by Liz Eeles
‘Thank goodness for that.’ Josh turns, his face ghostly in torch light, and shakes Jacques’ hand. ‘Thank you for your help and sorry about all of this. I don’t suppose rain coming through the roof is what you expect from a B&B.’
‘Not really but it’s not a problem. I found it quite exciting actually.’
‘Exciting?’ mutters Storm. ‘You’d have found it fricking terrifying if Titanic was being re-enacted in your bedroom.’
Jacques doesn’t hear, or pretends not to, and bids us all bonne nuit before heading for his dry bed. Storm slouches off after him to the spare room and Emily gives me a brief hug before going back to her room.
‘Can we get by with another repair to the roof?’ I ask Josh once Emily’s door has clicked shut.
‘I expect so but it’s just short-term, Annie. We can’t put off sorting out the roof properly forever and it needs to be done before the winter storms set in or this house has had it.’
Darkness cloaks his lovely face when he lowers the torch and pulls me close against him. His chest is still damp from battling with the elements and several metres of polythene.
‘I’m so sorry,’ he murmurs into my hair. ‘I know how much this house means to you.’
It means so much to me, I might have to let it go to save it.
Twenty-Six
The next morning, I wake up feeling groggy as though I’ve had a few too many in the Whistling Wave. And for one blissful moment before I open my eyes I think the night’s happenings were a dream – but a trip to Storm’s room quickly puts paid to that notion.
Water is still dripping slowly from the stained ceiling and the buckets and bowls are full of brown sludgy liquid. The rain picked up dirt while it was cascading through the attic and onto Storm’s bed. Her room will need repairing and redecorating and as for the roof…
Rob from the roofing business comes out quickly, spends ages poking around under the eaves and climbs down the loft ladder looking grim.
‘Just as I feared, your roof can’t withstand a good old Cornish storm because it’s compromised.’ Which is presumably business speak for ‘knackered’. He shoves his pencil behind his ear and scans the piece of paper he’s been scribbling on.
‘Can you repair it?’
‘I can make it watertight again, but you’ll be in the same position before too long if you don’t replace the whole roof. And next time the rain comes in the damage to the interior of the house might be more severe. You got off quite lucky really with the storm passing over quickly. They often sit on the village for ages ’cos it’s in a valley.’
Oh dear. My knees suddenly feel weak and Josh puts a steadying hand on my shoulder before taking over. ‘You’d better make the roof watertight and we’ll let you know about replacing it.’
Rob gives me a sympathetic smile. He can tell we’re strapped for cash. ‘Sure thing. But have a think about what I’ve said and I wouldn’t leave it too long before you get back in touch. This is a gorgeous old house and I’d hate to see it spoiled.’
While Rob’s banging about in the attic, I wander into Storm’s soggy room and perch on the cold stone window sill.
‘What are we going to do, Alice?’ I whisper to the walls. ‘We can’t afford a new roof but the thought of Toby ripping the heart out of this gorgeous house is killing me. And what about the wedding? Am I daft getting married when we’re skint? If it’s no trouble, could you send me a sign? Please.’
I sit there waiting while Rob bangs about above my head, but nothing happens. There’s no bolt from above, no vision of Alice with angel wings pointing me in the right direction, no flashing sign saying ‘Sell up!’ or ‘Stay put!’ Of course there isn’t. Alice has gone.
The brown stain on the ceiling has spread like mud above Storm’s bed and breath catches in my throat when I spot a brown line above the wardrobe in the corner. But it’s only after I’ve pulled open the wardrobe doors that I know for sure. Filthy water has snaked inside, a musty smell hits me and there it is. My second-best but perfectly adequate wedding dress has huge, brown water marks running down the cream bodice and skirt. It’s ruined.
I run my fingers across the ruined satin, which is still sopping wet and smells of wet dog.
‘Blimey, Alice. That’s one hell of a sign.’
