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Back Walking on Sunshine Save as PDF
Chapters (46)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. By the same author
  4. Dedication
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. Three Months Later
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. Epilogue – Five Years Later
  44. Acknowledgements
  45. An extra note from me …
  46. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

‘I’m sorry,’ Liam says nervously, poking his head around the door before walking in with two mugs of coffee and holding one out. ‘I shouldn’t have said any of that and didn’t mean it in the slightest.’

‘I know you didn’t …’ I say, aware of the guilt knotting in my tummy as I come out of Messenger and push my phone away.

‘It’s been tough for you and I can’t say that’s not put a strain on us. I worry.’

‘About …’

Liam frowns. ‘You being OK. We need to make time for each other and talk more.’

I nod in full agreement. Maybe now isn’t the right time to tell him I’ve just agreed to a drink with someone from work. It’s just innocent anyway … no point mentioning it.

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9

Mike

One thing I’ve learnt about the women in my life, especially at this stage of it – you know, becoming widowed – is that they really don’t take no for an answer. Their approach is vastly different to that of the men in my life, AJ and Reece who I’ve known since infant school, and who seem to be trusting that I’ll get in touch when I’m ready to return for a pint and some ‘bantz’. Not the women though, they are constantly checking in.

I could tell Vicky was full of purpose and determination when she called offering me their Valentine’s evening, and therefore there was no point suggesting they stick to their original plans. They’ve tried to turn this into more of a ‘group’ gathering with Nick and Liam there too, but we all know that makes two couples and me. All hanging out on what is the most romantic day ever created to break broken hearts even further. My singledom, my non-plus-one life, my broken heart, is going to cause me to stick out like a sore thumb for quite some time.

I resisted telling her not to bother while insisting I would be fine, because going with it was the easiest option. Plus, what could I say I’d be doing? I have nothing planned and it might be time to actually leave the house for something. I currently have no purpose, whether I’m talking about every other normal day or my dead wife’s birthday. Is now the time to create a tradition? Honour her in some way that I’ll repeat year on year? I’m not sure. Should I just be getting through this year and kick-starting some big plans to celebrate her life next year? Or is next year too late?