‘Don’t waste your time. I’m leaving but –’ she directed this at Ellie ‘– you’ll be hearing from my solicitor. Aaron should already have heard. Given the obvious state of shock you’re in, I suppose you didn’t even know I existed until now.’ She held up a hand to Tina, who had advanced upon her from behind the counter. ‘It’s OK. No need to summon PC Plod. I’m going.’
Liza swept out of the café, leaving the door wide open and Elle behind the counter, frozen with shock.
Tina jogged to the door and shut it.
‘It’s OK, everyone, the show’s over,’ she said, walking over to the knitters with a cheery smile. ‘Now, would anyone like a free top-up?’
The ladies nodded and their heads shot back to their knitting.
‘Thank you, folks, I’ll be round with the coffee in a sec,’ she said to the other customers. ‘No charge for the extra entertainment.’
She hurried back to the counter with the knitters’ used mugs. ‘Come on, into the back with you,’ she whispered. ‘Go and sort yourself out while I make these coffees and then I’ll be in to see how you are.’
She gave Ellie a tiny shove, snapping her out of her trance. ‘Yes, thanks. I’m so, so sorry—’
‘Later,’ said Tina briskly. ‘Go on.’
In the staff room, Ellie struggled with her apron strings and in the end had to leave it on. She collapsed onto a chair. She couldn’t believe what had happened.
I’m Aaron’s wife. I’m Liza Carman. I’m naming you in the divorce petition.
Was Liza bluffing? Was she really married to Aaron? How could he have kept something so momentous from her? She’d trusted him, shared her biggest secret with him – and he’d lied to her and let her down.
A few minutes later, Tina marched in. ‘That was more drama than we normally get in Porthmellow.’
‘It’s more drama than I ever want to be part of. I am so embarrassed about it.’
‘No need. Tell me if I’m being nosy, but sounds as if you had no idea about her?’
‘No … and I feel like the biggest fool on the planet.’
‘Bloody men, eh?’ Tina said, patting Ellie’s shoulder. ‘Although I’d have bet the café that Aaron was one of the good ones. The Carmans are such lovely people.’
‘He told me a bit about his army days but left out the part about his wife.’ Ellie thought back to Aaron’s comments. Every word, every nuance of the conversation had to be seen in a new light, but she was still in too much shock to remember it all at this moment. But the fact he’d sworn he didn’t have anyone in his life and asked her to trust him: those two facts were burned on her memory. ‘What a bloody mess,’ she murmured, fighting back tears of anger and disappointment.
Tina laid a hand on her arm. ‘Do you want to go home and sort things out with him?’ she asked gently.
‘Thanks, Tina, but no. There’s no way I’m leaving you short of staff today. The lunch lot will be in soon … and the sun’s coming out so we might have some tourists.’ Ellie scraped up a half-smile from somewhere. Even though every cell was screaming that she needed to get some answers from Aaron, she refused to leave her boss in the lurch on top of causing a scene in the café. Plus she needed time to try to cool down before storming in on him.
‘OK, if you’re sure. But take a bit more time to get yourself together. Make a coffee and have something to eat, then come out when you’re ready.’
‘Thanks, Tina, you’re an angel.’
Tina laughed. ‘I’ve been called some things, but never an angel.’
Ellie made a cuppa and once her hands had stopped shaking, she touched up her make-up and dragged herself back to the counter, still reeling from the spat with Aaron’s wife. Not his ex, his wife – a word that drummed on her brain and made her head throb. There were half a dozen more customers in addition to the knitters who’d obviously stayed on in the hope of more entertainment. Christ, thought Ellie, taking orders and serving beside Tina, the whole saga would be halfway around the town by now via WhatsApp and Facebook. It might even be up on YouTube.
She was genuinely terrified that the Carmans or her own family might have heard. Or did the Carmans already know about Liza? Ellie decided they couldn’t, or why would they have been so innocently keen for her to get together with Aaron?
