Free A Summer to Remember by Victoria Connelly Page A

futon until she got on her feet again.
    ‘Goodbye mouldy wallpaper!’ she yelled as her neighbour revved his motorbike. ‘Good riddance crumbling windowsill!’ And, just for old times’ sake, she pressed a finger into the woodwork and the paint flaked away under her touch.
    ‘Farewell clanging pipes!’ she sang, deciding to put the radio on; it was one of the few things in the flat that actually belonged to her. She’d pack her things, tidy around and get out of there, taking her keys to her landlord the very next morning, and then she’d take the bus out to The Old Mill House, walking down the potholed lane to a place where she felt truly welcome.
    Olivia was absolutely delighted. She was also rather anxious. It had been a great shock losing ‘Teri with an i’, and Olivia had no intention whatsoever of losing Nina – although she doubted she would, as she remembered how well Nina and her husband had got on in the past. Still, she’d have a word with Dudley about the situation and make sure he behaved himself and that he was especially nice to Nina. She knew all too well that he could be brusque once the creative mood took hold, but he had to be warned that it would be at his own peril. Poor Teri used to surface from the study positively shaking after her encounters with Dudley – her face pale and her eyes wide in terror.
    ‘I can take dictation, but I won’t take being dictated to!’ she’d once cried, before grabbing her bag and leaving. Olivia had been left to sort the mess out, appeasing Teri by telling her that the creative muse could take many a strange form and that it took a special sort of person to handle it, and that Teri was obviously one in a million. And the flattery had worked. Well, for two further weeks anyway, before the next verbal volcano had erupted. Dudley, of course, had denied all knowledge of why Teri had left, although Olivia believed that there was more to it than just her husband’s temperamental nature.
    Anyway, she wasn’t going to let it happen again. She wandered back into her husband’s secret domain and trailed a finger over one of the few empty spaces on the desk before inspecting it. Just as she thought: it was as if she’d dipped it into a sack of flour. Dudley hated having anyone invade his special place, but Olivia was quite determined that she’d get Marie in with the vacuum and dusters before Nina started work the next day. Anything to help make Nina’s job easier. After all, Nina would have Dudley’s mood swings to cope with, a study that looked as if a tornado had passed through it, plus the three boys hanging around the house for most of the summer. There was no guarantee that she’d like it, let alone actually stay. But then again, miracles were known to happen.

Chapter Eight
    Nina handed the keys to her flat to a bemused Mr Briggs, who said he’d have to keep her bond because she hadn’t served out her period of notice. But she didn’t care about that. She was free – free of her job and free of her flat. Free to start again. After the last few dark weeks, she felt as if she was on the edge of a great adventure and, right there and then, she made a promise to herself – to steer clear of men. The recent months with Matt had left her scarred and scared, and she felt that it would be a long time indeed before she would even want to think about entering into another relationship.
    No, Nina thought, she was going to focus solely on herself for a while.
    She arrived at The Old Mill House at ten o’clock the very next day, as agreed, and Olivia was ready to greet her.
    ‘Nina! I was so worried in case you’d changed your mind,’ she said, ushering her into the hall. ‘I’m glad you didn’t,’ she added with a smile. ‘Gracious – is that all you’ve brought with you?’ Olivia said as she saw Nina’s modest suitcase and her portable radio.
    ‘It’s all I need,’ Nina smiled, thinking of the humble wardrobe and miniature library of books