A Summer to Remember

by Sue Moorcroft

  ‘Oh.’ That sounded a lot like ‘boring and unexciting’ Clancy thought.

  He lifted a hand to stroke her hair, letting it drift down onto her neck. ‘You’re kind. You help other people. You don’t automatically put yourself and your feelings to the head of the queue all the time. You’re also fun, intelligent, sparky and sometimes do the unexpected.’ His hand slid down further, until it cupped her behind. ‘You’re hot. Just to see you walk across a room makes me want you. I keep drifting off from conversations because I’m thinking about you or watching the way you move.’

  Disarmed, she moved in close as his words seemed to slide over her skin and leave goose bumps. ‘How lovely.’

  But then he spoilt it. ‘I’m just worried that Alice will use you.’

  Without running her words through her inner censor, she replied, ‘In the same way your family’s using you to open the conversation with her?’

  He blinked in surprise. They moved apart and didn’t touch again as they prepared to leave then walked down Long Lane to the Roundhouse, every leaf of every tree and hedge silvered by the moonlight.

  Aaron was ultra-aware of Clancy walking quietly by his side, conscious not just of her body, as he was pretty much every time they were together, but of her welter of feelings. They almost hung like captions above her head. Unhappy. Troubled. Conflicted. Uncomfortable.

  But, also, protective. Clancy was protective of Alice. He should remember that. They’d lit a flame together but it had burned for only a night and a day and could easily flicker and die. Their exchange of views back at his cottage had made that obvious.

  They turned in at the front gate of the Roundhouse and Clancy let them both inside what was usually a spacious and airy ground floor. She halted. Aaron did too. His eyes needed time to take in what looked like an explosion of possessions in the middle of the floor, from unfastened luggage to musty-smelling tarpaulin and, bizarrely, a saxophone. The TV blared from the lounge area.

  A large man was sorting through an open bag. He looked up and said, ‘Good evening,’ and returned to his task.

  Then a flurry of movement and a woman hurried across the floor to meet them, a huge smile on her face, her arms outstretched. ‘Aaron! Oh, wow, it’s so good to see you again! We must have a complete catch-up!’

  Though Clancy’s description of Alice ought to have prepared him, he was stunned not only by the surprising warmth of this greeting, but the change in her as well. There seemed a lot of Alice’s flesh on show, her plaits swinging around her. And the tattoos … Clancy hadn’t exaggerated the extent of them.

  He had an instant to be glad she looked less like Clancy than of yore and then she was trying to envelop him in a hug. The hands he placed on her shoulders served to ensure she didn’t get too close. She whirled away, addressing the man searching through the baggage.

  ‘Hugo, come and meet my business partner, Aaron,’ she called brightly. ‘He owns Roundhouse Row with me. Aaron, this is my husband, Hugo.’

  Hugo, smoothing his beard, stepped forward to shake Aaron’s hand. ‘All right, mate?’ he said carelessly. The phrase didn’t work with his well-spoken accent and Aaron had a strong impression that he was using language he thought Aaron would understand.

  Taking an instant dislike to him, Aaron replied, ‘How do you do?’ and turned immediately to Alice. ‘We need to talk.’

  ‘Sure. Later this week,’ she suggested, abandoning him in the middle of the floor and turning to pick up the saxophone from the floor. After licking her lips, she began to play. There was a bit of elephant-blowing-its-nose noise, but she did create a tune.

  Conscious of a rising fury at her blatant attempt to dismiss him, Aaron strode over and raised his voice over the racket. ‘Now, please,’ he said.

  The saxophone gave a squawk and a squeak as Alice tried to blow harder. Even Hugo had stopped ferreting in his baggage to watch the scene unfold.

  Then suddenly Clancy was there too, laying her hand on Alice’s arm. ‘Might as well get it over with.’

  Alice cut baleful eyes Aaron’s way for a moment, then she let her bottom lip uncurl from beneath the saxophone reed and stooped to lay it once again on the floor. ‘I’m quite tired,’ she pointed out, ‘but if you’re quite sure it has to be now—’ she widened her eyes in elaborate exasperation ‘—then by all means.’ She strode to the lounge area, parked her backside on the sofa and folded her arms.

  Clancy suggested tentatively. ‘I can go upstairs—’

  ‘No, stay,’ declared Alice. ‘Make us coffee, lovely Clancy.’

