Serial part 2: Snow and Stardust by Della Galton

There may be no hope left for Lucy’s marriage, but moving on is proving harder than she expected…

THE STORY SO FAR: Zach Peters is driving home to Fordingbridge, Hampshire, on a snowy December evening, when his car breaks down on a forest road. With no mobile reception and the weather worsening, things are looking bleak, until a twist of fate leads to him being rescued by

Lucy snow. She is also alone and driving down to stay with her brother after the breakdown of her marriage, something Zach knows all too much about himself. Neither is looking forward to Christmas and, after discovering they have a shared connection to Lucy’s brother, Dan, the two soon find themselves divulging more about their personal lives than they would normally. When Lucy drops Zach off, their shared moment of closeness appears to be over, and the two never expect to meet again. But as Zach enters the house, his carelessness leads to an accident, and it seems he may be in need of some more friendly assistance. The story continues…

Lucy had reached the outskirts of Fordingbridge when she heard a series of pings – the sound of two or three texts coming through on a mobile – but it clearly wasn’t hers, because hers was set to silent whenever she was driving.

She frowned. Zach must have left his phone behind. She’d only dropped him off five minutes ago; it would be better to take it back now, she decided, turning the car around carefully.

The snow was still falling fast out of the dark sky. By tomorrow morning, it might be impossible to drive.

She headed back, parked where she’d dropped him off, and walked down his road, her footprints overlaying the imprints of his on the fresh snow. Not that it would have been hard to spot his house because, as he’d pointed out a few minutes earlier, it was the only one that wasn’t lit up like a Christmas tree. Clearly, there was some sort of festive-lights competition going on between his neighbours.

When she reached his front door, she realised it was slightly ajar. Hesitating, but only briefly, she rapped the brass door-knocker.

There was a muffled grunt from the other side, which she took to be an invitation. She

stepped into a dimly-lit hall and stopped short. Baubles, tinsel and silver beads littered the carpet, and Zach was sitting at the foot of the stairs with his head in his hands.

‘Um, hello…’ She stopped in her tracks. ‘You forgot your phone. I just brought it back.’

‘Thanks.’ He looked up at her, blinking rapidly. ‘I feel like a prize idiot.’ He gestured to the mess. ‘I just took a tumble.’

‘Gosh, are you OK?’ She picked her way over the debris. ‘Did you hit your head?’

The cut on his forehead answered that question. She knelt down in front of him. ‘You should really get that checked at the hospital. Did you knock yourself out?’

‘I don’t think so, although I did see stars – several of them,’ he quipped, gesturing to a silver, sparkly one close by. ‘Sadly, I didn’t see them quickly enough. I shouldn’t have left the box there. It’s my own stupid fault.’

‘You might need a stitch in that,’ Lucy said, frowning. ‘I’ll take you to A&E.’

‘No. I’ve caused you enough trouble already.’ He waved a hand. ‘Really, I’m fine. But I appreciate you bringing my phone back.’

Lucy hesitated. ‘At least let me check that cut.’ She smiled at him. ‘It’s OK, I’m a first-aider. It’ll be good practice for me.’

Zach gave in and let her lead him into his own kitchen. It was usually better to take the path of least resistance, he reasoned, where a clearly determined woman was concerned, at any rate.

And, actually, she was very nice. She was also – to his relief – brisk and efficient. She swiftly located the nearest thing to medical supplies he had in the house (a wedge of kitchen roll and some tepid, boiled water from the kettle) and set to work.

It was odd having a woman so close to him. He’d avoided women since the split with Sian; he’d avoided everyone, if he was honest. He could smell Lucy’s perfume faintly as she leaned over him – something sultry and exotic. ‘I’m not hurting you, am I?’ ‘No.’

‘It’s not as bad as it looks. It’s stopped bleeding anyway.’

‘Good.’ He was feeling a bit light-headed, but that was probably the shock.

‘I’ll make some tea,’ she said, looking at his face, her eyes clouded with concern. ‘You’re a bit pale… You’re probably in shock. It’ll help.’ ‘OK, thanks.’

She bustled around. Fortunately, he hadn’t been away long, so there was some in-date milk in the fridge. She was tactful enough not to comment on the stacked-up takeaway containers and the beers that were also in there.

It felt surreal, watching her in his kitchen, but in a good way. By the time he’d drunk the overly sweet tea, he felt a lot better.

‘Thank you,’ he said, when she got up to leave. ‘I really appreciate it.’

