Henry woke up in Deborah’s bedroom – and immediately regretted it. What the hell had he been thinking? Without moving any part of his body, other than his eyes, he took in his surroundings. Everything was very white. Ceiling, walls, duvet cover, wafting curtains against the open window where daylight was creeping. He swivelled his eyeballs with some discomfort to the right. There was Debs, lying on her back and gently snoring.
He needed to leave.
Feeling like James Bond avoiding the hidden laser alarms, he inched himself out of bed and quietly picked up his clothes which were scattered on the floor, tangled with Debs’. She coughed. He ducked. She was quiet and then the snoring started up again.
He felt a heel but he really had to get out of here. Ella would be furious. He mustn’t tell her. Under no circumstances. But would Debs spill the beans? He wondered whether he should wake her up and tell her this had to be a secret between them, but, coward that he was, he crept downstairs and left a note by her kettle. Morning. Had to go. X
He let himself out of the front door and ran as quickly as his hangover would allow him.
In the glove box of his car he found a roll of extra-strong mints and put four in his mouth to kill any telltale aromas of alcohol. Ella had the nose of a bloodhound.
As he drove out of Trevay, his mouth open to cool his burning tongue, he tried to come up with a feasible story as to why he hadn’t come home last night but as Henry coasted towards Marguerite Cottage, the engine switched off, he noted, with joy, that all the curtains were still closed.
He put his head on the steering wheel in relief and to ease the pain.
Once inside the cottage, he tiptoed up the stairs, across the landing and towards his bedroom door. He congratulated himself as he placed his hand on the handle.
‘I’ve been so worried.’ Ella had appeared from the bathroom and was tying up her dressing-gown belt. ‘Where have you been?’
Henry leapt with fear and screamed, ‘Fuuck!’ whilst clutching his chest.
‘Shh,’ said Ella crossly. ‘No need to wake Kit up.’ She stepped towards him and sniffed. ‘That old trick.’ She put her hands on her hips. ‘Extra-strong mints will never cover the amount of booze you’ve sunk. Come downstairs. I want to talk to you.’
Meekly, he followed her.
Debs woke up and stretched from top to toe. She smiled, remembering last night. She rolled over to see Henry’s adorable little face but he wasn’t there. He must be downstairs making a coffee. She would help him. She got out of bed and walked naked down the stairs, hoping to seduce him again. ‘Henry?’ she called seductively. He was not in her tiny front room. She padded into the galley kitchen. Not there either. Then she realised, he must be in the bathroom which was just beyond the kitchen. ‘Henry?’ she called. ‘I’m making coffee. Hot, strong and sweet. Want some?’ She arranged herself in what she hoped was an attractive nude stance outside the bathroom door but she couldn’t hear any movement. She put her ear to the door and then tapped. ‘Henry? I’m putting the kettle on now. Coffee, tea or me?’
She chuckled as she went to the kettle and then she saw his note.
She ran to the empty bathroom and was sick.
She heard her phone ping as she walked gingerly from the loo, feeling better but weak.
She looked at the message and swore. Sennen wanted to know if she’d be free for another family meeting, this time in Deborah’s office. I need to make my position clear to Ella and Henry about my parents’ legacy. Would you be free at 10? And arrange for them to be there?
Sennen rubbed her temples, poured herself a coffee and then replied. What a marvellous idea. I am free at … She stopped and looked at the clock on her radio – 09.00. She swore. Hastily she typed, Yep 10 is perfect. Will text them.
Ella poured boiling water into the two mugs and stirred in milk and sugar. She passed one to Henry. ‘Get this down you.’
‘Thanks,’ he said obediently, trying to remember his fictitious backstory.
‘So,’ Ella pulled out a chair and sat at the table, ‘where were you last night?’
‘I found a pub and had a few drinks. To be honest, I wasn’t thinking straight. The shock of discovering an Indian family and all that was too much.’
‘Uh huh,’ Ella said patiently, crossing her legs and waggling a slippered foot. ‘And then where did you go?’
‘Nowhere.’
‘Where did you sleep?’
‘In the car.’
She looked at him. ‘I will ask you again: where did you sleep?’
‘I told you, in the car.’
‘I don’t believe you.’
‘It’s true.’ He flopped back in his chair like a teenager denying he cheated at his exams.
‘So why, when I asked Kit to go and look for you, did he find your car empty?’
Henry’s brain was not functioning as fast as he’d like, ‘When was that?’
‘Just before midnight.’
‘I went for a walk to sober up and woke up on that bench down by the harbour wall. Poppa’s crabbing bench?’ He was rather pleased to have added a touch of truth, but was clutching at straws and he knew it. However, it was bang on target. Ella’s natural empathy kicked in.
‘Oh no,’ she wailed, ‘it was so cold last night. You must have been freezing.’
He nodded pathetically.
She stood up and kissed the top of his head. ‘I’ll run you a nice hot bath.’ As she got to the stairs her mobile phone, sitting next to Henry on the kitchen table, trilled a text. She called over her shoulder, ‘Would you check that for me?
‘Sure.’ His hangover was pounding but he valiantly focused his eyes on the name of the text. He blenched and swallowed hard. It was from Deborah.
‘Read it to me, then,’ said Ella, hanging on to the bannister.
‘It’s from, er, Debs.’ He cleared his throat. ‘Deborah.’
‘Oh? What does she want?’
‘She says, Mrs Tallon-Kaur would like to meet you and your brother at 10 this morning in my office. Would you mind passing this message to Henry and letting me know if you will both be attending?’
‘Great. Tell her we’ll both be there.’ Ella took a couple of stairs two at a time.
Henry wavered. ‘Wait, let’s think about it. Isn’t it too soon after last night? I mean, yesterday afternoon.’
