The Tender Heart: The Purple Chair, #6

By Bronnie Ware

Gwen is known as someone who listens well and solves problems. Clients pay for her counsel as they sit in the purple chair and untangle their emotions and stories. Word of mouth keeps people coming to her door.

 

But who listens to Gwen? Who helps solve her own problems?

 

As she supports clients to heal, her own life swirls in pain. She is sliding further down. Will she ever learn to take her own advice and who will catch her if she doesn't?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bronnie Ware
• Release date: Mar 11, 2024
• ISBN: 9780645935189

Book preview

Achill in the air hinted at autumn’s return. Summer held on, but the subtle shift brought ease. It had been a scorching season, with roads shimmering in the constant heat and folks staying indoors through the midday hours. Gwen had escaped much of it in her air-conditioned clinic. In autumn, she could turn that off and let fresh air flow through.

She looked around her room. The touches of colour and the plants had transformed it into a safe haven for so many. The purple chair with its high back and smooth velvet was a well-loved feature, but the flavour of the room was based more on subtleties than the obvious.

Plants sat in quirky pots against the sunniest wall and under the window. A print of flowers adorned another wall and a chandelier hung from the ceiling. The tiny spider who had dwelled there had moved on. Gwen wondered if it would return in another season, perhaps for the warmth of the room in winter when wood burned every day in the old blue-tiled fireplace. Her clinic room almost felt like home. She had occasionally wondered if that was why her clients were so comfortable sharing as openly as they did.

A candle burned most of the day, its scent filling the room. Lemongrass seemed a favourite for most. Gwen’s own choice would have been frangipani or jasmine – their sweet flowery aromas lifted her mood every time – but the setting wasn’t about her. The people who sat in the purple chair and trusted her at their most vulnerable were the priority. Many had commented on the lemongrass scent when it wafted through the room. She unpacked two dozen new candles into the vintage cabinet.

As she sat in silence in the purple chair, looking around her workspace, an unexpected decision arrived: it was time to cut down on her working hours. Gwen already took Tuesday afternoons and every weekend off, but a yearning from nowhere insisted on more. The waiting list for her services as a listener was constant. Despite there being other counsellors and psychologists in the area, Gwen’s list was always full. Yet the call to work less was undeniable. People would wait, or go elsewhere.

The soft tones of afternoon sunlight announced the drawing in of the day.