Page 4 of Winter Magic on Railway Lane

But that wasn’t the worst of it. The worst part was her affairs, which Ethan had become aware of early in his teens. Then, one wretched summer day when he was sixteen, Ryan had been driving them into Aldwych so that Ethan could pick up a rented tuxedo for the prom. However, on the way, they had seen a couple obviously making love in one of the many fields that surrounded the village and had realised, to their horror, that it was their mother and the local vet.

Having had a few years to get used to the betrayal, Ethan had only felt a dull ache as opposed to the deep shock that Ryan had displayed.

‘I don’t believe it,’ Ryan had spluttered, obviously trying not to cry. ‘I knew she was unhappy, but this? What do we do?’

‘We don’t do anything,’ Ethan had told him after taking a deep breath. ‘She always leaves them and goes back to him. So what does it matter?’

Ryan had looked heartbroken as he realised the truth. That their mother had had many affairs and Ethan had known all about it. Ethan had immediately blamed himself for revealing the full truth to his brother and causing him yet more pain.

So they had reluctantly agreed not to tell their dad about the real state of his marriage. He was a gentle, kind soul who adored his wife, never seeming to mind her endless criticisms about his love of the railway or even how he dressed and acted.

But the brothers had been badly affected by what they had seen. Until then, their childhood had been a happy one, but that had crashed to an abrupt halt on that day and they had both had to grow up fast.

Unable to view the sham of a marriage, Ryan had graduated from catering college and swiftly left home. Younger by three years, Ethan had kept out of the house as often as he could until he too had his electrical qualifications and could leave Cranfield to pursue his own career.

They both still had to return home for birthdays and holidays though. Ethan in particular found Christmas an especially miserable time, inwardly horrified at the fake festive atmosphere. He had often used his work as an excuse and sometimes didn’t come home for a whole year at a time.

Thankfully, his work as a lighting specialist kept him busy. He helped project manage all the technical lighting required for large-scale events, such as concerts and theatre productions. In addition, sometimes his work led him to commercial projects as well, such as shopping malls and even airports.

Whenever he had any spare time, he would fill his diary with as many dates as he could manage, not wanting to spend any time alone. He always warned any woman that he had no intention of any relationship becoming serious. His mother’s view on that had hit him deep. ‘Don’t fall in love,’ she often told him. ‘It’ll bring you no joy.’

So Ethan had kept all women at arm’s length and avoided coming back to Cranfield as much as he could until his parents’ marriage had finally completely broken down a year ago, when their mum had walked out on their dad to start a new life in Spain with her most recent lover. Ethan wasn’t entirely sure that she was happy with her decision, but he was glad for his father’s sake that his broken heart had slowly mended and that he was happy at last.

Their newly single dad Bob had moved in with their grandfather, Eddie, and was now living in one of the small cottages on Railway Lane, only a short distance from the station.The first few months of being single had been tricky for Bob but his love of trains had helped him through the tougher times.

Ryan at least seemed to have finally made his peace with the past and, after moving back home to support his dad after the breakup, was now happily settled in Cranfield with Katy, who he adored.

However, Ethan still struggled with his role in keeping the secret of his mum’s affairs. But he had tried to come home more often in the past year.

Ethan looked at the empty room once more before concentrating back on Libby, who was still frowning at him.

‘So, what?’ asked Libby. ‘You’re living here now?’

‘Don’t worry, Libs,’ he replied, with a grin. ‘I’ll make sure I irritate you at every opportunity.’

‘No change there then,’ she replied, with a roll of her eyes. ‘Well, now that I’ve ensured that the local crime rate is kept down, I’ll get out of here. Some of us have actually been working all night.’

She abruptly spun on her heels and marched over to the front door, which she had left wide open when she had rushed inside a few minutes earlier.

She totally ignored Ethan as he followed her before leaning on the doorframe to watch her drive the short distance down Railway Lane to park up in front of her cottage.

When she got out of her car, he gave her a wave. He knew she had seen him as she turned her head away, deliberately ignoring him, and walked up the front path out of view.

Ethan stood there for a moment, smiling to himself at his favourite, cherished memories, which were always those with Libby.

In the early days, they had been close – as thick as thieves, his grandad had often said. He enjoyed the company of all hisfriends in the village, as well as his family, but his relationship with Libby was different. Special, maybe. Unique, definitely.

She had rebelled against her father for most of her childhood. Wild-spirited Libby had broken the mould and Ethan had always been drawn to her for as long as he could remember.

Ethan was the only one who understood why she acted that way. He was always rebelling too, taking rule-breaking to the max, trying not to think about his mother’s affairs.

Once they had reached sixteen, he had invited Libby to go to the prom with him. He had been hoping that it would be the day to turn their friendship into something more. To finally stop joking around and tell her how he really felt. How she was his first love. Perhaps even his forever one too.

But that was before he and Ryan had spotted their mother in the field on the day of the prom. When the truth of their parents’ marriage had come crashing down on his elder brother and Ethan could no longer protect him from the truth. They were both feeling heartbroken and nothing could cheer Ethan up, not even taking Libby to the prom. In the end, Ethan had got drunk and called his brother to take him home, abandoning Libby at the prom. She had been angry with him and rightfully so. But he couldn’t tell her the truth. No one was to know, according to the pact he had made with Ryan.

His close friendship with Libby had abruptly halted at that moment. She obviously hated him. He’d ruined her prom and she could never forgive him. In truth, he couldn’t even forgive himself.

But no woman had ever compared to her, despite the many years of dating, looking for an alternative to the bluest eyes that he knew, as well as that gorgeous long blonde hair, so pale it was almost silver.