‘I think Blake might still move out given half the chance, but he doesn’t because it would break Mum’s heart.’
‘So that’s why you stayed too? For your mum?’
‘Partly. But I love it here. Yes, it’s quiet and there’s not much to do and there’s a big world out there to see. Maybe one day I will go and take a look, but right now I’m happy where I am.’
‘Is that why you’re so knowledgeable about the history of Honeymoon?’
Aidan lifted the cup to his lips with a smile. ‘It’s just stories; mostly my granddad’s. Blake was never interested but I liked listening. It made me feel closer to my granddad, I suppose. When he died they became like heirlooms, these little treasures he’d left me.’
‘I never thought of a story that way,’ Emma said. ‘Are they actually true or just stories?’
‘I think there’s a nugget of truth in most of them – no idea quite how big the nugget is though.’
‘Maybe they’re more fun that way.’
‘Maybe.’ He looked across the clearing. ‘How much of this land belongs to you?’
‘Up to that line of shrubs that way’ – Emma pointed north – ‘and out to that ridge that way’ – she pointed south – ‘to the track there and the old car park that way.’
‘What are you going to do with it?’
‘Don’t know yet. Gardens, probably. Maybe even a pool… Who knows?’
‘You’ll have to fence that apple tree off.’
Emma blinked and scanned the grounds. ‘Apple tree?’
‘Granted, it’s hard to spot because there are no apples on it now but there will be in a few months. Blake and me used to come and pick them all the time.’
‘Nice memories… I can see why you’d want it to stay.’
He nodded. ‘That, and it’s a very important tree.’
‘Is it?’ she asked doubtfully. ‘Oh… is this where you tell me someone died there? Did a freakishly large apple fall on their head and kill them?’
He laughed. ‘No. It’s King Edward’s tree.’
‘King Edward’s tree?’ she repeated slowly. ‘Surely you’re not going to tell me he lived here?’
‘Nope. But one day he came through on a train, finished the apple he was eating and threw the core out of the window. It grew into that tree right where it landed. So that makes it King Edward’s tree.’
Emma burst out laughing. ‘Is that one of your granddad’s stories?’
‘Nah, that one’s Nell’s at the shop.’
‘If there’s a nugget of truth there it must be microscopic!’
‘Yeah, but you like the idea, right? Your guests will too.’
Emma was thoughtful for a moment, the smile still fixed to her lips.
‘You know what?’ she said finally. ‘You might just be onto something there.’
Chapter Sixteen
Emma’s lunch had been demolished, and Tia’s had too. They allowed a few minutes more for Tia and Blake to return, but when there was no sign of them Aidan was forced to phone his brother. There was no reply. Emma tried Tia and got no reply there either. Neither Emma nor Aidan were unduly worried, and while she didn’t say it, Emma imagined them pulled up in a remote spot doing goodness only knew what. Though she wanted to credit Tia with a little more maturity than that – they were supposed to be working today after all.
When they’d waited as long as seemed reasonable, they picked up their tools again, having decided it was pointless to waste any more of the day, and were digging out a rotten floor together when Tia and Blake finally returned. They were completely oblivious to Emma’s annoyed frown.
‘What happened?’ she demanded. ‘We were beginning to worry.’
‘We ran into some trouble at the shop,’ Tia said.
‘I thought you were going to the café?’
Tia stared at her. ‘Alright, calm down. We went to the shop as well to get some gum.’
‘I got you some too.’ Blake threw a packet of gum to Aidan, who caught it neatly and shoved it into his trouser pocket.
‘So what happened?’ he asked.
Tia rolled her eyes. ‘Sid!’
‘He decided to give Tia a piece of his mind,’ Blake said.
‘Oh God! He’s still upset about the hotel?’ Emma asked, dreading the obvious reply. If they couldn’t get the village onside, their idyllic vision of life here might quickly crumble. Sid could cause a lot of damage if his objections got any purchase.
