Genevieve came up to congratulate Clancy too, and he saw Clancy’s green eyes cloud, though she murmured polite thanks. Then Genevieve hugged each of his parents, which he suspected was an effort to discomfit Clancy. Look how friendly I am with Aaron’s parents. We have real history. Yvonne flicked him an uneasy glance, though Fergus, who was so laid back he was almost horizontal sometimes, simply appeared to take the gesture at face value and began to ask Genevieve about the work at her cottage.
Aaron had actually put an arm out to see if he could casually usher Clancy away from the group when he heard Genevieve say, ‘So what do you think about Lee and Alice? I suppose you’d have preferred her to be separated from Hugo first, but it would be amazing if he finally got his happy-ever-after with her, wouldn’t it?’ She beamed around the group as if expecting answering smiles.
Yvonne’s eyebrows shot up, her lips parting in shock. Even Fergus looked stunned.
Genevieve’s smile faltered and her hand flew to her mouth. ‘I hope I haven’t spoken out of turn,’ she said, looking mortified. ‘I thought that as Clancy knew … Wow, I’m so sorry!’ Then she turned and scurried away. As she stepped through the French doors she glanced back, then vanished in the wake of everyone else leaving the meeting.
Beside him, he heard Clancy sigh. When he turned back to her she was pink with embarrassment. She met his gaze levelly and then glanced at his parents. ‘I’m sorry. Genevieve has given you the wrong impression. I did see Alice and Lee talking together in the lane a couple of evenings ago and Alice must have told that to Genevieve. I don’t know what they were saying and they weren’t in a clinch or anything. Alice later told me they’d only been talking. I didn’t ask any more because being stuck in the middle of everything again was exactly what I didn’t want.’
‘But Genevieve seems to think something’s going on,’ Yvonne said sharply, a furrow between her eyebrows.
Clancy didn’t drop her gaze. ‘Does she?’
Yvonne’s frown deepened. ‘Didn’t she just say so?’
‘Not sure,’ Fergus contributed doubtfully. ‘Is that what she said? Or did she just hint?’
‘Well … I don’t know.’ Yvonne looked confused. ‘It sounded as if they were doing a lot more than talking. Not that I knew they’d even exchanged a word since Alice came back!’ she added with asperity.
Aaron watched Clancy. Her gaze switched between his parents as they talked. What she didn’t do, he noticed, was meet his eye.
‘You know,’ he said, suddenly seeing no reason not to acknowledge a frailty in his old girlfriend. ‘Genevieve can put a spin on facts when she feels like it.’ It at least made Clancy look at him. Her expression was … contemplative. But cautious.
He took her hand and bid his parents goodnight, dropping a kiss on his mother’s cheek.
Outside the light was fading. Aaron strolled across the village, still in possession of Clancy’s hand, aiming towards his place. He felt her hesitate as they hit Droody Road, as if she might decide to peel off for the Roundhouse, but then she continued with him.
Soon they were in his kitchen. He left the door open so Nelson could have a good sniff around the garden. The moths could fly in but the conversation he meant to have with Clancy wouldn’t be interrupted by Nelson scratching to come in again.
Her expression was shuttered but she was the one to speak first. ‘Alice said they’d only talked but Lee didn’t want his family to know. I said it wasn’t fair to ask me to keep a secret from you and I ended the discussion.’
‘When did you see them?’ he asked, noticing the way her beautiful mouth had turned down at the corners. She was not enjoying this.
‘Sunday night.’ She tangled her fingers with his, her gaze steady. ‘Alice was adamant that nothing had happened. She’s my cousin.’
‘But I’m your lover,’ he reminded her neutrally.
She nodded. ‘A lover who takes his brother’s part whenever Lee and Alice are discussed.’ She moved in closer so that he had to combat the urge to slip his arms around her. Her gaze was both apprehensive and mutinous. ‘Do they really have to stand between us all the time? They’re adults. If they get back together there’s nothing you or your parents can do about it. If Alice decides to end her joke of a marriage it’s her decision.’
