Love Heart Lane

Finally, trying to shrug off the guilt, Felicity had packed her suitcase and snuggled inside her grey fleecy PJs, determined to get a good night’s sleep to be fresh and ready for her trip back to Scotland.

The airport was busy and while waiting for her flight to be announced Felicity buried her head in a book, but after reading the same sentence over and over she realised she wasn’t concentrating at all; her mind was on other matters. Lifting her head, she watched a young couple gently chastise their son who was running around leaving a trail of crisps behind him. He hovered in front of Felicity and lifted his blue eyes to meet hers. He was adorable and by her reckoning must have been around three years old. He offered her a crisp with a cheeky smile. Felicity hesitated for a millisecond before accepting. ‘Why thank you, young man,’ she said with gratitude before his expression knotted with concentration and he ran off with his arms stretched out wide pretending to be an aeroplane. The parents’ annoyance now softened as he giggled.

Watching that tiny boy, Felicity felt another pang of sadness. If only things had been different, she thought, blinking away the sudden tears that sprang from nowhere. The pain of the past still twisted in her stomach, and the fear of seeing Fergus again never went away, but over time she’d learnt to cope as best she could. With her heart thumping anxiously in her chest, Felicity shut her eyes briefly, trying to compose herself. As she calmed herself, a voice over the tannoy announced her flight and within seconds a surge of passengers stood up and began to make their way towards the gate clutching their passports and boarding cards. Felicity took in a breath and glanced towards the window. Outside, the sky had darkened and threatened snow. This was it, she thought to herself. She had no idea how people were going to react to her homecoming. All she could do now was hope for the best. Feeling anxious, she squeezed out a wobbly smile at the small boy who was now standing in the queue, grasping his mother’s hand and pointing towards the aircraft they were just about to board through the window.

Felicity’s chest heaved, and she couldn’t bear to think about it anymore. Keep breathing, she told herself, there’s no turning back. It’s time to go home.

Chapter 3 (#u611af9e5-bfbf-5454-8ff9-f925684e032b)

‘Where to?’ asked the taxi driver after he’d placed Felicity’s suitcase in the boot of the cab and climbed behind the wheel.

‘Heartcross,’ replied Felicity, pulling the gloves from her hands and resting them on her lap.

The driver turned and looked over his shoulder. ‘Heartcross? The track will be treacherous over the bridge and these flakes are falling fast.’

The moment Felicity had stepped off the plane she’d known this might be a problem. ‘I kind of gathered that may be the case. How close can you get me?’

The driver raised a sceptical eyebrow. ‘Maybe just before the bridge? I don’t want to be stranded.’

‘As close as you can then,’ Felicity replied, knowing she was in for a short trek up the track in severe weather conditions.

Heartcross was separated from the local town of Glensheil by a Grade II listed bridge that had arched over the River Heart for nearly two hundred years. The only way into the centre of the village was by a steep, mountainous track, approximately half a mile long. In the summer it was the most beautiful track to walk along, easily accessible by foot and four-wheel drives, but it was trickier in winter when the snow hit. The village was compact, home to approximately two hundred cottages, but with every amenity you might need.

Fifteen minutes later the cab began to crawl along, the wipers moving frantically and the wheels finding it difficult to turn in the snow. ‘This is about far as I can get you,’ the driver said, pulling the cab to a halt and climbing out to retrieve Felicity’s suitcase from the boot of the car.

Reluctantly, Felicity opened the door and shivered before paying the driver and taking the case from him.

She watched enviously as he clambered back into the warmth of his cab and slowly began to manoeuvre the car in the snow, the wheels spinning momentarily before they regained traction. The taxi driver appeared almost sympathetic as he wound down his window. ‘You’ll need to get a shifty on up that track, otherwise you’ll be stranded.’

Felicity nodded, clutching the handle of her suitcase tight. No sooner had the car’s icy tracks imprinted on the road, they were covered by a fresh onslaught of snow. Felicity knew it would be impossible to drag the wheels of her suitcase up the path in the snow for over half a mile and it was too heavy to carry. There was only one thing for it. She sighed as she abandoned the case under a tree before she began trudging through the snow.

Huddled deep inside her parka, Felicity clutched her handbag and raised a gloved hand to shield her eyes from the oversized snow confetti flying towards her. She’d prepared for the drop in temperature but as the ferocity of the snow stung her face she bowed her head and kept walking.

Twenty minutes later the blizzard was so strong the path of footprints she’d followed for a short while were already covered and the familiar sight of Love Heart Lane had nearly been erased. Her fingers and face stung but she allowed herself to be shoved along by the wind and snowstorm.

Finally, she reached the row of whitewashed cottages and heaved a huge sigh of relief when she noticed she’d nearly arrived home, at Heartwood Cottage. Even in the bleak mid-winter, the cottage looked as if it had come straight out of a fairy tale. On the solid oak door there was a heart carved in the middle, whittled by Felicity’s grandad on the day he’d moved in with his newly beloved wife Bonnie. It was a cosy dwelling and in the summer its hedges and oak beamed porch were entwined with pink clematis.

