Page 91 of Escape to the Country

‘Sounds great,’ said Annie, nodding her approval. ‘I’m having trouble sleeping, stressing about all the fete and lack of wedding dress.’

‘Haven’t you seen anything online or in all those wedding magazines that you keep buying?’ asked Megan.

Annie shook her head. ‘Nope. I mean, there’s lots of lovely dresses but they just don’t seem right. I don’t know. Maybe I’m being too choosy.’

‘Nonsense,’ said Eleanor. ‘It’s your wedding dress. You need to be choosy. Next time we go shopping, I’m sure we’ll find one.’

She made a silent note to find something to soothe Annie’s nerves.

‘We’ll invite Rose as well,’ said Megan. ‘Then we can have a girly evening.’

‘I’d better get tidying this place if Rose is coming to visit,’ said her mum with a grimace.

Eleanor was staring down at her hands. The cream had helped her neck, but the eczema on her hands was still not fully cleared up. ‘I was thinking about trying to make up a bar of carrot soap to see if it would help my fingers as well,’ she said.

‘Why don’t you then, love?’ said her mum. ‘The kitchen’s messy enough so it doesn’t matter what you do in there.’

Eleanor frowned. ‘You can’t make proper soap without caustic soda. And I can’t use that here. Not with all the animals.’

‘You can do it at my place,’ said Megan, with a shrug. ‘Neal keeps promising to redo our garden but he never does. It looks like a nuclear war zone anyway.’

Eleanor shook her head. ‘Thanks, but I daren’t. Not with the kids. It’s pretty scary stuff and can really burn your skin if you’re not careful. It needs to be away from people, just in case.’

‘I know,’ said Annie. ‘What about the old stable block in the grounds of the hall? I think there’s even running water over there. Nobody will disturb you.’

‘You can have your very own beauty factory,’ said Megan.

Annie suddenly looked excited. ‘That’s it! Then you can make lots of stuff for the fete! Oh, it’ll be wonderful. You’ll probably make some money and that’s another stall that I can add to the list. Local girl and all that.’

Eleanor wasn’t so sure. She looked up at her mum, who was nodding her approval. ‘I think that’s a lovely idea,’ said June.

Annie wasn’t taking no for an answer. ‘What else are you going to do with yourself this summer? Oh, say yes! Please! For me! I’m desperate.’

They were all looking at her, Annie with such pleading eyes, that Eleanor found herself nodding her head in agreement.

‘Okay,’ she said. If only to keep the peace with her friends. ‘Just as a temporary thing.’

Her mum was smiling as she left the room.

‘Have you thought about what you’re going to do next for work?’ asked Annie.

Eleanor shook her head. ‘No idea. I still feel like such a failure.’

‘Why would you feel like that?’ said Megan, rolling her eyes. ‘You lived in London, for god’s sake. I’ve never even got out of this village. At least you’ve seen stuff. Life!’ She was waving her hand around furiously as she spoke. ‘You’ve been to glamorous parties and all of that.’

‘Megan,’ said Annie softly. ‘You’re happily married with three kids. Do you not think that’s a life too?’

‘I dunno,’ said Megan with a sigh. ‘I think I’m just mourning my twenties because I had kids and didn’t have any fun.’

Annie made a face. ‘You know why I had to leave home. My twenties weren’t a barrel of laughs.’

‘And I ran away from all that awful stuff with my dad to spend my twenties running from party to party, not enjoying any of them,’ said Eleanor. ‘Oh, and missing my friends.’

‘We missed you too,’ said Annie, with a soft smile.

But Eleanor was still worried about Megan. ‘Maybe you could work from home or something? Then you can manage it around the kids and the school run.’

Megan waved away her concerns with her hand. ‘Don’t worry about it,’ she said with a casual shrug. ‘I just get fed up and bored sometimes. But you know what has perked me up? Gareth Blunt got in contact on Facebook.’