Tia nodded shortly. ‘You could say that. Anyway, Nell told him off. She threatened to bar him from the shop. Then things got heated between them and when he finally went—’
‘With a bit of persuasion,’ Blake cut in darkly.
‘Yes,’ Tia continued, ‘Nell was so upset she had a funny turn.’
‘Angina,’ Blake said. ‘We had to find her tablets and sit with her until she was alright again.’
‘I served in the shop while she had a rest,’ Tia said brightly. ‘I can do shop work now!’
Emma gave a tight smile.
‘She’s alright now?’ Aidan asked.
‘I think so,’ Blake said. ‘Darcie and Tariq said they’d look in on her through the afternoon to make sure she doesn’t have another turn. We can call in on the way home tonight and check on her as well.’
Aidan nodded agreement.
‘What about Sid?’ Emma looked from one to the other. While it was comforting to see that they didn’t seem too concerned about what had happened, the notion of him out there causing mischief still troubled her.
Blake rolled up his shirt sleeves. ‘Probably went home.’
‘He’s going to be a problem, isn’t he?’
‘Nah…’ Blake grinned. ‘He’s all bark and no bite. Nobody listens to him anyway; he’s complained so often about so much that it’s all just noise when he opens his mouth now.’
Emma tried to let that reassure her but was still finding it hard to settle. She did, however, feel guilty for thinking the worst of her friend. There was so much riding on this project personally that it was hard to remember sometimes that this was Tia’s dream too. It meant as much to her as it did to Emma; she just had a different attitude to the life she lived around it.
‘OK,’ Tia said, ‘now we’ve sorted all that, someone pass me a pick and I’ll get stuck into that floor with you.’
Blake laughed. ‘Oh God, when you talk like that it does things to me.’
She winked. ‘That’s the idea!’
Aidan looked across and grinned at Emma. Tia and Blake’s incessant flirting was something they were just going to have to get used to.
The rest of the afternoon passed without incident and everyone worked harder to make up for the time they’d missed. As they packed up, Emma felt much happier to see that they’d made progress and the floor they’d been trying to remove was almost ready for new concrete to be poured in. These were the sorts of necessary jobs that would be invisible once the hotel was finished and yet would probably take up most of their time and money. Making it pretty at the end, Aidan had said, would be a snap in comparison.
Tia and Blake had spent the afternoon throwing innuendos around and so it came as no surprise to hear that they’d arranged to go to the pub together again that night. Emma smiled and assured Tia that it was OK. She was hardly going to say otherwise, but she couldn’t help being a little disappointed that she was being abandoned again when she’d been hoping for a night in with her friend. She felt they had a lot to discuss, as always, and even if they hadn’t she would have enjoyed the company.
Tia and Blake met up the next night too, and the one after that. By the end of the week they’d been out together every night, mostly in the pub. Emma honestly didn’t know how Tia found the energy after a day on site because she was always exhausted. Aidan had hinted to Emma that they should go too, but it felt worryingly like a date and so she’d politely declined. She’d fretted that she might have offended him, but he hadn’t seemed bothered at all, and, of co
urse, as soon as she realised that, she’d wished he would be bothered and that she’d said yes.
Instead, she’d taken walks out to explore, or visited Nell in the shop, or Darcie and Tariq, always getting back in time for a decent night’s sleep.
Apart from the previous night. She hadn’t had a decent sleep that night at all, having been woken at midnight by the sounds of enthusiastic sex. Tia and Blake had clearly taken things to the next level, and all Emma could do was hold a pillow over her ears and hope they wouldn’t take too long.
Tonight, Emma had managed to catch Elise on the phone, who also seemed to be busier than ever and was increasingly difficult to get hold of.
‘It sounds as if she’s embracing her new freedom,’ Elise said.
‘Oh she’s doing that alright.’ Emma tucked her legs beneath her as she curled up on the sofa, phone to her ear.
‘Maybe you should just fight fire with fire. Get your own man and be louder than them.’
‘Jeez!’ Emma said, unable to prevent her laughter. ‘Any louder and you’d be able to hear from there.’