I go in search of Josh who’s been out for a run and find him getting dressed after his shower. So far, he’s put on dark grey boxers and black socks and his wet hair is standing on end. Usually the sight of a half-naked Josh fills me with lust, though the socks are a bit of a passion killer, but today there’s nothing. I’m so tired and fed up I don’t even want to shag my boyfriend.
‘Are you OK? Rob’s doing a quick patch-up and the damage is quite extensive so it’s going to be a bit pricey. But we’ll sort something out.’ He sits on our bed and pats the space beside him.
I sit next to him and take a really good look at Josh’s lovely face. He’s still gorgeous with a shadow of stubble across his strong jaw but there are dark circles under his eyes. He’s getting married in three weeks’ time and should be on top of the world but instead he’s stressed and tired and scrabbling for every penny.
Suddenly everything clicks into place as though Alice has whispered the answer in my ear.
Turning towards Josh, I lace my fingers through his. ‘This house deserves more than a succession of quick patch-ups. It needs someone who’s got the cash for a new roof to keep the place going. It needs Toby.’
I’m expecting Josh to put up a bit of a fight and insist we should try selling to someone else. But he nods, as worn down by money worries as I am. ‘You’ll have to move out of Salt Bay.’
‘That’s all right. The locals don’t like my B&B idea and I’ll be persona non grata when they find out I’m selling to Toby. I’ll be run out of the village anyway.’
Josh grins and squeezes my hand. ‘What changed your mind?’
‘A river running through Storm’s bedroom was a bit of a wake-up call and I’ve realised what’s most important.’
‘Which is?’
‘All of us. You and me, Storm and Emily. I’ve been so upset about losing Alice, I couldn’t see what really matters. So let Toby have what he wants and we can all move on. I love this house and it’ll break my heart to leave it but you all matter to me more. That’s it.’
I shrug and breathe out slowly. ‘Oh, and we shouldn’t get married. Not this month anyway. The rain’s ruined my dress and there’ll be no money to replace it or buy food for the reception once we’ve paid Rob for the latest repair. And we need to save every penny in case the roof needs another repair before…’ I gulp, ‘before it goes to Toby.’
Eek, I was doing so well but now my eyes are filling with tears and Josh is stroking my arm which doesn’t help. I blink rapidly and twist my silver engagement ring round and round on my finger.
‘I’m so sorry about your dress, Annie, but we’ve already bought some food and could still do the wedding on the cheap.’
‘We were already doing it on the cheap and we can’t feed people on nothing but prawn vol-au-vents. Let’s get real, Josh. We need to spend what we have on keeping the house watertight, so the wedding will have to wait for a while until we’re living somewhere else and money’s not such an issue.’
‘I know it makes financial sense but you so wanted to have the reception at Tregavara House where you feel close to Alice.’ Josh frowns. ‘I suppose Toby might still let us have the reception here when he owns the place and before he carves it up into flats.’
‘He might but there’ll be strings attached because that’s just the way he is and he doesn’t like you.’
‘He really doesn’t like me,’ agrees Josh.
‘So it wouldn’t be the same and I’d rather we did our own thing without having to tiptoe around Toby. Alice will be with me in my heart wherever we have our wedding.’
And I try to smile to show that I’m absolutely fine with our change of plan. But my mouth wobbling rather gives me awa
y.
Twenty-Seven
Toby almost bites my hand off when I ring and tell him he can buy the place if he’d like. So that’s it then. Tregavara House will be partitioned into flats and strangers will live here. But at least I’m passing it on to a Trebarwith and the house will survive – which is what Alice would want. If only I could shake off the niggling feeling that I’m still letting her and the house down.
Yep, the house! I’ve assigned a full gamut of feelings and emotions to a two-hundred-year-old heap of granite and mortar. But sometimes the house’s groans in the early hours, as old walls are settling, sound like admonishments and I’ve started saying ‘sorry’ in reply. Really quietly so I don’t wake Josh and tip him off that I’m quite possibly losing my mind.
I’m also bitterly disappointed that our wedding’s off even though I keep telling myself that nothing important has changed. Not really. Josh and I still love each other and live together and we will get married one day. But right now, this wonderful house that’s been in my family for generations has to be saved from my penury. Even though leaving will break my heart.
