Meet Me at Wisteria Cottage

by Teresa F. Morgan

  What was she going to do if the insurance didn’t pay out?

  Maddy pushed the chilling thought aside. She had no more savings. They’d been used up buying the house and setting up the gallery.

  Thoughtfully, Harry had left her to her own devices, realising she needed privacy to shop. He was only her neighbour after all. The poor man didn’t want to traipse around a load of women’s stores. He was hardly her boyfriend. Even Connor had hated shopping with her.

  ‘Shall we find somewhere to have a coffee? Then I’ll drive us home.’ Catching Maddy off guard, Harry took her shopping bags from her, adding them to his own, like the perfect gentleman. Connor never offered to hold her bags; she’d always had to ask him to carry them. She certainly hadn’t expected Harry to insist on it.

  ‘Yes, that sounds like a good idea.’

  Harry led the way and found a quaint coffee shop down one of the narrow lanes. As it was so warm, Maddy opted for an iced skinny latte feeling the need for caffeine but not fancying something hot, while Harry asked for a normal latte.

  ‘Do you want anything else? Cake or a sandwich?’ he asked.

  Even though the cakes did look delicious, Maddy shook her head. She’d lost her appetite, which usually happened when she was stressed. ‘No thanks. Better not.’

  The woman behind the counter patiently held her hand out for payment as Harry opened his wallet. ‘I’ll pay,’ Maddy said, purse in hand, taking a five-pound note out.

  ‘No, I’ll get these.’

  ‘No, it’s the least I can do. I insist. You’ve done so much for me since Wednesday evening.’ Harry frowned as Maddy handed over the money. With a playful nudge, she said, ‘I’ll let you carry the tray.’

  With the sun shining, Maddy and Harry opted to sit outside at one of the small bistro tables. Maddy stared in horror while Harry emptied four sachets of sugar into his coffee.

  ‘You’ll never stay fit if you keep putting sugar in like that.’

  ‘I burn it off,’ Harry said, grinning. ‘I have a high metabolism.’

  ‘Can you actually taste the coffee?’ Maddy sipped her iced latte, not having to wait for it to cool down.

  ‘I like sweet coffee.’

  ‘It’ll catch up with you one day. You’ll wake up and wonder where all your muscle went.’

  ‘I don’t take sugar in my tea, though – and I drink that mainly when I’m at work.’

  ‘I drink too much coffee. I’d be the size of a house if I put four sugars in every cup. I barely make time for the gym as it is.’ Just looking at Harry’s tanned arms, his biceps bulging under the light blue T-shirt he was wearing made Maddy feel flabby. Now the weather was getting warmer, she’d have to make sure she took more dips in the sea after work. She enjoyed body-boarding and the exhilaration of catching a wave, even though she wasn’t as good as those who did it regularly, those who had been born surfing, living in Cornwall all their lives.

  A silence fell between them. The cathedral bells chimed three o’clock. Shoppers and holidaymakers passed them by, seagulls squawked from rooftops, and for a while, they people-watched and drank their coffee without talking. Two people who barely knew one another and thrown together under unusual circumstances, Maddy thought to herself. If this were a date, they’d be trying to get to know one another better rather than sit in silence. It was an odd situation. Would there be any harm in finding out more about her neighbour?

  ‘So … you know the fire crew then?’ Maddy asked, wanting to break the now awkward silence developing between them.

  ‘Yes,’ Harry said, nodding. ‘I used to be a fireman. I transferred from Exeter, but I was only with them six months.’

  ‘Oh, why did you leave?’

  Harry grimaced for a split second, and he looked at his half-full latte glass. Without meeting Maddy’s gaze, he said, ‘I’d rather not talk about it.’

  ‘Oh, okay, sorry …’ Maddy found herself fumbling with the straw in her iced latte. Change the subject. Quick. ‘So, can you tell me why one is called Shep?’ She’d heard one of the firemen call another by this name, and had thought it unusual.

  Harry’s expression softened. ‘His real name is Shaun.’ Maddy frowned at him in confusion. ‘As in Shaun the Sheep? At first he was Sheepy, but it got shortened to Shep.’

  ‘Oh, I get it, as in a sheepdog.’ She smiled her understanding. ‘And Barrows?’

  ‘That’s his surname.’ Harry chuckled.