He squeezed her fingers, wishing heartily that Genevieve had kept her mouth shut. ‘I was here to see Lee crumble when Alice left before – left him in the cruellest of ways – and I worry about his sanity; what will happen next time they break up. I can’t pretend it’s not a concern.’
Nelson ambled in, bringing the fresh scent of outdoors with him, and put his head between Aaron and Clancy to gaze up, ears back, and give a big doggy smile. Absently, Clancy tousled his ears. ‘I’ve never made it clear to Alice how badly Lee was affected by her leaving. I don’t know whether he’d want her to know. It would be interesting to know what, if anything, he’s told her himself, wouldn’t it? I think I’ll go back to the Roundhouse tonight. I need to get my head round things.’
Reflexively, Aaron tightened his fingers around hers. ‘Don’t go home—’
Her smile was strained. ‘I don’t have a home.’ She went up on her toes to give him a peck goodnight but turned away before he could catch her to him and kiss her properly. She slipped out into the evening, leaving him nursing a hollow feeling as he examined her final words.
I don’t have a home.
The Roundhouse probably didn’t feel like home now Alice had restaked her claim, installing Hugo to act as if he owned the place. Clancy’s portion of the home she’d shared with Will was being transferred into the ownership of his new wife and soon Will’s baby would live there too. The first eighteen years of her life had been spent transferring from country to country as her parents’ careers dictated. They’d flown home from Oman in time for her to be born in a hospital in London, she’d told him once, then they’d returned as soon as an airline would have her on board.
It was a far cry from being born and brought up in one small village. That was home. It always had been.
He thought about going after her, but then decided to respect her decision to be alone. And, since that initial meeting with Alice, he hadn’t felt much like visiting the Roundhouse or Roundhouse Row. Maybe he ought to change that; establish his right to be there. He could offer to help Clancy again on changeover day. It hadn’t seemed like work to breeze through the cottages in her company, watching the way her shorts clung to her rear as she hoovered and polished and changed sheets.
Meantime, he’d had a hard day in the sun after expending a lot of energy in bed with Clancy. He’d give Nelson a run because Aaron feeling knackered was not the dog’s fault, and then he’d go to bed.
As he was reaching for the door keys the phone on the kitchen wall began to ring, but he waited for it to go to the answering machine because he could think of several people he didn’t want to talk to right now. Then he heard Lee’s voice come down the line. ‘Oh, shit, aren’t you there?’
Instantly, he reached over and picked up. ‘Yeah, hi, what’s up?’ He didn’t have to be told something was up because Lee’s emotions were usually on show – in his body language or, in this case, his voice.
Lee groaned. ‘I’m going to ask you a huge favour. I know you’re not going to want to say yes but I’m asking you not to say no. It’ll only be temporary.’
Aaron’s heart began a slow descent towards the canvas shoes on his feet. ‘Go on.’
‘Can Daisy and I come and live with you until I can find somewhere else?’ Lee asked miserably.
Aaron sighed. ‘I don’t think I have to ask why.’
‘Yeah. Mum heard something about Alice and me and came home to give me a good telling off. Thirty-four is too old to be under the parental microscope and I told her to butt out. I’m mega-aware that you’re not keen on sharing your house but I promise it’s only until I can either find a rental or I get a completion date on my old place and buy somewhere else. Maybe in Hunsta
nton,’ he added, ‘because Daisy will go to school there and I’ve never been that thrilled about the village kids going on a minibus.’
Aaron could do little but agree to his brother’s request. That strained note was in Lee’s voice again and if Lee lost his shit, the consequences could be major. ‘But you need to tell Mum and Dad.’
‘Already discussed.’ Lee’s voice hardened. ‘Mum’s agreed to continue to look after Daisy while I’m at work in the short term, maybe until I get a childminder sorted out in my new place. We’ll be civil to each other and everything but I just can’t live here any more. I’ve already spoken to the guy I’m supposed to be working with to say I’ll be missing tomorrow while I move our stuff over – if that’s OK – and make sure Daisy feels as settled as she can be. She’s asleep now, or I’d come straight away.’
