Shadows of Conflict

by Jennifer Bohnet

  ‘Patrick, I don’t want to be rude but this is going to have to be a quick lunch. I’ve left Mattie managing A Good Yarn and I don’t want to leave her on her own for too long.’

  ‘Have to learn to delegate, Katie. That’s what staff are for. An hour of your undivided attention is all I want,’ Patrick said. ‘Not too much to ask, is it?’

  The short journey across the river took barely five minutes and they were soon seated at a table in the main saloon of the barge with a porthole view towards Kingswear. Katie looked around appreciatively. ‘This is nice.’

  ‘The Empreys enjoyed it last night,’ Patrick said. ‘You’ll be pleased to hear that I’ve secured the rights for their documentary. I hear you’ve played a cameo part in it.’

  Katie smiled. ‘A very small cameo. Doubt that you’ll even have time to recognize me. It was fun to do, though.’

  The waiter handed her the menu, pointed out the day’s special and left them to decide. Katie declined Patrick’s offer of wine. ‘Just water, please. I have to work this afternoon. I think I’ll have the duck breast salad, please.’

  ‘No starter?’

  Katie shook her head. ‘No, thanks. Now Patrick, what’s this offer you think I won’t be able to refuse?’

  ‘First, can I tell you how much I miss you? Really miss having you around.’

  Katie looked at him silently and waited.

  ‘I hadn’t realized how much you meant to me until you were no longer around,’ Patrick continued. ‘Katie, come back to Bristol. Stop burying yourself down here. Come back to your old life.’

  ‘Patrick, I have no “old life” to come back to. I was made redundant, remember? So I have no job and nowhere to live up there. Besides, I’m happy I moved back here and took on A Good Yarn.’

  ‘I don’t believe that for a minute. You’re wasted down here.’ Patrick paused before he continued. ‘Would a job as executive producer alongside me, a salary of 50K and this, tempt you back?’ He reached across the table and placed a small red ring box in her hand and waited for her reaction.

  Katie looked at the ring box and then at Patrick, stunned. She hadn’t expected this at all. She didn’t dare open the box. The kind of job she’d always dreamed of was on offer. Together with a proper commitment, too, from Patrick in the form of what was clearly intended to be an engagement ring.

  When she didn’t speak, Patrick continued. ‘Hugo wants out of the agency so I’m taking over and expanding it. Remember Todd Oaks? Well, he’s providing the finance, backing me to the hilt but letting me call all the shots. We made a great team before, Katie, and we can again. Oh, there’s something else – I’m about to sign for a two-bedroom flat in Clifton. We’d have a brand new home together too. People would know we were an item.’ He squeezed her hand. ‘It’s all starting to happen for me and I want you to be a part of it. So, Katie, can I ask the waiter to bring the champagne they’ve put on ice for me and we celebrate in style?’

  Katie bit her lip and whispered, ‘No, thank you.’ Her words hung in the air between them as the waiter returned to take their food order.

  ‘Duck breast salad. Steak,’ Patrick told him brusquely before dismissing him with a wave of his hand. Once they were alone again he said, ‘Is that a “no” to everything I’ve offered? Or just to the champagne?’

  ‘Patrick, I’m sorry. You’ve completely thrown me. I thought there might be a job on offer but this….’ She shook her head. ‘I can’t think straight.’

  ‘You haven’t even looked at your ring. It’s a diamond solitaire – your secret dream, I know.’

  Carefully Katie slid the ring box across the table to Patrick. ‘I definitely need time to think about that.’

  Silently Patrick picked up the box and replaced it in his pocket before looking at Katie, his face serious.

  ‘You will think about things, then? Promise?’

  Katie nodded. ‘I promise.’

  ‘Don’t take too long though, will you? Need to know where I stand. I’ve booked the room at the hotel for another couple of nights but I’ve got to get back at the weekend.’

  Katie looked at him. ‘Patrick, you say you miss me and it seems you want me back in your life both as a working partner and,’ she hesitated before saying, ‘as your wife. What you haven’t said is that you love me. Do you?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Love me?’ Katie said.

  ‘Wouldn’t ask you to marry me if I didn’t,’ Patrick said. ‘Of course I do – and I need you in my life.’

  The waiter arrived with their food. Looking at the meal he placed in front of her, Katie’s appetite deserted her. There was no way she could eat anything. Pushing her chair back, she stood up.

