Settling

What if you had been married for forty years and had never loved your wife? What if you were bored with your family and your job but were too responsible to abandon them? What if you looked in the mirror and saw a lifetime of regret and disillusion? What if you had the chance to change it all before it was too late. What would you do? Tony Ballard took his chance...
Tony Ballard has been married for forty years. He is haunted by the knowledge that he never loved his wife and settled for a relationship less fulfilling than he truly desired. He is unwilling to walk away from his marriage, not least for the sake of his two daughters, and he runs a successful business with which he is now bored. Tony has accepted that this is how his life will remain until the end of his days. Then his wife dies suddenly. Although grieving, Tony's overriding guilty emotion is suppressed excitement that he is now free to reshape his life. He sets out to change everything about himself, determined to find love before it is too late. Tony joins an internet dating agency. His search for new love, and attempts to rejuvenate his appearance, upsets his distant relationship with his two grown-up daughters. Tony's self-absorbed behaviour also leads to other family secrets emerging, which further causes him to doubt the foundation of his adult life. Then an unexpected discovery leads Tony back to the past and the unsatisfactory nature of his marriage is reinforced by a shocking revelation. Tony attempts to resolve his relationship with his family, but is it too late? Is the emotional damage too severe? Was his wife as loyal as Tony always assumed, and will he find real love? A surprise confrontation leads to an unexpected resolution.