Summer at West Sands Guest House

by Maggie Conway

  ‘You know where the picnic area is?’ he checked with her.

  Molly nodded. ‘The first day I came to the range, I went to the Drumloch Inn first. Well, I stumbled on it really,’ Molly explained.

  ‘So you met Judy?’ He smiled affectionately.

  Molly nodded. ‘Yes, she’s lovely. It was Judy who directed me to the golf school.’

  ‘Well, I’m glad she did.’ His gaze met hers and Molly’s stomach did a strange little somersault.

  ‘Can you come with us?’ Luke suddenly interjected, looking up at Tom.

  Molly shook her head at her nephew. ‘I’m sure Tom’s too busy to come with us.’

  ‘Actually Harry was my last lesson for a while. I could take a break – that is, if you don’t mind?’ He looked at her questioningly.

  ‘Of course, that’s fine.’ She shrugged nonchalantly, hoping she sounded more casual than she was feeling.

  Tom disappeared for a minute to tell Kenny where he was going, leaving Molly to wonder why their unexpected lunch guest was causing her to feel quite so flustered. And watching as he strode back towards them, her eyes scanning his broad shoulders then lowering to his long, muscular legs, did nothing to make her feel less flustered. They fell into step as Lily and Luke ran on ahead.

  ‘Harry seems a lovely man,’ Molly commented.

  ‘He’s a real gentleman.’ Tom smiled. He explained Harry was a widower and it came as no surprise to Molly to find he was the proud grandfather of two girls who he clearly doted on.

  ‘Thanks again for spending time with Lily and Luke.’

  Tom waved a hand, indicating it was nothing. ‘I enjoyed it. I probably shouldn’t admit it, but sometimes I actually prefer teaching juniors. Adults tend to spend hours obsessing about their swing whereas kids turn up with a total open mind. It might be easier if adults did the same,’ he finished ruefully.

  ‘Sometimes a bit of ignorance really is bliss?’ Molly laughed, thinking how true his words were, not just with golf but most things in life.

  Lily and Luke had reached a bench where Moly had already unzipped the cool bag and unpacked the food, laying it out neatly on the table.

  ‘Thanks, Lily,’ Molly said, taking a seat and reaching for the drinks. ‘Is orange juice okay for you?’ she asked Tom, holding up a bottle.

  ‘Perfect, thanks,’ he replied, taking it from her.

  They all tucked in, chatting easily as they did. Molly and Tom shared a smile watching the children munching hungrily on their sandwiches and tearing open packets of crisps as if they hadn’t seen food for days.

  Once Luke and Lily had finished their food, Molly took out the Frisbee she’d remembered to bring and, with their energy replenished, she watched as Lily and Luke went off to explore their surroundings after shouting a warning not to go too far. She turned back to Tom, his legs now stretched out in front of him as he sat on the bench.

  ‘All this greenery and countryside is a bit of a novelty for them.’

  ‘Where were they living before?’

  Molly filled Tom in about the family’s move from Manchester as she cleared away some of the picnic debris and then sat back down. She smoothed down her skirt, their bodies suddenly feeling very close together.

  She certainly hadn’t expected him to join them but decided she was glad he had. He seemed quite relaxed – certainly more so than the last time they met after the market. She found herself wondering how his house hunting went.

  ‘Um, how did your viewing go the other day?’

  He frowned. ‘It was a bit of a modern monstrosity actually, with a monstrous price tag to match – not really my thing.’

  ‘Gemma seemed quite excited about it,’ she said casually.

  He nodded vaguely. ‘You know what estate agents are like, they’ll say anything.’

  ‘Oh, she’s an estate agent!’ Tom looked at her questioningly and she realised she had perhaps sounded a bit too effusive.

  ‘I thought…’

  He raised an eyebrow. ‘You thought?’

  ‘That you and her, you know…’

  ‘Me and Gemma? Definitely not.’ He shook his head, looking slightly baffled. ‘Although all the estate agents here have been very enthusiastic I have to say.’

  Molly got the distinct impression that Tom Kennedy had caused quite a stir among the local estate agents although she wasn’t sure he was aware of it.

