CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 6

First weeks in Dunballan:

David had no problem selling his apartment, it was snapped up after only a few viewings. He sold most of his other possessions and was ready to move in a matter of months.

Sally did not have it so easy. She found a buyer, but got caught up in a property chain that dragged on interminably and seemed like it would never be resolved. She would have pulled out and put her flat back on the market, but the buyer was offering her so much over the asking price that she didn’t want to lose him.

She gave notice at the primary school where she worked as a teacher, but there wasn’t time to find a similar position in or around Dunballan.

“I’ve no idea what I’m going to do for an income,” she said to David over the phone, soon after he’d left for Dunballan. “Maybe I should wait a bit before coming up, at least until I’ve sold my flat.”

“No, don’t do that.” There was a hint of alarm in David’s voice that wasn’t like him, nor was the needy undertone. “I’ve got quite a bit set aside, more than enough to tide us both over.”

“But I don’t want to be dependent on you for money. You’re already giving me a place to stay.”

“I’m not giving you a place to stay, we’re moving in together. There’s a difference, and if we’re going to do it, we might as well do it properly. There’s really no reason to put it off. It’ll be much easier to find work once you’re up here and you get to know the area.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure.” Then the subtle neediness crept back into his voice. “You’re not getting cold feet are you?”

“No, of course not, it’s just . . . well, we’ve spent ten years living apart, what difference will a few months make?”

“I miss you,” he said, quite plainly. “And I need you here.”

That was all he had to say. Sally dropped everything. She booked a train ticket and packed her bags the very next day. David had never openly said that to her before. After years of convincing themselves that they wanted to be together, but didn’t need to be, and the months of slowly growing apart, it meant everything for David to reach out to her like that.

It was only later that she discovered why he really needed her at Dunballan.

Sally arrived with only a few boxes of possessions, having sold everything else she owned in an act of extreme de-cluttering. All she kept was the bare minimum to set up home with David. When she arrived at the six bedroom cottage, Sally found there was nowhere to put any of her things.

The cottage had six full dinner services, three sets of silver cutlery, and enough antique furniture and fittings to fill a warehouse. David’s uncle had fancied himself a gourmet cook and had packed the kitchen with every imaginable gadget. Sally ended up storing her stuff in the already crowded attic.

The fixtures and fittings might not have been to Sally’s taste, but she had fun doing the place up with David and living out her renovation fantasies. The garden was a huge luxury. There was room for a small orchard, a large lawn and even an allotment at the bottom where they’d planned to grow vegetables.

They took long walks together over the hills of the surrounding valley and into the forest just beyond their cottage. When the long winter nights came in, they drank Shiraz and stared into the freshly lit fire, trying to catch a vision of their future in the flames that leaped in the hearth.

“How does small town living suit you then?” said David, one night, as he stirred the embers and added a new log. “Have we converted the city girl yet?”

“I’m not sure, it’s all a bit . . . I don’t know, claustrophobic isn’t it?”

David’s face fell and a touch of nervousness crept into his voice. “You don’t like it?”

“I didn’t say that,” Sally said, trying to reassure him. “I love the cottage and the countryside and everything, I’m just not used to being under such scrutiny, that’s all. Everyone seems to want to know everything about us. You must have noticed.”

“Yes, we are the subject of a lot of gossip, like we’re local celebrities or something.”

“Dunballan’s own Will and Kate.”

David laughed. “You’re happy, though?”

“Yes, I am, how about you? Your spirits seem to have lifted since you got here.”

“They have. It’s quite surprising really, I feel far more at home than I thought I would, like some burden’s been lifted off me or something.”

Sally took his hand and kissed it. “Thank you,” she said.

“For what?”

“For including me in your life, for making me an integral part of it. You know my family history, I was always on the outside. I feel like I’ve been on the outside most of my life, but you brought me up here with you and included me in your plans. That means a lot.”

“Does it?”

“Probably more than you’ll ever know.”

She was happy in that moment, happier than she’d been in a long while. She had so many hopes for their future together.

Then the Beast came along and ruined everything.