Ten Years in the Making
Zachary hadnt been lucky in love. He divorced his wife after just three years of marriageback when he was barely thirty.
“At least we didnt have kids,” hed tell his colleagues at work. “Wouldve been worse leaving them behind.”
Hed misjudged Tamsin. She wasnt the settling-down typetoo fond of nights out with her mates, parties, crowds. Hed fallen for her lively charm, but in the end, she was just too restless, too sharp-tongued.
“Zachary, were sending you to Cliffside,” his boss, the lead engineer, told him one day. “They need help setting up equipment. Its a months work, maybe less if you crack on. Youre a free man now, no family tying you downperfect timing, eh?”
Zach didnt mind. A change of scenery sounded good, especially somewhere new. In Cliffside, they offered him two choices: “You can stay in the work hostel, though its under renovation, or weve got a cottage near the substation where youll be working.”
“Hostel noise? No thanks,” Zach laughed. “Ill take the cottage. Maybe the landladys a decent cooksingle blokes gotta eat, right?”
They put him up with a widow, a quiet woman named Eleanor. She was stern, wore long black dresses down to her ankles, and kept her hair hidden under a headscarf. At first glance, Zach thought she was older, but the way she movedquick, purposefulgave her away.
They kept to themselves mostly, but Eleanor cooked for himproper meals, better than the canteen. One evening, over a pint, he asked his mate, Danny: “My landladyEleanor. She dresses like shes in mourning, but shes not that old. Thought she might be religious, but Ive never seen her pray.”
Danny raised an eyebrow. “Youve never seen her without that scarf?”
“Nah. By the time Im up, shes already covered up. Fed, thoughnever misses a meal. Proper roast dinners, the lot.”
“Good grubs half the battle,” Danny chuckled. “My missus, Aliceshell feed me even if I stagger in drunk. Gives me an earful first, mind you, but thats wives for you.”
Zach grinned. “Aye, were simple creatures. Feed us well, and were happy.”
After a pause, he asked, “Whyd you ask about the scarf?”
Danny sighed. “Eleanors got a story. She was married to my cousin, Michael. They were mad for each othereveryone could see it. Wedding was a right do. But a month in, he took a shortcut over the frozen river in his Land Rover. Ice wasnt thick enough. Went straight under.”
Zach winced. “Bloody hell.”
“Bridge was five miles out of his way. Stupid, reckless” Danny shook his head. “Eleanors been widowed ever since. Shes only, what, twenty-eight now?”
That night, Zach walked home lost in thought. He stepped insideand froze. Eleanor stood with her back to him, brushing out long, dark waves of hair. The door creaked; she turned, and for a second, he couldnt speak. Without the scarf, she was stunning.
“Oh!” She twisted her hair up, covering it again.
“Eleanor,” he said softly, “why hide all that?”
“I made a promise.”
She busied herself with dinner, and after that, she barely spoke to him.
Then, one day, Zach came home with a wildflower bouquetdaisies, buttercups. “For you,” he said, handing them over. “No refusingits my birthday.”
A faint smile. “You shouldve told me. Id have baked something.”
“Got it covered.” He pulled a cake, a bottle of wine, and chocolates from his bag. “Fancy a celebration?”
Over wine (which she barely touched), he coaxed her story out. “I loved him,” she admitted quietly. “But grief drowned everything. I promised him Id live with only his memory.”
Zach shook his head. “Memorys important, but lifes for the living, Eleanor.”
When his assignment ended, he left with a heavy heart. “Goodbye,” was all she said. “Be happy.”
Ten years passed. Zach never married. Then, driving back from a seaside holiday, he saw the sign for Cliffside. On impulse, he turned.
The cottage had a new fence. He hesitatedwas she even here? A dog watched him from the yard. Just as he turned to leave, a voice: “Looking for someone?”
He spun around. There she stoodhair loose, smiling. “Zachary,” she said. “The man who told me lifes only given once.”
Five years later, they married. Eleanor moved to his city, and now their daughterspitting image of her mumfills their home with laughter. Some promises are meant to be broken.