  He looked at her thoughtfully. ‘Although I will probably go and see Willow Cottage again – I just haven’t got round to it yet.’

  ‘I think that’s a great idea,’ she said, not sure why that pleased her so much.

  ‘Aunt Molly, catch!’ Molly blinked, startled by the sound of Luke’s voice. She turned just in time to see the Frisbee heading straight for her. Only Tom’s quick reflexes prevented it from smacking her in the face. She placed her hand on her chest, laughing. ‘That could have been painful. Thanks.’

  Tom threw the Frisbee with ease back to Luke. As he sat back down, Molly noticed his hand grip the bench to ease the weight from the thigh as he sat.

  ‘Does your leg hurt much now?’ she asked gently.

  ‘Some days it can be painful, it just depends. But I can control it with painkillers if I have to.’

  ‘Was it difficult – the recuperation?’ she asked, desperately hoping she wasn’t over-stepping some mark.

  ‘I was in hospital for a week and then I moved back in with my mother for several weeks while I recuperated.’

  ‘What was that like?’

  He gave a rueful look. ‘Strange. My two sisters still live nearby so between them and my mum I was pretty well fussed over. But after a while, it was difficult not being able to do much – crime paperbacks and boxsets accounted for more hours than I care to remember.’ He shook his head at the memory.

  Molly thought it must have been a particular form of hell to go from being at your physical peak to lying around doing nothing all day. She watched as he absent-mindedly rubbed his hand along his thigh as he continued.

  ‘It’s been a long process to get to this point. After hospital I had weeks of physiotherapy, then hours of exercise – swimming, stationary bike, squats – to build up the weakened muscles and get my stamina back.’ He gave his head a little shake. ‘It’s been frustrating at times but I’m getting there. And I keep pretty fit anyway and do plenty of exercises to strengthen the muscles which helps.’

  ‘You certainly look fit anyway.’ She bit her lip, had she really just said that? ‘I mean, from a physiological perspective,’ she clarified.

  Tom just lifted his eyebrows at her and she looked down, suddenly feeling a bit hot and bothered until thankfully Tom changed the subject.

  ‘So, how did you get into golf?’ he asked her.

  ‘It was my dad mostly who encouraged me. He’d take me and my brother to play although Stuart was never that interested whereas I loved it. My dad was always patient, even when I hit some terrible shots. I remember one hole on our local course where you had to hit the ball over a pond and time after time I’d lobbed the ball into the water. But he never got fed up with me. We must have got through a lot of golf balls!’ She laughed now at the memory.

  Realising she couldn’t see the children, Molly stood up, shielding her eyes with her hand, and scanned the distance until she saw them. She waved over to them and sat back down.

  ‘What about you, how did you get into golf? Was it your dad?’ she asked him now.

  ‘No, he died when I was thirteen.’

  ‘I’m sorry, that must have been a difficult time.’

  Tom nodded slowly. ‘It was, I guess. More so for my mum. I have two older sisters so she had to bring us up alone after that.’ He stared at the bottle in his hand as he thought back to those times.

  ‘I don’t think I made life easy for my mum for a while,’ he admitted. ‘My father had very much been the man of the house and with him gone I think I went off the rails for a while. I started to muck about at school, staying out late, d
rinking, that sort of thing. It was my grandfather – my mum’s dad – who took me in hand and got me into golf which I think was my saving.’

  ‘Where did you grow up?’

  ‘A small village in the Highlands called Dornoch. I started to play at the local course. I suppose I had a natural talent for it and soon I was spending all my time at the golf range, practising for hours. My grandad was big on the etiquette and rules of the game. He’d always tell me golf was an honourable game – respect and concern for others – and he taught me that’s how I should act in everyday life.’

  ‘Sounds like a good man.’

  ‘Yeah, he was. Anyway, I started winning titles and playing in national events. I turned professional when I was twenty-five and started playing on the tour.’

  He continued with a small smile. ‘I was lucky to be given the chance to play and I know the difference it made to my life. That’s why I’d love to see more children – including girls – get the chance to experience it.’

  Molly agreed. ‘I’m so glad my father didn’t dismiss the idea of me playing just because I was a girl. It’s been such a big thing in his life and of course now he’s retired he plays almost every day.’

