Holiday For One Was it really what she wanted?

It took a little time away and a glimpse into a very different life to adjust Anthea’s perspective…

Anthea wrinkled up her nose in a mixture of sympathy and horror. She had thought Charlie big at eight pounds three ounces – ten was unimaginable.

“Golly,” she said, pushing the appalling image of a baby with a melon instead of a head from her mind. “Poor you.”

“You got any kids?” the woman went on, slathering cream across her chest. She was fair-haired but already deeply tanned, and the oil she was using had an SPF of just four. Anthea had carefully applied factor fifty to every exposed area of skin, then put on a kaftan over her swimsuit for good measure.

“Two,” Anthea answered, detailing their names and ages.

“Five,” the woman returned. “Four lads and a lass – she’s a right thorn in my side.”

Kath, as she now introduced herself, then continued with a groan, “I was never through the letterbox; the slam of her car door, followed by the hum of traffic, the ping of the elevator, the ringing of her office phone, the chatter of colleagues.

If she was lucky, Anthea grabbed a solo half-hour in the tub after dinner, but even then there would be knocks at the door. “Mum, where’s my blue top?” “Mum, Skipper needs a pee.” “Mum, why are you ignoring me – have you drowned? Dad! Daaaaad! Mum’s drowned!’ And so on.

She had hoped this week in the Algarve would be a chance to switch off from all that noise, from life, from the demands of being a working mother and, of course, from the “recent turmoil”.

“You all right there, love?” Kath was peering at her in mild concern.

“Sorry.” Anthea shook her head. “I was miles away,” she added, wishing as she said it that she actually was. Kath seemed nice enough, but she was chatty. Very chatty. Anthea suppressed a yawn.

“I get it.” Kath held up both hands. “You’re wanting a nice nap and then along I come with my big old gob and disturb you. Say no more.”

“No, honestly, it’s f –” began Anthea. “Pretend I’m not really here,” Kath stage whispered. “I won’t say another word. Promise.”

Smiling in defeat, Anthea leaned back against her chair and closed her eyes, listening to the gentle roar of the waves. Faint notes of music were drifting down from the beach bar, and from somewhere in the distance, she could hear the tap, tap of a ball against bats. The warmth eased its way into her limbs, feeling like the expert hands of a masseuse as it soothed and melted away her stress and tension.

She still could not quite believe he had done it. Not her boy – not her little Charlie. How had he gone from being cherubic to troubled so quickly? Had she taught him nothing? Had her and Phil’s example been so bad?

You really shouldn’t do that.” Anthea opened one eye. “Pardon?”

“You were frowning, in your sleep, like,” Kath said gravely. “Thought it better

“Will you watch my chair, please?” she said, getting quickly to her feet.

“Course.” Kath tossed a couple of her magazines into the vacated seat. Anthea thought she heard her call out something else as she hurried away, but she didn’t look back, didn’t stop until she had reached the beach taverna, connected her phone to the Wi-Fi, and pressed the button to make a FaceTime call.

Phil answered on the third ring.

“Hello, love. Oh, you’re at the beach – that’s great. How are you? Feeling better for having escaped?”

“I’ll tell you all about it in a minute,” Anthea promised. “But first, can you put Charlie on? Oh, and get Maeve, too.”

“You want the kids?” Her husband was clearly bemused. “But you only saw them yesterday.”

“I know.” Anthea smiled, tears in her eyes now as she realised how ridiculous she’d been, how reactionary. How much she had made the situation with Charlie about herself, rather than him.

“But I miss them,” she cried. “I miss them so much. I miss you all so much.”

“Well, then, if that’s the case,” Phil said, raising a single eyebrow. “Why don’t I book us a flight so we can come out and join you? I can easily move some stuff around at work. Would you like that?”

Anthea turned and stared out at the golden caster-sugar sand peppered with colourful beach umbrellas, at the deckchair she had set up and the novel she had abandoned, yet again, on the ground beside it. She’d assumed getting away would make her feel more like her old pre-motherhood self, but all it had done was remind her that her she preferred her new self far more.

“I think,” she said, giving in to a smile as bright as sunlight on water, “I would like that very much.”

Hello Again by Isabelle Broom is published by Hodder & Stoughton in Paperback Original on July 9, priced £7.99. It’s also available in ebook and audio. Pepper may have taken the bold step of accompanying her friend on the adventure of a lifetime… but is she really destined to be with Finn? This romantic tale of Pepper’s quest to find happiness is a joy to read!

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