Surely, someone in the town would have known he was married, though … this was one of the questions Ellie was dying to ask him, but that would mean a huge confrontation.
Any answer he could give could never repair the total destruction of her trust in him.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Even though she’d been exhausted by the festival, Scarlett had a rough night, churning over the dark questions that had been so scarily exposed to the light. She’d been up before her mother was even stirring and on the road in the chilly dawn to see her client in Exeter. It was very close to Christmas to be doing business but they’d wanted her to start work on the brief immediately after the holiday, so she had no choice. Jude hadn’t been in contact, although she hadn’t expected him to be after she’d brushed him off the previous evening.
A new thought had struck her: as Jude clearly didn’t suspect that they might possibly be half-siblings, why had he taken the book and kept the postcard? It was a conundrum that no amount of churning would solve.
It was a relief to concentrate on her meeting for a couple of hours. However, the moment she’d finished, her troubles mobbed her like crows. She set off for home and stopped at Jamaica Inn on Bodmin Moor for a quick lunch. When she came out of the ancient pub, snowflakes were whirling in the air and the sheep were huddled by the wall, sheltering from the wind.
High up on the moor, the temperatures had plunged and her smart wool jacket was no match for the biting wind.
Something about the bleak isolation of the place as Christmas with its all its family associations approached strengthened her longing to be close to her dad again. She opened the boot and pulled out his ancient waxed jacket. It had been his idea to keep his old gardening coat in her boot just in case, but it had lain there for the past couple of years, never needed until now. Though it was cracked and mucky, she put it on over her jacket and got into the car again. Watching the snowflakes melting on the windscreen, she imagined a time when her life had jogged along at an easy pace well within her comfort zone. How quickly she’d been thrown into a situation that was so far beyond her.
She dialled a familiar number and listened to the ring tone. It went on and on and she was ready to cut the call when her father finally answered.
‘Dad?’ Even saying the word had become loaded. ‘I almost rang off.’
‘I was in the shed,’ he said, slightly out of breath.
‘You should take your mobile with you.’
‘I go in there to get away from the thing.’
‘Yes …’ She imagined the scene. Her father at his lathe, sawdust in his hair, his feet covered in wood shavings. ‘What have you been creating this time?’
‘One thing and another.’
‘Christmas presents?’ she asked, noting his caginess.
‘Might have been … Are you OK, love?’
Scarlett hesitated as the snow whirled around the car. She felt lost and cold when she wanted warmth and comfort. She needed her family back together, if not for a perfect Christmas, then at least for one with the hope of reconciliation. She took the plunge. ‘Dad, will you please come down to Cornwall for Christmas?’
She held her phone tighter as the silence lengthened. ‘I don’t know, love.’
‘Shall I come home, then?’ she said, offering the lifeline she didn’t really expect him to take.
‘No. Your mother needs you.’
She felt desperate. ‘So do you. I hope.’
‘Of course I do but … look, I promised Marcus I’d stay with him and Heidi and the boys.’ The snow was thicker now, she could hear the sheep but not see them. She had to get home in case the road over the highest part of the moor was closed.
‘After Christmas, then,’ she pushed, growing desperate.
‘Yes. Afterwards.’ He sounded more certain, which suggested that it was the festivities, or perhaps bad memories, that had put him off from joining them at the manor.
‘Thanks, Dad. I love you.’
‘I love you too, Scarlett. Is everything all right?’
‘No, it isn’t. I can’t handle this any more. I know it must be bad for you, what happened. Mum finally admitting what she’d – what went on. I love you so much but I want to know more and …’ She stopped. She couldn’t tell him her worst fears.
Too late. Her father’s hackles were up. ‘What has she said?’
‘Nothing. Mum’s said nothing. I don’t know any more than you.’ She’d no idea exactly what her mother had told her father. They might be two different versions of the truth, or completely different. There was also the chance, of course, that Anna had told him nothing.
Snowflakes had almost covered the windscreen. Scarlett flicked the wipers and they cleared it away but, outside, the snow was a whirl of white. Ghostly headlights lumbered past the pub.
