Salt on the WIND

Running away may have been the easiest option, but they couldn’t hide forever

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Lisa Hamilton hurried through the bank holiday crowds at Paddington Station, juggling a sustainable coffee cup with her wheeled suitcase. The train didn’t leave for a good 20 minutes, but travelling alone still gave her butterflies.

You’ll find a new normal, her daughter-in-law Rachel had said. Come and join us for Easter – didn’t you spend all your summers in Porthwenna as a kid? It’ll be a great trip down memory lane! You need to find a way back to who you were before David even came on the scene.

Lisa knew it was silly to be intimidated by Rachel’s kindness, her wildness, her career as a painter – but she couldn’t help it. Devoting herself to David, she’d never had a career. Now she didn’t even have a marriage since David had decided to move out and move on with a glamorous younger woman.

As the train pulled away from the platform, Lisa knew it was time to rebuild her life, but family celebrations were still so hard. She’d always loved making Easter a big occasion with her own home as the focus. A Simnel cake decorated with toasted marzipan, an egg hunt in the garden – traditions first for Ben and Kate to enjoy and now the grandchildren.

David’s betrayal tainted so many precious memories, but maybe Rachel had a point. Perhaps by returning to Cornwall, Lisa really might find a way back to herself.

Tears sprang to her eyes. If only she could step off the train at Penzance to find Granny and Grandpa smiling and waving, with Grandpa’s prized Morris Minor Traveller parked around the corner. Porthwenna was such a happy place then, scrubbing mussels for supper in the little galley kitchen and sailing her dinghy, SeaBreeze, so that even now she tasted salt on the wind.