  Thanks to her dad Molly was more than able to hold her own in a conversation about golf and for a while they talked handicaps and birdies.

  As they sat there under the canopy of trees with the dappled sunshine falling through the leaves, Molly thought it felt such a perfect moment. It was nice being able to sit and talk to Tom, like friends would do. It was just sometimes the way he looked at her and the way it made her feel – that’s when it got a bit more complicated.

  The peace was suddenly punctuated by Tom’s phone buzzing. He looked down, swiping his thumb over the screen and Molly saw his brow crease into a frown.

  ‘Excuse me a minute.’

  As he took a few paces away from the table Molly waved over to Lily and Luke, indicating it was time to come back. As she finished tidying up, Tom returned, tucking the phone back into his pocket, a look of concern on his face.

  ‘Is everything all right?’ she asked.

  He ran a hand over the back of his head. ‘I think so, at least I hope so. Joe’s wife has been taken into hospital.’

  Molly listened carefully as Tom recounted what Joe had told him. ‘Hyperemesis gravidarum – or morning sickness to you and me. Apparently though, this is nothing like ordinary morning sickness. There’s a danger she could become dehydrated which can cause problems so she’s on a drip and been given an injection to stop her being sick.’

  ‘I know that can be potentially very serious,’ Molly sympathised. ‘But it sounds like she’s been taken good care of.’

  Tom looked thoughtful. ‘She’s going to be in hospital for a while apparently. I’ll have to rearrange a few things at the school. I can cover most of the lessons and Kenny will be able to help out.’ He spoke quietly, almost to himself.

  Luke and Lily bounded up, looking happy and tired. Molly realised it was time to go and together they all headed back through the trees.

  Chapter Eight

  The only good thing to come from Anna’s prolonged migraine attack was Molly being able to spend proper time with Lily and Luke. She’d been slightly anxious at first, concerned how she would keep them entertained. It was one thing being the aunt who saw them a few times a year, swooping in for happy occasions with presents and giving them sneaky sweets and treats – it was quite another being responsible for their well-being for three days.

  As things turned out, she needn’t have worried. A selection of films thoughtfully provided at the guest house included the whole Harry Potter series and they’d enjoyed a couple of evenings curled up on the sofa with popcorn. They played a game of Monopoly that didn’t seem to have any rules and had lasted the whole afternoon, and they’d spent a lovely afternoon on the beach, enjoying the simple pleasures of paddling and building sandcastles. As Molly sat eating an enormous ice cream in her bare feet with her jeans rolled up, she found herself picturing Colin with his new woman lounging in some luxury resort. She imagined her rubbing sun lotion into his back the way she used to do and was surprised when the image didn’t upset her. Instead she bit into her ice cream cone, knowing she’d much rather be here.

  Anna had stayed mostly in her room for three days. Molly was shocked at how debilitating the migraine was and did everything she could to help, taking her cold compresses, hot drinks and a few small meals. Her illness had coincided with a two-day seminar Stuart had been invited to – something to do with Scottish Medievalists – and he’d been all set to cancel but Molly insisted he go and that she could handle everything. She’d been happy to help and had been quite pleased with herself that she had taken care of the children without any major disasters or mishaps.

  Anna was up and about and feeling better now, and although Molly thought she still looked tired and pale, she was keen to go on a viewing that had been arranged for today. Entering the kitchen, Molly saw Anna at the dining room table, hunched over what looked suspiciously like work documents. Not wanting to disturb her she quietly flitted about, boiling the kettle and finding teabags and then took the tea through. She placed a mug down beside Anna.

  ‘Thought you might like a cuppa.’

  ‘You’re an angel, thanks,’ Anna replied stretching out her back.

  ‘What have you got there?’ Molly asked peering over her shoulder before taking a seat.

  ‘It’s the contract for that job I told you about. I’m just taking a look through it, to see exactly what they want me to do.’

  ‘Are you sure you should be doing that so soon?’ Molly asked lightly just as Stuart strolled into the room.

  ‘That’s exactly what I said to her.’

  ‘I haven’t signed anything yet.’ Anna replied, sounding tetchy.