‘Dad, I’m on Bodmin Moor and the snow’s getting worse. I have to go.’
‘Bodmin? In this weather?’ He sucked in a breath. ‘You take care, love. Text me when you get home. The news showed a blizzard sweeping in from the north. They said it could be really bad in mid Cornwall.’ His tone had switched from sad and wary to warm and urgent. He was her father again, his only concern her. ‘You should get on your way now, if it’s safe, and, love, for God’s sake stop blaming yourself for this situation. The responsibility lies with us. Perhaps not even with your mum. With me.’
‘What? Dad. Why do you say that? It’s not your fault.’
‘It’s never one person’s fault. I’m not perfect, not by a long way.’
The snowflakes thickened. A gritter passed by, orange light flashing.
‘Scarlett?’
‘Sorry. A gritter lorry came past.’
‘Then you should go home before you get stuck. Call me later, or anytime you need help. I don’t know what I can do from here but I’m always here for you, love. I’d do anything to keep you safe. I love you. Hold onto that, whatever happens.’
‘Thanks, Dad.’ Scarlett brushed away tears. Her father had provided no answers and made no promises, even raised more doubts, but the warmth of his love for her comforted her, even as her car wheels skidded on the slush.
She drove very slowly onto the junction for the main road, horrified at how much snow was on the dual carriageway. She might have already left it too late to get home safely, but she had to try, or risk spending the night at the inn. She crawled down the seemingly never-ending road, passing stationary lorries and cars that had become stuck on the steep sections over the moor.
She prayed she didn’t have to abandon her own car and end up appearing on the local news as one of those reckless people who sets off into a raging blizzard when the police begged everyone to stay indoors. All she could think about was that her dad loved her – and that he’d said he was partly to blame for what her mother had done.
If this were true, then she knew both of them even less well than she’d thought.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ellie stumbled through her shift at the Harbour Café until Tina sent her home half an hour early. A squall of sleet and rain had blown in, chasing most of the customers back to their holiday homes anyway. Darkness was falling by mid-afternoon, giving Porthmellow’s deserted streets a gloomy, godforsaken air, despite the Christmas lights and decorated windows. For the first time since she’d moved here, Ellie thought longingly of the swaying palms and sugary beaches of a tropical destination. Perhaps it was time to move on …
Aaron had tried to call her an hour before, then messaged her.
I need to talk to you, it’s urgent. Call me.
So, Liza had found him, then.
Ellie took the back alleys to her car, wrestling with if and when to return Aaron’s call. The lights twinkled through the gloom and a few flakes of snow drifted down but melted the moment they touched the cobbles. The snow had turned to rain by the time the car park was in sight, melting away like the faith she’d put in Aaron.
Her mother and Scarlett might be at home and she didn’t want a slanging match with him there. As for Cove Cottage: what if Liza was there now?
The decision was soon taken out of her hands. Aaron was waiting for her by her car. He jogged up to her, but she hurried to her car and wrenched the door open.
‘Ellie, wait!’
She climbed into the car and was about to shut the door, but he stood in the way. Ellie gripped the wheel and stared straight ahead.
‘Please don’t say you can explain.’
‘OK, I won’t, but if I don’t, how are you going to get some answers to the questions you must have? I know Liza’s in Porthmellow.’
She looked up at him while the rain soaked his hair and ran down his face. ‘Have you seen her?’
‘A short time ago. She turned up at the cottage.’
‘Well, she got to me before you. She was at the festival last night and saw us together and she came into the bloody café, ranting and raving. She said she’s naming me as co-respondent in your divorce.’
‘I know. I wish I could have stopped her, but when her blood’s up, she does things she regrets. She’s impulsive … and very upset. She won’t really name you. I know her.’
‘You know her? You’ve never even said she existed!’
‘I had no idea she’d come down here and do – this. I thought I had everything under control.’
‘Control?’
He shoved his hands through his damp hair.
‘Not control. I meant that I thought I was dealing with it. With Liza and me. It sounds much worse than it really is.’