‘Right.’ Aaron made sure he didn’t sigh. ‘There’s always a key to my place hanging in Mum and Dad’s kitchen so just come and take over the two spare rooms. I’ll be working till late afternoon tomorrow but you know where everything is. Make yourself at home and maybe we can talk in the evening.’
‘Thanks, mate.’ Lee sounded relieved but not noticeably happier. He hesitated. ‘Will it kind of … make things awkward between you and Clancy?’
Biting back the impulse to say, ‘You and Alice are always making things awkward between us,’ he said instead, ‘That’s one of the many subjects I suppose we’re going to have to discuss. Don’t worry. We’ll work it out.’
When the call was over, he clicked his tongue to Nelson and stepped outside, feeling exhausted yet a long way from sleep. He was sorry for Lee, who was not resilient, but he was sorry for their mum too. She loved her kids, but she’d obviously gone in too hard with Lee and alienated him in the process. She saw Alice as wrong for Lee – Aaron didn’t disagree with her – and a married woman. Going into protective mode must have caused her to fail to treat Lee like an adult.
As the wind blew through his hair, Aaron watched the clouds moving across the moon and acknowledged that he’d sometimes fallen into the same trap himself.
He, like his mum, had to learn to let Lee live his own life, mistakes and all.
Chapter Twenty-Three
‘Alice has what?’ It was Wednesday morning and Clancy was staring across the lounge area of the Roundhouse at Hugo in horror. ‘But I was only talking to her a few hours ago!’
‘Talking’ was one way of describing the way Clancy had flown at Alice about what she’d shared with Genevieve.
‘She’s left me!’ Hugo repeated, white and visibly shaken. ‘While you were out chatting with one of your precious holidaymakers we had a few words and suddenly she was packing a bag. She said our marriage was over, jumped into the motorhome and drove off.’
Wordless, Clancy could only gaze at a Hugo who looked even less appealing than usual in shorts and T-shirt that Clancy suspected were actually pyjamas. She didn’t doubt his story that Alice had packed her things and gone. Nobody could manufacture Hugo’s hit-by-a-truck look. She’d seen a similar expression in her mirror after catching Will and Renée with their respective pants down.
Hugo sank down onto the sofa, rubbing his hands over his face. ‘I didn’t think she’d really go,’ he mumbled. Then he lifted his head sharply, glaring at Clancy. ‘I expect you’re pleased!’
‘No.’ Clancy felt as if the truck that hit Hugo had given her a glancing blow. If Alice had gone … it left Clancy with Hugo. With Hugo! Caretaking duties or not, it would be untenable to share the Roundhouse with him. She had to suppress a shudder at the mere idea, not having it in her, at that moment, to feel sympathy for Hugo or concern for Alice. In fact, though she knew she had only to drive out of the village and she’d stand a good chance of ringing Alice in privacy, she disregarded the idea.
‘Did she say where she was going?’ she demanded.
‘I think it was “anywhere but here”,’ Hugo snapped.
Eyes pricking with tears, Clancy marched out of the front door. At first, she walked blindly, mind churning with this latest development, feet carrying her down the familiar route towards the cliffs. Once there, she slowed, tossing back her hair and gazing out at the sea shining merrily on what now seemed an inappropriately beautiful day.
Slowly, her initial feelings of panic and hurt began to settle. OK, so Alice had gone – again. Leaving Clancy with an uncomfortable situation to resolve – again. But she could do it.
It was possible that Hugo wouldn’t stay, though Clancy would be surprised if he’d give up a house easily. He had no real means of support, from what Alice had said. No, Clancy had already begun to consider the future and this merely accelerated the process.
As Kaz had promised to come back to Clancy on Oli’s reaction to her going into partnership with them Clancy hadn’t pressed for an answer, especially as only three days had passed, but, feeling slightly better at making up her mind to do something positive, she decided to go to see them now. She turned inland. The parasols were open above the tables in front of the B&B and Clancy could see Kaz bustling outside with a tray. Heartbeat steadying, she hurried across the grass, smile at the ready. Kaz had served some people clustered around a table and was heading indoors by now, empty tray swinging from her hand. When she caught sight of Clancy, she paused.
