Free Stirred with Love by Marcie Steele

wanted everything to be normal again. It would be much easier that way. But after she’d returned from her interview with Lily Mortimer, she’d had a feeling that she was going to be okay. It was simply a matter of time. And what Nick was saying now made complete sense to her. She needed to understand that she hadn’t failed to keep their marriage together. They’d both played a big part.
    ‘I do care for you,’ Nick added into the silence. ‘Part of me always will. But we have to move on.’
    Funny you should say that, Kate thought, as she watched him leave the room moments later; waited for the front door to close behind him; listened for the familiar sound of his car reversing out of the drive way.
    Because moving on was exactly what she couldn’t stop thinking about.
     
    Later that evening, shot through with exhaustion, Lily settled down for the night with a hot drink. It had been extremely tiring work to find two friendly people to help with her plan. She’d been surprised at the amount of letters and phone calls she’d received. Perhaps putting it into five newspapers around the surrounding areas was a bit ambitious of her. At the last count she’d interviewed twenty-four men and women, from all over.
    She cast her mind back over the array of strange characters that had made their way to the cafe over the past three weeks. That girl who’d turned up with a mouth full of chewing gum. She looked like a cow mulling over the right amount of grass. And when she opened her mouth to talk, after she’d placed the gum on the roof of her mouth, all Lily could get out of her were monosyllables. The girl had no character, wouldn’t do at all.
    Then there had been Malcolm. He’d come across as a young sprightly man over the phone, but if the truth were known, he wasn’t far from retirement age. ‘Once I’ve got over my aches and pains first thing in the morning, I’m as good as any twenty -year old,’ he’d told her proudly. Lily could just imagine. He’d never make the early mornings. He’d probably manage to pull himself out of bed and get to work around eleven. No, he hadn’t been suitable at all.
    Kate Bradshaw, on the other hand, had seemed perfect. She had a real air of grace about her. Lily had noted the shine on her hair, not a dark strand out of place. Her make up, subtle yet striking, accentuated her best features, easily her deep set, dark blue eyes. Her business knowledge had been excellent. She had the foresight to look at what the café could be and not what it was. Lily also surmised that Kate could use the move to Somerley to her own advantage.
    Lily’s thoughts then turned to Chloe Ward. Lily smiled as she remembered the way Chloe had put her foot into things with the least amount of effort during her interview. She seemed full of life and, oh what beautiful hair. Masses of curls, cascading down her back. Piercing green eyes bewitching her as they sparkled with enthusiasm. There was an actress she reminded Lily of. Used to be married to that small Cruise fellow.
    With great pleasure and an immense amount of relief, Lily ran a line straight through the last item on her long list of objectives. At last she could put her plan into place.
     

CHAPTER NINE
    Kate stood on the front doorstep for a moment and looked back into the hallway of her home. For all she knew, that may be the last time that she’d clatter her heels on the flooring, glance through the rectangular mirror to see if she looked decent enough to be let out and try not to get her clothes hooked up on the dried flower arrangement sitting on top of the table.
    It was weird to think that she was leaving. Over the years, how many times had she run through that front door, anxious to see Nick because she couldn’t wait to feel his arms engulf her in a bear hug? Rush in with news that she knew he’d be ecstatic to hear.
    Sadly, she thought, there were far more times when she’d dreaded walking through the front door, knowing that