‘But they’re not my premises, are they?’ His voice was heavy with sarcasm, and as both the girls looked towards him, an unspoken message seemed to flash between their mother and father.
Completely ignoring his tone, Jess bent to feed half of her sandwich to Alfie, their Golden Retriever, who wolfed it down hungrily. They had bought him that year for Jo as a birthday present, and now he was at the curious stage where he seemed to be all ears and legs. He certainly didn’t resemble a Golden Retriever, that was for sure, although Jo adored him. Her feelings were returned and Alfie followed her about like a shadow.
‘Come on, boy, let’s go and play outside, shall we?’ Jo chirped the minute she had swallowed her sandwich, then they both flew out of the door that led from the kitchen into the garden and bounded across the overgrown lawn.
Aw well, at least those two are happy about the move, Jess thought to herself as she put the used mugs into the sink. She could only hope that as they settled in, Simon and Mel would feel the same.
Once outside, Simon gave a deep sigh. He wasn’t at all happy about the move, but had decided to hold his tongue and go along with it, although it went sorely against the grain. Up until now he had always organised everything for the family, right down to the last detail, and now he was shocked to learn that Jess was more than capable of managing on her own.
Abandoned at an early age by an alcoholic mother, Simon had then been shipped from one foster placement to another, with nowhere to call home. Despite her promises to come back for him, Simon had never seen his mother again and had grown up with a chip on his shoulder the size of a house-brick. He supposed that was why, when he left school, he had been determined to make something of himself and he had worked tirelessly ever since to build up his own business. He had met Jess when they were both very young, and when she told him that she was pregnant, he had decided to do right by his unborn child and marry her. Admittedly, he had found the prospect a little daunting at first, as he had never allowed himself to get close to anyone before. Even so, things hadn’t turned out too badly and Jess had always been an obedient wife – until now, that was – but he had a horrible, insecure feeling that all that was about to change. Still, as Jess had quite rightly said, the outbuildings would make a brilliant base for his business, so feeling slightly more cheerful, he set about deciding where all his equipment and materials would go.
Once Simon had disappeared inside the barn Jess turned to Mel and said, ‘How about you come and show me which room you’d like then, my love?’
Mel trailed ahead of her up the stairs with her shoulders stooped, but Jess was determined not to let anything spoil the day. She was well aware of the amount of work that needed doing to the house, but from the second she had set foot through the door, she could imagine it as it would look in the not too distant future, and hoped that soon her family would share the same vision.
Two hours later, the girls’ rooms were tidy and their beds were neatly made up with fresh bedding. Jess left them to put some of their clothes away whilst she went into the room that she and Simon had decided to use. It was very spacious and overlooked the grounds at the back of the house. There was a huge bay window in there, and Jess grinned as she looked out and saw Jo and Alfie racing around the lake. This would be a lovely family house, once it was finished. She tried to imagine how this room would look with the wallpaper she had chosen and with new carpets and curtains. The girls had already chosen the paper for their bedrooms, and she hoped that once the improvements had been made, they would start to feel more at home.
For now, she would only be redecorating the rooms they would be living in because of the expense. Plumbers, painters and electricians were all booked to come in. She and Simon could do the rest of the redecoration at a later date. He simply had too many commitments to do the necessary major work on the house, and was very put out to be paying other firms to be doing it. However, Jess knew that he would be monitoring it all very closely.
Jess was standing in the window when she saw Simon suddenly appear at the back of the house. He stood pensively looking out at the overgrown lawns and her heart swelled. Their relationship had not been going well for some time now but she loved him so much, and wanted this to be a new start for them. Simon was now in his mid-thirties and still a very handsome man. Tall and dark-haired, he had always had an eye for the ladies, which had almost ended their marriage on more than one occasion. But Jess hoped that now things were easier financially, he might settle down a little. She had lost count of the times she had caught him out in sordid little affairs and knew that now, all that had to end for the sake of the children. Their constant bickering was beginning to affect Melanie, who had become very quiet and withdrawn lately. Of course, some of the girl’s mood swings were no doubt due to her age. She was a teenager now, and Simon often referred to her tantrums as ‘the battle of the hormones’. Melanie looked much like her mother, petite and fair-haired, whilst Jo took after her father in looks. She was taller, with his dark hair and blue eyes, which made a startling contrast.