There wasn’t a soul in sight as Felicity slugged up the path towards the door. She stopped for a second and stared at Bonnie’s Teashop, thinking fleetingly that it seemed a little run down, until she remembered she was standing in a middle of a snowstorm and the flakes were blurring her vision.

She twisted the knob on the front door and was thankful it opened. Grateful to leave the blizzard behind, Felicity stamped her feet on the mat outside and closed the door behind her.

‘Mum, are you home?’ Felicity shouted up the hallway, peeling the sodden gloves from her bitterly cold hands and hanging her coat over the banister. ‘It’s only me.’

Felicity heard movement and startled eyes peered around the door of the living room. ‘Felicity? Oh my! It is you … come here!’ Rona hurried up the hallway with her arms flung wide open and Felicity fell into them. The familiarity and warmth of the hug brought fresh tears to Felicity’s eyes and she suddenly realised how much she had missed her mum, this place. She was glad to be home.

‘I can’t believe you’re here.’ Rona pulled away and held both of her daughter’s hands, kissing her cheeks, as she too shed a tear. ‘You don’t know how happy I am to see you … you’re freezing … let me get you a warm drink.’

Felicity wasn’t about to argue, she was frozen to the core. She followed her mum into the living room and took another moment to cast her gaze around. This time she was more certain that something had changed. Everything suddenly seemed so tired at Heartwood Cottage … so tattered. Even the curtains were hanging off the rail and there weren’t any blooms in sight. Back in the day, Rona would always display flowers in the front window, every week without fail.

‘How have you got here? The weather warnings are severe, surely no car could cross the bridge?’ Rona’s eyes were wide as she plumped up the cushions so Felicity could sit down.

‘The cab couldn’t cross the bridge, it was too treacherous. I had to walk the next half mile.’

‘Oh my, you should have rung, I could have sent Drew down with the tractor to fetch you.’

‘Mum, the mobile signal is virtually nothing.’ Felicity glanced at her phone. ‘See … no service.’ She held the phone up.

‘And where’s your suitcase?’ Rona gave a puzzled look all around.

‘I couldn’t drag it through the snow. I abandoned it under a tree … this side of the bridge though.’

‘It can’t stay there, you’ll never find it again. This snow is going to fall all night, maybe for the next few days. Ring the farm. The number is by the phone,’ Rona insisted, before poking the embers of the fire. Felicity hesitated and felt a wave of uneasiness pass through her.

‘Go on, the phone is where it’s always been,’ Rona continued brightly and shooed Felicity out into the hallway.

Foxglove Farm was owned by Isla and Drew Allaway. Felicity had known them all her life, and they had all once been the best of friends. Isla and Drew were childhood sweethearts who had married and took over the farm from Drew’s dad when his wife had sadly passed away. Even though over the years Felicity had taken short trips back home, she’d not seen or spoken to either Isla or Drew in all that time. She had no clue how they were going to react to her homecoming.

Hesitantly, she picked up the olive-green phone and began to dial the number. As soon as the phone connected it only took two rings before it was picked up. ‘Hello, Foxglove Farm.’ Even after all this time she instantly recognised Drew’s voice.

Felicity took a deep breath, ‘Hi Drew … it’s me … Felicity.’

There was a short pause on the other end of the line. ‘Flick!… Welcome home! It’s been a while.’

He sounded pleased to hear from her which was a relief. ‘Yes, it has. How are you?’

‘Good thanks, we are all good. But I’m sorry to hear the sad news about your grandmother.’

‘Thanks Drew … me too.’ There was a slight pause.

‘What can I do for you? Rona’s okay for wood, isn’t she?’ he asked with concern. ‘She doesn’t want to be stranded for warmth in this weather.’

‘I’m not sure … wait there … Mum!’ bellowed Felicity from the hallway. ‘Are you okay for wood?’

Immediately Rona appeared in the doorway. ‘That’s nearly the last of the logs on the fire. With everything … I’ve not had much time to re-stock. It’s all been quite difficult.’

‘Drew, are you okay to bring some logs up?’

‘Yes, of course … and what was it we can do for you?’

For a second, Felicity had forgotten why she was ringing. ‘My suitcase … it’s my case. It’s stranded by the bridge at the bottom of the track … under the tree. The wheels wouldn’t turn in the snow and it was too heavy to lift. Mum thought you might…’

‘Don’t worry, I’ll come now Felicity,’ he responded valiantly, ‘before it’s buried forever. Well, until the snow thaws anyway.’ He gave a small chuckle.

‘Thanks Drew,’ she said, before hanging up and joining her mum back in the living room.

‘I’ve made tea … help yourself,’ said Rona, ‘and have a flapjack.’ She pointed to the plate on the coffee table. ‘We always had a slice of flapjack at this time, most days.’ Her voice suddenly wavered and Felicity felt a pang of sadness as her mother glanced towards the empty rocking chair which displayed her grandmother’s hand-crocheted, multi-coloured blanket draped over the back of it.

Felicity instantly felt guilty for not being around to help her mum during her grandmother’s illness. The tiredness and grief in her mum’s eyes were apparent.