After returning to Rosewood, he hadn’t had a chance to speak to his aunt about where he’d been, as there had been a rush at the tea shop when a tourist bus had arrived, so she’d been out front serving while Ethan had got straight to work in the kitchen. His cousins had flitted in and out, helping with orders then taking them to tables. Now it was the middle of the afternoon and in just over an hour, Ethan would be able to go and pick Tilly up from school. The thought of seeing his little girl and finding out how her day had been made his insides vibrate with joy. He couldn’t wait to hug her and listen to her stories.
He poured some cold water into the flour and butter then deftly mixed it in until he had a smooth ball. He lifted it out of the bowl and set it on the cling film he’d cut ready, wrapped it up, then set it in the fridge.
After he’d washed his hands, he accepted a mug of tea from his aunt.
‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome.’ She smiled. ‘We might not have long, so drink it while it’s hot. Some days we don’t stop here and before I know it, I’ve gone all day without a warm drink or anything to eat. But I’m not complaining because it’s wonderful to run a successful business and to work so close to home. I’d have hated to endure a long daily commute to work.’
She perched on a stool at the island in the centre of the kitchen and stretched out her legs.
‘Oh, that feels good. My poor old legs ache some days from being on the go.’
Ethan sat opposite her and cradled his mug between his palms.
‘I know that feeling well.’ He nodded. ‘I had a nice chat with Fran Gandolfini this morning after I’d dropped Tilly off.’
Audrey nodded. ‘She’s great, isn’t she?’
‘Very nice. I found her quite down to earth and easy to talk to.’
‘We’ve known Fran since she was a baby. She even babysat for our girls when she was a teenager.’
‘Yes, she told me.’
They sipped their tea in silence for a bit, appreciating the familiar taste and warmth of the drink.
‘I’m so glad you came to stay with us, Ethan. I was hoping that the job would appeal to you. I’ve been worried about you for a long time.’
‘You have?’ He met her gaze and she inclined her head.
‘Knowing that you were alone, without family around you and Tilly… other than my older brother, that is, but I know Lewis hasn’t been much help, has he?’
Ethan chewed his bottom lip.
‘Ethan, darling, I know you don’t want to say anything bad about your father, but I also know that after he lost your mother, he really struggled with things.’
‘He did. He’s never… been the same.’ Ethan swallowed hard as his father’s face appeared in his mind. His skin bore the deep grooves of grief around his mouth and eyes and he sighed regularly, as if carrying around a pain that would never lift.
‘Eight years is a long time to grieve so acutely and yet… after a lifetime with someone you love, it’s no time at all. Lewis loved Heidi deeply and she was always the strong one in their relationship.’
‘She was his rock.’
Ethan thought of the times he’d seen his mum support his dad, the times she’d taken a deep breath and seemed to prepare herself to be the backbone of her family. She had been a brave woman and he had admired her for it every single day. Losing someone like that, the woman who held her family together, was bound to leave a lasting hole. Ethan had a hole there that he’d been unable to fill, an ache that had never gone away, and it had been one of the reasons why he’d rushed into his relationship with Melanie. But, of course, Melanie hadn’t been the one – or wanted to be the one – to fill that hole, and neither should she have been expected to do so. Ethan could see both sides of that issue and sometimes wondered if he’d put too much pressure on her to be everything that he needed; no one could ever be everything to someone else. And Melanie had chosen not to be anything to him at all.
‘How are you doing with everything else?’ Audrey’s voice was soft, her tone inviting confidence.
‘I’m okay.’
‘Are you?’
He sighed, pushing out a breath that he hoped would carry away the tension that seemed to be forever present, sitting inside of him like hardening clay. ‘I have to be.’
‘She was a fool that Melanie.’ Audrey shook her head.
‘She… she had things she needed to do.’
‘You’re a good man, Ethan, I know you are, but you don’t have to defend her. Aren’t you angry?’
He sipped his tea then set his mug on the island.
