Love Heart Lane Series

If Isla had been a cartoon character, she would have had steam bursting from her ears with rage, ‘You’ve done what?’ she shouted angrily. Drew had well and truly overstepped the mark now.

‘If you need any cash for an emergency, just ask.’

Isla shook her head in total disbelief. ‘Are you for real, what do you think this is, the 1950s? This is ridiculous. What the hell has gotten into you?’ Isla’s eyes threatened tears, frustration building inside her. She didn’t really have the faintest clue why they were arguing like this. It was so out of character for Drew. ‘You put that money back in the jar. You couldn’t do the job you do if it wasn’t for me supporting you, looking after the house and our children. I thought this was a partnership … obviously I’m very much mistaken.’ Isla was at boiling point. ‘I don’t get it Drew, why are you hell bent on sending me back to work all of a sudden?’ Trembling with rage inside, Isla wanted to shake him.

Drew cowardly cast his eyes downwards, he knew he was pushing Isla to the limit, but he couldn’t help himself. ‘And whose is that awful-looking Union Jack Mini parked outside? I thought you had company.’

Isla swallowed, she’d been dreading this moment with the mood Drew was in, but maybe she was worrying too much. Drew had always seemed to like Martha. Maybe, just maybe her arrival would be a blessing in disguise.

Feeling apprehensive, she said, ‘This is going to make your day … you’ll never guess who’s back in town?’ Isla painted a smile on her face and crossed her fingers behind her back.

‘Huh,’ came Drew’s reply.

‘Gran … Gran’s back in Heartcross! Walked into the teashop … no-one could believe it, but she had no clue Bonnie had passed away. Isn’t that sad?’

‘No clue about her new great-grandson either,’ Drew huffed.

Isla didn’t rise to his comment. ‘She looks so well … single again. I’ve cleared some of the stuff from her room, just piled it up in our bedroom for now.’

Drew bristled, ‘What do you mean, cleared her room?’

Seeing the black thunderous look on Drew’s face, Isla tried with all her might to sound positive. ‘Gran is staying with us here … obviously,’ she said.

‘Another mouth to feed?’

‘Considering she looks like a size six, I’m sure she hasn’t got the largest of appetites, and you know what …’ Isla took a breath. ‘If it bothers you that much and we’ve got more eggs than we can sell, we’ll just feed her on eggs. Scrambled, boiled, poached …’

Drew stood up, ‘I’m going back to work.’

‘I’ll just wash your cup then, shall I? Or shall I leave it for the maid? You know what Drew, just don’t bother coming in later unless you’re in a better mood.’

He growled as he slammed the door behind him and Isla stood there bewildered, shaking her head in disbelief as she watched him once more stomp across the yard. It worried Isla, she’d never seen Drew like this before and was unsure what to do or say to him. Things were bad between them. In all the years they’d been together she could barely remember them ever having a cross word. Of course, they’d had the normal disagreements any married couple had but they’d never ever gone to bed on an argument. And this felt different, was on a different scale altogether and somehow things seemed to be escalating fast. For whatever reason, it felt like Drew couldn’t stand to be anywhere near her, but one thing Isla knew for certain was if he carried on talking to her in this manner, he was in for a rude awakening.

Chapter 6 (#u19d2ae82-c90f-5173-99ca-eb76c01bf911)

Isla waved Martha off to the pub to meet Rona and walked up Love Heart Lane towards Heartwood Cottage clutching a bottle of wine. The last twenty-four hours in the farmhouse had been tense, but luckily Martha seemed oblivious to the strain between Isla and Drew. Thankfully Drew hadn’t taken whatever frustrations he had out on Martha and was pleasant enough with her, even though he’d disappeared off to bed earlier than normal without kissing Isla on the top of her head like he’d done every night of their married life without fail, leaving her feeling dejected.

After a hectic teatime Isla was relieved to be escaping from the farmhouse for a couple of hours this evening. As usual Angus had screamed through the whole of the meal and the second Isla had put down her knife and fork had been the time Angus had decided to fall asleep in his bouncy chair.

Drew had been late returning to the farmhouse, and she’d left him eating his tea from a tray in front of the TV while gently rocking Angus in his chair with his foot and instructing Finn how to build his Lego house.

Isla spotted Fergus racing along the road jiggling Esme on his back, who let out a rapturous giggle. They were on their way up to the farm to keep Drew company. Isla smiled at them both and waved her hand above her head as they both grinned back.

Swinging open the garden gate to Heartwood Cottage, Isla could see her friends Allie, Jessica and Polly gathered in the living room already sipping wine. Their laughter filtered out through the open window which immediately lifted Isla’s mood. She needed this, a night with her friends, where she could just be herself and not feel like she was walking on eggshells.

‘Flick … I’m here,’ shouted Isla, opening the front door and kicking off her shoes in the hallway.

Felicity appeared with a beam on her face, ‘And you’ve brought wine! You can come again … but you shouldn’t have!’

Isla laughed, ‘I’d be the talk of the village if I didn’t turn up with supplies!’

‘Too right,’ shouted Allie from the living room.

Isla walked into the living room to a group of smiley girls. There were already at least four bottles of wine on the coffee table alongside bowls of nibbles and leftover pastries from the teashop.

Felicity welcomed Isla like a long-lost friend, pulling her in for a hug and squeezing her hard before whipping the coat off her back and handing her a glass of wine.

The mood was jovial, and Isla settled on the settee next to Polly.

‘What have I missed?’ asked Isla, grabbing a handful of nuts from the bowl on the table.

‘Well I’m unemployable,’ said Polly, exhaling.

‘I’ve had a row with Rory,’ claimed Allie.

‘And I’ve got a pile of marking to do when I get home,’ Jessica rolled her eyes.

‘And it looks like I’ve got a bunch of miserable friends that need cheering up,’ grinned Felicity.

‘So, we can conclude we are all living our best lives! And it’s just the same old same old,’ laughed Isla, putting her arguments with Drew to the back of her mind while she enjoyed time with her friends.

‘But in other news, mum mentioned Martha was back in the village?’ said Allie, looking towards Isla. ‘Who’s the latest squeeze?’

Everyone laughed.

‘She drove into the village early yesterday morning with her Mini jam-packed to the rafters. Apparently she kicked Walter into touch a long time ago … or maybe it was the other way around.’

‘Were you expecting her?’ asked Allie.

‘No … but we all know what Gran’s like … lives every day like it’s her last … and disappears for long periods of time.’

‘But always turns up in the end … I hope I grow up to be like her,’ added Allie, topping up her wine. ‘I’m quite envious of her carefree lifestyle.’

‘She does amaze me, her energy … she’ll outlive us all, that one, but no doubt she’ll hook up with another man soon.’

‘Off Tinder,’ added Felicity with a chuckle, ‘then she’ll be off on her next adventure.’

‘Tinder?’ Allie queried. ‘Stop winding me up … are you telling us Martha is on Tinder?’

‘I’m absolutely telling you my seventy-year-old gran is on Tinder and probably has a more active sex life than all of us put together … eww …’ Isla scrunched up her face. ‘In fact, I don’t even want to think about it.’

‘I’m actually quite jealous,’ laughed Jessica, ‘this single lark is getting a bit boring.’

‘I’ll second that,’ chipped in Polly.

‘You can borrow Rory anytime … the way I feel at the moment, I was thinking of putting him on eBay … free to a good home.’

‘I can’t actually tell whether you are joking,’ said Jessica, her laughter evaporating.