  ‘Make it yourself, lovely Alice,’ Clancy replied affably, taking an armchair.

  Alice looked at her and giggled.

  Taking from this that the best way to deal with Alice was simply to be direct when necessary, Aaron took a deep breath. ‘I’m keen to avoid as much awkwardness as possible. Lee’s living locally right now with my parents and my great-aunt. You introduced me as your business partner earlier, which is true as far as it goes—’

  ‘I would have thought it one of those things that’s either true or it’s not,’ Hugo interrupted, leaving the pile of possessions behind to join them, sitting on the sofa beside Alice.

  ‘OK,’ Aaron allowed, wondering whether Hugo was ever friendly with anybody. ‘But we ended up sharing property by default, after Alice … split up from my brother.’

  ‘Split up from’ sounded less incendiary than ‘dumped’, ‘trashed’ or ‘jilted’.

  ‘Why was that?’ Hugo demanded, folding his arms. ‘What do you mean by “default”?’

  Aaron paused, glancing at Alice. ‘You’re happy to discuss this in front of Hugo and Clancy?’ Obviously, she was, because she’d had enough opportunity to make it otherwise, but Hugo’s manner was so abrasive that he found himself wanting to annoy him by questioning his presence.

  Alice shrugged.

  He turned back to Hugo. ‘When Alice left my brother at the altar of Thornham church, he was distraught. He needed to get away from the village. I bought him out at Roundhouse Row so that he could buy a house elsewhere.’

  Hugo frowned down at Alice. ‘Is that right?’

  She traced the shape of a shooting star tattooed on her hand. ‘Bit dramatised, but yes.’

  From the corner of his eye, Aaron caught Clancy’s eyebrows lifting. ‘How long have you two been married?’ she asked Alice.

  ‘Three months,’ answered Hugo.

  ‘Four months,’ said Alice at the same time.

  Hugo looked slightly surprised, thought for a moment and said, ‘Yes, four. Middle of April.’

  It wasn’t long, but Aaron was pretty sure Alice could have found time before she brought Hugo to Nelson’s Bar to explain her history there. He gritted his teeth and ploughed on. ‘Roundhouse Row has provided us both with income. Are you intending to request changes?’

  Alice regarded him from under her brows. ‘I don’t feel a need to get involved, if that’s what you mean. It’s worked perfectly well for the last few years. I’m happy.’

  Aaron just bet she was happy with letting other people do all the work. He couldn’t resist pointing out, ‘But the caretaker has always had the Roundhouse in lieu of a proper wage.’

  She frowned at Clancy, picking at the sofa more rapidly. ‘Isn’t that what you’re doing? Caretaker?’

  Clancy nodded.

  Alice frowned at Aaron then, obviously not getting his point. ‘Then that’s OK! Clancy’s my cousin.’

  He clarified. ‘The agreement wasn’t for you and your husband to live here too.’

  Alice giggled this time, obviously feeling he wasn’t getting the point. ‘But Clancy is my cousin.’

  Aaron wanted to ask how that was relevant but as Clancy didn’t, and didn’t look at him to allow him to glean clues from her expression, he set that aside for now. ‘I’ll be straight with you, Alice. Your being here has the potential to upset my brother. I’d like to think that you’ll consider his feelings, and those of my parents.’
r />   At that, Hugo got up, rolling his eyes, and took himself off up the stairs without a word.

  ‘Of course.’ Alice gave one of her over-elaborate shrugs as if she hadn’t noticed Hugo’s departure. ‘It was all a long time ago. I’m sure Lee has moved on from all that …’ She waved a hand in the air in lieu of finishing the sentence.

  Aaron felt it better not to comment. His brother’s mental health wasn’t something he wanted to discuss with the woman who’d prompted the problems. Who knew? She might get a power kick out of it. He got up, feeling ruffled and dissatisfied at Alice’s I-don’t-get-what’s-bugging-you manner. Clancy turned to watch him but her expression was remote and she made no move to see him to the door. He had no idea what she was thinking or what she wanted, so he said goodnight.

  He wished heartily that Princess Awful Alice had remained safely wherever she’d been instead of turning up to spoil everything.

