Moonlight Over Muddleford Cove: An absolutely unputdownable feel good romantic comedy

by Kim Nash

  Pamela from the groomers had us all hooting with laughter when she talked about the first time Aunty Lil had gone into the shop and had taken one of the freshly baked biscuits that were on the counter and spat it out when she realised they were made from liver and bacon and weren’t for the consumption of people with two legs.

  Margaret, who was married to the butcher, Walter, laughed about the fact that Lilian used to spend more money each week on feeding Norman on the best cuts of meat, that most of the times she visited she had to be reminded by Walter to buy something for her own dinner too.

  Karen from the hairdresser’s next to Pamela’s told us about the way Lilian talked about Norman and her spa days, when she’d drop him into the groomer while she popped to the hairdresser and beautician, and both went home looking and smelling beautiful as well as being relaxed and pampered.

  Juliette from the local dog rescue shelter talked about the night that Lilian slept on her lounge floor, comforting a dog called Norman, who slept on the sofa, who had been poorly and had been sent back to the shelter from the vet’s, who just needed some love and attention after being neglected by a family who didn’t have time for him. Lilian fostered Norman and built up his trust and his strength until they could find him a wonderful permanent home and Juliette used to meet up with her regularly with Norman and go for walks. In this time of course, Lilian fell madly in love with Norman and couldn’t bear the thought of letting him go elsewhere, so her original thoughts of never wanting a dog had been quashed, once and for all.

  We spent the most delightful hour listening to the stories and reminiscing. I went from roaring with laughter one minute, to wiping away a tear the next when emotion overwhelmed me. I learnt so much about Aunty Lil’s physical presence, her huge heart, her ‘never say never spirit’, and how she would never let anything stand in her way. I know not every meeting would be like this, but what a way to kick-start to my WI initiation. I loved it.

  Joan and Val stood once more at the front of the hall and invited me to join them while they presented me with a framed embroidery with Aunt Lilian’s name, the dates of her life and the WI logo. Underneath her name, it said the words:

  * * *

  Lilian Wagstaff

  treasured member of Muddleford WI

  now and always

  never forgotten.

  * * *

  We all stood and sang ‘Jerusalem’. I was glad I’d looked up the words the night before as I only knew the first line up till then. It felt a bit strange with everyone’s eyes on me. When the song finished, Val asked me to chat about our beach-hut soiree.

  ‘So, when I was told that Norman, the love of Aunty Lil’s life’ – a little ripple of laughter went around the room – ‘came from a dog rescue centre, which may now have to close down due to a lack of funding, I wanted to see how I could help and how Aunty Lil could leave a legacy behind her. So I’d like to invite you all to join us at her beach hut on Muddleford Beach two weeks on Thursday for a fabulous swishing event.’

  There were confused looks around the room. Clearly swishing hadn’t reached the Dorset coast. That was good. At least it would be a unique event and if it turned out to be an absolute shambles no-one would know any different. I’d spoken to Rita on the phone a day ago and she’d very kindly given me some fabulous advice about how she ran events before she got her shop up and running.

  ‘Swishing is where you bring along unwanted clothes and swap them for something else. Then if you don’t have anything to swap, but there’s something that you want, you make a donation for each additional item. We are looking for stock in advance too, so if you’d like to donate anything to the event, I’d love to hear from you. I didn’t know what to do with Aunty Lil’s clothes so there will be lots of items from her wardrobes. She had some amazing clothes and I’d love them to find new wonderful homes where they’ll still be worn and maybe even treasured.’

  ‘Oh how wonderful,’ spoke up one lady in the audience who’d introduced herself earlier as Jill. ‘Lilian was always so beautifully dressed and, as I said earlier, I admired her dress sense very much and always used to say to her that I’d love a good old rummage in her wardrobe.’

  I smiled at the thought of Jill rooting through Aunty Lil’s wardrobe.

