Jenny Hayward flopped down on the lounge chair, kicked off her shoes and closed her eyes as she let out a slow breath.
Home.
The silence of the house was like a soothing balm to the hectic pace of the hospital. It’d been a long day—a long two years, if she were being honest. That was when her husband of twenty-seven years had announced he was moving out.
Lost in the shock and pain of his betrayal, Jenny had turned the house into her sanctuary, doing a clean-out of anything she didn’t find comforting or calming. Her best friend, Beth—dark-haired, Italian-Maltese—became a slightly more intimidating version of the decluttering queen, Marie Kondo, as she held open a garbage bag and barked, ‘Does it bring you joy? No? Well chuck it!’ In a couple of days, they’d
transformed the house. It had been nothing short of a miracle.
Jenny had never been a big believer in the whole crystals and energy hocus-pocus the way Beth was, but weary and heartsick, she couldn’t have summoned the strength to protest even if she’d wanted to when Beth had told her to ‘leave everything to me’.
As far as makeovers went, there hadn’t been anyone better qualified for the job. Beth had always had a knack for decorating and had done a course, intending to one day turn her talent into a business. She’d filled Jenny’s house with soft furnishings, scattered soothing colours about the rooms and added little touches—a plant here, a Buddha statue there and, of course, her signature crystal-infused candles, which she’d begun making during Covid and had become a booming success.
‘When you’ve been knocked down, bloodstone will pick you back up,’ she’d said, then had placed little pottery bowls of tourmaline near the front and back doors and lit a candle, carrying it through the house like a priest performing an exorcism.
‘This will flush out all the negative vibes and allow the good stuff back in,’ she’d explained as a delicious scent of sage, black tea and bergamot filled the room. In Jenny’s bedroom, she’d scattered amethyst, informing her that it would relieve stress and anxiety and promote a chill vibe for sleeping…
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