Page 37 of New Beginnings on Railway Lane

The countryside was most definitely for other people!

20

Early Friday evening, Katy was hesitating about whether to go to the girls’ gin night at Harriet’s cottage.

She was still feeling a bit shivery from her cold, wet walk earlier on in the day, let alone the humiliation of falling over in front of Ryan! But at least Harriet’s cottage would be warm inside, she figured.

In the end, she could think of no excuse that was in any way believable, so she decided to go and hopefully leave early.

When she arrived, she found everyone else was inside already and was thankful to see a roaring fire in the hearth, although Paddington the dog was already making full use of the heat by lying directly in front of it.

But the cottage was cosy and stylish, thought Katy. The rooms were small, but there was a charm about the place, with its rugs and blankets and stylish mix of old and modern furniture. Lots of photographs in frames filled the mantelpiece, as well as mementos from the aunt and uncle that Harriet had inherited the cottage from. It was a marked difference from Katy’s clean, minimalistic apartment.

Harriet took the box of chocolates that Katy had brought with her with a warm thank you.

Libby, however, said, ‘Don’t worry about those. I always bring my own!’

‘Her own’ turned out to be an assortment of handmade chocolate truffles.

‘You made these?’ asked Katy, having already tried one delicious truffle.

‘Just a little hobby,’ said Libby, pouring out a large gin cocktail.

But Katy hesitated to take the drink from her. ‘Is it strong?’ she asked.

‘Don’t you drink?’ asked Flora, looking at her concerned. ‘Obviously there’s no pressure from us if you don’t. It’s absolutely fine. We have some non-alcoholic drinks as well.’

‘No, it’s not that,’ said Katy, with a grimace. ‘It’s just that the last time I drank a load of alcohol, I ended up here. No offence.’

‘None taken,’ said Libby, laughing. ‘Now that’s a story that deserves a proper drink to go along with it.’ She handed Katy a cocktail glass full of clear liquid. ‘This is much less hangover-inducing,’ she said.

‘What is it?’ asked Katy, taking a tentative sip. ‘Wow. That’s nice. What’s the flavour?’

‘Gin with just a hit of lavender,’ Flora told her.

‘The lavender is from my fields,’ said Harriet, with a proud look.

Katy took another sip. ‘It’s lovely,’ she said. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever tasted lavender in a drink before.’

Luckily it was quite subtle but certainly gave a warmth and delicate flavour to the gin.

They all took their drinks and headed into the cosy front room to settle down on the sofa and armchairs.

‘So now that we’ve all got a drink, let me ask you something,’ said Libby, looking at Katy. ‘What are you actually doing here?’

She was so direct that Katy had to laugh. Nobody ever asked her questions like that outside of business.

‘I was made redundant. Then I got very drunk and answered Ethan’s advert to help clear out the station,’ Katy told her.

Whilst the others laughed, Libby rolled her eyes. ‘As usual, it’s Ethan’s fault. The man is a complete idiot,’ she said.

‘I’ve yet to meet him,’ replied Katy. ‘But apparently he’s coming home for Bob’s birthday in a couple of weeks.’

‘Worse luck,’ muttered Libby.

Flora smiled at Katy. ‘Libby and Ethan have been fighting ever since school,’ she told her.

‘Because he’s the most awful person in the whole world,’ said Libby in a knowing tone.