‘It’s no problem. Is there anyone you can call? I still feel that maybe we should’ve gone to A&E and got you checked out properly.’

‘No-one close,’ he murmured – which was true, in every sense of the word.

‘Well, will you call me, then?’ she asked. ‘Tomorrow, I mean? Just to put my mind at rest that you’ve survived the night?’ She handed him a business card: Lucy Snow –

Virtual PA. Black lettering on a gold background. Classy.

He nodded, touched by her concern, and hooked out a business card, too, from his wallet. It was an old one, with the name of the band, True

Bohemians, and a silhouette of the five of them.

‘You’re a musician?’

It was on the tip of his tongue to say, ‘I used to be,’ but he didn’t. He just nodded again. And he guessed it didn’t matter that he was no longer in a band. He would always be a musician.

‘Until tomorrow, then,’ she said, and he was left with just the trace of her spicy scent and the memory of her smile in his kitchen.

When Lucy finally arrived at Dan and Jo’s, she was met by an ecstatic Tom.

‘You’ve been ages! We thought you’d crashed.’ Her eight-year-old nephew flung his arms around her.

‘No, we didn’t.’

Dan and Jo exchanged glances at the word ‘we’.

‘I’m sorry, I should have called.’ Lucy felt suddenly stricken. Of course they’d have been worried! It was a foul night for driving.

She went into the bright warmth of the house. Even their old Labrador Georgie seemed pleased to see her, wagging her tail from her spot by the wood burner.

‘Actually,’ Lucy said, with a frown. ‘I’ve had quite an adventure. I picked up a hitchhiker, and it turned out it was someone we all know. Well, you two know him better than I do. He was at your wedding!’

An hour later, after she’d filled them in about Zach’s car breaking down and all that had followed, and Dan was putting an over-excited Tom to bed, she sat down with Jo for some girl talk.

‘I can’t believe you didn’t know Zach Peters was a musician,’ Jo said, her eyes bright with glee. ‘True Bohemians were really well known, in jazz circles anyway – they were brilliant. It was a shame they split up.’ Her voice dropped reflectively. ‘Zach plays the sax.’

‘Does he? We didn’t really talk about work.’ No – they’d skipped that level, she thought, and gone straight for the deep stuff instead.

‘Anyway, enough about your eventful journey…’ Her sister-in-law’s eyes softened. ‘How are you? I mean, how are you really? I don’t want any “brave face” nonsense.’

Lucy thought about the empty house in Kent – about Michael’s coldness the last time they’d spoken. She gave a small sigh. ‘I’m OK, all things considered. Although this wasn’t what I thought

I’d be doing, that’s for sure… I don’t mean coming to stay with you guys,’ she added quickly. ‘That’s the good part. It’s a relief to get out of the house, to be honest. Hopefully, someone will buy it quickly and Michael and I can go our separate ways.’

‘And it really has come to that? You don’t think there’s a way back for you two?’

‘Not without one of us making a major compromise,’ Lucy said. ‘And I don’t think I can live without having children. I’ve wanted to be a mother all my life.’ She could feel her voice husking over the words. Suddenly, tears were very close to the surface. ‘And it was what Michael said he wanted, too, when we got married,’ she finished softly. ‘It’s not me who’s changed.’

There was a pause. Lucy was aware of the Christmas tree lights flashing through their sequence: red, gold, amber, green and blue, lighting up the room. There was already a smattering of cards on the mantelpiece above the wood burner, even though it was only the first week of December. They’d be written out to ‘Dan, Jo and Tom’, or ‘Jo, Dan and family’. That’s what she wanted…a life that was about family.

‘I’m sorry,’ Jo said, breaking into her thoughts. ‘I didn’t mean to make you cry.’

‘You haven’t,’ Lucy said, realising it wasn’t true as a tear rolled down her cheek. She brushed it away and rummaged for a pack of tissues. ‘I guess there’s a lot going on,’ she added, meeting Jo’s gentle gaze.

‘I’ll say.’ Jo rose from the couch. ‘I’ll make us both a nightcap. Hot chocolate makes everything look better. Shall I put a whiskey in it?’ Lucy wasn’t sure whether it was the nightcap that did the trick or just the fact that she was finally out of the marital home which had left her feeling very hollow lately, but she slept better that night than she had for weeks.

In the morning, over breakfast, she discussed her plans with Jo and Dan.

He’d avoided women since he’d

split up with Sian

‘I’m taking Tom to his Saturday club when he’s finished building a snowman,’ Jo said. ‘They’re rehearsing for a Christmas show, so he doesn’t want to miss it. Dan will be around, though.’

