The time
has come for Jane to sell the family home. Downsizing to a flat means that
everything must go, but her late husband’s favourite chair is far too precious
for the tip.
Meanwhile,
Robyn, balancing her precarious career as a portrait artist with raising an
autistic son, is searching for a chair with panache that will allow her sitters
to pose in comfort.
Elsewhere
in the city, Tracey is clearing out her wardrobe at the same moment that
divorced and cash-strapped Debbie is frantically seeking a prom dress for her
daughter.
None of
these women have ever met until Freecycle brings them together and their lives
are about to be changed in ways they could never have imagined.
Purchase Links
UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Freecycling-Beginners-Misha-Herwin-ebook/dp/B09F7XYLLG
US - https://www.amazon.com/Freecycling-Beginners-Misha-Herwin-ebook/dp/B09F7XYLLG
Excerpt
Misha
M Herwin is a writer of women’s fiction and books for children. Her latest
novel “Freecycling for Beginners” was published by Penkhull Press on September
16th.
When
Jane is widowed she decides that she will downsize and move closer to her daughter.
There is only one thing she finds hard to part with−her husband’s favourite
chair. Leaving it till the last minute to find it a home, she is standing in
his study remembering when they were penniless students buying furniture for
their first home.
“The
chair was every bit as awkward to get up the hill and into their first floor
flat as they had envisaged. After heaving and tugging it up the stairs with
Jane pulling and Hugh pushing it step by step, he managed to balance it against
the bannister while she searched in her pocket for the key. As soon as she had
the door open, Hugh tipped the chair from its perch and leaned his shoulder
against its back. There was a moment of resistance, then he gave it a hard
shove and it burst through the frame like a cork from a bottle and skittered
across the bare floorboards until it came to rest beside the hideous gas fire
as if this was where it had always belonged.
“Result!”
Hugh thrust his arms into the air, as if he had scored a winning goal. He
strode over to the chair and plonking himself down waved a lordly hand in
Jane’s direction. “Tea, woman,” he commanded.
“Oh
no you don’t,” Jane said. “Just because you’ve got the chair you don’t need to
think I’m going to wait on you hand and foot.”
“And
why not?”
“Because,”
she sat down on his lap and put her arms around his neck. “Because,” she
whispered, “we don’t do it like that here.”
His
lips met hers. His hands slid beneath her T-shirt.
Later
they made tea together in the narrow kitchen and carried their mugs back into
the living room. She drew the curtains, shutting out the cold night, while he
lit the fire and they sat together by the flickering gas flames; Hugh in the
chair and she on the hearth rug, toasting her toes and leaning back against his
knees.
“You
know something,” Hugh said after a while. “The chair makes it…”
“Look
like home,” Jane finished.
***
“I
love you,” she whispered to the boy he had been and the man he had become. From
the moment she first saw him, she knew he was the one person she wanted to be
with for the rest of her life. Or his life, as it turned out.
The
house was sold, her belongings packed and Hugh’s old chair would not fit into
her sleek modern apartment overlooking the river.
“Move
on,” Anna had told her and Jane was ready. She would never forget Hugh and the
years they’d had together, but it was time to be practical and start the next
phase of her life.
There
was only one thing left to do. She pulled out her phone, found the Freecycle
site, took a picture and posted, Offered:
one old-fashioned armchair. Upholstery a little worn. Then she pressed
send.”
If
you’ve enjoyed this sample, then you can read more in “Freecycling for
Beginners.” The book is available as an e-book, can be ordered from all good
bookshops or from
Author
Bio – Misha M
Herwin is a Staffordshire based writer. When not writing she runs workshops for
adults and children, including youth groups at the New Vic Theatre, and events
such as the 6x6 Story Café for Stoke Libraries. She spends what spare time she
has with family and friends, reading, working in her garden and baking. Scones
are a speciality.
Social
Media Links – https://www.facebook.com/misha.herwin
Https://mishaherwin.wordpress.com/
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