Jess looked beyond Simon to where Jo was rampaging across the grass with Alfie in hot pursuit, and then yawning, she mentally tried to prioritise the list of jobs she still needed to do that day.
As darkness fell, Melanie began to glance nervously towards the windows. There had been streetlamps outside their home in Hinckley, but here there was nothing but inky blackness and she found it slightly unnerving, as if they had been shut off from the world.
‘Everything all right, love?’ Jess asked as she flipped some bacon she was cooking for supper in the frying pan.
‘Yes. It’s just strange not to be able to see any other houses,’ Melanie told her quietly. ‘I feel sort of . . . isolated.’
‘You’ll soon get used to it,’ Jess said comfortingly as she manoeuvred the bacon onto a plate to keep warm before breaking an egg into the pan. ‘And our nearest neighbour isn’t that far away. There’s a cottage just at the end of the drive.’
‘I wonder who lives there?’ Jo piped up as she waited for her food. ‘It would be great if there was someone there the same age as me that I could play with.’
‘I have no idea, but I’ve no doubt we’ll find out soon enough,’ Jess assured her, then turning her attention to Simon she asked, ‘And when are you planning on moving all your supplies into the outbuildings?’
‘I’ve already asked Bill and a couple of the lads if they’ll help to move all the stuff here from the yard, though it’s going to take a few days. I thought we could stack all the bricks in the Dutch barn,’ he said.
‘Well, there you are then. It’s all going to work out just fine, isn’t it?’ she said.
Simon didn’t reply but merely got up to fetch the tomato ketchup, and the meal passed in silence as the family ate hungrily.
Later that night, when the girls had gone to bed, Simon broached a subject that had been concerning him. ‘Look, Jess, I know we have been able to afford to buy and do up this house with the sale of our home in Hinckley and with what your gran left you – but have you given any thought as to how we’re going to live when that money is gone? I know I could earn enough to pay the mortgage on our old house, but this is a huge place and it’s going to take some maintaining.’
Jess suddenly felt sad as she realised how precarious their relationship had become. This was something that they should have discussed before now, but Simon had left it until they were actually in the property before voicing his concerns.
‘I have given it a lot of thought as it happens,’ she replied. ‘And I’ve decided that it’s time I branched out and started a little business of my own to top the funds up.’
Simon looked incredulous. ‘Oh yes, and what would that be then?’
‘Once we’ve got everywhere ship-shape I’m going to open a little B and B. We have far more bedrooms than we need, so it makes sense to utilise the ones that are standing empty.’
He opened his mouth to protest but then clamped it shut a
gain. This was yet another side of his wife that he had never seen before. For years she had been content just to stay at home and bring the girls up, but it seemed that now, she was ready to spread her wings.
‘What do you think of the idea?’ she asked eventually.
‘I suppose it could be a viable proposition,’ he answered cautiously. ‘If you think you can manage the extra workload, that is?’
‘You’d be surprised what I could manage if push came to shove,’ she said tightly.
Hearing the hidden threat in her voice, he hurriedly dropped his eyes. His last affair had impacted badly on their relationship; to the point that he had thought for a time that their marriage wouldn’t survive it. Jess had informed him in no uncertain terms that he was skating on very thin ice, and he knew that he would have to be on his very best behaviour for some time to come, if he wanted to keep his family together.
‘If that’s what you want to do, I won’t stand in your way,’ he told her.
