Page 36 of New Beginnings on Railway Lane

So, having ruined one pair of boots the previous day, she put on the second pair of high-heeled boots she had brought with her, adding a black leather jacket for warmth, and then headed outside.

She was only wearing a thin long-sleeved top, which would normally have been sufficient for heading out and about in London with its stuffy underground and humid buses. But out in the countryside, she realised she had vastly overestimated the autumnal temperature and shivered as she walked over the rusty pedestrian bridge to the other side of the railway tracks.

She set off on a brisk pace to warm herself up, only briefly stumbling over the stony path. There were a few other people, mainly ramblers, walking along the path to and from Cranbridge as well. When she arrived into the village, next to the pretty but tiny church, she could see why it was so popular.

Katy had to concede that it was rather beautiful as a setting, with its sandy-coloured brick cottages lining the riverbanks and the green rolling hills surrounding the village peeping through between each house. Instead of a main street, there was a wide shallow river running down the middle of the village, with three ancient pedestrian stone bridges connecting either side over the clear, bubbling water.

Standing next to the street sign for Riverside Lane, she could see not only a very attractive corner shop, there was also a popular tea room and a separate place that was described on the outside as the community hub. On the other side of the river was the Black Swan Inn, which Eddie had told her was now a very popular pub for drinking and dining.

But for Katy, it was the people that made all the difference from quiet Cranfield. Cranbridge was buzzing. On a Friday morning, there were people coming and going from all the businesses. Even the Black Swan Inn was advertising cooked breakfasts and quite a few customers were heading indoors.

Katy treated herself to a proper latte in the tea room and it was the first decent cup of coffee she had enjoyed since arriving in Cranfield. The owner, a friendly lady called Molly who had delivered her coffee to the table, chatted away about how the tea room had only opened two years ago and was going from strength to strength.

As Katy sat there, she realised that there was a centre to Cranbridge that Cranfield didn’t have. She supposed that it must have been the station at one time, but now that it was closed, she could understand how quiet it had become.

Her business mind immediately swung into action, wondering how on earth they could create such a buzz in Cranfield. But, for once, she drew a blank. She knew all about five-star hotels and absolutely nothing about reviving failing villages.

Of course, she and Bob had submitted that application for a food business, but she still wasn’t sure quite how that would work in the station. She had yet to receive a reply, so she supposed it wouldn’t matter if nothing came of it.

And yet, she wanted Cranfield to survive. She wanted life to return to the village as it had done for Cranbridge. Of course, she would be long gone when that happened, back to her old life in London.

Katy thought back to when Libby had told her that her life in London sounded quite empty. Looking around the other tables, full of people chatting and laughing, she could perhaps see why Libby felt that way.

By the time she had finished her delicious coffee and left the tea room, the blue skies from earlier had been replaced by a darkening sky. Katy headed along Riverside Lane and into Cranbridge Stores, an extremely well-stocked corner shop. She was able to pick up a box of chocolates to take to the gin night later that evening, if she went, along with some biscuits and a few other snacks.

When she left the shop, large drops of rain were beginning to fall. By the time she had reached the church to find the path back to Cranfield, the drops had turned into a sudden heavy downpour.

Her leather jacket didn’t give too much protection against the elements, nor did her boots. Although at least their height kept her out of the puddles that were rapidly forming along the path.

By the time she reached the railway bridge, Katy could feel herself shivering in the cold air, her clothes now sodden and her hair plastered to her head.

Once over the bridge, she gave a sigh of relief to finally reach the platform with its awning, grateful to be able to get out of the heavy rain.

However, she gave a start when she saw Ryan smiling at her from the doorway to the waiting room.

‘I thought I’d better check that you weren’t working down here in secret,’ he said, leaning against the doorframe. ‘But now I can see that you decided to have a shower with your clothes on.’

‘Very funny,’ she said, before sneezing.

‘Why are you wearing high heels? And why haven’t you got a proper wax jacket or something suitable?’ he asked.

Katy glared at his mocking tone. ‘Because in London there’s no need. I can use Ubers and public transport when it’s raining.’

He grinned at her. ‘Where’s the fun in that?’

‘It’s called civilisation,’ she snapped, her cold wet clothes making her miserable. ‘You should try it some time.’

She drew herself up to her full height, with the added three-inch heels, and was all ready to make a grand exit, having had the final word. Unfortunately, in her shivering misery, she hadn’t noticed that the high heel of one of her boots had sunk into a small grate on the platform. As she went to move, her foot stayed put and she fell onto the platform. Katy was now on all fours, groaning at her mortification. Some grand exit that had been!

To compound her embarrassment, she felt Ryan’s hands grab hold of her shoulders and lift her back up again. When she was standing, she bent down to unzip the boot and try to retrieve it from the grate. But it wouldn’t budge.

Katy suppressed a small scream. There was only so much a woman could take.

‘Let me,’ said Ryan, bending down to yank the boot free. Unfortunately, whilst the boot was now free, the spindly heel was left behind in the grate. Her expensive boots were pretty much ruined, the second pair in two days!

He held out the boot and she reluctantly took it from him before limping away and around the corner to head up to the apartment.

Once she had peeled off all of her clothes, she stood in the shower for the longest time, letting the hot water bring life back to her skin. Somewhere mother nature was laughing at her, making Katy even more determined to head back to her safe, urban life just as soon as the job in Cranfield was done.