  ‘Katie, what are you doing?’

  ‘Leaving. Patrick, I’m sorry. I need to go and think. You stay and finish your meal. I’m sorry,’ she said again. Banking on the fact that Patrick hated public scenes and wouldn’t attempt to stop her, she turned and walked towards the exit, ignoring all the furtive, speculative glances from other diners.

  Once the launch had taken her back to shore, Katie walked along the embankment towards A Good Yarn in a daze.

  Staring out across the harbour towards the castle, her mind went round and round in circles. Patrick’s executive producer role was exactly the kind of job she’d dreamed of obtaining ever since her media course. This time last year she knew she’d have been excited at the opportunity.

  And marrying Patrick – that was also something she’d wanted just six months ago. Now? Could she have one without the other or did that go hand in hand with the offer?

  Mattie looked at her expectantly as she pushed open the shop door. ‘You’re back sooner than I expected. Did you accept his offer – whatever it is?’

  Katie shook her head. ‘Not yet. It’s complicated. I’ve simply agreed to think about it. I’ll tell you all about it later. I need to do some work now,’ and Katie went to go through to the clubroom, but a determined Mattie blocked the way.

  ‘Wants you to go back, doesn’t he?’ Mattie said.

  Katie sighed and nodded.

  ‘You’re actually thinking about it? I thought you were happy running A Good Yarn. Looking forward to living above the shop.’

  ‘Oh, I am,’ Katie said. ‘I love it. I love being back down here too.’

  ‘Then why are you even thinking about Patrick’s offer?’

  ‘Because he’s offered me my dream job and….’ Katie took a deep breath. ‘He wants to marry me. Look, can we please talk about this later?’

  On Sunday afternoon, Katie was in Mattie’s kitchen helping her prepare tea for Noah Snr and Leo. Bert had been banished to lie in his favourite spot in the garden, from where he sniffed the air appreciatively every so often as the smell of freshly baked scones drifted out of the open kitchen window.

  Normally the two of them would have been chatting away companionably about A Good Yarn and the craft club, but not this afternoon. Ever since she’d told Mattie about Patrick’s offer, Mattie had been tight-lipped with Katie, desperate to know her decision.

  It wasn’t fair to her godmother, keeping her in suspense – the future of A Good Yarn was again at stake after all. The thing was, though, Katie knew that if Patrick had made his offer when she was first redundant and before she’d returned down here, she would have jumped at it – at both offers.

  The timing was oh so wrong. Things were different now. How could she turn her back on things? But to lose out on her dream job didn’t bear thinking about.

  ‘Given your Patrick his answer yet?’ Mattie said, breaking the silence. Deftly she emptied a pot of strawberry jam into an old yellow Dartmouth Pottery bowl.

  ‘He’s not my Patrick. And no, I haven’t given him my answer yet. I’m meeting him later to discuss it.’

  ‘Talked to Leo about it?’

  ‘No. Why should I? Anyway, I haven’t seen him since the evening Patrick arrived. I guess he’s busy on the farm.’ Katie picked up an oven glove. ‘I�
��ll get the last batch of scones out, shall I? The pinger’s about to go.’

  ‘You’ve got enough to feed an army here,’ she said, carefully placing the scones on the cooling tray.

  ‘Won’t last long when Leo and Noah get here,’ Mattie said. ‘Leo likes his cream tea. Knows what he wants, does Leo,’ she added, giving Katie a direct look.

  Katie sighed. ‘I’ve always known what I wanted too,’ she wanted to say, ‘until now. Now I just don’t know what to do for the best.’

  Leo and Noah Snr arrived together shortly afterwards and, to Katie’s relief, Mattie dropped her sullen attitude towards her.

  Noah was fascinated by the photographs Mattie had placed on the sideboard for him to see.

  Leo picked up one of Ron’s farm. ‘It looked better in those days than it does now. Is that Clara loading things into the truck?’

  Mattie nodded. ‘Yes. That one was taken during the evacuation. Ron was in the army by then and Clara helped Old Man Luttrell to move out. Six weeks they had, to get rid of everything – cows, pigs, machinery, feed, hay, chickens.’ Mattie laughed. ‘We had a couple of chickens here in the garden. Ducks too but they soon flew off to the river. Old Man Luttrell himself was packed off to relatives in Brixham.’

