(Part 01)
Sharpington-by-Sea is a traditional seaside resort complete with a Victorian Pier, seafront hotels, crazy golf, the Palladium ballroom, well maintained gardens, promenade, theatre and illuminations, all the usual things to have a great time by the seaside, as well as amusement arcades and of course the Sharpington Fun Park.
The Fun Park was the first purpose built amusement park to open in Britain, which had an assortment of rides, like the Rotor and the Wild Mouse, The Cyclone and the Morehouse Galloper, all very tame compared to 21st century roller coasters, but still fun.
It was also a popular resort for retirees and boasted a number of static caravan parks and one of them was the Whitecliff Hill Caravan Park which overlooked the town.
Kirsty Wishaw was petite and had beautiful straw coloured hair and at 27 years old she worked as the manager of the onsite Stephenson’s general store.
Stephenson’s had supermarkets and convenience stores all over Downshire.
Kirsty was a resident of Sharpington and had worked at the shop since she was at school.
Of course she had help in the shop in the form of a small group of part timers whom she knew she could trust which she needed because she had other demands on her time, namely her terminally ill mother who she had to care for, so the last thing she needed was another distraction which on one day in the middle of October came in the form of Phil Spurgeon.
Her eyes were drawn to him the moment he entered the shop, he was tall and slim with thick brown curly hair just long enough to cover his collar, with brown eyes and a toothy smile which lit up the whole shop.
Phil was a couple of years older that Kirsty and he was a writer who lived in one of the caravans on the far side of the park.
He was in the shop for about ten minutes and she caught him sneaking a look in her direction but when he eventually went to the counter with a basket full of essentials she was serving someone else, which she later thought was for the best really, she didn’t have time for such distractions, even very good looking ones.
So she did her best to ignore him which was difficult because he was gorgeous but she convinced herself it really was for the best.
Phil would have heartily agreed with her, he was finding writing his novel difficult enough as it was without the added complication of losing his heart to the lovely girl with the corn coloured hair.
He was an accountant by profession but after his marriage ended he decided he was going to give up his job and write a novel before life passed him by.
Phil’s neighbours up at Whitecliff Hill Caravan Park were the Taylor family, who unlike Phil had not chosen to be there because when they least expected it, life slapped them in the face and then it kicked them when they were on the ground.
The slap came when Michelle Taylor was diagnosed with breast cancer in January the previous year and needed surgery followed by chemo.
Her husband Martyn was a self-employed builder at the time with plenty of steady work and was able to increase his hours to cover for the shortfall.
Then came the first kick, at the end of February when Martyn was in a car crash and broke his leg.
In June there was another kick, when he needed surgery on his leg after he got an infection, but most painful kick came in October, when with bills going unpaid and Martyn still on crutches and Michelle unable to work for several months because of the surgery and two courses of chemo and with mounting debts and their savings long gone and no money for the mortgage they lost the house.
(Part 02)
So in December Martyn Taylor, wife Michelle, 9 year old son Sam and seven year old twins Ben and Mark moved into a caravan at Whitecliffe and they had a bleak Christmas.
Over the following eleven months the Taylor's worked hard to rebuild their lives, Michelle was declared cancer free and returned to work, and got a job in Sharpington.
Martyn found another job, not as a builder and not bringing home as much money as before the accident but it was steady and seemed to be more secure.
The boys did their bit as well by washing cars, cleaning windows and doing odd jobs on the park.
So by December they had managed to pay off the remainder of their debts and even had a bit left over for Christmas.
They were doing so well that in another six months they would be able to think about moving back into a house but then on the 20th December life kicked them again.
It had been a bitterly cold weekend with an icy wind blowing off the sea, all of which made it a very uncomfortable experience to live in a caravan.
So the Taylors had to employ additional heaters to combat the cold but during the night one of the electric heater in lounge area burst into flames and the fire rapidly spread.
Fortunately for the Taylors, Phil Spurgeon had been to a Christmas party at his cousin’s flat in Jubilee Court which was just down the hill in Sharpington and thanks to an over indulgence of family hospitality he walked along the prom to clear his head before going home, otherwise the caravan would have started spinning the moment he lay down.
Subsequently he didn’t get back to the caravan until a little after 4am to find the Taylors caravan well ablaze.
His first action was to phone 999 and his second was to raise the alarm with the occupants and the neighbouring homes which could quite conceivably have caught fire as well.
“Fire! Fire!” he shouted and banged on all the windows in turn frantically trying to raise the occupants, when a face appeared at the window.
The fire had engulfed one end of the caravan and had made the doors inaccessible so the big window at the opposite end became the route to safety.
The only problem was that the window only swung open about three inches before the catch was fully extended, so Phil had two choices, either smash the window or break the catch, so he looked around him to see if there was anything handy that might fit the bill, but he couldn’t see anything strong enough to break the glass or rigid enough to lever the catch, and then he spotted the rotary clothes dryer and quickly uprooted it from the metal socket in the ground and used it as a lever to break the lock and then propped it under the open window and a grateful and relieved Martyn Taylor started handing the kids out, and concerned neighbours whisked them away to safety just as wailing sirens could be heard in the distance, thankfully everyone was rescued safely but the Taylor's had lost everything.
(Part 03)
Kirsty Wishaw walked up the hill from Sharpington just after six o’clock as she did every morning and she was normally the only soul heading through Jubilee Park at that time on a winter morning but she had seen several people that morning but she thought nothing of it nor did she give the acrid smell in the air a second thought it was only when she got into Whitecliff Hill Caravan Park that she noticed blue lights in the distance and her first thought was a break in at the shop so she quickened her stride.
She soon realised that the blue glow from the lights was nowhere near the shop so her curiosity got the better of her so she went to investigate.
Which was when she saw Phil Spurgeon sitting on the back of an ambulance with a blanket wrapped around him.
Her heart sank immediately and all the feelings she had for him that she had been trying to suppress burst free and she ran towards him
“Oh my God are you alright?” she blurted “What happened, are you injured?”
“I’m fine” he said and when he saw how concerned she was for him he knew his novel wasn’t so important, he wanted her to be a distraction, in fact he wanted her to distract his socks off.
“Are you sure?” she asked with real concern
“Yes he’s good to go” Paramedic Andy Mason confirmed and slapped him on the back in fact over the next ten minutes a lot of people patted him on the back as they ambled along towards the scene of the fire, including several firemen.