  ‘I thought we agreed you need a proper break. You said you weren’t going to take on any more work.’ Stuart gave his head a little shake, sounding mildly exasperated. While the little exchange hardly constituted an argument, for Anna and Stuart – who she’d never heard exchange a cross word – it was enough for Molly to feel a prickle of unease. Luke’s bellowing voice broke into the silence that had descended on the room.

  ‘I’ll go,’ Stuart said in a flat voice before leaving the room.

  Molly put her mug down carefully on the table. ‘Listen, why don’t you go out, just the two of you?’

  ‘Oh, Molly, that’s kind of you but you’ve done more than enough these last few days.’

  ‘But you’ve not been well, that’s not the same,’ Molly pointed out. ‘You need some time alone. Please, Anna, I insist. And anyway, the kids and I have still got the last Harry Potter left to watch.’

  Anna held up her hands. ‘Okay, I’ll think about it.

  ****

  An hour later Molly and Anna were standing in front of a rather imposing, three-storey Georgian townhouse in the centre of St Andrews.

  This time it was the owners themselves who opened the front door to the house. The couple introduced themselves and ushered them in as though Anna and Molly were old friends rather than viewers and their love for the house soon became apparent. They explained that as their family had all grown and left, they were now off to have an adventure of their own and had bought a cottage in the South of France. It had been a difficult decision for them to make – the house was much loved and filled with so many memories – but they were keen to sell up as quickly as possible so they could spend as much time as they could in France this summer.

  The layout of the house was quirky. The ground floor consisted of two bedrooms and a bathroom with a sweeping staircase leading to the main living area on the first floor. At the top of the house, and with amazing views over the town and out to the sea, were a further four bedrooms, two of them en-suite.

  Anna listened with rapt attention to the history of the house which had been built in the 1700s for a merchant family. Such was the couple’s obvious affection fo
r the house, Molly got the impression it mattered to them who bought it. They had spent years lovingly making it their family home and she could understand there would be a sadness in letting it go. But with so many rooms it also became apparent the house required a certain amount of upkeep and the lady said they were now looking forward to swapping house maintenance for the delights of their small cottage on the Cote d’Azur.

  The couple left Anna and Molly alone and one look at Anna’s face told Molly she was entranced, as they stood at the window of the master bedroom overlooking the garden. ‘See? A south facing garden. That means we would get sun all day,’ Anna enthused.

  Molly smiled. ‘So you like it?’

  ‘I think it might just be perfect. It’s close to the university which would obviously be ideal for Stuart and the children’s school is only a fifteen-minute walk. Just think, no more one-hour commutes to school,’ she sighed happily.

  ‘So you think this might be the one?’

  ‘Obviously I’ll need to come back with Stuart but I think so. I really think this might be our forever house.’

  The phrase ‘forever house’ repeated silently in Molly’s mind. It sounded like the end of a fairy tale, the place you lived happily ever after in. Molly bit her lip, suddenly picturing herself moving out of her house and wondered where she would go.

  She turned to Anna. ‘I’m so happy for you,’ she said, swallowing down the lump in her throat.

  Chapter Nine

  The next morning Molly woke up bleary-eyed and unsettled. She’d spent the night tossing and turning and had finally fallen into a restless dream-filled sleep at some unearthly hour. Now her body felt heavy and reluctant to leave the cosy warmth of the bed. But hearing voices downstairs, she stretched out the weariness from her body and forced herself to move.

  As had become her habit, she took a few steps over to the window to look out at the view. For the first time since she’d arrived, the sky was dark and overcast.

  She didn’t mean to pry but from where she stood at her bedroom window it was difficult not to glance into the neighbouring property where she could see Eva and Ben in their garden. Chickens were clucking and pecking at the seeds being scattered by Ben while Eva tended to the vegetables growing in a small patch at the bottom of the garden. In the middle of it Jamie kicked a ball around while their slightly manic-looking dog ran after him. Molly smiled at the idyllic scene. She saw Ben move over to where Eva was and gently place his hand on her stomach and then lean in to kiss the side of her face. Something about the gesture made Molly wonder if Eva was expecting a baby. There was something so loving and intimate about the moment, Molly had to turn away.