‘Not at all. Strike while the iron’s hot.’
‘But the last two meetings have ended up in rows.’
Ella returned from the stairs and entered the kitchen. ‘Which is why we need to move on. The money Granny left is hers. End of. When that’s sorted we can begin to build bridges. I was saying to Kit last night how lovely it would be to go to India and meet our little brother and sister.’
Henry rubbed the back of his neck. ‘Do we have to do this today?’
‘Yes.’ She took his hand. ‘Now come and be a good boy and have a bath.’
Sennen read Deborah’s text and smiled. Here was another chance to prove to her children that she was not thinking of herself where her parent’s money was concerned. She contemplated getting up and having a shower.
Rosemary popped her head around the bedroom door.
‘Morning. Sleep well?’
‘Wonderfully well. The margaritas did their job.’
‘Good. I bring caffeine in case you need a lift.’
Sennen stretched out in the pretty little bed in Rosemary’s spare room.
‘Thank you for last night.’ She sat up and took her coffee cup from Rosemary. ‘You’ve been such a friend. I can’t believe how much you’ve helped me … when really, you should have steered well clear. I was awful to you when we were young and I am truly sorry.’
‘Forgiven. We all learn from other’s mistakes.’ Rosemary sat on the end of the bed, tucking her feet under her.
‘But anything could have happened to us in Spain. I bet your parents hated me.’
‘Well, let’s just say you weren’t exactly top of their pops,’ said Rosemary with a wry smile. ‘After the initial anger and interrogations – have you taken drugs, had sex? – they calmed down but kept me on a pretty short lead. When I met Ray, the man I married, they were relieved. Dad knew his father from the Rotary club, so he already had the stamp of approval. I wanted to make up for my teenage misdemeanour and make my parents happy, so Ray and I married very quickly.’
Sennen sat up and pulled her pillows behind her to get more comfortable. This was going to be a long conversation. ‘I’m assuming you aren’t with him now?’
Rosemary looked in to her coffee. ‘No.’
‘Tell me about him.’
‘Oh, he looked great, on paper. Tall, dark, handsome, attentive, generous. Everyone told me I had made a terrific catch and I managed to convince myself that I was in love.’ At this she plastered on a huge smile, a brave smile. She didn’t fool Sennen.
‘But?’ asked Sennen.
‘He was … a bit jealous.’
‘Difficult?’
‘Understatement, my dear,’ Rosemary said bluntly. ‘I had a little job in the chemist on the harbour. Remember Miss Tangye, the pharmacist?’
‘Oh yes.’ Sennen smiled at a memory. ‘She sold me my first box of tampons. So discreet and kind. She took me to one side and explained how they worked.’
‘Bless her. Yes, she was lovely and I loved working there. I was right in the hub of village life – which is what Ray didn’t like.’
‘Why?’
‘He would come home with a couple of beers inside him and accuse me of fancying the men who came in for ordinary things like razors or shaving foam, but he said they came in because I was flirting with them. I wasn’t.’
‘What happened?’
‘My dad got ill and Miss Tangye gave me as long as I needed off to give me time to help Mum nurse him.’
‘Oh dear, that must have been very hard. How old were you?’
‘Mid-twenties, I suppose. Anyway, when he died, Mum still needed me and Ray encouraged me to stay at home. There were certainly less rows then, but, when Mum started to feel herself again and I was ready to go back to work, Miss Tangye told me that Ray had already told her I wasn’t coming back and she had employed someone else.’
‘He what?’
‘Yeah. But anyway, I was so tired after Dad died, with the worry of looking after Mum and everything, I accepted it and was actually glad to have time to myself for a bit. But the more time I had, the more time he had to control me. He hated me seeing friends, phoned me all the time to find out where I was. I had to give him details of my plan for each day and he would check up on me.’ Rosemary’s eternally upbeat persona began to slip. ‘Then the drinking began. And he began to hit me.’
‘Whaat?’ Putting her coffee cup down, Sennen leant forward and threw her arms around her friend.
‘Yeah. Shameful eh?’
‘For him yes,’ said Sennen stoutly.
‘No. You’d think so, but I was the one who was shamed. When I finally told the family I was leaving him, they turned on me. Apparently, it was my duty to stand by him. He was going through a rough patch. He was family. Huh. Some family. Even when it came out that he’d been having an affair with a woman I had been close to, they blamed me for being a boring wife. God, it was awful.’ She wiped her eyes on her pyjama sleeve. ‘Anyway, I divorced him – or rather, he divorced me, for unreasonable behaviour.’
‘No! How come?’
‘I don’t know, really. Anyway, I simply couldn’t fight any longer, I was just so tired with it all.’
‘Typical small town mentality,’ said Sennen angrily. ‘And all the time I was running away, I envied you. I imagined you in a cosy home with a couple of children and Sunday lunches in the pub.
‘I envied you,’ said Rosemary quietly. ‘You got away and I could have gone with you.’
Sennen moved up the bed and hugged her old friend. ‘In lots of ways I wish I had got on that bloody ferry in Spain and come back with you. What a pair we are.’
‘What a pair we were! But here we are, older, not much wiser but together again.’
Rosemary sat back. ‘And you have so much to look forward to. Having Henry and Ella back in your life and starting afresh, no lies, with Kafir and your little ones.’
Sennen rubbed her hands over her face and through her hair. ‘God, I hope so. And what about you? Do you have anyone special?’
‘Yes.’ Rosemary’s eyes lit up. ‘Someone very special.’
‘And?’ Sennen’s romance radar pinged into life.
‘And I am sure you will meet very soon.’ Rosemary looked at her watch. ‘If you’re going to get to Deborah’s for the meeting you’d better get in the shower.’