The Taylor’s Caravan had completely gone but the homes either side were relatively unscathed, a bit black and sooty but nothing major, Phil couldn’t get back in his at that stage because the Firefighters wanted to make sure there was no damaged to the gas fittings.
As they stood looking at the mess Kirsty shivered and in response Phil put his arm around her and she liked how it felt, and a few minutes later they were joined by another resident Ken Baily
“Well done Phil” he said and shook his hand
“Well done for what?” she asked “Why does everyone keep patting you on the back?”
“Didn’t you tell her?” Ken asked him and Phil shook his head
“Young Phil hear raised the alarm and got everyone out”
“Really?” she asked “Why didn’t you say something?”
He didn’t reply but then it was a rhetorical question really, she knew the answer, he was just that type of person who acts without thinking and doesn’t believe he’s done anything special because he thinks he has merely done what any other human being would have done.
He was just thankful that everyone got out safely but he was desperately sad because the Taylor's had lost everything.
Being their neighbour he knew how hard they had worked to get back on their feet after having such torrid times and as they watched one firefighter raking through the ashes while another doused the embers it was truly evident that they had lost absolutely everything to the fire, smoke and water, including all the children’s clothes and the Christmas presents.
All that remained amidst the ashes were a few scraps of melted toys, half-burned books and scorched and tattered clothing.
“How cruel” Phil said
(Part 04)
All that remained amidst the ashes were a few scraps of melted toys, half-burned books and scorched and tattered clothing.
“How cruel” Phil said
“What do you mean” Ken asked
“I just think it’s cruel for a family who had worked so hard to be dealt such a blow” Phil said.
“This would be bad enough to endure at any time but just before Christmas just compounds the cruelty”
“Well I for one will not be standing for it” Kirsty said resolutely “Come on”
“Where are we going?” he asked as she took hold of Phil’s hand and led him away but she didn’t reply because she had turned her attention to her mobile phone.
Kirsty took him with her to the shop, she didn’t know what use he would be but as she had allowed her feelings free rein in his regard she wasn’t letting him go.
She opened the shop and put him to work making a hot drink while she opened the shop.
Once the drinks were made she settled him in her office, which was actually just a common room, where he sat in the easy chair in the corner and was instantly overcome be fatigue and fell asleep, so Kirsty put her coat over him and got on with the task in hand.
When she was on her mobile she was calling for reinforcements in the shape of two of her part timers, firstly because she knew it was going to be a busy day in the shop and secondly because she had a lot of phone calls to make.
One call was to a close friend of her late father, Bob Philips, who was a freelance journalist who worked predominantly for the Abbottsford Chronicle but he also had a well-read blog.
He was a heavy smoking, hard drinking down to earth man in his early fifties with a long suffering wife, Toni, who managed to bring up their three children virtually single handed and “what you see is what you get” summed him up as good as anything.
Despite all his faults though it was very difficult not to like him even if he could drive you to despair.
Bob was a chain smoker who on more than one occasion had almost set his car alight and apart from the smoking he was also a very heavy drinker.
He was often heard to say he had driven home because he was too drunk to walk, though in truth his friends never gave him the opportunity to be so rash.
Another of his well-worn sayings was that if he read about the evils of drinking he would give up reading.
His main diet was fast food and bar snacks in fact he thought that the three basic food groups were caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol.
His personal faults aside however, what was undoubtable was that he was a good writer even if he may have spent more time socializing than he should have done.
He was also a more intelligent man than he would have people believe, because he found that if people thought him an idiot they were more likely to open up than if they thought they were dealing with somebody who was more switched on.
His wife, Toni, had long ago given up on the chance of Bob writing “the Great Novel” that he spoke of in his youth.
Bob’s favorite quote was “Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism something that will be grasped at once”.
(Part 05)
The second call that Kirsty made was to Melville’s Holidays who had almost two dozen empty holiday caravans on the site and persuaded her old school friend Natalie Melville that it would be a very effective PR exercise to let the family use one of them for the Christmas period.
“Ok stop” Natalie said “You had me at “melted snow” and “smouldering wrapping paper”
I’ll check with maintenance which ones are ready to use and drop a key off to you this afternoon”
“Thanks Nat”
The third call was to another old friend, Jenny Rawlings, who she knew would get the word around, after all the three best forms of communication were Television, Telephone and tell Jen.
And her final call was to Richard Stephenson at the company headquarters to get his permission to donate some food from the shop and she was very persuasive and took her less than ten minutes to get him to agree, so by the time Phil awoke from his surprisingly comfortable sleep in her “office” everything was arranged.
Natalie was good to her word and duly arrived at Whitecliff Hill just after 2 pm and gave Martyn and Michelle the key to one of the Melville holiday caravans on the park which they were welcome to use until the end of March, free of charge, which would give them time to get back on their feet.
The Taylors were overcome by Melville's generosity but that was only the beginning because Jenny had done her part and put the word around and in the space of a day-and-a-half, friends, family and strangers helped the family.
They brought clothing, footwear, bedding, crockery, cutlery, towels and all of the basics as well as a Christmas Tree and decorations.
Phil just stood open mouthed and looked on and when he could speak he asked
“When did you arrange all of this?”
“When you were asleep” she replied
“Really?” Phil said in amazement “You’ve worked wonders, you are a force of nature”
“Not really, I figured out what was wanted and made a few phone calls and ask nicely”
“And what do you do when there is something that you want?” he asked
“I ask nicely” she said slipping her hand in his “and hold his hand”
So due to the generosity of friends and strangers alike the Taylor's were able to enjoy their Christmas after all and look forward to a hopeful New Year just five days after they thought their Christmas dreams had gone up in smoke.
This heart-warming story just goes to prove without any shadow of doubt that the Christmas spirit truly dwells within the hearts of mankind.
And because of Kirsty’s generosity of heart and Phil’s heroism they decided that love wasn’t a distraction after all.
But Kirsty and Phil’s involvement with the Taylor’s Christmas continued right up until Christmas Eve, where after having spent much of Christmas Eve in each other’s arms, crept through the darkness, and left a Christmas sack on their doorstep.
So come Christmas Day the Taylor boys had more presents to open, toys, games, a Scalextric set, puzzles, footballs and signed football shirts for their favourite football team the Abbottsford Knights while Phil and Kirsty spent Christmas Day with her mum for what was to be their first and her mums last.