‘I have been… at times.’ And he had. He had ranted and raged to himself, pounded the treadmill and cycled for miles in virtual spin on the exercise bike in his bedroom – both because he couldn’t go out at night to exercise because of a lack of childcare – but he had never allowed his anger to emerge in front of Tilly. He didn’t want her to see him like that. In fact, he had hidden most of it from Melanie too, hating the thought that she would see his raw pain, his anguish and his yearning for a stable family life. It was embarrassing and humiliating to be rejected by someone as he had been, and overwhelmingly sad. ‘But more than anger, I feel sadness. I never thought I’d end up divorced.’
Audrey slid off her stool and walked around to him, then she opened her arms. Ethan stared at her for a moment, uncertain, then he leant forwards and she hugged him tight. She smelt of flowers and baking and her hairnet scratched against his cheek. But the hug was good. It was warm and caring and he squeezed her back, his anxiety at the prospect of human contact drifting away like a grey storm cloud blown away by a summer breeze. Audrey was his aunt, she cared about him and she was letting him know that.
When she released him and stepped back, she took his hand.
‘Ethan… has there been anyone else since Melanie left?’
He shook his head.
‘You’ve been alone for what… two years?’
‘I had Tilly.’
‘You’re a young man and you’re entitled to have relationships.’
‘I haven’t been ready.’ His voice wavered.
‘That’s understandable, love, it really is.’ She squeezed his hand. ‘But don’t leave it too long because you are a good person and you deserve to be happy.’
‘Tilly is my priority.’
‘Of course she is.’ Audrey nodded. ‘She always will be. But she will be happy as long as you are and that might mean finding love again. You’ll see if you just give your heart a chance to open to the idea again.’
Ethan lowered his gaze to the floor, not wanting his aunt to see the doubt in his eyes. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to let another woman into his life. How could he trust someone with his heart, let alone Tilly’s?
* * *
Ethan sipped the gin and tonic that his cousin, Harper, had made for him and settled into the sofa in the lounge at the farmhouse. Tilly was in the kitchen with his aunt and uncle and his two cousins had suggested that they go and sit in the lounge and watch a documentary about a band that Scarlett’s boyfriend knew. Ethan had been glad to go and sit down after a busy Saturday at the tea shop and he’d left Tilly in the kitchen drawing portraits of Audrey while Gary chuckled into his glass of beer. Tilly definitely had an artistic flair like his mother, but it needed some refining, and at times Ethan found the way her sketches exaggerated certain aspects of someone’s face and body quite amusing. Whenever Tilly drew him, he had ridiculously long legs and a very floppy fringe, and he’d said to her more than once that he looked like some kind of wig on legs. That always made Tilly giggle and he suspected that she did it deliberately now, just to get him smiling.
‘What do you think?’ Scarlett asked from the other side of the sofa, as she pointed at the TV screen where a group of five twenty-somethings cavorted around on a stage, shaking their heads, shouting into microphones, strumming instruments, pushing each other and performing chest bumps and high fives. The music was loud, raw and energetic.
>
‘It’s certainly… uh… lively.’ Ethan smiled, hoping that he was being diplomatic.
Scarlett cocked a heavily drawn on eyebrow at him then flicked back her flame-red hair. The last time Ethan had seen her before returning to Rosewood, Scarlett’s hair had been light blonde, long and silky. Now it was shoulder length, dyed bright red and messy – waved and backcombed to create something that made Ethan think of a bird’s nest. Her blue eyes were lined with black kohl and her lips were the same shade as her hair. If she had any freckles, they were hidden by the thick foundation that she’d painted onto her skin.
‘Look at you showing your age, cuz!’ Scarlett poked out her tongue and the stud in it caught the light. Every time Ethan saw the piercing, he winced, wondering how anyone could bear to have something put through their tongue. Surely it must have hurt at the time as well as afterwards, and what if it caught on something as she was eating?
‘Oh leave him alone, Scar!’ Harper shook her head from the chair in the corner. ‘Just because he’s over thirty doesn’t mean he’s over the hill. Besides which, Camomile Motion are a bit of an acquired taste.’