Jacques, on the other hand, has no qualms about saying farewell to a falling-down house and heads back to Paris the day after the storm. He does promise he’ll be back as he climbs into his shiny Mercedes but I’m not sure whether he means it or he’s just being his usual charming, two-faced self.
* * *
Jennifer doesn’t look too upset when I call into her shop on the proviso of buying a newspaper but really to check how she’s doing. In fact, she’s looking good and appears to have ditched her trousers completely – these days, she’s never seen without a nice dress, full slap make-up and blonde hair backcombed to within an inch of its life. Her bouffant hairstyle is so magnificent, Kayla keeps threatening to set it up with its own Twitter account.
‘Did Jacques get off on time yesterday?’ she asks, on her knees adjusting bottles of sun cream so the prices are more visible. ‘And I’m so sorry about the rain coming through your roof. That’s the trouble with these old houses.’
Then she goes back to her sun cream without giving me the third degree about what damage was done and the cost of repairs. Storm was right. Jennifer isn’t quite herself.
‘I don’t mean to pry but I wondered how you’re feeling about Jacques leaving?’
‘Sounds like prying to me.’ Jennifer staggers to her feet and wipes her hands down her overly snug dress. ‘I feel fine, thank you very much, and Jacques is coming back for your wedding – he’ll be my plus-one if that’s all right. I didn’t think you’d mind seeing as it’s your fault he was here in the first place.’
I nod, keeping my face as neutral as possible because I want to tell Kayla first about our change in wedding plans and selling to Toby. She’ll go ballistic so I’ve been putting it off. Storm and Emily didn’t take it too well at first but are coming round.
‘He’s giving me some space to consider his offer,’ says Jennifer, settling down on the stool behind the counter. ‘You might be surprised to learn that he’s invited me to live rent-free in a flat he owns in Paris and he’ll pay for singing lessons and set me up with some work opportunities.’
‘Wow, that’s some offer. What are you going to do?’
‘I’m considering it. Leaving this business that I’ve built up over the years would be hard but he’s offering a lot.’
‘He certainly is but…’ I hesitate, not sure how to word my next question. ‘What would he expect in return?’
‘Are you alluding to sex, Annie?’
OK, I wasn’t expecting that. ‘I just wondered… I mean, I didn’t mean to imply…’
‘We’re just old friends, though I wouldn’t rule out becoming – how do young people put it these days? – friends with benefits in the future. But it’s the singing that particularly interests me and the chance to do what I should have done forty years ago. Before… well, you know what happened.’ She gazes into the distance and her face hardens. ‘Anyway, that’s my news and I’d be grateful if you didn’t bandy it about. You’ve proved yourself to be a reliable confidante.’
‘I won’t say anything if you don’t want me to and it is an amazing opportunity, Jennifer. But how do you feel about leaving everyone in Salt Bay, people like Roger?’
‘Roger is behaving very oddly at the moment. He’s obviously imbibing rather too much of his merchandise. But I’d miss him and everyone here, including you. That’s why I’m taking time to consider Jacques’ offer. But how often do people get second chances, Annie?’
‘I got my second chance when I left London for Salt Bay and met Alice.’
And my third chance, I guess, will be when Tregavara House is sold and we move to Trecaldwith. That’s my fork in the road all decided and almost done and dusted while Jennifer is still hesitating at the crossroads.
There’s a smudge of pink lipstick on Jennifer’s top teeth when she smiles. ‘This village has been good for you, Annie, and you’ve been good for the village in return. My second chance will mean leaving Salt Bay but the village can’t stay the same forever.’
I’m so tempted to let it all spill out – about us leaving the village too and Toby having the house and our wedding being postponed and my heart hurting even though I know I’m doing the right thing. But Jennifer would only tell the whole world so I keep my mouth shut.
The bell over the shop door clangs and Jennifer slides off the stool. ‘Linda, how lovely to see you up and about after your operation. Are you here for your magazines? I’ve kept them for you under the counter.’