Her brother smiled at her. ‘Do you have to work, sis?

Or are you giving yourself the weekend off?’

‘I thought I might have this weekend off. In fact, I’m planning to head to the letting agent to see what’s going.’

They both looked at her. ‘You don’t need to do that. You can stay with us,’ Jo said.

‘I know I can. And I’m very grateful, believe me. But I also know that these things take ages to sort out – especially over Christmas. I don’t want to outstay my welcome.’

‘You won’t,’ Dan said.

‘But you’re right. If you want somewhere for January, it’s a good plan to start looking now.’ He sipped his coffee.

‘I’ll run you up there.’

‘We might be better off walking,’ Jo said, as Tom came dashing into the kitchen with a sprinkling of snow in his hair. He skidded across the floor, leaving a watery trail.

‘Do you want to see my snowman, Auntie Lucy?’

‘Of course I do, sweetheart.’ In the end, they all walked into town. It wasn’t much more than a mile between Tom’s Saturday club and the letting agent, and there was a jovial atmosphere. Plenty of people were out and about, enjoying the novelty of snow, and, as the small roads hadn’t been gritted, there wasn’t much traffic.

They had a snowball fight on the way. Tom started it by hurling a snowball at his dad. Within seconds, they were all joining in, laughing and shouting at each other across the freezing air.

Lucy realised that some of the darkness that had shadowed her for the past few weeks had lifted. It felt good to be in her home town with the support of her family.

She knew the weeks ahead weren’t going to be easy, but at least she felt she’d made a start. Moving back to Ringwood was a major step.

They dropped Tom off safely, but when they finally reached the letting agent, they discovered the front door was locked and there were no lights on inside.

‘They should be open,’ Jo said, looking at the times on the door.

‘The staff probably had trouble getting in,’ Lucy said.

‘Yeah.’ Dan rolled his eyes. ‘Three inches of snow, and the country grinds to a halt.’

‘Never mind. We can look online,’ Lucy said, clapping her hands together to shake off the snow. ‘Or maybe come back in a bit? Let’s go for a coffee – my treat.’

As they sat down, Lucy’s phone buzzed. It was a number she didn’t recognise but, curious, she answered it.

‘Hi, it’s Zach. Just reporting in…so you know I’m not dead.’ His voice was wry, but she could hear the warmth in it, even above the buzz of coffee-shop chatter.

‘Zach, thank you. That’s a relief. How’s your head?’

‘It’s fine. And it’s me who should be thanking you. I was wondering if you’d like to come out for a drink one evening – or maybe dinner?

So I can thank you in person.’ ‘I’d like that,’ she said.

They made arrangements for the following Wednesday.

‘I just need to make sure my car’s in working order,’ Zach said, to explain the delay. ‘I’ll keep you posted.’

When she disconnected, Lucy found herself under the curious scrutiny of Jo and Dan.

‘Are you going on a date with Zach Peters?’ Jo asked, with a gleam in her eyes.

‘No, not a date. I’m still married, remember?’ Lucy felt herself flushing.

‘You’re separated,’ Dan reminded her, ‘because you and your husband don’t have a future. There’s a world of difference.’ He steepled his hands and looked at her. ‘Shall we go and see if the letting agents are open yet?’

It was, but they didn’t have anything in Lucy’s price range – not for January, anyway.

‘Everything goes a bit dead in December. It’s too close to silly season,’ the agent told her. ‘We’ll probably have a flood of properties after Christmas. Leave your details and I’ll update you.’

Lucy was disappointed, but not all that surprised. She knew there was no rush, but it wasn’t fair to impose on Dan and Jo for more than a few weeks. There wasn’t enough room. They had family who lived in Tenerife and flew back for occasions and were coming for Christmas, too. It would be quite a squash.

Besides, having finally made the decision to leave the marital home, she wanted to be independent. She knew she’d feel in limbo until the house was sold, but getting her own rental would help, even if it was tiny.

She hadn’t heard from Michael. Presumably he’d fly back from Abu Dhabi for Christmas. She wasn’t sure what his plans were, but he’d probably see his parents, who lived close to the house in Kent. She tried to put him out of her head. Everywhere she went, there were painful reminders of Christmas – cards headed

were on sale in every newsagent’s. Adverts for big family gatherings popped up on TV constantly. And, of course, the festive season was all over social media. People posted recipes for mulled wine, chestnut sprouts and mince pies, and she kept getting adverts for Michael’s favourite cologne on her timeline. Clearly she’d bought it online before.