  But once he was in the porch and about to open the outer door he heard footsteps behind him. When he turned, though, he found himself in the company of the wrong cousin. Alice was there, playing with a plait and regarding him with caution. ‘Erm,’ she began hesitantly. ‘How is Lee?’

  ‘OK.’

  She twirled the plait faster. ‘Is he married and everything? Having a lovely life?’

  The nervous titter that followed grated on Aaron’s nerves but he decided to share minimal facts with her. She was bound to bump into Lee. Nelson’s Bar was tiny. ‘He moved away, was in a relationship and had a daughter. Now he’s a single dad and he’s moved back.’

  ‘Oh.’ She looked thoughtful as she turned and went back inside.

  As he marched back up Long Lane, Aaron wished he could have told her that Lee had found the love of his life and would probably say hello for old times’ sake at some point, but he was very busy with the happy business of living.

  Her presence was like a snake in the village grass.

  He reached home in a few minutes, so deep in thought that when he rounded his building and a shadowy figure on the garden bench moved, he nearly jumped out of his skin. Then Lee’s voice said, ‘Evening.’

  Aaron took refuge in brotherly ribbing. ‘What are you doing littering my garden?’ He sat down, having a fair idea of what was coming.

  ‘Have you seen her?’ Lee asked.

  Aaron joked no longer. ‘Alice? Yes, just came from there.’

  ‘And?’ Lee kept his gaze on where the sea could be heard but not seen.

  Heart aching for his little bro, Aaron answered as fully and honestly as he could, softening his voice when he mentioned Alice’s husband and feeling Lee’s recoil. He described her traveller-chick image and the lack of apparent change to her personality. ‘She asked about you,’ he concluded, because Lee had the right to know.

  Slowly, Lee nodded. ‘Thanks.’ He clasped Aaron’s shoulder and left without giving any indication of how the news bulletin had been received.

  Aaron sat on for a long time, hoping Alice Nettles – or whatever her name was now – would clear off ASAP.

  Chapter Twenty

  By ten on Monday morning, Clancy could not wait to exit the Roundhouse. The less than forty-eight hours she’d shared the place with Alice and Hugo felt like a month. Hugo, however, stopped her on her way out. He’d put a little plait in his beard this morning, evidently determined to look anything but mainstream. Clancy was surprised he hadn’t painted daisies and rainbows on the motorhome.

  ‘May I see the accounts of Roundhouse Row? Alice said it’s OK,’ he mumbled so quietly that Clancy was pretty sure Alice had said no such thing. Accounts went to Alice via her solicitor so if she wanted Hugo to read them, she could show him herself.

  Clancy dodged the bullet by replying, ‘Aaron has them, I’m afraid.’ Clancy had them too, but Hugo didn’t need to know that. She paused, unease suddenly making her stomach feel hollow in case Alice, despite showing no inclination so far, at some time decided to take over the Roundhouse Row reins. If she did, there would be nothing to keep Clancy in Nelson’s Bar.

  Except Aaron … And who knew where things were going with him? One fantastic night together and then all the things that had stood between them in the past had returned with a vengeance. Or Alice had, which was the same thing.

  ‘But—’ began Hugo, frowning blackly.

  The front door knocker clattered and Clancy was pleased to have an excuse to interrupt him. ‘I’d better see who that is.’ She made a beeline for the front door before Hugo had a chance to complete his sentence. There she found Genevieve, a square white box in her hands.

  ‘Oh,’ they said in unison.

  Genevieve recovered herself first. ‘Sorry to bother you,’ she said stiffly, ‘I’d like to see Alice, please. I’ve made her a cake to welcome her back to the village.’

  Clancy debated whether it was worth seizing the opportunity to try and sweeten things between her and Genevieve but, as if reading her mind, Genevieve dashed the hope. ‘Look, I don’t want to be awkward but I really would appreciate it if you’d get your cousin.’

  ‘Come in.’ Clancy led Genevieve indoors, where Alice and Hugo’s possessions still cluttered the floor. ‘This is Hugo, Alice’s husband. Hugo, Genevieve’s come to see Alice. They knew each other when Alice lived here before.’ Then she made good her escape to do the gardens of the holiday cottages, taking tools with her from the Roundhouse shed.

