Chapter 1
Meeting Lisi
I don't know where it came from or how I ended up where I am now.
At a point in my life when I felt alone, less confident, lonely and unsure of what I wanted to do or be.
I lost my husband Bill with illness six months before. I decided to up sticks and move to Suffolk, the location of many happy holidays, photographic expeditions and loving memories of family times together.
Bill's daughter from his first marriage, Mandy, with her husband John, who worked in shipping, lived in Felixstowe, so I have no other relatives in the UK.
I was, therefore, subconsciously drawn to where Mandy was living, and we got on well.
She was missing her dad, so I was a link to him.
I was financially self-sufficient, having sold our house in Four Oaks, Sutton Coalfield and bought a cottage in the High Street of Aldeburgh.
At fifty years old, I did not need to work. I had a considerable inheritance from my Aunt Lillian, added to Bill's life insurance, investments and our joint savings, and had enough to be comfortable.
As I was financially secure, I gave Mandy and John a sum to settle their house mortgage to help them.
I moved into the cottage in mid-April. I settled in over the next month, shopped for food, took walks along the beach and visited Mandy and John a few times.
I enjoyed buying freshly sourced food from High Street shops and locally caught fish for dinner from the fishermen's huts on the beach. I pursued my photography as there were many subjects to keep my interest, including visits to Snape, Southwold, Woodbridge, Orford and many other places.
At the shops, twice I passed the time of day with a woman whose name she informed me was Lisi. We had a coffee one morning after meeting at the butchers on the High Street. We talked at ease together, chatting about this and that.
I told her about losing my husband and why I moved down from the Midlands, about Mandy and John.
She sympathised with my loss and said she was in a similar position as she had lost her partner, Terry, two years previously.
She had an apartment on the seafront, second floor. It was Terry's and hers, and they had lived there for 25 years after Lisi inherited it from her grandmother.
She inherited the large house, converted it into three flats, sold two and kept one for herself.
Lisi bemoaned the loneliness of living without a partner after all those years and missed the companionship of her and Terry's relationship.
After bumping into Lisi again when we were shopping, she invited me to her flat for afternoon tea.
"Eli, I know sounds old fashion," she said.
"I think,sandwiches, cakes and tea in the afternoon and a chat sounds good to me."
We arranged for Thursday, three days hence. We parted after exchanging mobile phone numbers with a brief hug and a smile to each other.
I visited Mandy the next day as she had a holiday from her job at a local estate agent. She pointed out some properties she was handling and some who had asked for valuations as we went for a stroll along the seafront in Felixstowe, chatting about all sorts of things.
Mandy told me John, who worked in shipping, had earned a promotion and was going to the US for a six-month secondment, and she contemplated whether to go with him.
I urged her to go.
"It's a great opportunity for you both".
She smiled and asked.
"If I decide to go will you visit us? And will you look after the house for us?"
I agreed I would.
"I feel a bit better about going then."
We chatted about the adventure over coffee on the patio of the Fludyers Arms Hotel on the seafront.
On the drive home, I mused over Mandy and John's six months in America, excited for them but sad that the availability of nearby contact with my only family would be interrupted. I loved Mandy dearly and would surely miss her.
The next day, Lisi called me on my mobile. After the usual pleasantries, she asked me to pick up the cakes for tea tomorrow as the shop was opposite my cottage, and I agreed to get them.
Thursday, the weather was beautiful. Sunshine and in the high 70s as I picked up the cakes Lisi had ordered and paid for in advance.
As I approached where Lisi lived on The Crag, I saw her enthusiastically waving at me from the second-floor balcony. I waved back and smiled at her.
She buzzed me into the front door and up the stairs I climbed.
Lisi greeted me at the open apartment door like a long-lost friend, giving me hugs and a couple of pecks on the cheeks. I went with the flow and hugged back, telling her to watch she didn't smash her cream buns. We both laughed.
We sat at the table and ate sandwiches and cakes and iced Martini and Lemonade, forgoing tea for a cool, refreshing, alcoholic drink, followed by another one. It was fun, I enjoyed Lisi's company, and she was enjoying mine.
We cleared up and went onto the balcony, lying on sun loungers after oiling up our legs and arms. We soaked the sun's rays for an hour. As we were both dressed in casual tailored shorts and vest tops, we both had oil stains on our clothes.
"God we are a mess," Lisi chuckled, "we will need a shower and change of clothes after this."
She left me for a few minutes, returning with an open bottle of Pinot and two glasses.