Lucy consoled herself that it would have been worse to be in Kent, where they’d spent so many happy Christmases. Moving back here had been the right thing to do.

‘So, what are you wearing tonight?’ Jo asked on Wednesday lunchtime.

She’d just come into the spare bedroom, where Lucy was working on her laptop. Dan had set up a temporary desk in there for her, bless him. Well, it was really a dressing table, but it was the right height, and more peaceful than the kitchen table.

‘I hadn’t given it a thought,’ Lucy said, although not entirely truthfully.

‘Liar!’ Jo bounced up and down on the bed like a child. ‘Do you want to borrow my new black top?’

‘It’s not a date,’ Lucy said, smiling. ‘But yes, OK to the top.’ They both giggled.

‘Do you think Zach would mind signing a copy of one of his CDs for me if I give it to you?’ Jo asked sheepishly.

‘I’ll certainly ask him.’ Zach was happy to sign the CD. ‘Although it does feel bittersweet,’ he told her as they ate pizza at an Italian in Ringwood later that night.

‘I bet it does,’ she said. ‘Sometimes I think that when we look back on an era that’s gone, it’s the times when we were happiest that hurt most.’

‘That’s exactly how it is,’ Zach said, giving her a direct

‘Are you going on a date with Zach Peters?’

look. ‘This is the first December in years that I’ve not been booked up solidly playing gigs.’

‘And you miss it?’ she asked. ‘Very much,’ he replied, his eyes downcast.

She was wondering whether to ask him why the band had split, when he spoke suddenly.

‘It was our trumpet player who had an affair with my wife,’ he said. ‘There was talk that we might replace him, but actually it would’ve been easier to replace me. He was part of the sound – well, we all were, but he was more a part of it than me, if that makes sense. We were divided about what to do. I guess that’s really why we broke up. I felt betrayed.’ He hesitated. ‘Not just by James, but by the others. Liam, the lead singer, was the only one who supported me.’

‘I bet you did,’ Lucy said, realising that they were doing that ‘deep’ thing again.

They’d bypassed the trivia – the stuff you’d usually talk about when you didn’t know someone very well – and gone straight for what was really in their hearts.

‘How about you?’ he asked. ‘What’s it like being back? Any news from your husband?’

‘None.’ She told him about the problems she was having getting a rental.

‘I might be able to help you there – my cousin has his own agency. It’s in Bournemouth, but they cover this area. And a lot is online anyway.’

‘Oh, thanks. Yes, I’d love his number.’

He smiled at her. ‘I can do better than that – I can introduce you. He’s coming for supper on Friday. It’s our annual duty meet-up. Why don’t you come, too? I’ll tell him in advance. With a bit of luck, he’ll be able to bring some details to show you.’

So she’d be seeing Zach twice in one week…

Jo was thrilled. She was definitely starry-eyed where Zach Peters was concerned. Dan was encouraging, too.

‘It’s business, not pleasure,’ Lucy told them both firmly.

Jo rolled her eyes. ‘Good luck with the property search. Sounds ideal.’

Over the coming weeks, Lucy viewed three properties.

Zach went with her to two. ‘It’s a nice diversion,’ he said when she jokingly suggested he must have better things to do. ‘I’m not keen on this time of year, as I said. But if you’d prefer to go on your own..?’

‘No,’ she insisted. ‘It’s handy to get a second opinion.’

They were coming back from a viewing one evening when Lucy saw a familiar car parked on the road outside her brother’s. She barely had time to take in that it was Michael’s when the driver’s door opened and he got out.

He didn’t look happy. She saw the expression on his face lit by the streetlight before he rounded on her.

‘What are you playing at?’ ‘What am I playing at?’ She was so shocked, she couldn’t think of anything else to say.

‘Gadding about with other men.’ He glared at Zach. ‘So this is your famous musician.’

‘It’s none of your business who I see.’

‘You’re my wife!’

Zach was coming round the side of the car towards them. Michael turned on him. ‘She’s taken, mate.’

‘You’ve got this all wrong,’ Zach began, but, without warning, Michael hit him.

Fortunately, he’d stepped back, so he didn’t get the full force of the punch. But, after that, everything went into slow motion. Lucy was aware of Zach staggering backwards; of the front door of the house banging behind her and Dan hurtling across the front garden; of her own voice yelling at Michael.

How had it come to this..? TO BE CONTINUED Della Galton, 2018