Page 69 of Escape to the Country

Eleanor shrugged her shoulders. ‘I didn’t know what else to do. And I didn’t want to let Mum down. She’d given up so much for me to go to university and live out my dreams. I didn’t want her to know they hadn’t come true, so I kept on lying.’ A tear rolled down her cheek. ‘I’m sorry I lied to you both for so long,’ she said. ‘I was an idiot.’

‘Well, that we already knew,’ quipped Megan before looking serious. ‘Are you going to write a story about Tom?’

Eleanor shook her head fiercely. ‘No. He’s too nice to deceive. Besides, I don’t want to go back to that way of life.’ As she said the words, she knew it was true. That part of her life was truly over. ‘I don’t want to be that person any more,’ she said aloud.

‘So don’t,’ said Megan, with a shrug.

‘It’s not that simple,’ Eleanor told her. ‘What do I do instead?’

Megan grabbed some more chocolates. ‘Anything that makes you happy.’

Eleanor shrugged her shoulders. ‘I don’t know what that is any more. I just feel a bit lost.’

‘Then stay here,’ said Annie, reaching out to squeeze her hand. ‘You’re home. The village, your mum and us, what else do you need?’

‘Apart from a steady pay check? Nothing but you two,’ Eleanor told her, another tear rolling down her cheek.

There was a muttered oath and then the three of them were hugging and crying and promising never to fall out again.

‘We probably put too much pressure on you,’ said Annie.

‘No, you didn’t. It was all me. But you know how I feel about you guys, don’t you?’ said Eleanor, looking from friend to friend. ‘How I really feel about you?’

Megan smiled. ‘We love you too,’ she said.

‘I just wanted everything to be perfect,’ said Eleanor, scratching at a flaky patch of eczema between her fingers. ‘I needed to be perfect.’

‘But you aren’t,’ said Megan in a soft tone.

‘Nobody is,’ added Annie.

It turned out that the only person who had expected 100% perfection was Eleanor herself. And look where that had left her these past few weeks.

‘But I thought that if I wasn’t then maybe you wouldn’t like me anymore.’

Megan rolled her eyes. ‘You idiot! We’re not your dad. We don’t feel like that about you. We don’t care about that scar on your knee where you tried to jump over the wall on the way to school and failed spectacularly.’

‘Or the hundreds of freckles on your nose,’ said Annie.

‘Or your split ends, if you had any,’ added Megan.

‘Oh, I’ve got loads now,’ sighed Eleanor. ‘I need a decent haircut.’ She frowned. ‘Maybe I should take mum with me as a treat.’

‘So I can trust you around Tom?’ asked Annie.

Eleanor nodded. ‘Absolutely. I’m definitely not writing a story about him. But I don’t want him to know about my past. He knows that I lost my job.’

‘Does he?’ said Annie, looking surprised. ‘How?’

‘It’s a long story,’ Eleanor told her. ‘But please just let him think that I was a financial journalist. I know that means more lies, but I think…’

‘Oh my god! It’s because you like him!’ said Megan, her eyes gleaming.

‘Of course I don’t,’ said Eleanor quickly.

‘You’re blushing,’ Annie told her, grinning.

‘I’m not,’ said Eleanor, even though she could feel the heat spreading across her cheeks.