  ‘That’s not very exciting. Why do they call you Roses?’

  ‘Tudor … War of the Roses …’

  Maddy laughed. ‘I get it! Firemen are odd. Why don’t you all call each other by your real names?’

  ‘Where’s the fun in that?’

  ‘And Dixons … because he likes spicy curries? Get it – Curry’s – Dixons?’

  Harry chuckled. ‘Not quite, but I like your line of thinking. It is actually because he has to have every latest top of the range gadget going. 3D HD TVs whatever they are … surround sound, you name it the man’s got it. He was named Dixons before they merged with Carphone Warehouse – obviously.’

  ‘Obviously.’ Maddy nodded, finishing her drink and feeling more relaxed in Harry’s company. Harry emptied his glass.

  ‘Shall we head back? Have you got all you need?’ Harry crumpled his paper napkin and poked it inside the empty glass so it wouldn’t blow away.

  ‘Yes, I have so much to do, it doesn’t bear thinking about.’ However, she wasn’t sure she’d get much done by the time they returned. Maddy stood, gathering her shopping bags. Harry took them off her as if it was the most natural gesture in the world – that a man should carry a woman’s bags. To remove the temptation to link her arm through Harry’s, like she would have with a close friend or Connor, and cause herself more embarrassment, Maddy pushed her hands into her pockets, unsure what to do with them. They started walking, weaving their way through the crowds, towards Lemon Quay where Harry’s truck was parked.

  ‘Oh, cat food!’ Maddy said, spying a Tesco supermarket by the car park. All of her food had been destroyed in the kitchen.

  ‘Good idea,’ Harry said. ‘I only had the one can of tuna.’

  ‘What did you feed her this morning?’ Maddy asked. Her brain was all over the place, and she was even forgetting to feed the cat.

  ‘I nipped round to number twenty-two – I know she has a cat, too. She gave me a can.’

  ‘Oh, it’s all right that she owns a cat,’ Maddy said, smirking. ‘I bet you haven’t fallen out with her over her cat.’

  ‘Funnily enough she’s never moaned about where I park my truck.’ His eyes narrowed on Maddy, but there was mischief behind them.

  ‘You know, she has two cats, don’t you? So there are plenty of cats in the close that could be crapping in your garden.’ Maddy pouted. Her ponytail swished as she picked up her step more confidently next to Harry.

  ‘I know, I know, I take it all back – about your cat! She’s living with me isn’t she?’

  ‘I bet you twinkled those blue eyes of yours and made the poor old woman at number twenty-two weak at the knees. She didn’t stand a chance.’

  ‘Nothing wrong with using the charm. If you’ve got it, flaunt it.’

  Maddy gently elbowed him, chuckling. The touch of his hot skin against hers sent a shot of electricity through her. He had it all right.

  Between them, they picked up some groceries and food for Sookie, Harry pushing the shopping trolley around the store. Then, laden with heavy shopping – Harry carrying most of it – they made their way back towards the car park.

  ‘So why’s she called Sookie?’ Harry loaded the shopping into the back of the flatbed then closed the tailgate and pinned the cover back down. ‘Anything to do with socks?’

  Maddy laughed, shaking her head. ‘No, at the time I adopted her, I was reading the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. Because Sooty is a common name to call a black cat, but it’s more a name for a tom, I thought, being a girl, Sookie would suit
her better.’

  ‘Oh, so it’s nothing to do with her having one white paw then. I keep calling her Socks.’

  ‘If you feed her, she’ll answer to anything.’

  Twenty minutes into their journey, the traffic had come to a standstill on the A39 northbound, while traffic whizzed by on the other side. Unlike the A30, this road was single carriageway for most parts.

  ‘All we need – there’s been an accident,’ Maddy said, presuming that was the cause of the delay. She huffed out a breath, anxious to get home.

  Momentarily, Harry’s eyes widened, then he breathed as if trying to calm himself down.

  ‘No, no, it looks like they’ve just broken down,’ he said, pointing out the windscreen.

  He sounded relieved. Maddy was pleased too. It might mean the traffic would get moving quicker. She’d been deep in thought, her head heavily clouded with stress, processing the amount of jobs stacking up, from the small menial tasks of the washing coming off the line, to where to start on the house so she could move back into her home. Plus, when she could go back to work at the gallery.