Monday, 12 June 2017
Those Memories Made on Teardrop Lake – (78) A Solicitor’s Restraint
Pangbourne, Parker and Knowles were a firm of Shallowfield Solicitors with a very good reputation and a varied clientele and they handled a wide variety of legal work and kept a healthy number of Solicitors and large number of staff gainfully employed.
One of whom was 64 year old widow Winifred Knowles, one of the partners, and she was a driven woman and a workaholic, and during a long and successful career where she took no prisoners, the practise was her life and she was known by the staff as the Black Widow.
But in truth her ruthless and uncompromising streak only came to the surface after the loss of her husband whom she adored.
Before the black day of her husband’s death she had been a vibrantly sexy and deeply loving and sensual being.
She met her husband when she was a junior and he was a client.
He was a writer who was suing another author for plagiarism.
Winifred fell for him hard on the day of their first meeting and she could think of little else afterwards and it was obvious to her that he felt the same way, but as the months slipped by nothing happened and she was growing increasingly frustrated, and the case was all but concluded, but being the 1970’s it was considered bad form for the woman to make the first move so she had to take alternative action.
Stephen Sturges sat on a straight backed leather chair at the conference table in the Argyle Suite at the Worsted Viper Hotel in Purplemere as he waited for a meeting with his solicitor Winifred Knowles.
He wasn’t sure why the meeting was there and not in her office as all the other occasions, he didn’t ask and he didn’t really care he was just pleased to be seeing her again.
The Argyle Suite was one of the prestige accommodations, very plush, all polished wood paneling and leather upholstery and heavy velvet drapes at the windows, which were drawn.
“Sorry I’m late” she said in her posh plummy tones as the tall, slender and extremely attractive woman strode into the room on her magnificent long legs.
“That’s ok” he responded nervously
Winnie was in her late twenties and wearing a tailored business suit and gold rimmed spectacles.
She sat down in one of the high backed leather chairs, opened her briefcase and quickly removed a pen and a document and then slowly went through the salient points, and leaned forward for him to take the document which also allowed him to get a good look inside her gaping blouse.
He took his time because he knew that after a couple of signatures their business would be concluded and he didn’t wish to stop admiring the view.
At their previous meeting she said that everything would be tied up with a bow after their next meeting.
Reluctantly he tore his eyes away for her assets and signed the paper and slid it towards her.
“Excellent” she said
As she put the papers and pen back in her briefcase.
“And that’s all the legal stuff out of the way” she added and her hand came back out holding lengths of white legal ribbon.
“What are they for?” Stephen asked
“Well you remember at our last meeting I said everything would be tied up with a bow when next we met?” she said
“Yes”
“Well what I had in mind was that it would be you who would be tied up” she said wickedly
“Oh I see”
“So do you want to play?” she asked as she played with the ribbons “Or perhaps something like this”
Winifred slithered on to his lap and kissed him
“Oh yes” he replied excitedly “definitely more of that, but what if someone comes in?”
“Don’t worry” she assured him “we won’t be disturbed”
“If you’re sure” he said and kissed her
“I think just to be on the safe side we should go next door” Winnie said as she stood up and took his hand
“What’s next door?” he asked suspiciously
“The bedroom” she replied
“Oh” he exclaimed and stood up and she led him by the hand towards the bedroom door.
“No wait” he said urgently and her heart sank because she thought he had a change of heart, but she needn’t have worried because without letting go of her hand he scooped up the ribbons from the table
“We might be needing these”
One of whom was 64 year old widow Winifred Knowles, one of the partners, and she was a driven woman and a workaholic, and during a long and successful career where she took no prisoners, the practise was her life and she was known by the staff as the Black Widow.
But in truth her ruthless and uncompromising streak only came to the surface after the loss of her husband whom she adored.
Before the black day of her husband’s death she had been a vibrantly sexy and deeply loving and sensual being.
She met her husband when she was a junior and he was a client.
He was a writer who was suing another author for plagiarism.
Winifred fell for him hard on the day of their first meeting and she could think of little else afterwards and it was obvious to her that he felt the same way, but as the months slipped by nothing happened and she was growing increasingly frustrated, and the case was all but concluded, but being the 1970’s it was considered bad form for the woman to make the first move so she had to take alternative action.
Stephen Sturges sat on a straight backed leather chair at the conference table in the Argyle Suite at the Worsted Viper Hotel in Purplemere as he waited for a meeting with his solicitor Winifred Knowles.
He wasn’t sure why the meeting was there and not in her office as all the other occasions, he didn’t ask and he didn’t really care he was just pleased to be seeing her again.
The Argyle Suite was one of the prestige accommodations, very plush, all polished wood paneling and leather upholstery and heavy velvet drapes at the windows, which were drawn.
“Sorry I’m late” she said in her posh plummy tones as the tall, slender and extremely attractive woman strode into the room on her magnificent long legs.
“That’s ok” he responded nervously
Winnie was in her late twenties and wearing a tailored business suit and gold rimmed spectacles.
She sat down in one of the high backed leather chairs, opened her briefcase and quickly removed a pen and a document and then slowly went through the salient points, and leaned forward for him to take the document which also allowed him to get a good look inside her gaping blouse.
He took his time because he knew that after a couple of signatures their business would be concluded and he didn’t wish to stop admiring the view.
At their previous meeting she said that everything would be tied up with a bow after their next meeting.
Reluctantly he tore his eyes away for her assets and signed the paper and slid it towards her.
“Excellent” she said
As she put the papers and pen back in her briefcase.
“And that’s all the legal stuff out of the way” she added and her hand came back out holding lengths of white legal ribbon.
“What are they for?” Stephen asked
“Well you remember at our last meeting I said everything would be tied up with a bow when next we met?” she said
“Yes”
“Well what I had in mind was that it would be you who would be tied up” she said wickedly
“Oh I see”
“So do you want to play?” she asked as she played with the ribbons “Or perhaps something like this”
Winifred slithered on to his lap and kissed him
“Oh yes” he replied excitedly “definitely more of that, but what if someone comes in?”
“Don’t worry” she assured him “we won’t be disturbed”
“If you’re sure” he said and kissed her
“I think just to be on the safe side we should go next door” Winnie said as she stood up and took his hand
“What’s next door?” he asked suspiciously
“The bedroom” she replied
“Oh” he exclaimed and stood up and she led him by the hand towards the bedroom door.
