Free Amelia Grey's Fireside Dream by Abby Clements

was quite happy with things the way they were.’
    *
    ‘Byeee!’ I called out to the last of the revellers at our party, as Jack and I made an exit just after midnight. It had been a brilliant evening and send-off, catching up with old friends and making plans for them to come and visit.
    A little worse for the wear, we made our way home, recounting conversations we’d had with people during the night.
    ‘And in September—’ Jack said.
    ‘We’re going to be all settled in our new home!’ I said excitedly. I didn’t mind at all that when we got home that night it would be to a flat full of cardboard boxes. We were taking steps towards a new life together.
    ‘I can’t wait,’ Jack said, smiling. ‘I thought you were nuts at first, but I have to hand it to you, this was a good idea.’
    ‘Glad you agree. And when I’ve got a job again it’ll seem like an even better one.’ I gave him a smile. Yes, things would be stretched for a while, but there was no going back – since I’d given in my resignation I’d felt free, light. I might have just turned thirty, but I felt younger than ever.
    When we got home, Jack took out his mobile phone and put it on the side as we got ready for bed.
    I noticed the answerphone icon on his screen. ‘You’ve got a message,’ I said, pulling my pyjamas on and realizing I had the trousers on back to front.
    ‘Really?’ he said. ‘I haven’t checked it all evening actually. Probably work.’
    As he rang through to check his message, I put on my pyjama shirt and did the buttons up slowly. I still felt a glow from the evening we’d had. I was so touched by the presents Sunita and Carly had picked out for me. All in all, entering my thirties felt pretty good so far.
    ‘Shit,’ Jack said, his eyes flicking up to look at me as he listened to the message all the way through. ‘Shit, crap, bollocks,’ he added.
    ‘What? What is it?’ I said, startled.
    He put the phone down. ‘That was the bank. A message from this afternoon. It’s not good news.’
    ‘I guessed that,’ I said, my heart racing. ‘What’s going on?’
    ‘There’s a problem.’
    My breath caught in my throat. This could not be happening. We were moving. To the country. And someone else was moving into our flat. It was all organized, it was all ready.
    Jack looked at me. ‘They’ve reconsidered our mortgage application in light of your resignation. It’s been rejected.’

Chapter 5

Limbo
    Sunday, 9 June
    With a mug of tea in one hand and a couple of paracetamol in the other to soothe my hangover, I looked around at our kitchen – its crummy peeling cabinets, tired grey lino flooring, and tiny windows looking out onto the train track – and fought back tears.
    How had our countryside dream disappeared just like that, in an instant? One moment we were all set to move into a cottage where I knew we could have been really happy, and now we were back at square one, stuck here.
    What choices did Jack and I have now that the cottage had fallen through? Pull out of the sale of our place and stay in Hackney, even though I no longer had my job at the school keeping me there? Let down our buyers and risk not finding new ones?
    Jack and I had spent a restless night in bed. My mind had been whirring – why couldn’t I have just stuck it out one more term? Could we have got away with not telling the bank about me leaving my job? Our cottage, the home that was destined for us, was now out of our reach, and in two months we’d be handing over our flat too. If we didn’t make a decision soon, we could end up homeless.
    I couldn’t sit around moping today though, and that was probably a good thing. I’d arranged to meet Sunita in Oxford Street at ten, so I had to pull myself together. She needed help with doing some baby shopping and had promised me waffles at the cafe in John Lewis afterwards. There’s very little I won’t do for a waffle.
    I downed the pills with the dregs of my tea and then washed up my