Chapter 1: Meeting in the Supermarket

“Carla?” Bryan Taylor asked as soon as he bumped into the pretty young woman who was pushing a trolley in the supermarket.

“Hello, Bryan,” she replied, “Wasn’t sure it was you I saw at the end of the dairy aisle or not.”

Of course she knew it was him, carrying a shopping basket with milk, yoghurts, cheese and a jar of pickled onions. She’d seen him twice just as he’d tried to avoid her in the last ten minutes, until now.

“And who’s this?” he asked, smiling at the child sitting in Carla’s trolley.

“This is Brie, my daughter.”

“You’re pretty,” he said, making the little girl laugh. “How old are you?”

“Three,” Brie giggled.

“You on leave from the Army?” Carla enquired.

“No, I’ve finished, about a month or so ago. I start as Logistics Manager over at Tanner’s Transport on Monday.”

“How long was your commission, then?” she asked, her grow wrinkled.

“The short commission minimum’s three years; I added another year to make Captain.”

“Are you here staying with your Dad?”

“No, their house is tiny; his girlfriend’s our age, and the baby cries all night. They are trying to break the feeding cycle apparently,” he replied, “You have to do that with Brie?”

“No, fortunately she grew out of it naturally,” Carla smiled, remembering.

Bryan’s heart missed a beat at that smile. She was definitely the prettiest girl he’d known in school. He reminded himself that she was always Gary Cox’s sweetheart. Bryan had only had the one date with her, coinciding with one of Gary and Carla’s frequent break-ups, just before he left for Sandhurst. He’d noticed the wedding ring on her finger where she gripped the handle bar. Besides, the piles of steaks, chops and six-packs in the trolley was a dead giveaway of a healthy male presence at home.

“A lot of meat,” he commented before he could stop himself.

“We always have a barbecue on Saturdays,” she explained, “er, Bryan, if you want to —”

“No, I can’t, sorry,” he interrupted.

The last thing he wanted was having Gary-bloody-Cox lording it over him as the smug bastard who won Carla’s heart. Bryan couldn’t bear it.

“I’ve just moved into one of the new three-beds on Cooper’s Meadow, and got a lot of straightening to do before Monday. Anyway, Carla, it’s been lovely seeing you again.” He started to move away.

“You never wrote!” she blurted out.

“I know,” he said softly, “I didn’t know what to write, and the officer training was ... intense. Then Mum and Dad split up immediately after I left home, so I had all their crap to deal with. Eventually Mum wrote saying that you were back with Cox. And you didn’t write either, remember.”

“Sorry, I didn’t know what to write either. I’ve seen your Dad with his new girlfriend. Where’d your Mum go?”

“Sussex, to live near my grandparents. They are getting on a bit. Dad moved in with Sadie Forrest, do you remember my best friend’s Aidie’s sister?” After Carla nodded, Bryan continued, “I’ve stayed with Mum on leave a couple of times, but I can’t possibly afford the property around there. I stayed in a hotel up here on Thursday night. Exchanged contracts on the house online and only moved in this morning. Of course, the cupboards are bare.”

“Well, text me your address Bryan, and we’ll send a Congrats card for your new job.”