“No wait” he said urgently and her heart sank because she thought he had a change of heart, but she needn’t have worried because without letting go of her hand he scooped up the ribbons from the table
“We might be needing these”
Sunday, 11 June 2017
Those Memories Made on Teardrop Lake – (77) Welcome to the Claremont Hotel
(Part 01)
Shallowfield sat on the southern edge of the Finchbottom Vale and was bordered on the other side by the Dancingdean forest and the town’s fortunes had always relied largely upon forestry and agriculture for its survival.
In the post war years with rationing and a shortage of work a lot of people moved away from the area and it only just survived and the community around Teardrop Lake fared even worse.
Only a few of the houses around the Lake were thriving, a lot of the houses had been rented out and those that hadn’t were in a poor state of repair, some too such an extent they were little more than ruins.
But by the 70s however things were beginning to change, thanks mainly to tourism as a result of an increase in leisure time.
This trend was reflected by the fact that the previously derelict Shallowfield Lodge, which had been inherited by a young couple from Lincolnshire, Rob and Sheryl Brown, was being turned into a Hotel.
From then on Shallowfield went from strength to strength which was echoed by the fortunes of the Claremont Hotel.
It was once the home of a wealthy Downshire family but like so many similar great houses in the county it fell into disuse as the fortunes of the owners suffered after the Great War.
It had had many reincarnations since then, particularly in the years between the wars and had been used for many things over the post war years but it wasn’t until the 60s that it became The Claremont Hotel.
However things had got tough in the Hotel trade with the success of Travelodge, Premier Inn and Holiday Inn Express and so places like the Claremont needed to offer something extra to attract the guests.
In the early summer a new manager was appointed, Matthew Millward, and he was an instant hit with the locals because he was young, tall, dark and handsome, physically fit, well-toned and had a reputation as a fair minded guy, which had very much preceded him.
He was 28 years old and his father owned the Millward Manor chain of hotels and he was grooming him to one day take over the reins of his worldwide hotel empire, the problem was that Matt had no head for business and he felt that he was more of an artistic soul.
Which could possibly have been ignored but for the fact that he had broken off his engagement with the granddaughter of his father’s oldest friend.
However that in itself wasn’t what had him exiled, it was Elaine’s attempted suicide, not that his action had caused her mental meltdown, it was rather more her mental instability being the deciding factor that forced him to end the engagement.
So it was decided to send Matt to the Claremont Hotel where he could do no real harm until the dust settled.
When he first found out he was being sent to Shallowfield, Matt was very unhappy, he was a city boy, born and bred, and he viewed being sent to the country as purgatory, but no one was more surprised than he was when he found that he actually loved it, it was a beautiful place, it was quiet and the air was clean and he felt immediately at home.
(Part 02)
After the broken engagement and the resulting fall out he decided that Matthew Millward would not under any circumstances get himself romantically entangled while he was on punishment duty.
But there is a very apt saying which goes “never on your own doorstep” which he had clearly never heard because on his first day he fell head over heels for the Hospitality Manager, Sarah Poole, although in his defence the feeling was mutual.
He had met the staff informally at the beginning of the day and then chose to do a walk around and meet people again where they worked.
He had noticed her among the group dressed in her uniform of a blue skirt and jacket with a crisp white blouse.
She was five foot eight with short red hair, in a pixie cut, mesmerizing green eyes and a cute figure with curves in all the right places and long slender legs.
Sarah was 26 years old and wasn’t looking for a relationship either because she was married, albeit to an alcoholic who hadn’t shown her any marital attention for two years but she was still married to him nonetheless.
Sarah had worked at the hotel since she left school, five years in housekeeping, five more in hospitality, and for two of those as Manager and she loved her job.
When Matt went on his walkabout he could see Sarah Poole as soon as he walked into the lounge, she wasn’t wearing her uniform but he recognised her from the earlier meeting because of her stunning legs and the other thing he noticed when he finished staring at her legs was that she was definitely flirting with him.
“Hello” he said “Shouldn’t you be working”
“I’m on my break,” she answered with a smile
“Oh I’m sorry,” he said “I was just looking for someone to show me around, not to worry”
“No I’ll do it” she said eagerly and picked up her bag
“But I need the loo first”
“Well ok then” he said and five minutes later she returned looking flushed and surrounded by a cloud of freshly applied perfume and he noticed her makeup had been repaired.
He clearly spent a little too long studying her because she blushed and said
“We can go now”
And she strode off
“Great” he said and broke into a jog to follow her as Sarah led him down a corridor, and through a door that said staff only.
Sarah soon regained her composure and the tour continued and lasted for about an hour and they talked casually like old friends all the way and when they were done they headed down the back stairs to complete the tour.
Which was when Sarah slipped on the bottom step and fell against Matt and inadvertently pushed him back against the wall where she had a rush of blood to the head and kissed him.
A kiss which took him by surprise but only for a second and then he was joining in and her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.
“Well I’m not sure this is what my dad had in mind when he sent me here” He said when they finally came up for air
“Oh God” she exclaimed “This is bad, this is very bad”
“I don’t think it’s so bad” he said
“No it’s really bad” Sarah said extricating herself from his arms “I’m a married woman”
And she rushed away mumbling to herself
“I know that he’s gorgeous, and I know that you really like him, and that was a smoking hot kiss, but none of that matters, because you can’t have him”
Even though she really wanted him with every fibre of her being.
Shallowfield sat on the southern edge of the Finchbottom Vale and was bordered on the other side by the Dancingdean forest and the town’s fortunes had always relied largely upon forestry and agriculture for its survival.
In the post war years with rationing and a shortage of work a lot of people moved away from the area and it only just survived and the community around Teardrop Lake fared even worse.
Only a few of the houses around the Lake were thriving, a lot of the houses had been rented out and those that hadn’t were in a poor state of repair, some too such an extent they were little more than ruins.
But by the 70s however things were beginning to change, thanks mainly to tourism as a result of an increase in leisure time.
This trend was reflected by the fact that the previously derelict Shallowfield Lodge, which had been inherited by a young couple from Lincolnshire, Rob and Sheryl Brown, was being turned into a Hotel.
From then on Shallowfield went from strength to strength which was echoed by the fortunes of the Claremont Hotel.
It was once the home of a wealthy Downshire family but like so many similar great houses in the county it fell into disuse as the fortunes of the owners suffered after the Great War.
It had had many reincarnations since then, particularly in the years between the wars and had been used for many things over the post war years but it wasn’t until the 60s that it became The Claremont Hotel.
