Fredrik Backman meets The Cactus in THE SECRETS OF
LOVE STORY BRIDGE (Park Row Books; April 28, 2020; $25.99 US/$32.50 CAN),
in which a cynical single father has a surprise encounter on the famous love
lock bridge, sparking a journey of self-discovery that may lead him to a second
chance at love.
Single father Mitchell Fisher hates all things romance. He enjoys his
job removing padlocks fastened to the famous "love lock" bridges of
Upchester city. Only his young daughter, Poppy, knows that behind his
disciplined veneer, Mitchell grieves the loss of her mother, Anita.
One fateful day, working on the
bridge, Mitchell courageously rescues a woman who falls into the river. He’s
surprised to feel a connection to her, but the woman disappears before he
learns her name. To Mitchell’s shock, a video of the rescue goes viral, hailing
him as "The Hero on the
Bridge." He’s soon notified by the mysterious woman’s sister, Liza, that
she has been missing for over a year. However, the only clue to where the woman
could have gone is the engraved padlock she left on the bridge.
Mitchell finds himself swept up in Liza’s quest to find her lost sister.
Along the way, with help from a sparkling cast of characters, Mitchell’s heart
gradually unlocks, and he discovers new beginnings can be found in the
unlikeliest places...
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The Lilac Envelope
The night before
As he did often, over the past three years, Mitchell
Fisher wrote a letter he would never send.
He sat up in bed at midnight and kicked off his sheets. Even
though all the internal doors in his apartment were open, the sticky July heat still
felt like a shroud clinging to his body. His nine-year-old daughter Poppy thrashed
restlessly in her sleep, in the bedroom opposite.
Mitchell turned on his bedside lamp, squinting against
the yellow light, and took out a pad of Basildon Bond notepaper from underneath
his bed. He always used a fountain pen to write—old-fashioned he supposed, but
he was a man who valued things that were well-constructed and long-lasting.
Mitchell tapped the pen against his bottom lip. He knew
what he wanted to say, but by the time his words of sorrow and regret traveled
from his brain to his fingertips, they were only fragments of what he longed to
express.
As he started to write, the sound of the metal nib
scratching against paper helped him block out the city street noise that hummed
below his apartment.
Dearest Anita
Another letter from me. Everything here is fine, ticking along. Poppy is
doing well. The school holidays start soon and I thought she’d be more excited.
It’s probably because you’re not here to enjoy them with us.
I’ve taken two weeks off work to spend with her, and have a full
itinerary planned for us—badminton, tennis, library visits, cooking, walking,
the park, swimming, museums, cooking, a tour of the city bridges, and more. It
will keep us busy. Keep our minds off you.
You’ll be amazed how much she’s grown, must be almost your height by
now. I tell her how proud I am of her, but it always means more coming from
you.
Mitchell paused, resting his hand against the pad of
paper. He had to tell her how he
felt.
Every time I look at our daughter, I think of you. I wish I could hold
you again, and tell you I’m truly sorry.
Yours, always
Mitchell x
He read his words, always dissatisfied with them, never
able to convey the magnitude of grief and guilt he felt. After folding the
piece of paper once, he sealed it into a crisp, cream envelope, then squeezed it
into the almost-full drawer of his nightstand, amongst all the other letters
he’d written. His eyes fell upon the slim lilac envelope he kept on top, the
one addressed to him from Anita, that he’d not yet been able to bring himself
to open.
Taking that envelope out, he held it under his nose and
inhaled. There was still a slight scent of her on the paper, he thought, of
violet soap. His finger followed the angle of the gummed flap and then stopped.
He closed his eyes and willed himself to open the letter, but his fingernails
dented crescents into the paper.
Once more, he placed it back into his drawer.
Mitchell lay down and hugged himself, imagining Anita’s
arms were wrapped around him. But, when he closed his eyes, the words from all
the letters weighed down upon him like a bulldozer. As he turned and tried to
sleep, he pulled the pillow over his head to force them away.
Excerpted from The Secrets of Love Story
Bridge by Phaedra Patrick, Copyright © 2020 by Phaedra Patrick.
Published by Park Row Books
About the Author
Photo Credit: Sam Ralph
Phaedra Patrick is the author of
The Library of Lost and Found, Rise and
Shine, Benedict Stone and The Curious
Charms of Arthur Pepper, which has been published in over twenty countries
around the world. She studied art and marketing and has worked as a
stained-glass artist, film festival organizer, and communications manager. An
award-winning short-story writer, she now writes full-time. She lives in
Saddleworth, UK, with her husband and son.
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