Elise giggled. ‘It does sound like a flatmate I had in the first year at uni. She was a total nightmare.’
‘You never mentioned her before.’
‘I was too embarrassed to tell you. It embarrassed me just to hear her. She sounded like a wounded cat.’
Emma snorted with new laughter. ‘Sounds delightful. So I’m getting the full student experience now?’
‘You are,’ Elise said. ‘Enjoy.’
‘Great.’ Emma smiled. But then she was serious. ‘Do you think I’m overreacting?’
‘To the sex or the actual relationship?’
‘I don’t begrudge her the sex one bit… not even the relationship. I just wish she’d take this huge leap we’ve made a bit more seriously.’
‘It sounds like she is. Sounds like she’s jumped right into her new life to me. Are you sure this is not more about feeling abandoned? You’ve just got there and already she’s doing her own thing so you’re left alone to work out what you’re supposed to do?’
‘Maybe,’ Emma said slowly. ‘I hadn’t really thought about it like that.’
‘Couldn’t you go to the pub with her?’
‘Of course I could, but I’d feel like a bit of a gooseberry. I mean, they’d be smooching and I’d be sitting there trying not to watch.’
‘I’m sure they’d tone it down for you.’
‘You haven’t seen them together – they can barely tone it down when they’re working.’
‘Didn’t you say his brother had offered to go with you? Couldn’t you go with him? And there would be other people at the pub – couldn’t you just talk to them? And you’re really telling me they’re so loved-up that they couldn’t keep their hands off each other long enough to share at least one drink with you?’
‘They might, but I’d know that they were thinking about having their hands on each other and wishing I’d bog off.’
‘I’m sure they’d have more self-control than that.’
‘I’d still feel as if they didn’t want me there. The pub just feels like her space now, not mine. Like the place she goes to that I don’t belong in.’
‘Well maybe that’s on you and not her.’
‘Probably. Listen, could you just stop making so much sense for a minute? I’m the older sister and I’m feeling a lot like a silly kid right now.’
‘I don’t think you’re silly. Perhaps you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed and oversensitive right now and it’s totally normal. Everything is still very new there and you’re bound to feel unsettled by things that wouldn’t usually bother you.’
‘Is that how you’ve been in Iceland?’
‘It’s not the same, Em. I’ve got a whole team here to lean on. I’ve got so much support it’s like I can’t even sneeze without someone racing over with a hanky.’
Emma moved to get comfortable as one of her legs started to go to sleep. ‘I’m glad to hear that – it’s one less thing for me to worry about.’
‘You wouldn’t have needed to worry anyway. You’ve done your years of worrying about me – time to think of yourself now.’
‘Easier said than done.’ She stretched her legs out and wriggled her bare toes.
There was a knock at the door and she got up to look through the window. Tariq was outside.
‘Can I call you back?’ she asked Elise.
‘I’m heading into town for a drink shortly so maybe I can phone you tomorrow.’
‘OK. Have fun.’
‘Love you, Em.’
‘Love you too. Bye.’
Emma ended the call and rushed to open the door.
‘I’m not disturbing you, am I?’ Tariq asked.
‘No, not at all. Would you like to come in?’
‘I won’t stay if that’s alright… accounts to do. I just came to give you this…’
He held out a plate covered in tinfoil. ‘Some leftover cake,’ he said. ‘We’d normally throw it away but Darcie remembered how much you’d liked the coffee and walnut and wondered if you might like what’s left of this.’
‘That’s so kind.’ Emma took the plate. ‘I’ll have no trouble finishing this off at all. Do you want some payment—’
‘Oh no. We’d only be throwing it away so it’s good that it hasn’t gone to waste.’
‘How is Darcie?’
‘Tired,’ he said. ‘She’d have come herself but I was on my way out anyway.’
‘You do long days at the café.’
‘Yes, but we wouldn’t swap it for the world. You’ll know all about that once you get the hotel open.’
‘I suppose we will, if we ever get there.’
