Available Now: Resolutions by Carol Warham

RESOLUTIONS
Carol Warham

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A few days before the New Year, Carly Mitchell returns home to the small town on the Yorkshire moors. Her intention for the short visit is to make her apologies and offer an explanation for her action. A year earlier, she fled, leaving her bridegroom and friends bewildered. She’s met with mixed reactions, ranging from curiosity to open hostility. However, when an emergency arises, Carly agrees to change her plans and stay a little longer. Falling in love with the new local doctor, Ben Thornton, was not part of her original plan either. Especially when it appears his past is shrouded in mystery. Complications and tensions increase during the town’s New Year celebrations and she begins to doubt whether she has done the right thing by coming home.

Can she find the resolution she needs to overcome the challenges facing her, or will she run away again?

• • •

The large, dimly lit sign appeared momentarily through the driving rain.

~

YEARDON

WELCOME TO OUR TOWN

PLEASE DRIVE CAREFULLY

WE HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR STAY

~

Carly Mitchell pulled her car over to the grass verge at the side of the road. Indecision gripped her as her heart hammered against her ribs. Did she drive on into the town, back to the place where she believed she was hated, or should she drive straight through and not stop?

Darkness shrouded the long road across the bleak moors. A thick swirling mist was broken only by the beam of her car’s headlamps. The windscreen wipers were the only thing which moved, as if bored, by the effort of clearing the rain. She stared at the sign until the glare of oncoming headlights made her blink and bite her lip. This was her decision, her choice. Could she do this? She nodded to herself. She knew she could now. Twelve months ago, she’d have been in pieces at the thought of what she intended to do, but not now. She had changed, grown up, learned to stand on her own two feet. The old Carly Mitchell wouldn’t have dared make any decision like this, for fear of upsetting someone. But her life had changed for the better, and so had she.

Taking a deep breath, she slowed down her heartbeat and controlled her shaking hands. A few minutes to recover her equilibrium were all she needed. She would do what she had come to do, and then leave. After that people could say and think what they wanted. She wouldn’t care.

It was past midnight when she drove into the quiet town. The wet road glistened under the street lights. Driving down the empty streets of the old Yorkshire mill town, her stomach churned. How well she knew all of these buildings.

A large Victorian mill loomed up before her. The grey stone walls and rows of neat windows were highlighted by the street lamps. It almost resembled a barricade, another warning. Slowing down to look at the building, she smiled at her own foolishness. You’d never know that inside were some charming tourist and gift shops and a little tea shop. She drove over a stone bridge where the road crossed a small river. In the dark, she could hear the water as it babbled and gurgled over the boulders that lined its path.

Would she ever be able to walk through this town and receive a warm welcome? What sort of greeting would anyone give her now? What sort of greeting did she deserve? Yeardon had been a wonderful place to grow up. It was one of those towns where you knew everyone, and they knew you.

Her mind a maelstrom of anxiety, she tightened her grip on the steering wheel. Who would have believed anyone’s hands could shake so much?

Reaching the far side of the town, she turned into a drive, which led down a short, narrow lane to a hotel, a converted mill owner’s house. After finding a space in the car park, she switched off the engine, but remained in the car for a few minutes. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes.

The drumming of the rain on the roof was not reassuring. The weather seemed to be giving a further warning to leave now, while she could. She peered through the rain- splattered screen at the sign above the front door. In copper plate script, it read Resolution Hotel. The building looked well-kept and fresh. Business must be going well for Jim and Abi.

“Well, here goes.”

• • •

Writing has been Carol’s love since childhood. She started by making small comics for her dolls, progressed to training as a journalist for a short while. Once the family had grown up she settled down to writing short stories, poems and holiday articles. Some of which are published.

In recent years she has become a judge in the short story section for the HysteriaUK competition and also for the RNA’s romance novel of the year.

Earlier this year, she represented her book group on BBC Radio Leeds, talking about books and the work on her novel.

Carol lives in Yorkshire, surrounded by some beautiful countryside, which is ideal for her other passion of walking, often with a dog called Sam.

Find Carol online:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/carol.warham
Twitter - https://twitter.com/carol_warham
Blog - https://carolwarham.blogspot.co.uk
Tirgearr Publishing - http://www.tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Warham_Carol