However things had got tough in the Hotel trade with the success of Travelodge, Premier Inn and Holiday Inn Express and so places like the Claremont needed to offer something extra to attract the guests.
In the early summer a new manager was appointed, Matthew Millward, and he was an instant hit with the locals because he was young, tall, dark and handsome, physically fit, well-toned and had a reputation as a fair minded guy, which had very much preceded him.
He was 28 years old and his father owned the Millward Manor chain of hotels and he was grooming him to one day take over the reins of his worldwide hotel empire, the problem was that Matt had no head for business and he felt that he was more of an artistic soul.
Which could possibly have been ignored but for the fact that he had broken off his engagement with the granddaughter of his father’s oldest friend.
However that in itself wasn’t what had him exiled, it was Elaine’s attempted suicide, not that his action had caused her mental meltdown, it was rather more her mental instability being the deciding factor that forced him to end the engagement.
So it was decided to send Matt to the Claremont Hotel where he could do no real harm until the dust settled.
When he first found out he was being sent to Shallowfield, Matt was very unhappy, he was a city boy, born and bred, and he viewed being sent to the country as purgatory, but no one was more surprised than he was when he found that he actually loved it, it was a beautiful place, it was quiet and the air was clean and he felt immediately at home.
(Part 02)
After the broken engagement and the resulting fall out he decided that Matthew Millward would not under any circumstances get himself romantically entangled while he was on punishment duty.
But there is a very apt saying which goes “never on your own doorstep” which he had clearly never heard because on his first day he fell head over heels for the Hospitality Manager, Sarah Poole, although in his defence the feeling was mutual.
He had met the staff informally at the beginning of the day and then chose to do a walk around and meet people again where they worked.
He had noticed her among the group dressed in her uniform of a blue skirt and jacket with a crisp white blouse.
She was five foot eight with short red hair, in a pixie cut, mesmerizing green eyes and a cute figure with curves in all the right places and long slender legs.
Sarah was 26 years old and wasn’t looking for a relationship either because she was married, albeit to an alcoholic who hadn’t shown her any marital attention for two years but she was still married to him nonetheless.
Sarah had worked at the hotel since she left school, five years in housekeeping, five more in hospitality, and for two of those as Manager and she loved her job.
When Matt went on his walkabout he could see Sarah Poole as soon as he walked into the lounge, she wasn’t wearing her uniform but he recognised her from the earlier meeting because of her stunning legs and the other thing he noticed when he finished staring at her legs was that she was definitely flirting with him.
“Hello” he said “Shouldn’t you be working”
“I’m on my break,” she answered with a smile
“Oh I’m sorry,” he said “I was just looking for someone to show me around, not to worry”
“No I’ll do it” she said eagerly and picked up her bag
“But I need the loo first”
“Well ok then” he said and five minutes later she returned looking flushed and surrounded by a cloud of freshly applied perfume and he noticed her makeup had been repaired.
He clearly spent a little too long studying her because she blushed and said
“We can go now”
And she strode off
“Great” he said and broke into a jog to follow her as Sarah led him down a corridor, and through a door that said staff only.
Sarah soon regained her composure and the tour continued and lasted for about an hour and they talked casually like old friends all the way and when they were done they headed down the back stairs to complete the tour.
Which was when Sarah slipped on the bottom step and fell against Matt and inadvertently pushed him back against the wall where she had a rush of blood to the head and kissed him.
A kiss which took him by surprise but only for a second and then he was joining in and her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.
“Well I’m not sure this is what my dad had in mind when he sent me here” He said when they finally came up for air
“Oh God” she exclaimed “This is bad, this is very bad”
“I don’t think it’s so bad” he said
“No it’s really bad” Sarah said extricating herself from his arms “I’m a married woman”
And she rushed away mumbling to herself
“I know that he’s gorgeous, and I know that you really like him, and that was a smoking hot kiss, but none of that matters, because you can’t have him”
Even though she really wanted him with every fibre of her being.
Downshire Diary – (77) Oh Carole
Carole Bean went to the University of Downshire where she studied English at Abbottsford and it was for her, like many girls of her age, a life defining time.
She was in halls for the first year and she shared with three other girls
Amy Coates, a tall big busted girl, Alison Holmes, a skinny girl with a bad case of OCD and Claire Jarvis a quiet busty brunette.
All four of the girls were studying English in one form or another and apart from their studies they also had in common the fact they were all natives of the Finchbottom Vale.
Claire was from Purplemere, Carole from Childean, Alison from Finchbottom and Amy from Shallowfield.
The friendship that resulted from, on the face of it, 4 very different characters coming together, lasted for their lifetimes and as they got on so well the four of them decided very early on to rent a house between them for the second and third years.
However of all the girls, Carole found herself drawn most to Claire Jarvis.
The fact that the two of them had more lectures and seminars together than the other two partly aided their closeness but it was mainly because they got each other, they shared a sense of humour as well as having similar tastes in music, a love of pizza and old romantic comedies.
But what really drew them together in her first year was something that would define her world and shake her to the core.
It happened during the Easter Holiday of their first year when Carole returned to the flat to discover Claire laying naked on the sofa and Carole couldn’t take her eyes off of her and when Claire discovered that she had an audience Carole couldn’t keep her hands off her either and they made love for the first time.
Allthough neither of them could fully come to terms with the fact that they might be gay it didn’t prevent them from adding to their lesbian experiences throughout their University years and the fact that they were in love but unsure of their true sexuality they still kept a foot in both camps by dating men as well but when it came down to the love making they still prefered each other.
The only time Carole really got animal pleasure with a man was in the summer before the start of her second year.
It was early August and the weather was hot and sultry and so was she, normally when she was feeling like that she had Claire on hand.
On that hot August day though Claire was at home in Purplemere for her grandmothers funeral.
Carole had the house to herself most of the time, Claire was at the funeral, Alison had gone swimming of all things, and Amy was doubtless with her boyfriend Mark enjoying each other, or so she thought but they returned during the afternoon and started enjoying eachother the moment they arrived, and they were not quiet about it when they were doing it, and listening to the grunting and moaning just made her hornier.
Carole decided to try a cold shower, which did indeed cool her down but not where it mattered and Mark was still going at Amy hell for leather directly above her head.
So she decided to go and get a drink of water but when she walked into the kitchen she found she was not alone.
“Who are you?” she barked
“Kevin” he replied nervously
“Yes but who are you?”