I slip away, leaving Jennifer to deal with her customer and make up her mind about the path her life will take.
Twenty-Eight
News that our wedding is off spreads around the village like wildfire once I’ve told Kayla. And I get used to people approaching me in the street, doing an ‘aw’ face, patting me on the arm and walking off without a word. They obviously don’t know about Toby yet – I made Kayla keep that bombshell quiet – or their pats might be punches.
I’m expecting the same mute sympathy at the next choir rehearsal but there’s an air of fevered excitement when I arrive on the dot of seven-thirty. Josh, Emily and Storm went on ahead while I finished clearing up the tea things. Normally they help but they all ate their food and bolted. Weird.
‘You’re here at last! Come with me,’ insists Maureen, putting her hand on the small of my back and propelling me towards the altar. She has dark smudges down her blouse and there’s a pile of oozing chocolate cupcakes on the front pew. Fabulous! Breaktime will be a bonanza of buttercream.
The choir are sitting silently in their seats and Josh is standing near the piano with Michaela. Everyone here’s except for Jennifer and they all smile at me when I reach the crate cum podium. Which, again, is weird. Usually I have to raise my voice to get their attention first thing.
‘What’s going on?’ Everyone’s still staring at me and I run my tongue across my teeth for any stray teatime spinach.
Lovely Mary levers herself to her feet using the back of the chair in front of her. ‘We have something to tell you.’
‘O-K.’ I laugh nervously because, in my experience, when people have ‘something to tell you’ it’s often bad news: Mum disclosing she had cancer, Alice confirming her health was deteriorating, Barry turning up on my doorstep and announcing he was my long-lost father. Though that last one turned out to be a good thing in the end.
‘The thing is,’ says Mary, her white curled hair shining under the lights, ‘we were upset to hear that you and Josh have had to postpone your wedding because finances are tight. Especially as it was your last chance to have the reception at Tregavara House.’
‘Yeah, seeing as we hear it’s going to toffee-nosed Toby, who’ll ruin the place and never fit in round here,’ grumbles Roger, who’s slimmer and smarter than usual.
‘Kayla, you told them?’
She holds up her hands, palms towards me. ‘It wasn’t me, Sunshine. You
wanna tell that brooding fiancé of yours to keep a lid on things.’
Has Josh been blabbing? He doesn’t look particularly guilty.
‘Shush,’ shouts Arthur. ‘Let Mary finish – though can I first register my disquiet at your cousin becoming the owner of prime property in Salt Bay.’
Mary tuts softly. ‘Disquiet noted, thank you, Arthur. Anyway, we’ve all been talking to Josh about the situation you’re both in and the thing is, you can get married.’
‘And we will once we’ve found somewhere else to live and we’ve got enough money for a reception and you’ll all be re-invited. It would be lovely to have the reception at Tregavara House but it really doesn’t matter,’ I say brightly, to cover up that it does matter very much.
‘What Mary means is that the Salt Bay Choral Society is going to save your wedding,’ butts in Maureen, jumping to her feet. ‘We’re going to give you the best reception and send-off that Salt Bay’s ever seen. Well,’ she backtracks, ‘it won’t be anything too posh, I’m afraid, but we’ll all bring a dish to share and chip in for the booze.’
‘Which I can get at cost price,’ adds Roger.
‘We can sort out tables and decorations and flowers too,’ says Fiona. ‘So what do you think?’
I think I’m going to cry and the muscles in Josh’s jaw are working overtime.
‘What you’re suggesting is amazing and wonderful, but we can’t let you go to all that trouble.’
‘It’s no trouble,’ says Cyril from the back row of the tenors. ‘You’ve done so much for us and for the village. So this is our wedding present to you both.’ His cheeks go pink and his chin drops to his chest.
‘Well said, Cyril,’ calls Gerald. ‘You’re one of us now, Annie, and we help our own. So the wedding’s going ahead, right?’
‘But I’ve cancelled the ceremony.’
‘That’s all right because I’ve had a word with Hilary this evening and un-cancelled it,’ says Josh with a grin. How long has he known about this?