  ‘Let me see if they need a hand.’ Harry pushed the button on the dash and his truck’s hazard lights flashed. Before opening his car door, he said, ‘Stay here, Maddy, please.’

  As Maddy watched Harry jog up to the vehicle three cars ahead, she wondered if she’d imagined his expression of panic when she’d assumed it was an accident in front. It was as if he’d physically relaxed as soon as he’d realised it was only a broken down car.

  She waited patiently in the truck as Harry spoke to the driver of the car – a distressed looking man in his forties, who had his young family out on the side of the road, up on the bank for safety. The mother carried a crying toddler, while an older child held her hand. Maddy watched Harry take control of the situation. With the window down, she could hear some of his instructions. He gathered a couple more helpers from the cars in front and sent an older man in his sixties back along the traffic, to keep any cars from passing. The last thing anyone needed was an accident. With the help of the other men, Harry pushed the car along to a safer position on the road. There was a lay-by not far ahead.

  ***

  Panting and sweating from the exertion of pushing the car, Harry jogged back to his truck. Maddy was looking at her phone, with a finger poised, scrolling along the screen. As he opened the driver’s door, Maddy jumped.

  ‘Harry, don’t do that!’

  ‘Sorry,’ he said, his breath still heavy. He could see worry etched on her face. This was a woman with a lot on her mind. ‘Are you okay? I didn’t mean to make you jump.’

  ‘Yes, sorry, I was away with the fairies, worrying. Thought I’d try to distract myself with Facebook.’ She waved her phone at him, then gestured ahead to the cars starting to move. ‘We’re lucky it was only a breakdown. An accident could have meant us sitting here forever.’

  ‘Yeah, he’s called the roadside recovery service. This way the car and his family are safe. I don’t like seeing people stranded.’ Turning the ignition, Harry started his truck and pulled away as the traffic moved again, turning off his hazard lights.

  ‘What’s wrong with the car?’

  ‘He’s run out of petrol. Thought he had enough to get to the next station.’

  ‘A holidaymaker?’

  ‘Yes.’ The amount of gear on the back seat in between the two child car seats gave it away. ‘I usually have a can of petrol for the lawnmower in the back of the truck. But it needs filling up.’

  ‘How very unprepared of you.’

  ‘I know.’ His grip tightened around the steering wheel. Even though he could tell by Maddy’s tone she was joking, it had frustrated Harry that he was unable to help the family more. He gave a wave to the man and his family as he drove past. Hopefully, they wouldn’t have too long to wait until the recovery services arrived.

  ‘Are you always this helpful?’ Maddy turned from the window and looked at him.

  ‘Must be the firefighter in me.’ Shouldn’t have said that. But it was true. It was in his blood to help people – however reluctantly recently. It’s what had driven him to become a fireman. He glanced at Maddy.

  ‘If you enjoy it so much, why did you give it up?’ she asked curiously.

  Harry gave another fleeting look at her then turned his attention back to the road. ‘I’d really rather not discuss it, Maddy.’

  There was a moment of silence, where Harry knew he’d killed the conversation. Just like at the coffee shop. But Maddy, in true female style – they usually know how to break the silence! – spoke up, ‘Well … I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank you enough for noticing the fire at my house. I mean if it had burned for much longer, who knows how much worse the damage would be? It could even have spread next door.’

  ‘Luckily, due to the rain, I’d returned home early from work.’ Harry wasn’t sure he believed in fate, not when he thought about Karin, but it had certainly been lucky he’d still been around Annadale Close at the time. He’d had a number of jobs to do, but he’d been in the right place at the right time. ‘I was loading my pickup with some tools for another garden job the next day.’

  He’d been considering digging over one of his regulars’ vegetable patch – a frail lady in her seventies who lived at the end of Annadale Close and who liked to feed him up with tea and biscuits every time he cut her lawn. In the summer sometimes he preferred doing some jobs in the evening, as it was a cooler time to work. The lighter evenings allowed him to do it too.

  ‘Well, my mum thinks you might have started the fire—’ Maddy’s hands shot to her mouth and her cheeks grew pinker. Her redhead’s complexion always gave her away. ‘Sorry. I have a way of speaking before engaging my brain.’

