A Pocketful of Dreams

Chapter Nine

Dan steered off the main road and on to a rough, unmade track that ran alongside far-reaching green fields. Annie tightened her grip on the box containing the cake she'd made as the car bumped over and around potholes.

'Sorry about this,' Dan said. 'My dad refuses to pave this because he says it would only encourage people to drive faster, and since there are a lot of rabbits around here because of the fields, he doesn't want anyone speeding.'

'I wholeheartedly agree with him.'

Dan looked over at her and smiled.

Annie had called him after Megan had left the other evening, referring vaguely to the anxiety as a way to explain her strange behaviour. His concern for her had been eminently clear, even over the phone. She felt awkward about not being entirely truthful with him, but she tried to think of it as just a little white lie. It had taken a lot of strength just to relive those memories with Megan, and Annie didn't think she was up to telling Dan as well. Not yet, anyway.

'Here we are,' he said as the car rounded a rambling hawthorn bush.

A large farmhouse built from Cotswold stone came into view and Annie gasped. It was like a storybook house, with warm light glowing from the windows. Bales of hay sat around the cavernous porch, laden with fat pumpkins that were already alight for the evening's celebrations. A black cat lay curled on the mat in front of the barn-style front door; Annie thought it was another Halloween decoration until it sat up and began to clean its paw in quick, delicate strokes.

'It's beautiful,' she whispered.

'It's home,' Dan said, a wistful note catching the edge of his voice. He manoeuvred the car over the gravel parking area and brought it to a stop next to a mud-spattered 4x4.

'Is this the house you grew up in?'

'Yep.' He switched off the engine and turned to face her. 'After we all flew the nest, Mum and Dad decided they didn't want to downsize even though it was just the two of them. They wanted us to be able to come back any time, and to have their grandkids grow up with the house just like we did.'

'That's really sweet,' Annie murmured.

'Yoo-hoo!'

Dan pulled his eyes away from Annie's and looked past her, towards the front door. 'Aaaand that's my mum... Come on, we'd better get inside.'

Before Annie finished unbuckling her seatbelt, Dan was out of the car and had opened her door. He reached down to take the cake box from her lap and they made their way over the crispy gravel toward the farmhouse.

Mrs Collins approached her son with outstretched arms. 'Dante! We haven't seen you for some time.'

'Sorry, Mum. I've been really busy with this contract at work. They wanted me to stay late at the office today, but I couldn't miss the party.'

Annie watched Dan balance the cake box and draw his mother into a warm hug.

Dan's mother was shorter than Annie, and classically beautiful. Her ash-blonde hair was swept up with an ornate art-deco clip that matched her earrings. She had the same colour eyes as her son, and delicate hands that looked like they belonged to someone twenty years younger.

'And this must be Annie!'

'Hi, Mrs Collins. It's lovely to meet you.'

'Please, call me Gwen.'

Annie smiled as Gwen hugged her. She felt a bit awkward at such a personal gesture from a woman she barely knew, but at the same time, it was almost as though she already belonged. And that felt really, really nice.