‘Not to me. Not to her. She was angry and bitter, from what I could see.’
‘You have to let me tell you the whole story. Please.’ His voice was a plea, his confidence had collapsed like a sandcastle under a wave.
Ellie steeled herself. ‘Is she – Liza – at your place now?’
‘Not now. She called me after she’d been to the café and met me at the cottage. She told me what she’d done. I’m so bloody sorry. She’s gone back to her hotel now and she won’t hassle you again,’ he added hastily, as if that made things better. ‘No one knew about our marriage, Ellie, not even Mum and Dad or my sister. Only a few mates from way back.’
Ellie couldn’t speak. Nothing he could say would make things better.
‘We can talk at the cottage, if you want to,’ he said.
She hesitated, feeling that no matter what he had to say, it was pointless as she’d lost faith in him, but decided to hear him out anyway. ‘I suppose we’d better get it over with.’
She made it to the cottage safely – miraculous in the circumstances. She’d had to force herself to concentrate on the five-minute drive, telling herself out loud to keep her eyes on the road, watch the bend, turn left – like a learner.
Aaron had gone on ahead and she followed him inside the cottage, noticing the glow in the hearth and two mugs on the coffee table, one half full.
‘Can I get you a drink? Coffee? Whisky?’ he offered.
‘No, thanks.’
‘Will you at least sit down? This could take a while.’ Ellie let his fleeting attempt at humour wash over her. It would take a lot more than charm to defuse the fact she was ready to go off like an unexploded bomb. Realising how twitchy she was, she decided to sit down after all.
She chose the chair, leaving the sofa to Aaron. She couldn’t bear to be close to him. ‘I will have that whisky,’ she muttered, thinking she could leave the car at the cottage and walk home to the manor.
‘I think we probably both need one.’ His absence, while he splashed water into the drinks in the kitchen, gave her a few minutes to try to calm down. Sitting here in the cosy warmth of a cottage where she’d enjoyed so muc
h pleasure, it was hard to imagine that it could – had – all been blown apart.
Aaron set a glass in front of her.
‘She’s not planning on bursting in on your poor mum and dad too, is she?’ Ellie asked, finding it hard to say Liza’s name.
‘Not yet. She doesn’t know where they live, as far as I know. After the festival, she googled the Marisco and you came up as one of the staff so she knew your name. She managed to find out where else you worked from one of the hotel staff.’
‘Oh, the bloody gossip in this place!’ Ellie burst out, furious with Aaron, with Liza for stalking her and with the village grapevine in general.
‘Liza can be very persuasive and charming when she wants to be, but that’s not the issue, is it?’ His tone darkened.
Ellie nodded. ‘No. It isn’t.’
‘Before I try to explain …’
Ellie snorted in derision and took a larger sip of whisky than she’d meant to. It seared her throat and made her feel worse, so she pushed the glass away.
‘Before I tell you about me and Liza, I do want you to understand a bit more about her. She sometimes says things she doesn’t mean. Yes, she was furious, but I swear she won’t name you. She’s already said she was sorry she kicked off at you and told me she’ll agree to a five-year separation, no-fault divorce.’
‘Oh, that’s all fine then!’
Aaron hesitated, probably hoping she’d calm down a little, but that wasn’t likely with her emotions at fever pitch.
‘Go on,’ she ground out, desperate to hear what he had to say, even if she was sure it wouldn’t make a difference.
‘Please understand that Liza’s very … volatile. She can be a lot of fun and she has a good heart but she can also blow up.’
She muttered ‘You don’t say?’ under her breath, but he went on.
‘We were never suited from the start. It was a huge mistake … and she’s had a tough time. She was serious about some guy from the crew on her latest ship, apparently, and he’d told her he wanted her to quit the cruise ships and settle down with him. She turned down a new contract but a couple of days ago, she had a message from him to say he’d changed his mind. She’s devastated, hurt and angry.’
A Perfect Cornish Christmas Page 23