‘Good. Now how about we get ourselves off to bed? I don’t know about you but I’m ready to drop and we have a lot to do tomorrow. The girls will be starting their new schools on Monday and I have to find what boxes their uniforms are packed in for a start-off.’ Glancing apprehensively at the mountain of boxes stacked against one wall of the kitchen, Jess wondered if she would ever get straight again.
‘Come on then.’ Simon went to lock the back door before holding his hand out to her with a twinkle in his eye. ‘Let’s go and christen our new bedroom, eh?’
They had not slept together since his last misdemeanour, and for a moment he thought that she was going to refuse. But then she rose and took his hand as a slight blush pinked her cheeks. If they were going to stay together it was time to put the past behind them.
Chapter Two
They were all sitting at breakfast the next morning when Mel said sulkily, ‘Will you please knock next time you want to come into my room, Mum? I’m not a little baby who you have to check on any more, you know.’
Jess raised her eyes from her Weetabix. ‘What do you mean? I didn’t come into your room last night.’
‘Well, someone did,’ Mel stated emphatically.
‘It wasn’t me,’ Jo told her, her mouth full of cornflakes.
‘Perhaps you just thought you heard someone come in,’ Jess suggested. ‘These old houses tend to be noisy at night as they settle.’
Mel opened her mouth to protest but thought better of it.
‘Can me and Alfie go out to play now?’ Jo trilled as she pushed her empty cereal bowl away. ‘We found a little bluebell wood on the other side of the lake yesterday and it’s ever so pretty.’
‘Yes, you can – but mind what you get up to,’ Jess warned. ‘Don’t get going too near to the edge of that lake, please, young lady.’
‘I ought to be getting off too,’ Simon told her as he rose from the table. ‘I’ve got a few of the lads together so we can start bringing some of the supplies over here today. The Dutch barn will be ideal for storing the sand and cement as well as the bricks. It seems quite dry in there.’
Apprehension flashed momentarily in his wife’s eyes but then she masked it with a smile. Every time Simon went out she wondered if he was going to see another woman, but she knew she had to stop thinking like that, if they were going to make this work.
‘All right. How long do you think you will be?’
‘How long is a piece of string? You know how much stuff there is to shift. It will probably take most of the day just to load the lorry. And being Saturday, the lads won’t want to work too late.’
She started to clear the table, saying, ‘See you later then. Don’t get working too hard now.’
Mel shot off upstairs at the first opportunity and in no time at all Jess found herself alone. Suddenly the enormity of what she had taken on hit her full force and she wondered if she had bitten off more than she could chew. But then she straightened her shoulders. She hadn’t even found time to venture up into the attics yet, although she was longing to have a look around up there. But somehow she knew that this house had been waiting for her. She had been meant to live here, and every minute of work she put into it would be worth it in the end, she just knew it.
Later that morning, as Jess sat enjoying a well-earned tea-break, she pored over the kitchen brochures she had picked up a few weeks ago. There was one that both she and Simon liked, and although it was expensive she decided that she would ring the shop that very morning and book an appointment for them to come out and measure up. The units were solid oak and she knew that they would suit the room perfectly. It was then that she was interrupted by a tap on the back door and when she went to open it she found an attractive dark-haired woman who looked to be a little older than herself standing there with a teenager in tow.
‘Hello there, I’m Laura Briggs,’ the woman introduced herself. ‘And this is my daughter, Bethany. We live in Blue Brick Cottage at the end of the drive. Anyway, I thought we should introduce ourselves. My husband Dennis is at work, but I’m sure you’ll meet him soon. Oh, and I brought you these as a little house-warming present. They’re home-made – I hope you’ll like them.’ As she spoke, she pressed a small wicker basket into Jess’s hands. It contained a couple of bottles of wine with handwritten labels, along with an assortment of jars of jam.
‘Why, how kind of you. Do come in,’ Jess invited as she held the door wide. ‘Have you got time for a cup of tea? I was just having one.’
‘I never say no to a cuppa,’ the woman grinned as she stepped inside.