“I’m Marks brother” he said “He’s with…”
“Yes I know who he’s with and what he’s doing to her”
She said and Kevin blushed
“How old are you?”
“17” he replied “And a half”
“You’ll do then” she said and dropped her towel
Kevins eyes popped out like they were on stalks and his mouth fell open.
Carole had a lovely body as Claire could testify too and it was obviously he hadnt seen one like it before.
“Do you like what you see Kevin?”
And Kevin stared open mouthed in response.
After she had finished taking Kevin’s Cherry seated on a kitchen chair, Carole climbed off him wearing a self-satisfied look on her face and picked up her towel and just before she went out the door and said
“You can get dressed again now”
She was in halls for the first year and she shared with three other girls
Amy Coates, a tall big busted girl, Alison Holmes, a skinny girl with a bad case of OCD and Claire Jarvis a quiet busty brunette.
All four of the girls were studying English in one form or another and apart from their studies they also had in common the fact they were all natives of the Finchbottom Vale.
Claire was from Purplemere, Carole from Childean, Alison from Finchbottom and Amy from Shallowfield.
The friendship that resulted from, on the face of it, 4 very different characters coming together, lasted for their lifetimes and as they got on so well the four of them decided very early on to rent a house between them for the second and third years.
However of all the girls, Carole found herself drawn most to Claire Jarvis.
The fact that the two of them had more lectures and seminars together than the other two partly aided their closeness but it was mainly because they got each other, they shared a sense of humour as well as having similar tastes in music, a love of pizza and old romantic comedies.
But what really drew them together in her first year was something that would define her world and shake her to the core.
It happened during the Easter Holiday of their first year when Carole returned to the flat to discover Claire laying naked on the sofa and Carole couldn’t take her eyes off of her and when Claire discovered that she had an audience Carole couldn’t keep her hands off her either and they made love for the first time.
Allthough neither of them could fully come to terms with the fact that they might be gay it didn’t prevent them from adding to their lesbian experiences throughout their University years and the fact that they were in love but unsure of their true sexuality they still kept a foot in both camps by dating men as well but when it came down to the love making they still prefered each other.
The only time Carole really got animal pleasure with a man was in the summer before the start of her second year.
It was early August and the weather was hot and sultry and so was she, normally when she was feeling like that she had Claire on hand.
On that hot August day though Claire was at home in Purplemere for her grandmothers funeral.
Carole had the house to herself most of the time, Claire was at the funeral, Alison had gone swimming of all things, and Amy was doubtless with her boyfriend Mark enjoying each other, or so she thought but they returned during the afternoon and started enjoying eachother the moment they arrived, and they were not quiet about it when they were doing it, and listening to the grunting and moaning just made her hornier.
Carole decided to try a cold shower, which did indeed cool her down but not where it mattered and Mark was still going at Amy hell for leather directly above her head.
So she decided to go and get a drink of water but when she walked into the kitchen she found she was not alone.
“Who are you?” she barked
“Kevin” he replied nervously
“Yes but who are you?”
“I’m Marks brother” he said “He’s with…”
“Yes I know who he’s with and what he’s doing to her”
She said and Kevin blushed
“How old are you?”
“17” he replied “And a half”
“You’ll do then” she said and dropped her towel
Kevins eyes popped out like they were on stalks and his mouth fell open.
Carole had a lovely body as Claire could testify too and it was obviously he hadnt seen one like it before.
“Do you like what you see Kevin?”
And Kevin stared open mouthed in response.
After she had finished taking Kevin’s Cherry seated on a kitchen chair, Carole climbed off him wearing a self-satisfied look on her face and picked up her towel and just before she went out the door and said
“You can get dressed again now”
Mornington-By-Mere – (77) The Birthday Treat
Mornington-By-Mere was not just a quaint chocolate box English Village it was the beating heart of the Finchbottom Vale and there were a number of cottages and small houses on the Purplemere road and Dulcets Lane which formed the part of Mornington Village known as Manorside and Brian and Karen Dawkins managed to rent number 4 Brooke Side Cottages, which was a considerable improvement on their dingy Purplemere flat.
Karen and her brother Brian had their own company, Railway Enthusiast, up at Mornington Field, and they were doing very well in the business and personally.
Brian had reunited with the long lost love of his life and Karen was dating a farmer from Smithfield’s Farm, Chris Smith, and in the 9 months they had been together he spent as much time at Karen’s house as he did at the farm.
But in November they were staying at the Worsted Viper Hotel in Purplemere as it was Chris’s 32nd birthday.
On Saturday night he emerged from the bathroom just in time to see Karen, wearing a cocktail dress and walking sexily through a freshly atomized cloud of perfume.
And Chris dressed himself while Karen sat on the bed and applied the final touches to her makeup.
As he walked through reception with such a beautiful girl on his arm he was overcome with intense feelings of love so he came to a stop just before they entered the restaurant and said
“I love you Miss Dawkins”
Karen smiled and kissed him.
“I love you too” she responded “But let’s eat I’m starving”
“And they say that romance is dead” he said with affront
“Oh come on old man, feed me” she retorted
“Old man?” he exclaimed “I’m only four years older than you”
“Exactly, so come on granddad” she called as she strode off ahead of him but when he caught up with her she whispered.
“You can show me how much you love me upstairs later”
Karen and her brother Brian had their own company, Railway Enthusiast, up at Mornington Field, and they were doing very well in the business and personally.
Brian had reunited with the long lost love of his life and Karen was dating a farmer from Smithfield’s Farm, Chris Smith, and in the 9 months they had been together he spent as much time at Karen’s house as he did at the farm.
But in November they were staying at the Worsted Viper Hotel in Purplemere as it was Chris’s 32nd birthday.
On Saturday night he emerged from the bathroom just in time to see Karen, wearing a cocktail dress and walking sexily through a freshly atomized cloud of perfume.
And Chris dressed himself while Karen sat on the bed and applied the final touches to her makeup.
As he walked through reception with such a beautiful girl on his arm he was overcome with intense feelings of love so he came to a stop just before they entered the restaurant and said
“I love you Miss Dawkins”
Karen smiled and kissed him.
“I love you too” she responded “But let’s eat I’m starving”
“And they say that romance is dead” he said with affront
“Oh come on old man, feed me” she retorted
“Old man?” he exclaimed “I’m only four years older than you”
“Exactly, so come on granddad” she called as she strode off ahead of him but when he caught up with her she whispered.
