On her way to the shop, Emily suddenly recognised the mother of her first love in the older woman walking toward her. To her surprise, the woman recognised her too and burst into tears.
It had been ten years since Emily last drove down the street where she grew upa tiny village in the Cotswolds. Even though she was now behind the wheel of a fancy car, she felt anything but safe returning. A flood of painful childhood memories rushed back. Long ago, shed sworn never to set foot here again, but something still pulled her back to the place where she was born and raised.
Emily had been raised by her mum, Margaret, after her dad passed away before shed even turned three. She only knew him from old photographs. The two of them lived modestlyMargaret worked as a local vet but barely had time for a vegetable patch, and money was always tight.
“Dont you worry, love,” Margaret used to say. “As long as youre happy and healthy, everything else will sort itself out.”
Emily grew into a beautiful young woman, and more than a few lads fancied herbut she didnt come with much of a dowry. At a village fair, she met a boy named William from a nearby market town. For Emily, it was her first real love, but her mum was uneasy. Williams family were well-off, and Margaret feared hed drop her daughter the moment the honeymoon phase ended. Emily brushed it offshe was sure William was genuine, that money didnt matter to him. After six months of walks and dates, he brought his parents over to ask for her hand. But the second his mother saw their humble cottage, her face went pale. She didnt say a word, but the doubt she planted in Emilys heart lingered.
The wedding was set for the first Saturday in October. That morning, Emily felt oddly nervous without knowing why. Her friends helped pin up her hair and adjust her wedding dressbut William never showed. Her godfather (a close family friend) drove to see what was wrong, but Emily already knewthered be no wedding.
“Whatever you say, I wont let my son ruin his life,” Williams mother told her godfather.
Emily cried until dawn. And William, under pressure from his parents, left her just like that. Her first love flickered out like a candle flame.
The next day, she packed her old suitcase and took the first bus to the city. She found work first as a waitress, then as a kitchen assistant. When a chance came up to go abroad and earn better money, she barely hesitated. While she was away, word reached her from relatives back homeher mum, Margaret, had passed. But there was no turning back; Emily was already on the plane.
Years slipped by. She worked hardfirst for pennies, then for something betterand saved up a bit. But the wound from that first love never quite healed. She never started a family of her own, and she still carried bitterness toward William and his parents.
When Emily reappeared in the village after so long, people didnt recognise her at first. The once-shy, sweet girl had become a poised, elegant woman, smartly dressed but with the same warm smile. Only her eyes held something sadeven when she laughed.
Then one day, heading to the village shop, Emily froze as she realised the older woman coming toward her was none other than Williams mother. The woman looked up, recognised her, and immediately broke down.
“Emily is it really you? Please forgive me, love. I ruined your lifeand my sons too. I just wanted the better match for him, and I broke him instead. After he lost you, he never loved anyone properly again. He drowned himself in the bottle. Thats my fault, and now I have to live with it.”
Emily felt a pang of pity for the woman. She was thin, worn out. And in that moment, the years of bitterness in Emilys heart melted away. She saw that the people whod once broken her heart had paid a heavy pricetheyd lost their own happiness too.