‘I’m Jess, by the way.’ Jess urged her guests towards the table. ‘My husband Simon is at work too. He’s a builder and he has a small yard that he rents, but he’s decided to store all the stuff here now so he’s gone off to start shifting it. It seems silly not to, with all these outbuildings standing empty.’
Quickly carrying two more mugs to the table she lifted the teapot and glanced at Bethany. The girl was strikingly pretty. Tall and slim, she had eyes the colour of bluebells and a heart-shaped face. There were dimples in her cheeks and her skin was like fine porcelain, but she seemed to be very quiet. She hadn’t uttered so much as a single word up to now.
‘Bethany doesn’t say much,’ Laura informed her as if she could read what Jess was thinking. At that moment, Bethany spotted Jo and Alfie out of the window and she touched her mother, who smiled at her affectionately. ‘She loves dogs. Would you mind very much if she went outside to meet him?’
‘Of course not. That’s Alfie, he’s with my daughter, Jo. Go and introduce yourself.’
The young woman instantly rose and lumbered towards the back door, and in that instant, Jess realised that there was something not quite right about her.
‘Bethany is a little . . . slow,’ Laura told her hesitantly once the door had closed behind her. ‘Unfortunately there were complications during her birth and she was left with slight brain damage. But even so she is our only child and we adore her,’ she said defensively.
‘I should think you do, she’s absolutely beautiful,’ Jess told her. It seemed so sad that anyone who looked so perfect should be disabled. ‘And how old is she?’
‘She’s nineteen now.’ Laura sighed. ‘I’m afraid she’ll never be able to live independently, and Dennis and I worry ourselves sick about what will become of her when anything happens to us.’
‘Oh, my goodness. I’m sure that won’t be for a very long time yet,’ Jess assured her. She was warming to this woman by the minute and had the feeling that they could become friends. ‘Does Bethany go to work?’
‘Oh, no,’ Laura said hastily, ‘although she can cook and clean with the best of them. If you need any help getting this place back into shape I’m sure she’d love to help and it would give her something to do. She tends to get a little lonely sometimes with just her dad and myself for company. Dennis does run her to a youth club in town that caters for young people with special needs, but that’s only once a week, and other than tha
t she barely sets foot out of the door.’
‘I might just take you up on that offer,’ Jess said. ‘To be honest I’m feeling a little overwhelmed with all I have to do today. This place must have stood empty for a long time.’
‘Oh, it has – nearly two years by now, I should think.’ Laura sipped at her tea and glanced around nervously before going on. ‘Mr Fenton, the old man that lived here, left it to distant family in Texas when he passed away. The story goes that Mr Fenton was married once, a very long time ago, in the 1960s, but his wife left him when their son was quite small, and she was never heard of again. Then, shortly after she left, their son drowned in the river. After that, Mr Fenton became a bit of a recluse. The couple from Texas came over to check the place out a few months back, but they didn’t stay long, and before we knew it, the place was on the market.’ She leaned forward and admitted, ‘As a matter of fact, I’ve never set foot in here before. But apparently the house has been in the Fenton family since it was built.’
‘Really? Do you know anything about the history of the place?’
‘Jake Fenton, who owned a mill in Attleborough, had it built in the early 1800s. It was originally called Stonebridge Farm, named after the stone bridge that crosses the river about a quarter of a mile away towards Caldecote. Jake was a bit of a wild one, if you can believe the old stories – you know, a ladies’ man and a gambler. His genes must have passed down through the generations ’cos it’s said that this has never really been a happy house.’ Seeing the look of dismay that flitted across Jess’s face she added quickly, ‘Of course, I’m sure all that will change now that a nice new young family have moved in. It’s just what the place needed – although I have to say I think you’re very brave, taking all this work on. The place is in a bit of a state, isn’t it?’
‘I’d say that was putting it mildly,’ Jess said wryly as she looked round at the outdated cupboards. No wonder the couple had taken fright and gone back to the USA, allowing the house to go out of the family after all this time.
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