Swoop on Love by Elodie Parkes

SWOOP ON LOVE
     
     
    Elodie Parkes
     
    Copyright © 2013
     
     
     
    Chapter One
     
    The weak sun peeked from behind a bank of clouds, brightening the light gray summer sky. A fine rain fell, but hardly any hit the ground. The atmosphere was sticky with warmth. The rain left an oily coating as it misted the back of Jeanie’s hand, and her fingers slipped as she attempted to open her car door. She fell back slightly, and then tried again. This time the door opened and she slid into the driver’s seat. Jeanie stared out of the front window for a few seconds. Only vaguely wet, the dust on the windshield displayed streaks in short grainy marks like strange fingerprints.
    Jeanie needed to go into town for supplies. A recent move to this county meant she was still finding her way around. During the week, she quickly joined the motorway traffic via a winding slip road from the town’s outskirts, and then drove almost mindlessly into the city to work. On the weekends she tried to explore a little of the surrounding beautiful countryside.
    This move to the county bordering the other side of the city where she worked was the fix for her broken heart. She couldn’t leave her well established office. She loved it. She liked the city, but needed some kind of change. Out finding a Christmas tree the winter before, she’d crossed county borders and noticed a house for sale. The tiny, startling pretty town with one main road was nestled between two cultivated woodlands. A short way from the house, a huge plant nursery was, busy with holiday shoppers. She’d bought her Christmas tree there. They specialized in potted trees that meant after the festivities, the tree could be planted in the garden. It could have its life back. Jeanie liked that idea.
    It wasn’t as if she’d never travelled through this county before, but it seemed to draw her this time, with its lush woodland and tiny towns hidden away down picturesque lanes.
    The bigger town where she now headed contained all the shopping facilities anyone might want. Jeanie enjoyed not having to make a foray into the city for supplies the way she did from her last home.
    A s she drove, she passed an intriguing signpost pointing to a place called Owlswick. She hadn’t explored there yet. She glanced at the sign in the rear view mirror, and decided to make that her afternoon activity.
    Jeanie didn’t enjoy shopping. She didn’t drift along the supermarket aisles as some shoppers did. She plowed along, deftly moving her shopping cart into the available space and gathering up what she needed. She could sometimes cut the wait at the checkout by going to the self-serve area, but often her weekly shop proved too much to juggle in the confined packing area there.
    While she waited, she looked around at the other customers. She daydreamed sometimes that she’d meet a guy there in the market. They’d strike up a conversation, and then go for coffee, just like in some movies. He’d be very attractive, kind, and naturally fall in love with her. It hadn’t happened so far.
    She saw not one single, attractive guy around alone. She paid the bill with her credit card and went back to her car to load her supplies. Jeanie drove off home.
    Nearly an hour later, she stood in the sunshine on her patio with a cup of coffee. Another solitary Saturday night awaited her, but at least she’d get out again that afternoon to explore Owlswick. The mist of rain dried up under a fiery lunchtime sun and now the sky showed off patches of intense blue.
    She picked up her small camera in case she saw any photogenic sights, took a bottle of spring water from the fridge, and left to explore the place called Owlswick.
    ****
    The countryside glistened in the sun, making the drive enjoyable. When Jeanie reached the signpost for Owlswick, she turned onto a pretty, single-track road bordered on either side by flowering trees. The road wound around, becoming narrower as the hedgerows grew wider with bright green