath her flannel sheets and quickly drew it back as her toes touched the freezing cold floor. Where the hell were her slippers? Mia rolled to the side and peered over the edge of the mattress in the vain hope the slipper fairy had come through for once and left them helpfully by the bed. Nope, just cold boards still needing to be filled, sanded and waxed.
‘Bollocks,’ Mia huffed, wincing as her breath misted in the cold air.
With a mental count to three, she threw back the covers and dashed from the bed, swearing and hopping from foot to foot as she made her way across the cold floor and into the bathroom and the relative warmth of the bathmat. She grabbed her dressing gown from the hook behind the door and burrowed into it, turning her face instinctively into the collar to seek out an elusive hint of Jamie’s scent.
The man-sized garment swamped