  ‘So we’re looking for donations of clothes – which must be in excellent condition – jewellery, scarves, bags and shoes. You can either bring them along on the night, or drop them off beforehand. If you want to do that, please call me to arrange it. I’ll sort out a time to meet you at the hut. We will be selling tickets for the event at £2.50 per ticket, you can buy a glass of bubbly for the same price, and we thought that we’d set the item price at £2.50 too to make it nice and easy. We’d love to see as many of you as possible there on the evening. I do hope you can join us. Please do tell all your friends about it and bring them along too to help to make it a fabulous event. ’

  Pamela yelled from the back row, ‘Do you have a poster? I can put one up in the shop.’

  ‘Ooh me too,’ piped up Karen from the hairdresser’s. ‘Or some leaflets that I can give out to my customers?’

  ‘I’ll get Walter to give out some in the butcher’s shop to all the ladies that come in. And we can drop them in the delivery bags too.’

  ‘Thank you so much, ladies. You’ve all been very generous.’

  My heart swelled. These people didn’t know me at all, but they were doing this for Aunty Lil and one of the many causes that she supported.

  ‘We’re very excited about the event, Nell. We do love to do something for our local community and it will be wonderful to keep the shelter running for as long as we can with any money that we make. Lilian would be so very proud of you.’ Joan squeezed my hand.

  A lump formed in my throat and I could only mumble thanks and return to my seat. Oh how I wish she were here with me; knowing me later in my life and us spending quality time together. I felt so sad and still held so much regret. I wasn’t sure whether that feeling would ever go.

  Val came and sat next to me and rubbed my back. ‘Don’t be sad, darling. That’s the last thing she would have wanted you to be. You can’t change the past, but you can change the future. She left you what she did so that you can make a difference in the same way she did. She made her peace with losing touch with you and your mother a very long time ago. It took her a while initially, but once she did, she was a different person. I won’t say she wasn’t devastated at first because she was. And she tried so hard to get in touch with your mother, but she was having none of it. She’d have loved to see you sitting here today amongst her friends. I for one am so glad to have you back in our little world, and Jack was delighted when I told him that you’d come home. He’s been away this week, with Natalia, but they’ll be back tomorrow and I know he’ll be desperate to see you.’

  Finding that hard to believe after he’d spent the week away with the stunning Natalia, I wondered how we would act around each other. We would have to find our own new normal. Find a way to be just friends. After all, that’s what we used to be. I wondered if they’d been abroad. Would Natalia have been prancing around on a beach in a skimpy bikini with her arse hanging out. Why did people do that? Are they really that vain that they think their arse is so beautiful that others would want to look at it?

  Would Natalia have told him about our conversation at lunch or would she have kept it to herself?. My face flushed at the thought of him believing that I still held a torch for him after all these years. I gulped. As if!

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Sitting on the bed in Aunty Lil’s room to go through her costume jewellery made me feel very nostalgic. There were a few items that brought back memories of me being here all those years ago. We’d spend hours going through her jewellery chest and she’d tell me stories of where she’d bought them or who had passed them on to her or for what occasion she’d worn them. She was a fabulous storyteller who kept me mesmerised with her captivating tales for hours on end. Most
people had petite little jewellery boxes and she did have one of those for her valuable pieces, ‘her real diamonds’ she used to call them, but she had so much costume jewellery , it was all kept really well organised in a big old blanket chest and going through it and listening to her stories used to be one of my favourite things to do when I stayed at the house.

  I hoped she wouldn’t mind me getting rid of her things. I picked up a long necklace with a cornflower-blue pendant on the end which was absolutely stunning. I slid it over my head. The colour was a very close match to the dress I was wearing. Dresses seemed to be my new uniform down here. Along with cardigans and flip-flops. Long gone were the business suits and high heels I used to wear every day. It was lovely to be comfy in my clothes, which in turn made me feel comfortable in my skin. As the saying goes, life did definitely feel better in flip-flops.