  There was little breeze for once and though the sky was overcast, she was soon sweating as she trimmed shrubs, tamed climbers and mowed lawns. With no inclination to return to the Roundhouse, she worked right through lunch, swatting away bugs as her mind circled dismally over the past couple of days. If Alice didn’t take over the reins then Clancy could be stuck sharing with her and Hugo indefinitely.

  Hugo respected no boundaries. He took what he wanted from Clancy’s groceries, he hogged the TV remote and his personal habits were less than fastidious.

  Presently, she heard voices and laughter from the garden of the Roundhouse and rap music began to blare.

  With a sigh, she moved into the front garden of number four, where she was soon approached by Dilys hurrying along in orange floral flip-flops.

  ‘What’s all that blimmin’ racket?’ the older woman enquired irritably. ‘And whose is that blimmin’ big camper, clogging up the lane? Have you moved a rock festival to the village?’

  Clancy continued doing battle with a rambling rose that seemed to let her close in on it with the sole aim of scratching her arms and depositing earwigs in her hair. ‘Alice is back,’ she muttered, snipping grimly, and went on to explain about Hugo. She thought she was doing a pretty good job of keeping her voice neutral but then Dilys put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

  ‘You poor girl,’ she said sympathetically. ‘There’s a chocolate cake in my fridge. Why don’t we go inside where it’s cool and you can help me eat it.’

  ‘That sounds wonderful!’ Clancy abandoned the rose bush and dumped her secateurs with the rest of the tools.

  Before long she was seated at Dilys’s tile-topped table eating moist chocolate cake with a teaspoon and drinking a large glass of orange squash. Dilys disposed of her slice of cake by picking it up and munching it. She frowned. ‘To look on the bright side, I suppose it’s lovely for you to see Alice again.’

  ‘Mm,’ Clancy said through a mouthful of cake, feeling sheepish that in the shock and surprise of Alice turning up and moving her husband and a muddle of possessions into what Clancy had come to see as her space, she’d failed to entirely appreciate the return of her cousin. Her conscience gave a twinge as she remembered the years they’d been close and that Alice was entitled to marry whom she chose. Clancy ought to be making more effort.

  Still, it was peaceful in Dilys’s house, so she lingered to help pick apart a mess of embroidery silks that had tangled themselves in Dilys’s work basket, then allowed herself to be persuaded into another slice of cake with a cup of tea. Finally, she said, ‘I’d better get those gardeni
ng tools put away and go back I suppose.’

  Dilys gave her a big hug. ‘Don’t worry, pet. Things will work out.’

  By the time Clancy arrived back at the Roundhouse she’d given herself a talking-to. All she had to do, she decided, was to ask if they could put a few boundaries in place to enable everyone to live comfortably together. Boundaries about possessions and tidiness would be a great starting point. She let herself in through the back door.

  And found the mound of possessions larger than ever.

  It looked as if Alice and Hugo had brought in the entire interior of the motorhome. Large flat cushions teetered in piles, pans cluttered up the sink and the whole place smelt musty and sour.

  Hugo was lying on the sofa, staring at the TV. He lifted his head slightly to gaze at her as she came to a sudden stop at seeing Possession Mountain. ‘I’m afraid we’ve run out of wine,’ he said. If his tone had been apologetic, Clancy might have summoned up a smile and a light remark. Instead, he sounded accusatory, as if this were a hotel and he was about to review it on Trip Advisor.

  She did just about manage to count to ten while she crossed the room to seat herself in the armchair where he could see her from his supine position. ‘I’m going to have to ask you not to take my food and drink,’ she said politely. ‘Alice knows where the supermarkets are. You’ll have to buy your own wine. Also,’ she ploughed on, trying not to give him time to object, ‘I’m hoping we can sort out some boundaries about tidiness. Your things are everywhere. If we try and be fair to one another—’

  ‘It’s Alice’s house.’ Hugo treated her to a big fake smile.

  ‘Half hers,’ said Clancy, after a shocked moment. ‘I know, because I’ve been looking after her half for years. But not one bit yours.’

  ‘Have you heard the marriage service lately? That sharing of worldly goods thing? What’s hers is mine.’ He rolled his eyes and turned back to the TV.

  In furious silence Clancy marched up to her room in the loft, gathered up clean clothes and went down to find a bathroom on the middle floor. One bathroom door was shut and judging from the noise of a running shower emanating from it, Alice was inside.