“You can show me how much you love me upstairs later”
Saturday, 10 June 2017
Tales from the Finchbottom Vale – (77) The Roespring Verger in the Vicarage Garden
Downshire is a relatively small English county but like a pocket battleship it packs a lot in, a short but beautiful coastline, a channel port, the Ancient forests of Dancingdean and Pepperstock, the craggy ridges and manmade lakes of the Pepperstock Hills National Park, the rolling hills of the Downshire Downs, the beautiful Finchbottom Vale and farm land as far as the eye can see from the Trotwood’s and the Grace’s in the south to the home of the Downshire Light infantry, Nettlefield, and their affluent neighbour’s, Roespring and Tipton in the north and our story begins in the affluent village of Roespring.
As Mark Adams took an extended recuperative walk around his neighbourhood in Roespring he was walking ten feet tall.
He had been in and out of hospital for the previous ten years following a bad car accident just after his 15th birthday.
But the reason he walking with such a spring in his step was because of a change in his treatment, a very medicinal treatment in the form of Abigail Evans, who was the verger at St Catherine’s where her Uncle, James Hall, was the vicar.
She was a beautiful red head with pale skin and freckled cheeks with whom he had fallen in love and the special medicine stemmed from the afternoon when they had given each other their innocence and in the month that followed they shared further intimacies and their love had deepened.
The purpose of the walk that afternoon was however less about recuperation and more about killing time until it was time to see his girlfriend Abigail again.
And after about forty minutes he could wait no longer so he headed off towards the vicarage to see her.
On the way he met Reverend Hall coming the other way, he liked the Vicar and although he was desperate to be elsewhere he spent about 10 minutes in conversation with him.
When he arrived at the vicarage he let himself in through the back gate and he found Abigail sitting on a blanket on the lawn reading a book, wearing a green bikini top and on her lower half was a floral sarong, which he presumed was hiding the partner to her bikini top.
Mark approached her on her blind side
“Hello sexy” he said and she almost jumped out of her skin
“Hello” she said blushing as she tried to catch her breath.
“Sorry I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said
“Well you did” she retorted
“Yes I did” he admitted “I was trying to scare the pants off you”
“Shush” she replied “Uncle James will hear you”
“It’s ok, he’s gone to the church, I just passed him in the lane” he corrected her
“Oh, ok then give me a kiss”
After a long sustained kiss he said
“Be careful you don’t catch the sun again”
“I have sunscreen on” she replied “but you can always top me up”
“You know what happened the last time I put cream on your back?” he reminded her
“I don’t mind taking a risk” Abigail said and lay face down on the blanket and Mark knelt down next her and perused her pale young body.
Abigail had her head turned to one side and was facing away from him.
He squirted some cream on her back and began to gently rub in the lotion.
“How does that feel?” he asked
“Lovely” she replied
“I need to undo your bikini top honey” Mark said “so I can do it properly”
“Ok” she said dreamily, so he undid it and pulled it softy away from her skin and then he slowly rubbed in the surplus lotion until it was all worked in to her pale freckled skin like a long relaxing massage.
When he had worked in the last of the lotion he gave her a playful slap on her bum cheek and said
“All done”
“Thank you”
“That’s ok it’s the least I could for the girl I love” he said
“What?” she said turning her head to look at him
“I said it’s the least I could do” he repeated
“No the other bit” she asked earnestly “you said the “girl I love””
“Yes that’s right, I love you Abigail Evans” he said proudly
“You do?” she asked
“Yes”
“I love you too” Abigail said and rolled onto her back and pulled him down so she could kiss him.
Abigail was laying on the blanket looking like the cat that got the cream while Mark looked at her.
“You’d better make yourself decent before the vicar gets back from matins” he said wishing they could stay there forever.
Eventually she did make a move and Abigail was just straightening her clothes when her uncle, the vicar, opened the back gate.
As Mark Adams took an extended recuperative walk around his neighbourhood in Roespring he was walking ten feet tall.
He had been in and out of hospital for the previous ten years following a bad car accident just after his 15th birthday.
But the reason he walking with such a spring in his step was because of a change in his treatment, a very medicinal treatment in the form of Abigail Evans, who was the verger at St Catherine’s where her Uncle, James Hall, was the vicar.
She was a beautiful red head with pale skin and freckled cheeks with whom he had fallen in love and the special medicine stemmed from the afternoon when they had given each other their innocence and in the month that followed they shared further intimacies and their love had deepened.
The purpose of the walk that afternoon was however less about recuperation and more about killing time until it was time to see his girlfriend Abigail again.
And after about forty minutes he could wait no longer so he headed off towards the vicarage to see her.
On the way he met Reverend Hall coming the other way, he liked the Vicar and although he was desperate to be elsewhere he spent about 10 minutes in conversation with him.
When he arrived at the vicarage he let himself in through the back gate and he found Abigail sitting on a blanket on the lawn reading a book, wearing a green bikini top and on her lower half was a floral sarong, which he presumed was hiding the partner to her bikini top.
Mark approached her on her blind side
“Hello sexy” he said and she almost jumped out of her skin
“Hello” she said blushing as she tried to catch her breath.
“Sorry I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said
“Well you did” she retorted
“Yes I did” he admitted “I was trying to scare the pants off you”
“Shush” she replied “Uncle James will hear you”
“It’s ok, he’s gone to the church, I just passed him in the lane” he corrected her
“Oh, ok then give me a kiss”
After a long sustained kiss he said
“Be careful you don’t catch the sun again”
“I have sunscreen on” she replied “but you can always top me up”
“You know what happened the last time I put cream on your back?” he reminded her
“I don’t mind taking a risk” Abigail said and lay face down on the blanket and Mark knelt down next her and perused her pale young body.
Abigail had her head turned to one side and was facing away from him.
He squirted some cream on her back and began to gently rub in the lotion.
“How does that feel?” he asked
“Lovely” she replied
“I need to undo your bikini top honey” Mark said “so I can do it properly”
“Ok” she said dreamily, so he undid it and pulled it softy away from her skin and then he slowly rubbed in the surplus lotion until it was all worked in to her pale freckled skin like a long relaxing massage.
When he had worked in the last of the lotion he gave her a playful slap on her bum cheek and said
“All done”
“Thank you”
“That’s ok it’s the least I could for the girl I love” he said
“What?” she said turning her head to look at him
“I said it’s the least I could do” he repeated
“No the other bit” she asked earnestly “you said the “girl I love””
“Yes that’s right, I love you Abigail Evans” he said proudly
“You do?” she asked
“Yes”
“I love you too” Abigail said and rolled onto her back and pulled him down so she could kiss him.
