He bought ice creams from a kiosk on Brighton Pier, and they strolled together along its length, watching as green waves moved far below through the gaps in the boardwalk. It was a perfect afternoon, with seagulls wheeling lazily overhead and the tang of sea salt in the air – and life felt good again.
‘Daddy?’ Elsie’s face was one-third human and two-thirds raspberry ripple as she gazed up at Jim.
‘Yes poppet?’
‘Are we going on holiday?’
‘No, honey. But then we don’t need to, do we? It’s like being on holiday right here.’
‘So are we going on holiday when we get home, then?’
Jim suppressed a grin as he looked at his youngest’s seriousness. ‘No, darling.’
‘But we must be going on holiday, Daddy!’
‘Why?’
‘Because Mummy got the big suitcase out.’
‘That’s right,’ Guin agreed. ‘I saw her put it in the downstairs loo when you were making breakfast. Perhaps it’s a surprise for when we get back.’
At that moment it was as if the world froze on its axis. Jim’s ice cream cone dropped to the boards of the pier as he scooped Elsie into his arms and grabbed Guin’s hand. ‘Girls, we have to go.’
‘But we only just got here,’ Daisy protested, following her father as he walked quickly towards the pier exit. Saturday strollers milled aimlessly across their path, causing Jim to swerve around them, but once his feet hit the tarmac of the promenade he broke into a run, dragging Guin alongside him with Daisy struggling to keep up. Terrified, Elsie burst into tears, her pitiful wails loud as a siren in Jim’s ears as he ran.
‘Daddy! Slow down! Where are we going?’ Guin shouted.
‘We’re just … I have to go back … I forgot something …’ he panted, a terrifying image of what he dreaded most hanging stubbornly before his eyes.
‘I don’t want to go home!’ Elsie sobbed.
‘It’s all going to be fine,’ he lied, his heart plummeting as he rounded the corner of their street and saw the waiting taxi.
Reaching the gate, he stopped, lowering Elsie into the arms of her eldest sister. ‘Girls, just wait here, OK? I won’t be a minute.’
Staring at him, Guin took Daisy’s hand and Jim walked into the house.
‘What’s going on?’
Startled, Moira froze in the hallway, the packed suitcase in her hand and folded coat over her arm answering the question before she spoke.
‘I’m – I have to do this. I’m sorry.’
‘No. No, you don’t have to do anything until we’ve talked, Moira. Where are you going? How long are you going for?’
Guilt dragged her shoulders towards the tiled hallway floor. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Is that all you can say?’
‘That’s all there is to say.’
‘Don’t do this …’
‘I don’t have a choice!’ she yelled. ‘This place smothers me, Jim! I can’t breathe, can’t think, can’t do anything! I don’t know who I am anymore …’
‘You’re my wife. And their mother …’ Jim pointed through the open doorway towards the three small, forlorn figures at the end of the garden path, ‘or had you forgotten that?’
‘None of it matters, don’t you see? This isn’t who I am, Jim! It’s not what I was destined for.’
‘But they need you—,’ he stepped forward, placing his hand on her birdlike wrist, ‘—I need you …’
Her eyes met his and the coldness of them made him draw back.
‘But I don’t need any of you.’
She brushed past him and walked out of the house.
As Jim’s universe began to implode, a taxi door slammed and the shock of three young screams shattered the calm of the quiet suburban street …
*
‘I am Princess Poppy and I have a magic bird called Cassandra who can talk,’ Elsie grinned proudly at Daisy, who beamed back, ‘… and a puppy called Spot.’
Jim shrugged as Daisy’s face fell. ‘Sounds like a good compromise to me, darling.’ He sat back in his armchair, pride blazing within him as he watched his daughters performing their latest masterpiece for their beloved grandmother.
How far we’ve all come.
He saw Daisy, strong, confident, her character already suggesting the beautiful young woman she would one day be; Guin, independent and full of energy, refusing to compromise and proud to discover her own way through life; and little Elsie, remarkably resilient at such a young age and developing a sense of humour that would no doubt serve her well in the future.
My beautiful family…
Whatever lay ahead of them, Jim Maynard was confident he and his girls would be fine.
‘… and they all lived happily ever after. The End!’
THE END
Four for Home is the story of a relationship that comes to define one man’s life. I wanted to look at how love can bind and break people – and how life’s unexpected twists and turns bring us to places we never imagined.
Jim Maynard is a central character in my novel When I Fall in Love – and this is the story of his incredible journey from young traveller to devoted father of three. I hope you enjoy it!
An exclusive extract from When I Fall in Love will follow the short story, drop me a line and tell me what you think.
You can chat to me on Twitter @wurdsmyth, join the lovelies on my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Miranda-Dickinson/151177097525 and see my blog and vlogs at my website: www.miranda-dickinson.com.
Looking forward to meeting you!
CHAPTER ONE
Not supposed to be like this
‘Excuse me, miss?’
Elsie Maynard looked up from her half-crossed-out shopping list to see the hulking figure of a security guard blocking her way. ‘Hi. Sorry, I’m in a bit of a rush, actually, so if you’ll just …’
‘I’m going to have to ask you to come with me, please.’
This was the last thing she needed today. Not only had her lunch break been delayed by forty-five minutes by a particularly persistent wafer-cone salesman but also, in her haste to complete all the shopping tasks on her list, she had left work without her umbrella just as the heavens opened. And now this …
‘I’ve told you, I don’t have time to stop.’
The huge security guard gave a world-weary sigh and clamped an enormous hand rather too heavily on her shoulder. ‘I must insist, miss. I believe you have goods you have not paid for, so if you will just accompany me back into the shop, please …’
What on earth was this