‘Just because lawyer Lottie doesn’t like them.’ Scarlett rolled her eyes. Lottie was Harper’s partner and Ethan had only met her briefly when she’d picked his cousin up the previous evening. She was short with big brown eyes, and cropped dark hair that exposed tiny ears and a very serious expression.
‘Lottie has good taste.’ Harper winked at Ethan.
‘So does Pip and this is one of his favourite songs.’ Scarlett nodded her head along to the music and Ethan took another sip of his drink, hoping the music video would be over soon. The band wasn’t terrible but they weren’t his cup of tea either and he was worried that his smile would soon slip and betray his discomfort, which could be mistaken for disapproval. The last thing he wanted was for either of his cousins to feel that he disapproved of them or their music taste. He wanted to develop solid relationships with his family now that he was here.
‘How are you settling in, Ethan?’ Harper asked.
He met her green gaze, so much like her mother’s, and watched as she twirled strands of her poker-straight long blonde hair around her fingers. She was exactly how he remembered her looking when she was younger: slim, pale-skinned and quieter than her sister. A lot quieter.
‘All right, thanks.’ He nodded. ‘The cottage is very comfortable and you’ve all been really welcoming.’
‘Mum is just delighted to have you and Tilly here.’ Harper smiled. ‘She loves having a little one round the place again. It’ll be good for her when Lottie and I head off.’
Harper had told him about her plans to go travelling around Europe with Lottie in the new year. Lottie was taking a month off work to go with Harper, then she’d return to her job and Harper would continue travelling for another two months with some friends. It was something she’d always wanted to do and she said she intended on doing it now, before she settled down. At twenty-five, she was still young, and a tiny part of Ethan envied her freedom to pack a bag and set off to see more of the world. He had been abroad on holidays but never actually set off to see more than one destination at a time, and now, as a single father, it was unlikely to happen. But the flicker of envy soon faded as thoughts of Tilly filled his head. How could he ever want anything else when he had such a wonderful child to spend time with? Freedom was overrated and not something he needed to feel fulfilled. What he did need in order to feel fulfilled though was beyond his understanding.
‘We’re glad to be here.’ He tilted his head as he heard laughter from the kitchen – the deep booming laugh of his uncle and the light tinkling of Tilly’s giggle. She must be creating some amusing artwork to have Gary laughing that heartily. He hoped she wouldn’t offend Audrey, although knowing that Audrey had lived with Scarlett for twenty-two years made him think that she could handle a slightly unflattering portrait drawn by a six-year-old. He wondered what she’d create if she decided to draw Scarlett and shuddered at the thought of how she would draw his cousin’s eyebrows and hair and whether she’d include the tongue piercing. How exactly would she get that into a portrait?
‘So, Ethan…’ Scarlett wriggled closer to him on the sofa and peered at him over her glass. ‘Are you in the right place for dating?’
His throat tightened. ‘S-sorry… What?’ He coughed.
‘Well, you’ve been single for quite some time now, therefore… would you like me to set you up?’
He stared at her as a chill spread through his body, prickling under his armpits and curdling the drink in his stomach.
‘No. No, thanks.’ He drained his glass then set it down on the side table. ‘Not at all.’
‘No? Really?’ Scarlett raised her eyebrows.
‘Really.’
‘But why?’ Scarlett tilted her head. ‘You’re gorgeous, Ethan, and you’re wasted being single. I know so many delightful ladies who’d be happy to go out with you. It doesn’t have to lead to anything serious, but you could have some fun. In fact…’ She pulled her smartphone from her pocket and started scrolling through her contacts list. Ethan watched in horror as images rolled up the screen. Scarlett appeared to have photos of everyone next to their phone numbers. ‘There we are!’
His cousin held out her mobile and he peered at the screen. There, next to the name Georgina Donovan, was a photo of a young woman with long brown hair and big blue eyes framed by impossibly thick, dark eyelashes. The photo was small but he could see that the woman was attractive. Even so, he had no interest in getting to know her at all.
