Escaping Life by Michelle Muckley Read Free Book Online

clothes that, in the days where
freedom of thought carried with it no burden, had been left, instead indulging
in summer walks and gardening sessions.  Now, though, she wanted to keep her
mind busy.  She didn’t want to give it the freedom to wander among the crazy
and quite frankly dangerous thoughts that she seemed unable to prevent.  Graham
had called her on Friday lunchtime to see if she had any objections to some
house guests on Saturday.  David and Helen were loud and city-orientated, and
had fitted in much more with their old life before their retreat to the coast. 
But she liked it when they came to stay; they were good company.  They brought with
them that welcome reminder of her youth, before she was able to separate her
life into two parts, marked distinctly down the middle, like a freshly incised
wound, by death.
    After
frantically hoovering underneath the spare bed, leaving neat piles of clean
towels, and opening the dormer windows fully to bring fresh summer air into the
usually unused room, she could see their sports car winding down the steep
seafront road, through the hedgerows and tapestry of fields that lined the
approach into Haven.  She had no idea how the Porsche Boxster that she could
see with its top down managed on the steep gradient, but it amused her to think
of the gear box whistling under the pressure of it and of Helen complaining
whilst holding onto the seat as if she were unwillingly in a rally car.  It
would be only another five minutes until they arrived.  She headed downstairs and
set the coffee machine, and she heard the whirring of the filter as it slowly
dripped the hot water into place, clouds of steam rising up and settling on the
back tiles.  There was something special, she thought, about the smell of fresh
coffee when you arrived somewhere.  It was a welcoming smell.  It said ‘come in
and kick your shoes off - we want you here’.  She always felt as if she was
opening her cottage as a Bed and Breakfast when their city friends came to
stay.  But that too was a welcome feeling, and she had told Graham it had been
a great idea to ask them to come and stay:  a real mood changer.
    As they pulled
up on the gravel driveway, the tyres skidded under the loose surface as the
Porsche slewed to a halt inches from Graham and Elizabeth’s feet.  David always
drove too fast; Elizabeth thought even more so in the countryside, but it could
also just have been that life was so much slower here.  Everything from the
city seemed fast to her now.
    “Seriously, I'm
going to throw up, David!” Helen bellowed, her home county English pronunciation
making her argument sound even the more formal, as she slammed the car door
shut.  She straightened up her neat blouse and neck scarf, and used her hands
to smooth the stray hairs back into her well lacquered French twist.  He didn't
care though.  He had had a great time.
    “I love to open
her up in the country baby, you know that,” he chuckled, as he shook his arms
to loosen his shirt, not paying his wife any attention.  Walking over to
Elizabeth, he held his arms out wide.  "Hey gorgeous!  Thanks for having
us!” he said, as he held her in an embrace that was full of warmth. 
    As they settled
in to a cup of fresh coffee whilst sat on the patio overlooking the bay, the
pace of the conversation slowly relaxed as the city couple breathed in the
fresh oxygen-rich air, the smell of seaweed still detectable from the churned
up ocean since the storm.  The remnants of the storm were still in evidence in
the garden, with the sound of the waves much stronger over the last few days,
and more than a good scattering of leaves and twigs about the grass.  They made
plans to head down to the beach, where they would walk along the harbour wall,
and stop later at Stewart's fish restaurant where Graham had made reservations.
The weekend had brought back the tourists, and Haven was buzzing today.  David
was glad that Graham had extended the