  ‘Dad says he remembers lots of boxes from various people being stored here and in the shop,’ Leo said.

  ‘There were,’ Mattie said. ‘Mainly I remember being very cross when everywhere I liked was made out of bounds to civilians. I couldn’t even go riding out at Slapton any more. It did get better, though, when Hal arrived on the scene.’

  ‘Hal?’ Noah said.

  ‘Clara’s boyfriend. He was an officer in the US Navy, based at the college. Clara got a job as a driver up there and that’s how they met.’

  Mattie picked up the faded photo Leo had found in the shop to show Noah. ‘That’s them – and me hanging on.’

  ‘Attractive lady. Did she hope to be a GI bride? I gather there were some from the town. Vicky discovered several names while researching for the documentary. We’re hoping to trace them when we get back to the states. See how their lives turned out.’

  ‘My parents insisted Clara was too young. Then Hal was killed in Operation Tiger,’ Mattie said. ‘I realize now that Clara was heartbroken. At the time I was too young.’

  ‘I’m sorry, ma’am,’ Noah said, putting down the photo. ‘Katie tells me she died soon afterwards?’

  Mattie nodded. ‘Yes.’

  ‘So many young men lost their lives at that time,’ Noah said. ‘Do you know anything about him? Where in the States he was from?’

  ‘Montana. I remember Clara describing the wide-open spaces that Hal had shown her pictures of and the farm they were going to live on together.’

  ‘It’s a beautiful State; I know it well. She would have had a good life there. A long way from the coast, though.’

  Mattie was silent for a moment, before taking a deep breath and pulling herself together. ‘Well, it never happened and it was a long time ago. So many families lost loved ones and had their lives changed forever.’

  ‘That’s true,’ Noah added. ‘My grandmother’s twin brother died in the war. She was devastated. His death was apparently the reason she dragged my mother to all the Jane Fonda anti-Vietnam protests. She always had this sad, inconsolable air about her and would never talk about Great-uncle Nathaniel. It’s only since she died that we’ve really learnt anything about her early life.’

  He picked up a couple of photos and looked at them again. ‘Could I borrow these and make copies? They would make interesting additions to the small exhibition I’m planning.’

  ‘No,’ Mattie said instantly, holding out her hand for the photos. ‘I’m sorry but these are too personal and too precious to be taken away.’

  Noah looked disappointed but didn’t press the matter.

  ‘Shall I make the tea?’ Katie asked.

  ‘Great idea,’ Leo said. ‘I’m famished.’

  Later, as they sat out on the garden terrace enjoying their cream teas, Noah said, ‘I nearly forgot. Vicky has discovered an eighteenth-century family ancestor from the town. One Anne Follett. And now she’s managed to persuade my mother to visit this side of the Atlantic for the first time ever.’

  ‘Not just the Pilgrim Fathers linking you to this place, then,’ Mattie said, remembering their first ever conversation. ‘I’m sorry I’ve missed meeting Vicky so far. You must bring her and your mother to tea when they arrive.’

  The phone rang and Katie went to answer it in the kitchen. Her conversation carried clearly out through the open window.

  ‘Patrick. No, I hadn’t forgotten I’m meeting you later. OK. I’ll see you at six at the hotel. Yes, I promise I’ll give you an answer then. ’Bye.’

  Leo looked at her as she returned to the garden. ‘I was hoping you’d have supper with me tonight up at the farm,’ he said. ‘I guess you’re going to be busy.’

  Katie shook her head. ‘No, Patrick has to go back tonight. I’d love to have supper with you,’ and she smiled at him happily. ‘What time shall I come?’

  Before Leo could answer, Mattie looked at her. ‘Patrick applying pressure for an answer to his offers, is he? After all, you’ve had all of two days to decide.’

  ‘What were the offers exactly?’ Leo said.

  ‘Oh, you know, Leo,’ Mattie said. ‘The ones Patrick was confident Katie couldn’t refuse.’ Leo turned to look at Katie as Mattie continued. ‘To return to Bristol for the job of her dreams. Oh, and marriage was also on offer, wasn’t it, Katie?

  ‘Is that true?’ Leo demanded. ‘You have to tell him this evening?’

  Katie nodded. ‘Yes.’

