Back to the 80s novel · Chapter 7 of 24

Chapter 7: Coffee Hour

St. Michael's coffee hour was held in the parish hall every Sunday after the ten-thirty service, with weak coffee and plates of lemon squares.

Two hundred people were there that morning, because everyone wanted to know how the wedding had gone.

I walked in on my husband's arm.

I wore a navy dress, my own hair, and a faint pink mark on my neck that I had not been able to cover.

Russell had not slept, and he wasn't talking.

But his hand never left the small of my back.

Posy ran ahead to the lemon squares.

Ricky walked three steps behind us, silent, with his cap pulled low.

I hadn't gotten a word out of him at breakfast.

My parents were standing by the coffee urn.

Margaret saw us, and then I saw her see the mark on my neck.

Her mouth went thin.

Vivian was beside her in a pale blue dress, with a smile that said she'd had a better night than any of us.

"There they are," said my father, loud enough for the room.

He stepped into the middle of the hall.

He lifted his cup.

"Friends, I'd like to say how happy we are to see Russell Dunleavy in the family."

"A man who builds things. I have always admired that."

"I only regret that the family business must come first."

"This morning, Ellacombe Savings has called the note on Dunleavy Freight."

Keep reading free with an account. Start Back to the 80s from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.