‘With Blake and Aidan on the job? They won’t let you down; they’re good guys. Did a lot to help us when we first moved here.’
‘Yes, they’re great,’ Emma said neutrally.
Tariq paused. ‘Are Tia and Blake…?’
‘An item?’ Emma raised her eyebrows. ‘I think that’s pretty obvious to anyone.’
‘Hmm. We did wonder but didn’t like to ask.’ He smiled. ‘It doesn’t take him long.’
‘Do you think it will last?’
‘No idea.’
‘You talk to them a lot?’
‘Aidan mostly. He calls every now and again for a chat. Blake’s always in a rush to get to the pub.’
‘Don’t you fancy going to the pub with him?’
‘I don’t drink so there doesn’t seem much point. What about you? Aidan told me he’d asked you but you didn’t fancy it.’
‘I’m always so tired after a day on the site,’ she said. ‘I’d be terrible company and asleep in my beer by nine.’
‘Perhaps you could go at the weekend then.’
‘I expect I’ll be on site at the weekend too. Whatever it takes.’
‘Oh yes, we know all about that. Seven-day working weeks were a regular thing when we started out too.’
‘You’re still open seven days,’ Emma said with a smile.
‘True, but we manage to give each other bits of time off now we’ve got into our stride. Darcie’s even talked about getting help when the hotel is open… We’re sort of counting on your business bringing us a bit more business too.’
Emma laughed. ‘Wow, I needed that extra pressure.’
Tariq grinned. ‘Sorry. I’ll let you get on with your evening. Enjoy the cake.’
‘I will – thank you!’
He gave a casual wave as he made his way back along the high street. Emma closed the front door then peeled the foil back from the plate to see that Darcie had sent what looked like all the cake they’d had left, not just the coffee and walnut. There was Victoria sponge, lemon drizzle, chocolate, coconut… she’d never eat it all before it went stale. Even if Tia had been home to help they wouldn’t have finished it.
A sudden idea occurred to her, and before she’d had time to decide if it was a good one or not, she’d fetched her phone and d
ialled the number.
‘Hey… sorry to call you now and this is going to sound weird but I just wondered… are you planning to go out tonight?’
‘Emma?’ Aidan sounded bemused. ‘Not really. Is everything alright?’
‘Oh yes, it’s nothing important. It’s just… do you fancy some cake?’
Chapter Seventeen
‘You know this cottage used to belong to the stationmaster of Honeymoon Station?’
‘Did it? I thought it belonged to June’s mother.’
‘June’s mum was married to Nell’s granddad, who was the stationmaster. Second marriage – June’s mum’s first husband died of tuberculosis.’
‘That’s…’ Emma shook her head. ‘Too complicated for me to work out.’
‘Most family trees around here are connected somehow. It’s a wonder we haven’t all got six fingers.’
Emma didn’t know whether she was supposed to laugh or not, but then Aidan did and she relaxed.
‘Did you also know he was one of the first people to climb Mount Everest?’
‘I thought that was that famous guy… what’s his name…?’
‘I said he was one of the first, not the first.’
Emma narrowed her eyes.
He held his hands up. ‘Honest, ask June!’
Emma laughed. ‘Do you look at anything and not have a story to tell about it?’
He made a point of examining the kitchen carefully until his gaze settled on the plate sitting on the table between them. ‘This cake.’
‘Ah, well I can tell you the story of this cake. Darcie’s leftovers – end of story.’
‘There’s another thing I don’t have a story for.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Actually, a person. You.’
Emma flushed, her gaze going to the depths of her teacup. ‘That’s because there is no story worth hearing. I mean, look how boring I am. Tia is out at the pub and I’ve got you here eating leftover cake and drinking tea like an old lady.’
‘Well I came here willingly for tea and cake. I guess that makes me boring too.’
‘No way. You’re not a bit boring. Tell me your story; it’ll be more interesting than mine.’
The Hotel at Honeymoon Station : A totally heartwarming romance about new beginnings Page 17