Free The Faerie Tree by Jane Cable

one night stand is based on that so you’d better get used to it.”
    As I drove to Watergate I thought about what he’d said – was it true? Looking back at my mother’s various partners I could see he had a point, but I couldn’t imagine life being like that with Izzie. Ed made it sound as though love didn’t exist. Perhaps it was rare and in which case it shouldn’t be wasted. By the time I was driving back to Newquay I’d made up my mind – even then I knew Izzie’s work phone number by heart and I was going to call it. If she’d married Paul then I’d forget all about her; but if not…
    Except that when I got back to the surf shack, Megan was waiting for me and she looked as though she hadn’t slept either.
    She didn’t beat around the bush. “Robin – we’ve got to talk. Ed’s minding the shop for an hour or so – shall we get some breakfast?”
    We made our way to a table in the back corner of the beach café. As soon as we sat down I started to apologise but she held up her hand to stop me.
    â€œOK, you said some horrid things – well, one in particular stung – but it was the truth. I thought about it all night, while I was worrying where you were. I touched a really raw nerve, didn’t I?”
    The lump rising in my throat made it hard to tell her what she wanted to know. “My mum’s dead. Coming up for a year ago.”
    â€œOh, Robin – I’m so sorry. I’ve lost both my parents and the first anniversary’s the worst. It hits you for six but it does get better, I promise. Tell me when it is, so I can look out for you.”
    â€œSeventh September.” I just managed to say it before I broke down and buried my head on my arms on the plastic tablecloth. I heard the scrape of Megan’s chair as she moved next to me to put her arm around my shoulder.

Chapter Seventeen
    It was the sixth of September when I finally plucked up the courage to call Izzie. I knew that if I let it drift more than a year then I would be the other side of a significant watershed and it would never happen.
    There was a telephone box in Porth, on my way back from Watergate, and I had been eyeing it up for a while. I generally came back that way about quarter to ten in the morning and I knew it was a time Izzie would be in the office, taking telephone orders and preparing for her day.
    I pulled the van off the road into the lay-by next to the beach. I listened to the waves crash on the rocks for a long time before I locked the van door and crossed the road. The phone box was occupied by an elderly lady with a small poodle and I almost turned away, but she finished her call and my last excuse had gone.
    The receiver slipped in my hands and I dropped my ten pence piece. As I scrabbled to pick it up I noticed there was a child’s bracelet on the floor and it made me remember the Faerie Tree. It was the kick I needed and I pressed the buttons quickly before I could change my mind again. The phone rang three times and then I heard the familiar voice of the receptionist. There was no chance she would remember me.
    â€œCan I speak to Izzie, please?” I asked, my heart thudding so loud it threatened to drown out her answer. I wish it had.
    â€œI’m sorry, she doesn’t work here anymore. Can anyone else help you?”
    I placed the phone back on its cradle. I stood for a few moments, my forehead on the glass, inhaling the pissy metallic smell. That, more than anything, drove me to open the door, stumble across the road to the van, drive to Newquay and get on with my day.

Chapter Eighteen
    The holiday season was effectively over by the middle of September. The shop became quieter and Ed only needed my services over long weekends. It would stay that way for another month and then my sole source of independent income would dry up. Megan wouldn’t really need me in the shop either and when I spoke to