  ‘I know. I heard.’ Harry smiled, pretending not to notice her embarrassment. If he mentioned it, she’d probably turn even redder. ‘I mean about your mum, not about you speaking without thinking.’ He’d watched out the corner of his eye how Maddy had blushed while speaking on the phone to her mother on the journey to Truro – like she was doing right now. He’d found it highly amusing, and a good way to read Maddy. She certainly couldn’t keep secrets. ‘And I definitely didn’t do it, okay? I was trained to put out fires, not start them.’

  ‘I know. And helping me so much wouldn’t make sense if you’d wanted to burn my house down in the first place.’ Looking at her lap, Maddy twisted the gold ring on her middle finger. ‘Unless you just wanted me out of the neighbourhood …’

  ‘I wouldn’t have offered for you to stay at mine now, would I?’

  ‘No, true, I didn’t think of that. But we have had our differences.’

  ‘Differences aside, Maddy,’ Harry glanced at her sternly, his eyes fixed on hers for a moment, ‘I didn’t want to tell Collins this at first, on the night of the fire, because it could slow the process with the insurance company if it’s arson. But the fire brigade were already suspicious and informed the police, so I had to tell the police in the end. I saw someone on your driveway. He just appeared, as if he’d come out of your front door. I didn’t see if he had done that because I’d been in my garage. And then not long afterwards smoke was seeping out from your kitchen window.’ Because he’d been putting some tools on his truck at the time, he’d a clear view of her window, and her front door was on the side of the house like his. If what Dixons had said was true, whoever had started the fire, had lit it on the hob, and fuelled it with items from Maddy’s kitchen. It didn’t take long once a fire caught hold, and if accelerants had been used flames would lick at the cupboards and spread quickly.

  ‘Really? I know I didn’t leave the hob on … but a small part of me hoped it would be an accident, not arson.’

  ‘Smoke was escaping via the kitchen window. Fortunately, you’d left it slightly ajar—’

  ‘Yes, I usually leave it on the latch to let steam out while cooking, and it lets air in. It stops the house smelling stale.’

  ‘It’s how I caught t
he fire early. I could smell it. I’m sort of attuned to the scent you could say.’ Remembering the smell of Maddy’s house burning had sent the hairs up on the back of his arms and neck, setting off nightmares he hated reliving. He loathed the stench of burning now. It was why he could no longer be a fireman.

  ‘Maddy, does anyone else have a key to your property?’ Although evidence of any forced entry might well have been destroyed by the fire, and by the firemen gaining access to the house, it would complicate matters for the insurance company if they believed the fire to be deliberate. Maddy could lose everything if they thought she’d had anything to do with purposely causing the fire. He wouldn’t worry her with that bit of news yet, although she was probably well aware of this.

  ‘No.’ She frowned at him. ‘The police asked me the same thing. Connor used to.’

  ‘Who’s Connor?’

  ‘My ex-boyfriend …’ Maddy said. ‘But he gave the key back.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Yes. I did tell the police all this.’

  ‘He could have had another key cut without you knowing.’

  ‘No, he wouldn’t do such a thing. Why would he?’ Maddy frowned.

  ‘I don’t know. He’s your ex-boyfriend. I’ve never met him.’

  ‘We split up before you moved into the neighbourhood.’

  Harry nodded. He certainly hadn’t recognised the man. ‘What does Connor look like?’

  ‘A controlling bastard.’

  ‘I need a bit more to go on than that.’

  Maddy rolled her eyes. ‘Gosh, he’s about five-nine, brown hair.’

  ‘The guy I saw was wearing a baseball cap, with his head down so I couldn’t see his face.’ Harry grimaced but remembered one thing, though. ‘Does he smoke?’

  ‘Yes, yes he does. Much to my distaste.’

  ‘I did see the guy throw away a cigarette butt,’ Harry said, rubbing his chin. But this really wasn’t enough proof the man he’d seen was her ex-boyfriend. Lots of people smoked. Harry wished he’d taken a lot more notice of this guy. At the time it had seemed odd, but not important. He could have been delivering pamphlets, anything, so Harry had forgotten him and carried on with his own business. ‘Did he jointly own the house with you?’ There was no relevance to that question, only Harry was intrigued. But if he owned the house he could have a set of keys.