Sally bid her partner farewell, giving him a friendly punch to the upper arm, before she jumped in her own car and sped off for her tiny flat in the centre of Norwich.

She opened the kitchen cupboard and removed a bottle of red wine and one of her large, blue-tinted wine glasses. She filled the glass to the top then peeped in the fridge to see what she could rustle up for dinner. A platter of cheeses in the centre of the fridge stared back at her. With all the moving and unpacking she’d thrown herself into over the weekend, she’d had very little time to do any actual grocery shopping—this was the result of her forgetfulness. Sally rummaged in one of the cupboards and found a packet of savoury biscuits to accompany the cheese. The meal was hardly a well-nutritional banquet, and her mother would have been appalled to see her sitting down to a meal without the obligatory meat and two veg, but it was Sally’s idea of heaven at the end of a long day’s shift.

Halfway through the meal, her mobile rang. She looked at the number and sighed. Answer it or leave it to ring? She knew her ex would pester her all evening if she didn’t answer. “Yes, Darryl. What do you want?”

“There’s no need for you to bubble over with excitement,” he replied sarcastically.

“I’m busy. What do you want?”

“I was between flights and wondered if you’d care to join me for dinner.”

Sally’s mouth dropped open. What the fuck is wrong with this man?

“Sally, baby, talk to me.”

“I can’t, Darryl. You heard what the judge said—we both need to forget the past four years and move on with our lives. I’m sorry, but from now on, I intend my life to be a Darryl-free zone. Go forth and find another mug willing to put up with your abusive ways. From this day forward, that person isn’t going to be me. Have you got that?”

The phone clicked. Sally inhaled and exhaled slowly for the next few minutes, trying to calm her erratic heartbeat to a near-normal level. She wished she had never fallen for his charm. She’d wished it nigh on a hundred times after the blissful first six months of the marriage had passed. Then a light switch had gone off in Darryl’s head, telling him he had the right to verbally and physically dominate her. At first, she’d bowed to his demands, fearing what would happen to her if she didn’t. Then one day, she’d used the computer at work to carry out a full background check on her darling husband. She was shocked to find that he’d been married to two women before her, and both had gone to the trouble of registering domestic violence abuse complaints against him. Why didn’t I carry out the checks before walking down the aisle?

But then, Darryl had fooled everyone, not just her. People just got caught up in the romance of him being a pilot. A dark, handsome, and slim long-haul pilot, Darryl had ten years of flying experience under his belt and was a captain for one of the world’s biggest airlines, to boot. Taking a huge gulp of wine didn’t prevent the tears forming in her eyes. Sally had never been so gullible in her life before Darryl, and every night as she lay in her bed, dwelling over the past four years of madness, she swore that it would never happen again.

From now on, men can take a hike. Life was just too short for her to be involved in another draining and demoralising relationship. She had no intention of ever having children. Therefore, she truly had no need for another relationship, let alone a marriage.

The sound of the phone disrupted her miserable thoughts. “Hello, Mum, I was just getting settled before I called back.”

“That’s all right, dear. I was only checking if you’d made it home all right. That’s all.”

Sally covered the phone’s mouthpiece and sighed. “I’m twenty-nine, Mum, not some wayward teenager.”

“I know, I know. Now don’t go getting shirty with me. If I’m in the wrong for caring, then I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m the one who should be apologising, Mum. It’s been a tough day and…”

“And?”

“Darryl just rang me.”

Her mother gasped. “No! Why?”

“Can you believe he wanted to take me out for a meal? He said he was between flights and at a loose end.”

“Good Lord. That man has a bloody screw loose if he thinks you’ll take him back. You won’t—will you, dear?” she asked, uncertainty lingering in her voice.

Sally tutted loudly. “No fear of that, Mum.”

“Good, I’m glad to see you’re keeping your sense where that animal is concerned. Now, how about coming to dinner on Sunday? Better still, why don’t you come and stay with us for the weekend? I know someone who would be super pleased to see you.”

Sally smiled as the thought of her wonderful golden Labrador filled her mind. “How is Dex?”

“He’ll settle down after a few days. He sits there every night by the front door, waiting for you to walk through it.”

“Don’t make me feel guiltier than I am already, Mum. It’s for the best. This place is far too small for him, and for me, for that matter.”

“Well, you know the option to come back home was on the table for you, dear.”

“I know, Mum. Right now, I need to step back and have time on my own.”

“I understand that completely. However, sometimes loneliness can bite you in the backside and have a devastating effect on the soul.”

“All right, you’ve ground me down, Mother, as usual. Make up the spare bed. If the week goes according to plan, I’ll drop over after work on Friday. How’s that?”

“That’s marvellous news, darling. Only we’ve got plans to go on the boat this weekend. You’ll be up for that, won’t you? A bit of rest and relaxation on the Broads.”

“Sounds idyllic. Not sure how Dex will react to being aboard a boat, though.”

“Nonsense. We’ll put a lifejacket on him, and he’ll have a ball. How wonderful. I’m so excited now. We haven’t been on the boat together in years. That Darryl was a pain in the arse about that, I seem to remember.”

Sally nodded as if her mother were in the room with her. “Always said he preferred flying to sailing, the idiot. His loss, Mum. I’m quite excited now at the prospect of chugging along for the weekend. You’ve brightened my evening.”

“So glad to hear that, darling. If anyone deserves to be happy, you do.”

“Thanks, Mum. I’ll get there, eventually. How’s Dad? Busy?”

“Yes, he has a big renovation job on at the moment, working for the council. Still, it means he gets the weekend off, as their offices are always shut.”

“That’s great news. Guaranteed money, too. No chance of him being conned out of any more money by dubious clients ‘wanting a favour or two.’” Sally cast her mind back to the job her father had carried out the last year for a wealthy client. Once the renovations had finished, the owner sold the house and left the country before paying the bill. Sally had wanted to press charges on her father’s behalf, but the man had threatened all sorts, and she’d decided that she couldn’t put her father through the untold stress she knew was associated with such cases. Solicitors never took honest people’s feelings into consideration once they passed the court’s threshold. Her father was such a sensitive soul, the stress would have killed him. Her parents had decided to let things lie and take the financial hit. Over the past few months, her father had acted as if he had something to prove to his family, and he’d thrown himself into his work, trying to recoup some of the money intended for their pension pot.

But working extra-long hours had taken a toll on her father’s health. The last time she’d seen her dad, she noticed him stretching in the back garden and rubbing at his chest. Sally had asked him what was wrong, but he’d smiled, tweaked her cheek, and insisted it was a touch of indigestion. But Sally recognised the signs of stress in an older person when she saw it. Twenty years ago, her grandfather had died in her arms after kicking the ball around with her in his back garden. Her grandmother had come home to find her rocking him back and forth, trying to bring him back to life, as any nine-year-old would have. However, it was far too late for any kind of miracle to happen. Every now and again, when she closed her eyes, she saw her grandfather’s smiling face and heard him whispering to her, “It’s not your fault.” The guilt still gripped her heart like a vice from time to time when she least expected it. Her grandfather had always been a very special person; he seemed to understand her as a child, more than her parents had in fact. To this day, she missed his wise words and the wisdom he’d bestowed upon her during their short time together.