Suddenly, Scarlett moved her finger and pressed video call, and a dialling tone filled the lounge. Ethan froze as the call was answered and the woman’s face filled the screen. She certainly was very pretty and had a warm smile punctuated by bright white teeth.
‘Hey, Georgie, what’s up?’ Scarlett sang into the phone.
‘Hello, girl, I’m good. How’re you?’
‘Good, baby. I just wanted to check if you’re doing anything next Friday evening.’
‘I don’t think so.’ Georgie chewed her lip thoughtfully. ‘Why, you want to go somewhere?’
‘Nah, but my cousin would love to take you out.’
Ethan’s stomach lurched. This was absurd. He was being put on the spot by a cousin he barely knew and in front of the very woman she had decided she wanted him to date. He pushed himself up from the sofa and started to back away on shaky legs.
‘Ethan!’ Scarlett patted the sofa next to her. ‘Come back and say hello to Georgie.’
He shook his head and glanced at Harper. She looked as horrified as he felt.
‘Cut it out, Scarlett,’ Harper whispered. ‘He clearly doesn’t want to go.’
‘What’s going on?’ Georgie asked from the phone.
Scarlett looked from Ethan to her sister then back at the phone.
‘Gosh, sorry, Georgie, my mistake… he… uh… has something on.’
‘Hey wait, is that the dishy cousin you were on about? The one who cooks?’ George asked, her tone softening as it filtered out into the room. ‘The one who’s working at Rosewood? I’ve heard about him from some of the girls who saw him in the village. They said he’s gorgeous. Please set me up! I’d love to go on a date with him.’
Scarlett looked at Ethan but he shook his head again, then turned and fled from the room. He could hear Scarlett muttering something to Georgie but he couldn’t make out what she was saying and he didn’t care to know. She would have to explain this to her friend as best she could because it wasn’t his problem. Ethan was certainly not in the right place to be set up on blind dates and he never would be. The very thought chilled him to the bone.
Chapter 7
Fran pulled up in front of Rosewood and cut the engine. The sky was leaden with fat grey clouds and she wasn’t looking forward to leaving the warmth of the car and venturing into the biting winter wind again. With just one week of November remaining, winter had settled into Penhallow Sa
nds with a vengeance. There hadn’t been any snow yet, but the farming forecast had said there was a likelihood that they’d see some over the next few weeks. She wondered if it would arrive in time for Christmas and stay for Holly’s wedding, which would be nice but also troublesome in equal measure, as it could make proceedings difficult and was never a good thing for the local farmers.
Fran had had a busy week delivering Christmas stock to local shops, as well as trying to finish a landscape that she’d decided upon as the perfect wedding gift for Holly and Rich. Added to that, Shell from the village had arrived two nights ago with a very small and malnourished Westie that had been found wandering just outside the village. No one had claimed it, so they’d put up a notice at the vet’s and in the local shops, but with Christmas approaching, it was suspected that the dog might have been abandoned by its owners as they welcomed a new pup in time for Christmas, or possibly by a breeder as it was completely deaf. It wasn’t chipped either, so there was no way of tracing where it had come from. The vet had estimated the dog to be no more than a year old and it was very timid. Fran had left the dog in the care of her pack at home, knowing that they would keep the poor thing company. Their introduction had shown no ill will between them and no conflict of personalities, but then her dogs were as laid-back as they came and were used to Fran having waifs and strays of the canine and feline variety staying at their home for varying lengths of time. They took it all in their stride and Dust Bunny in particular liked to mother any new arrivals.
Fran wrapped her woollen scarf tightly around her neck, pulled on her red bobble hat then opened the car door. A gust of wind tugged at the door and she had to hold on tight as she got out then used her bodyweight to push the door closed. She went around to the rear of her car and opened the boot, then lifted out the box of festive mugs she’d made for the tea shop. She balanced it on her hip then reached up for the boot and closed it. Audrey had loved the samples and ordered three boxes. There were two more in there but she’d have to take them in one at a time.
The Christmas Tea Shop at Rosewood Page 8