‘Hi!’ Clancy summoned up a smile, hoping ‘anxious for news’ wasn’t written on her face. ‘May I have a cappuccino, please?’ She dropped her voice. ‘But really I’m here to ask if there’s any progress? Did you talk to Oli? I know you said you’d need a few days to think but I couldn’t wait any longer.’
‘Why don’t you take a seat? I’ll join you in a minute.’ Kaz gave her a quick smile and turned away, leaving Clancy to choose one of the two empty tables, suddenly nervous. This was a turning point. If Kaz and Oli went for her idea then it could tie her to Nelson’s Bar for years to come, though she’d still have to find a temporary home until the deal was done. Then she’d buy a place and have a home and a business again, but one that was about as different to the last as was possible. If things went the right way with Aaron then she’d have a man who was a good deal different to the last, too. Aaron was stronger, more reliable, and more interested in adding beauty to the world around him than Will.
It was early days for them, of course, but if/when things went wrong, she decided stoutly, she’d be prepared. She was not Genevieve. She wouldn’t lean, need and expect as Genevieve had.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Kaz arriving with the cappuccino in a white cup with a saucer and sitting down across the table.
‘So what did Oli say?’ Clancy demanded, tearing the top off a sachet of brown sugar.
Kaz fidgeted awkwardly. ‘Sorry, Clancy, but I didn’t ask him. I realised your idea wasn’t really a goer.’
Shocked, Clancy stilled, sugar sachet in hand.
Not quite meeting her gaze, Kaz went on. ‘I’m sorry if you’re disappointed but when I really thought of someone else owning a part of this, I realised it’s not what I want. The B&B came from Oli’s family and we’re building it up. The two of us.’
Clancy couldn’t unfreeze to pour the sugar into the cup. ‘Oh.’ Her heart slowed to a sad, heavy beat. ‘I see.’ She managed to sound composed. Experience had taught her that when you went into business boundless enthusiasm was a key ingredient. If Kaz had gone so cold on the idea that she hadn’t even discussed it with Oli then it was never going to happen. ‘Thanks for being honest,’ she said, trying to sound bright. She finally tipped the sugar into the cappuccino and stirred it in.
‘I am sorry,’ Kaz said again, levering herself to her feet quickly, as if relieved Clancy wasn’t trying to force the issue. ‘No hard feelings?’
‘Of course not,’ Clancy responded automatically. ‘It was entirely your decision.’ Then, as Kaz turned away she said impulsively, ‘How much would it be if I asked to book a room here for a while? Now Alice and her husband have moved into the Roundhouse—’
But Kaz w
as already shaking her head. ‘We couldn’t have anyone full time until about the middle of September. We’re pretty booked till then. That cappuccino’s on the house, by the way.’
Clancy sat, gazing out to sea. It was lunchtime but she was too full of disappointment to eat. Her chances of making a home in Nelson’s Bar had taken a serious hit and the prospect of staying on in the Roundhouse had taken on the proportions of a nightmare.
Briefly, she considered asking whether Dilys would take her as a lodger as a stopgap but quickly realised that living next door to the Roundhouse wouldn’t be much more fun than living in it.
She absolutely wasn’t going to expect to move in with Aaron. They hadn’t been together long enough; they hadn’t even discussed what form their relationship was taking.
As she sat there, staring into thin air, Lee and Daisy hove into view, Nelson on his extendable leash, cantering up to dance in front of Clancy. If you could harness his tail’s energy, it could provide electricity, like the offshore wind farm did, Clancy thought absently, rubbing his hairy head. He gazed at her with one bright eye.
‘Hi.’ Lee followed Nelson over. He looked worn out.
‘Hello. Hello, Daisy,’ Clancy greeted them.
Daisy was looking unusually glum. ‘I’m sulking at the moment,’ she advised Clancy. ‘I’m going to be a good girl later.’
‘Right. Good to know.’ Even feeling as low as she did, Clancy had to smother a grin.
Lee rolled his eyes. ‘I’ve taken the day off to move from Granny and Grandad’s house to Uncle Aaron’s and I’m afraid Daisy’s not keen on the change.’
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