  There were still lots of gorgeous vintage-type items that I wanted to hang onto and wear myself but those things that weren’t suitable or didn’t fit were being put into her old shopping bag on wheels, ready to take down to the beach hut for our Beach Hut Swishing Event. I’d already had a good few messages from people wanting to drop stuff off to me so had arranged to be there between 12 and 4. I just hoped that we’d have enough stuff for the event.

  Hammering on the front door disturbed me from my thoughts and I went to open it.

  ‘Hey, gorgeous, it’s so good to have you back.’ Jack walked into the hallway, leaned in for a hug, then instead picked me up and twirled me around. ‘I can’t tell you how happy I am that you decided to come back.’ He nuzzled into my neck.

  This action really confused me. How could someone who felt the way his girlfriend said he did – that I was a pain – behave in this way? He really did seem truly delighted to see me, which is exactly what Val had said too. I breathed him in. He’d clearly come fresh from the shower as the back of his hair was wet and he smelt of sandalwood and citrus mixed with a tinge of cinnamon. He hugged me so tightly and didn’t seem to want to let go. I melted into his arms, they had always made me feel safe and secure. But once more those words that Natalia had said to me flooded my thoughts and I gently extricated myself from him and moved away. I could do this.

  ‘Ooh is that your gorgeous coffee on the go that I can smell, Nellie-bum? I could murder a mug! It’s been a long old week.’

  The smell which permanently filled the house, was a dead giveaway and I couldn’t really deny it. I had to get a grip and just get on with being friends with him.

  He stepped forward again and fingered the necklace I was wearing, accidentally and very lightly brushing his hand gently against my breast. My whole body tingled even though I knew it was unintentional.

  ‘Pretty! It matches your beautiful eyes perfectly.’ Showing no sign of embarrassment, as quickly as he picked it up, he dropped it again and walked through into the kitchen. God it was no wonder I was so confused when just the touch of his hand made me feel that way. Imagine if we… No, Nellie. Don’t even go there.

  A little more flushed than I intended, I went into the kitchen to see Jack on the floor with Norman giving him a belly rub. Norman was in ecstasy. But to be honest, I probably would have been too! Stop it, Nell!

  ‘So did you have a good time on your holiday?’ I asked as I turned my back on him and poured us both a coffee.

  ‘Oh, it wasn’t a holiday, it was a conference. About how we can make the practice better. That’s why Natalia came too. I think she thought she was going to have a week of partying and staying up late, but I went to every lecture I could and lapped up what other people are doing to make their practice the best it can be. If she did party and stay up late, she certainly didn’t do it with me.’ He laughed.

  Now I was even more confused. If they were staying together in a hotel room, how would he not know what she was doing. Or was he just not telling me the truth. I really couldn’t work it out.

  ‘So tell me, what made you come back? Was it the fact that now you’ve found me again, you couldn’t bear to be apart?’ He laughed nervously.

  ‘Oh, it’s a long story. And really not important. But I have made the decision to move down for the time being and just run with it.’

  ‘Honestly, Nellie-bum, I’m so happy you made this decision. When Mum told me, I was so excited. Think about all the fun we can have together. All the stuff we can do. And hey, who knows what the future holds.’ He looked at me and stared deep into my eyes. I couldn’t tear mine away from his. It felt as if he could see deep into the very soul of me. There were so many unspoken words between us.

  Norman came up and nudged Jack’s hand and the moment was broken when he laughed and looked down at him and stroked his head. I had never felt so conflicted. How could he behave this way with me, when he was clearly in a relationship with Natalia and she had told me what he’d said? I really needed to talk this out with Shivani again.

  ‘Mum’s told me all about your project to help the shelter. I’m so grateful to you for doing this, Nellie-bum. It’s so kind of you to want to raise funds. I know Lilian would have been delighted with what you are doing. She was such a huge supporter once she’d met Norman there and had been helping out both financially and physically as much as she could at her age. I hated asking for her help, but she’d insist on coming down to the shelter even if it was just to sit with some of the dogs and brush them and give them her time.’

