Dear Geraldine

There was the envelope, written in her husband’s familiar handwriting. He had walked out on her and the farm. And now the contents of the letter came as a shock. What would she do now?

I’m, er, separated.” Geraldine felt a hot blush rising up her neck. She hadn’t expected to feel so self-conscious about announcing her marital status, but then she hadn’t expected to find herself sitting across an intimate table from such an attractive divorcé.

She looked down at the ring she still wore from habit and suddenly felt guilty for accepting Hector’s invitation to the newly opened coffee shop at Mill Pond Farm.The cracks in her marriage had been widening for a long time, but that didn’t change the fact she’d taken a vow 27 years ago. She should be trying to patch things up with Ray, not seeing another man. She knew she was being irrational. It hadn’t been her decision to split up, after all.

“My husband left me.” Geraldine cringed inwardly as she heard the words come out.

She hated herself for sounding like such a victim but, although she’d had months to get used to Ray’s departure, the wound suddenly felt very fresh and raw.

She realised she’d been holding a lot in and reminded herself that Hector wasn’t the right person to dump it on.

Flustered, she glanced around the busy café and caught Val, the farm’s owner, eyeing her with curiosity from behind the counter.

Geraldine’s own farm was two miles away, but the countryside was a small place. She knew that news of her date would be all over the parish by tomorrow. She should never have come.

“I’m sorry,” Hector said softly.Warmly, he added:“He must have been a fool.”

Geraldine was surprised to meet the admiring look in his hazel eyes.With his rugged laughter lines, neatly groomed brown hair and smart cashmere sweater, he really was a suave and handsome fellow. Geraldine wondered what he saw in her. She thought back to the bizarre exchange of notes on the egg cart outside her farm that had brought them together.

She’d pinned up a note to apologise for being too down to put the eggs out.

He’d left a get-well card with an offer to pick up anything from the shops if she couldn’t get out.

She’d left a thank-you note asking him not to worry about her.

Geraldine had been taken aback when a Valentine’s Day card arrived, inviting her for a coffee.

Hector was new to the area and she’d never seen him before.

She guessed he’d heard on the village grapevine that she was alone and had seen her going about the farm, although she doubted she would have looked very alluring in her wellies and work clothes.

She’d made more of an effort today, but her reflection as she brushed her blonde hair and put on her lipstick hadn’t filled her with confidence.

At 54, she reckoned a life on the land had left her more leathery than lovely.

“We’d been arguing about the farm.” She tried to keep her tone light.“He thought we should give it up but I’ve always been the stubborn sort. I never thought it would come down to him or the land!”

“It’s always hard mixing work and marriage,” Hector agreed, his tanned brow creasing.“Lisbet and I used to argue about the restaurant all the time.”

He glanced at a chunky wristwatch and Geraldine wondered if he was bored with her, but he looked up with a smile.

“I know we said coffee, but since we’re here, shall we have a bite to eat?”

She chose a salad from the menu and Hector insisted it was his treat. She admired his tall, athletic frame as he walked to the counter.

Val busied herself with the cake cabinet, to pretend she hadn’t been watching them.

Geraldine felt a stab of envy for her fellow landowner.The coffee shop was thriving, as was the adjacent farm shop and the holiday lets that Mick and Val had converted from one of their barns.

Diversification was the only way a small farm could make money these days.

Geraldine wondered if things would have been different for her and Ray if they’d gone down that route while they still had the wherewithal to do so, but she’d always been a traditionalist and Ray’s heart had never been in the farm anyway.

Mick and Val were ambitious incomers. They’d come to Mill Pond with cash from selling up at sky-high prices in the city.

Geraldine had grown up on Clover Farm and got her ways from her parents’ day, when working the land was enough.

“I don’t know where the time went!” Geraldine exclaimed, as they stepped into the gravel car park, the last to leave before Val closed up the coffee shop for the afternoon.

“Times flies when you’re having fun.” Hector grinned.“I haven’t had such a lovely chat for a long time.”

“Me neither,” Geraldine agreed.“I’m really glad I came.”

“Shall we do it again?”

She looked up at him, surprised by how relaxed she’d come to feel in his company. “Yes, I’d like that.”

They walked towards their cars, which were parked next to each other, and Hector took out his phone.

“Can I take your number to call you? Or shall we carry on leaving notes on the egg cart?”

Geraldine laughed, and took out her mobile.“I think the phone would be easier. Speaking of which, I’d better text Buster, my son. He pops in on his way home about now. He’ll wonder where I’ve got to.”

As they prepared to part, Geraldine wondered if he’d kiss her. It was so long since she’d been on a date, she’d forgotten the routine.

“I’ll call you then.” Hector waved cheerily, as he headed for his driver’s door.

“Great.” Geraldine hid her disappointment and reassured herself that a peck on the cheek might have been too forward for a first meeting. Maybe next time.

Deep down, she felt certain she would see him again. In fact, the more she replayed the afternoon in her mind, the better she felt it had gone.

She pulled up at the open gate of Clover Farm and stepped out to check the mailbox.The post always came late to outlaying properties like hers.

To her surprise she found an envelope, addressed in her husband’s writing.

Her heart quickening, she pulled out two folded sheets.

Dear Geraldine,

I know I’ve been stupid and hasty. Can you forgive me enough to try again?

She tried to read on, but the opening lines were such a shock that the rest was a blur.

She dropped the letter on the passenger seat and drove up to her door.As she let herself in, with the missive in her hand, her mobile rang. She half expected it to be Ray, but it was Hector.

“Hello?” she answered cautiously. “Hi,” he said brightly.“Just wanted to make sure you got home OK.”

“Yes. Just got in.Thanks.”

“I also wondered if you’d like to go for a proper meal later in the week. How about dinner at that bistro in Marleton on Friday?”

“Oh!” Geraldine looked guiltily at her husband’s letter fluttering in her hand. “Well, yes – that would be nice.”

Friday was a long way off. Plenty of time to cancel if she had to.

“Can I pick you up this time?” “Sure,” she said distractedly.

“Let’s say seven-thirty, then. I’m looking forward to seeing you again.”

“Me, too.”

As she hung up, Geraldine recalled the moment when she thought he might kiss her, and how disappointed she’d felt when he hadn’t.

“He’s got a cheek, really,” Geraldine fumed to her friend Marion on the landline in her living room the next morning. “Disappearing for months on end and expecting me to drop everything to take him back.”

“You’ve been together a long time,” Marion said gently.

“I know.”Geraldine sighed,deflated. Marion was her oldest friend.They’d been maids of honour at each other’s weddings. Before Marion had moved to the city, Geraldine, Ray, Marion and Tom had often gone out as a foursome.

The women had always shared their problems and until recently there had been few occasions for Geraldine to complain about Ray.Their marriage hadn’t been perfect, but whose was?

“I’m not saying I haven’t missed him.” She spoke to herself as much as Marion. “But things change, don’t they? I mean, I thought Ray was happy on the farm, but he wasn’t.That won’t alter just because he comes back, will it?”

She stifled a small yawn.“Sorry, Marion, I didn’t sleep much last night.”

She’d lain awake thinking about the rows with Ray in the months before he left. Somehow the tension had seeped into every area of their life.

She knew he was right about some things. Clover Farm had been in her family for a hundred years and she’d thought it always would be. But times were changing and it had become a struggle, even a liability. Perhaps it was time to sell up, as most of her neighbours had. But, as she’d told Hector, she was stubborn.