Winter Wishes by Ruth Saberton

vest top, she surely looked as though she was trying far too hard. Which of course she was.
    Tara had known Summer long ago, when they’d been teenagers dating the two eldest Tremaine brothers, so she was used to the other girl’s beauty. All the same, she remembered now that it had been hard to contend with sometimes. What had taken Tara hours to achieve by sitting at the mirror with her make-up brushes in one hand and straighteners in the other had always looked harsh and contrived in comparison to Summer’s soft ringlets and dark-lashed green eyes.
    “I’ve just made some coffee. Do you want one?” Summer asked her.
    Fighting the urge to dash back upstairs and scrub her face, Tara nodded and sat at the table. Then she laughed out loud.
    “I’ve ended up in the same seat where I always used to sit,” she explained, seeing Summer’s puzzled face. “Some habits die hard, don’t they?”
    Summer smiled as she poured hot coffee into a mug. “They certainly do. I did exactly the same thing when I first came back. Isn’t it weird?” She pushed the mug across the table to Tara. “We’re both a dozen years older, but we can’t help reverting to the same patterns we had as teenagers.”
    “You’ve had a more successful decade or so than me,” Tara said sadly. “You’re a successful model with a glittering career and an adoring partner, whereas I’m just a dumped wife nobody wants to have around.”
    Summer’s dark brows drew together thoughtfully. “Don’t believe everything you read in the papers, Tara. I wouldn’t say all of it was successful. In fact, I made some pretty big mistakes along the way – and now I’ve got my ex trying to sue me. As for Jake? I guess I’m very lucky that he was prepared to give me another chance.”
    Tara took the mug that had been passed to her and stared absently at its contents. “I wish Danny thought like that. I don’t think the words second chance are in his vocabulary.”
    There was a brief silence, broken only by the call of the gulls outside. Summer cradled her coffee in her hands. Her forehead was crinkled with thought. Oh dear. If even Summer couldn’t tell her that Danny would find it in his heart to try again, then she really was in trouble.
    “It’s OK, you don’t have to try and find something to say that will make me feel better. I know I messed up,” Tara said.
    “We all mess up.” Summer’s emerald eyes were full of compassion. It was just as well that she didn’t know the real reason why Danny was so angry, Tara thought. Summer might be the closest thing Polwenna Bay had to a saint, but even she would struggle to get past that particular gem. “Whether Danny and you can make it work is something only you two can decide.” She paused, her white teeth worrying her full bottom lip for a moment, then asked, “Is that why you’ve come back, Tara? To try and sort things out with Danny?”
    Tara shrugged one shoulder. She found it hard to discuss her feelings and had never been the kind of woman with close girlfriends that she confided in. If she had to describe herself, Tara supposed she would say that she was a man’s woman rather than a girly girl. She was only just beginning to realise that this was a lonely way to be.
    “Do you still love him?” Summer asked gently.
    Tara shrugged again. “I know that we were happy once, and I don’t see why we couldn’t be happy again one day. And I know he adores Morgan. It would mean the world to him if we could all be together again.”
    “We all adore Morgan,” said Summer warmly. “He’s brilliant. If he hadn’t had his camera with him when my ex turned up to launch another one of his attacks, my lawyer would be having a much harder job building a case.”
    Tara felt the same thrill of pride that always came when she thought of her son. Morgan was on the autism spectrum and sometimes struggled to make friends and negotiate school life with the ease that came naturally to most children –