  ‘How did she get involved with it, Jack?’

  ‘Why don’t we go for a walk on the beach after our coffees and I can tell you all about it. And you can tell me all about your event and I’ll have a think about how we can help at the vet’s too.’

  Norman’s ears pricked up at the word ‘walk’ and he started dancing around Jack’s feet. He was such a funny little thing. Walking would be good. Walking side by side was much easier than sitting opposite him, as I didn’t have to look into those gorgeous eyes and get lost in a world that would never be mine.

  We walked and talked. Jack told me how Aunty Lil had started helping out at the shelter when they’d taken in a dog that needed some care and Jack was struggling to get them looked after. How after then, she’d met Norman, who at six months old had been too much for the family that had him when the lady fell pregnant and with two young children already, couldn’t cope with a dog too. Lilian fell utterly and madly in love with Norman and it had given her a new lease of life.

  I loved hearing stories about Aunty Lil. It made her come alive again in my head. For me that meant the Aunty Lil who was only sixty years old and was full of life, although it sounded like even in her eighties, she still was. If I could always remember her like that, I’d be happy. I’m glad in a way that I didn’t get to see her age, have aches and pains and get old. She would always be eternally youthful in my mind.

  We talked about the swishing event and Jack had some good ideas too.

  ‘You know you should tell Natalia of your plans. While she’s a good practice manager, the one thing that she knows even more about is fashion, and her sister is a colour consultant and personal shopper and she might like to be involved in the event in some way. It might generate some business for her too. What do you think?’

  ‘I’m not sure, Jack. I don’t think Natalia is particularly fond of me, to be honest.’

  ‘Really? She’s only ever been nice about you to me. I was going to ask you about going back up to the Midlands though. She did say that you had some unfinished business with a man you had to deal with. I hope you got everything sorted out.’

  God, she couldn’t wait to tell him that. Put him off the scent I suppose. She obviously adored Jack and couldn’t bear the thought of someone taking him away. I suppose if you loved someone that much then you’d do anything to keep them. I did think I needed to reassure her that I would be happy just to be Jack’s friend. And hopefully hers too.

  I’d drifted off a little while Jack was still talking but caught the bit where he said he would make sure to ask Natalia to include the swishing ev
ent in a newsletter to all their clients as quickly as possible and that he’d also put up posters on the noticeboards in the practice. He very kindly offered us the use of the practice printer. I’d always been involved in creating artwork in my previous job, so I was confident I could knock up an eye-catching poster. He also said that he would mention the event to all the staff too, in the hope that they’d come along, bring friends and donate items.

  If everyone who we’d asked actually turned up, it would be amazing, though I knew that probably wouldn’t be the case. But we could only worry about the things that we could control, which was making sure that everyone who did turn up had a fabulous time and that there was plenty of stock to go round. All we had to do was pray for good weather and a good turnout.

  Chapter Thirty

  With just a week to go, the beach hut was absolutely rammed with stock. There was certainly no need for me to worry about what we’d have to sell, and lots of people were getting in touch to ask whether it would be OK if they brought things along on the day. There were piles and piles of clothes, handbags and boxes of shoes. The WI had a couple of gazebos we’d use on the day and the forecast for the next week or so was unbroken sunshine, so we just hoped that the forecasters had got it right for once.

  Dom’s legal practice had very kindly donated twenty bottles of Buck’s Fizz and so far ticket sales had reached over fifty, which I was very pleased with. The local bakery was making some cakes to sell on the evening and it all looked like it was heading for a success. I was delighted. And knackered! But also overwhelmed with joy and satisfaction. This was my idea coming to fruition.

  I looked at my watch. It was time to head off. I popped Norman back to the house, much to his disgust, although I knew he’d be napping before I’d even driven the car off the drive.