Abigail was laying on the blanket looking like the cat that got the cream while Mark looked at her.
“You’d better make yourself decent before the vicar gets back from matins” he said wishing they could stay there forever.
Eventually she did make a move and Abigail was just straightening her clothes when her uncle, the vicar, opened the back gate.
Downshire Diary – (76) The Matchmaker
Olivia Conway was a theatre sister at the Winston Churchill Hospital and she was a rather ordinary looking middle-aged woman just the wrong side of 50.
Olivia was five foot six inches tall and very trim, and stood an inch or so taller in her shoes, and her sisters uniform fitted her to perfection, tapered at the waist where the broad belt sat.
Her once strawberry blonde hair was now peppered with grey.
She was always smiling, but the ageing in her face wasn’t all due to laughter lines, life’s hardships and experiences were etched into her face as well, each line and furrow an event and for those who could read such signs it was like her résumé.
She was well-liked and respected at work and many of her colleagues were close friends outside of work.
But when she chose to she could be a private person and didn’t talk about everything in her private life and when she was outside of work she didn’t discuss every aspect of her work.
She had lived in the small Downshire village of Clarence in the Finchbottom Vale for 20 years and was believed to be a lonely soul as she lived alone and had never married.
When she wasn’t working long hours at the Winston Churchill she was heavily involved with Mary of Bethany church and she was very popular with the other congregants.
Olivia was by profession a care giver and in the village she was considered to be an angel of mercy because she would, in her own time, visit parishioners in need, she was also a matchmaker.
Which was why she was visiting Tim Sharpe to try and rally his spirits.
There was nothing physically wrong with Tim, but he was depressed, he was 35 years old and had just lost his beloved wife Debbie to breast cancer and the light in his world had been extinguished so Olivia had decided to relight his candle and show him there were still things in this world worth living for.
The Cancer may have been responsible for taking his wife but to Olivia’s mind Tim’s problem was curable.
To that end she took with her Staff Nurse Selena Brown when after she had failed on her first three visits.
His unmarried sister Linda, was living with him and looking after him but the cure Olivia had in mind was not something his sister should administer, it was love and not familial love.
Linda let them in and then excused herself as she had some shopping to do.
Olivia and Selena walked up the stairs and found Tim lying in his bed in the unlit room with his eyes closed as if he’d fallen asleep.
But she knew he was awake, he was pretending to be asleep so that she wouldn’t be able to shower him with banalities and clichés and encouragements to make him pull himself together.
“Hello Tim” she said but there was no response as she slipped off her coat.
“I’ve bought someone with me today” she said “This is Selena”
As she had gone to his house straight from work she was still wearing her sister’s uniform, as was Selena.
“Oh dear it seems he not interested” Selena said “Oh well it appears he’s not interested in we angels of mercy”
“Oh well lets go then” Olivia said “We do have people to see who do want us to be there”
“No don’t go” he said as they reached the door
After three weeks she stopped taking Selena with her as she had by that stage already started to visit him on her own so she started to take her next door neighbour Darren with her but not for Tim’s benefit Darren was there for his sister Linda’s benefit.
So by the end of the summer Olivia was feeling very pleased with herself, partly because she had helped Tim back from the dead so to speak by giving him something else to live for in the form of Selena Brown but also because she had, after taking Darren with her on her visits given Linda a reason to leave the house other than doing some shopping.
If only she could find someone for herself.
Olivia was five foot six inches tall and very trim, and stood an inch or so taller in her shoes, and her sisters uniform fitted her to perfection, tapered at the waist where the broad belt sat.
Her once strawberry blonde hair was now peppered with grey.
She was always smiling, but the ageing in her face wasn’t all due to laughter lines, life’s hardships and experiences were etched into her face as well, each line and furrow an event and for those who could read such signs it was like her résumé.
She was well-liked and respected at work and many of her colleagues were close friends outside of work.
But when she chose to she could be a private person and didn’t talk about everything in her private life and when she was outside of work she didn’t discuss every aspect of her work.
She had lived in the small Downshire village of Clarence in the Finchbottom Vale for 20 years and was believed to be a lonely soul as she lived alone and had never married.
When she wasn’t working long hours at the Winston Churchill she was heavily involved with Mary of Bethany church and she was very popular with the other congregants.
Olivia was by profession a care giver and in the village she was considered to be an angel of mercy because she would, in her own time, visit parishioners in need, she was also a matchmaker.
Which was why she was visiting Tim Sharpe to try and rally his spirits.
There was nothing physically wrong with Tim, but he was depressed, he was 35 years old and had just lost his beloved wife Debbie to breast cancer and the light in his world had been extinguished so Olivia had decided to relight his candle and show him there were still things in this world worth living for.
The Cancer may have been responsible for taking his wife but to Olivia’s mind Tim’s problem was curable.
To that end she took with her Staff Nurse Selena Brown when after she had failed on her first three visits.
His unmarried sister Linda, was living with him and looking after him but the cure Olivia had in mind was not something his sister should administer, it was love and not familial love.
Linda let them in and then excused herself as she had some shopping to do.
Olivia and Selena walked up the stairs and found Tim lying in his bed in the unlit room with his eyes closed as if he’d fallen asleep.
But she knew he was awake, he was pretending to be asleep so that she wouldn’t be able to shower him with banalities and clichés and encouragements to make him pull himself together.
“Hello Tim” she said but there was no response as she slipped off her coat.
“I’ve bought someone with me today” she said “This is Selena”
As she had gone to his house straight from work she was still wearing her sister’s uniform, as was Selena.
“Oh dear it seems he not interested” Selena said “Oh well it appears he’s not interested in we angels of mercy”
“Oh well lets go then” Olivia said “We do have people to see who do want us to be there”
“No don’t go” he said as they reached the door
After three weeks she stopped taking Selena with her as she had by that stage already started to visit him on her own so she started to take her next door neighbour Darren with her but not for Tim’s benefit Darren was there for his sister Linda’s benefit.
So by the end of the summer Olivia was feeling very pleased with herself, partly because she had helped Tim back from the dead so to speak by giving him something else to live for in the form of Selena Brown but also because she had, after taking Darren with her on her visits given Linda a reason to leave the house other than doing some shopping.
If only she could find someone for herself.
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