Rose Tyler's New Life

Chapter 2

Alec Hardy had been initially reluctant to stay in Broadchurch after the past events. He'd stayed for the funeral and for the trial. He'd made peace with whoever he could but some were going to take longer. He'd become a friend to Tom Miller and even his DS and Tom's mother, Ellie had sobered up to him and they had become good friends over the past months even taken to calling each other by their first names although she always used his title when they were at work and just Sir when she got annoyed with him.

Alec had been there for her throughout the painful trial and had encouraged her to stay stating it was better the devil you know and the townsfolk were forgiving, some had remained her friend throughout. Ellie had been granted a quick divorce but decided for her two boys sakes to keep her married name and she had managed to goad Alec into looking into the surgery to have a pacemaker fitted to make him well saying if he only had a 50/50 chance what did he have to lose and he'd be no use to her otherwise.

Ellie had been right. Before he knew it and much to his surprise he'd survived and after weeks of complaining he was bored, deciding he'd probably stay and needed to move out of the hotel. He reluctantly got himself a place to live and was put back on active duty much sooner than he'd expected despite objections initially from the Superintendent who had to relent when he was cleared by the CMO plus Ellie complaining she wasn't going to prop him up and that he'd better pull his weight.

Ellie had half enjoyed taking over during his absence. With the revelation that he'd given to the local press about his past and the reason he was mainly in Broadchurch, he was no longer being hounded by them and was working on a solution to his problems with his daughter. His ex-wife however still hated him and had moved on to live with someone else which pleased him no end. If only he could get his daughter talking to him or at least answer his texts he would be reasonably happy. He'd sent her word that he was getting well again and hoped it would mellow her but so far she had not responded to the endless messages he'd left her.

He'd found a house to rent, two doors down from where Ellie had moved though if he'd thought about it he would have looked elsewhere and she'd looked in on him every night after work grudgingly saying didn't he think she had enough to do without waiting on him hand and foot as well but still, she kept her distance now apart from inviting him to have Sunday lunch every week, starting by telling him not to be a miserable git and that she always made too much anyway. He'd kick a football around in the back garden with Tom and Fred while she got it ready. Then they'd talk shop a bit, about a certain Officer who kept asking her out and about how people were moving on after the past events in the town. They also agreed that they didn't want to go through that again any time soon.

It was late on a Friday afternoon in March when he'd been returning from his trip to the grocery store (he still didn't have his own car though he could borrow one when needed and had a driver when he wasn't working with Ellie) when he noticed a blue car parked next door. He'd seen it pull away sometimes as he was arriving back from work but never seen the driver.

He knew someone was moving in obviously, he was just hoping he wouldn't be getting noisy neighbours and had been glad they had at least not been decorating into the night and disturbing him. Not taking much notice, he walked past and saw two figures at the window facing away from him. One was a small blonde female, the other a taller blonde man but he couldn't make out their faces. He was silently thinking how he hoped there were no kids there.

He went for his usual run on Sunday morning then to Ellie's as normal for lunch, noting no car in the driveway next door and recalling he'd not seen it since Friday and remarked to her about his new neighbours.

"I've not seen them," Ellie said, "have you Tom?" she asked her son.

Her son shook his head as he had a mouthful of food.