  Leo stood up. ‘Katie Teague, say yes to going back and working with Patrick if you must. But agree to marry him and I’ll know you have completely taken leave of your senses. Supper tonight is no longer on offer.’

  Leo turned to Mattie and Noah. ‘Sorry. I’ve got things to do up at the farm. Thanks for tea, Mattie.’ With that, he was gone, the garden gate slamming behind him.

  Stunned, Katie looked at Mattie, who shrugged her shoulders at her.

  ‘Like Leo, I hope you aren’t about to make the wrong decision,’ Mattie said.

  ‘The wrong decision for whom? Me? You? Leo? Patrick? Whatever I decide is going to upset someone, that’s for sure, but we’re all going to have to accept it and live with it.’

  Mattie sighed. ‘It’s your life – you must do what you want.’

  ‘I intend to,’ Katie said. ‘I just don’t like making other people unhappy in the process.’

  Noah cleared his throat. ‘Would you like me to leave so you can discuss this privately?’

  ‘No,’ Katie said. ‘Definitely not. I’m sure Mattie has a lot more to tell you about the evacuation and Operation Tiger. I’ll go and make a fresh pot of tea.’ Picking up the teapot, Katie hurried indoors to the kitchen, glad to be alone for a few moments.

  She might have given Mattie the impression she had decided what to do about Patrick’s offers but the truth was, she hadn’t. The fact that he would be pressing her for answers in, she glanced at her watch, oh heavens, one and a half hours wasn’t at all helpful. As for Leo’s outburst, dealing with that would have to wait until after she’d decided which direction she went in from here.

  Mattie was explaining to Noah how the evacuation along the coast had changed things for many years when Katie returned to the terrace.

  ‘Not just during the war but for a long time afterwards. I remember how silent and empty it was when I went out to Torcross for the first time after restrictions were lifted. It took years for life to return to normal.’

  ‘I know it took time for the land to be cleared and people to return,’ Noah said. ‘According to the research we’ve been doing, some families never came back. Those that did often found vandalized rather than genuinely wrecked homes. Farmers were amongst the first to return, weren’t they?’

  Mattie nodded. ‘I remembe
r Aunt Elsie in tears at the state of her farmhouse in Slapton. Apparently, when they were given permission to return, she and Uncle Tom came over from Paignton to assess the state of things and decided generally it wasn’t too bad. When they returned two days later with their possessions the place had been vandalized. Windows smashed, doors removed and the copper boiler had disappeared. They were devastated.’

  ‘Seems to have happened a lot. Vicky has been researching what happened to the six churches in the evacuation area – Blackawton Church seems to have suffered some of the worse damage.’

  ‘To be honest, Noah, I was too young at the time to realize what was happening all around. Besides, the fallout from Operation Tiger was still casting a shadow on my life,’ Mattie said, picking up a photograph of Clara.

  ‘If you two will excuse me,’ Katie said. ‘I need to get ready to meet Patrick.’

  Ten minutes later when she went to say goodbye, Katie heard Noah asking if Mattie would give him a tour of the evacuation area sometime.

  ‘Yes, of course,’ Mattie said. ‘Maybe when my friend Henri arrives. I know he’d enjoy it – and you know more about the history of World War Two down here than I do, despite growing up here. You off?’ she asked, turning to look at Katie. ‘Don’t let him bully you, Katie. I have a feeling that Patrick will use any means he can to get his own way. Do what you want.’

  ‘I intend to. See you later,’ Katie said.

  EIGHTEEN

  Katie made her way through town to A Good Yarn. It was the only place she could think of that would guarantee her some privacy for half an hour to think about things. She pulled out her phone to ring Lara and ask her advice. Her finger hovered over the speed-dial button before she sighed and closed the phone down. Lara didn’t like Patrick so her advice was bound to be biased. This was something she had to decide for herself.

  Carefully locking the door behind her, Katie stood for a few moments looking around the shop she’d worked so hard on. With its shelves full of wool, souvenirs, craft kits and various other bits and pieces she knew it was a welcoming and pleasant place for customers. Sales had improved in the weeks she’d been open and now that the summer season was getting underway she was hopeful she’d get even busier. As she moved around the shop she made a mental note to order some more of the lightweight lacy wool; there were only three balls left. The postcard rack needed filling too.