Chapter Eighteen
The One With a Ruby Tuesday
‘Hey, come in.’
Kate started as Anna came towards her, the habitual welcoming smile on her features.
‘I thought you might come down earlier. It’s okay,’ she added, lowering her voice. ‘They’ll be off soon.’
Impulsively, Kate hugged her friend, and Anna eyed her keenly as they separated.
‘You okay?’
With a nod, Kate squeezed Anna’s arm and headed for the table.
‘Morning, everyone.’
‘Oh Lordy,’ exclaimed Mrs Clegg. ‘Did we forget, young’un? Was this to be one of them meetings?’
Kate laughed as she took a seat with her back to the view, in between Nicki and Phoenix. ‘No need for alarm, Mrs Clegg. Mollie’s out having fun and I’ve got a day off, so thought I’d call on Anna.’
‘That’s right,’ Mrs Lovelace nodded, dislodging her specs from the top of her head so they landed on her nose. ‘We like to call on our days off too.’
Nicki exchanged a grin with Kate as Anna brought a coffee over, and she let the chat roll over her for a moment, content to have company of any sort just now, and unsure what she’d have said to Anna if she’d been here alone. Perhaps it was best she kept her thoughts to herself?
She sipped her espresso, her gaze roaming over the happy, animated faces. It was hard to remain frustrated by them. They were all so well-intentioned.
‘Where’s your Jean today, Mrs Lovelace?’ Kate smiled at the lady, who was brushing crumbs from her lips with a tissue.
The elderly lady picked up the last piece of shortbread on her plate. ‘Off up country again, my lovely. That friend of hers – the one ’as gave her the van – he lives near Newcastle. There was this band playing Jeannie’s been wanting to see as long as I remember, so he got tickets for them.’ She held the piece of shortbread aloft. ‘Now what was their name? Cleggie! Big band. Something to do with veggies.’
Kate exchanged a puzzled look with Phoenix, but Nicki essayed, ‘Prefab Sprout?’
‘Now don’ go being silly, young’un.’ Mrs Lovelace popped the biscuit in her mouth and munched as Mrs Clegg’s brow furrowed.
‘I’ve got it!’ Mrs Lovelace pronounced through her biscuit. ‘They’m going to see Coldslaw play.’
Nicki smothered her laugh as Anna began to clear the table.
Once they’d all gone on their way, with Nicki reminding Kate about the gig rowing taster session the following week and saying how much her boys were looking forward to hanging out with Mollie again, Kate helped ferry the last of the things to the kitchen and loaded the dishwasher as Anna wiped down the table.
‘When’s Oliver back?’
‘Any time in the next half hour. Come on, let’s go outside. It’s too nice a day to stay inside.’
They took a comfy, cushioned wicker patio chair each, and Kate sank back into it, the sun caressing her skin as she stretched out her legs.
‘So? How did it go?’
‘Hmmm?’ Kate’s gaze was locked on Harbourwatch. Was that Dev out on the terrace? She leaned forward, then realised someone was waving a hand in front of her eyes.
‘Oh dear.’ Anna’s amusement was barely concealed as Kate stirred in her seat. ‘I know that look. I’ve been there.’
‘I don’t know what you mean,’ Kate essayed, assuming nonchalance.
‘As you wish. So, tell me about the lighthouse trip. Was it a success?’
Kate’s mind fled with no respect for her inner caution back to the moment Dev had hugged her, her skin tingling as though the contact had been resumed, and her hands wrapped across her body, grasping an arm each. As the habitual warmth flowed upwards through her body, she sent Anna a culpable look, and her friend laughed.
‘Oh my! You have to tell me! Come on, it’s gone midday. I’ll fetch wine.’
The wine helped. At least, something loosened the grip on Kate’s tongue, and she related a summary of the day out and how it had ended.
For a moment, Anna said nothing, her gaze drifting out over the water, and Kate had no desire to resist the urge to do the same. It was Dev. Even at this distance, there was no mistaking his tall stature as he helped Theo down the steps hewn into the rocks to the small boat house tucked into an inlet.
‘You’re well suited.’
Kate blinked, holding a hand up to shield her eyes against the glare of sun as she turned to Anna. ‘We can’t be!’
‘Why not? You’re single parents and experiencing all the challenges that brings. You’ve each been burned by previous marriages. Both of you are intelligent, articulate adults with minds of your own.’
Kate strove to ignore the oh-so-familiar swirling in her midriff. ‘Hugo bruised me, but I’m not blind. I know he’s not the norm, but Dev… on paper, it might tick a few boxes, but emotionally, I suspect we’re both off limits.’
‘This isn’t a project, Kate,’ Anna warned. ‘You can’t assess it on strengths and weaknesses. You haven’t been emotionally attached to Hugo for years, you said so yourself. You’re just out of practice.’
Kate huffed out a breath, throwing Anna a resigned look. ‘What sort of friend are you?’
‘A good one who will only ever speak the truth.’
‘It’s such a contradictory building,’ Kate said, steering the conversation away from Dev. ‘Harbourwatch. So austere on the outside, yet the interiors are beautiful. Well, except perhaps the room where you had your reception. There’s a bit of an issue in the plasterwork, according to Dev.’
Damnit. That was a fail!
Anna failed to conceal her amusement, but didn’t comment. ‘Aw, that’s a shame. It’s a gorgeous room and the shell frieze was so pretty. Aunt Meg loved shells.’
‘Funnily enough,’ Kate said, ‘that’s where the problem is. A piece of it is protruding. They think it’s to do with water ingress.’
‘Oliver says Aunt Meg used to go over when he lived there, said he felt she knew the place well. Something about that room seemed to unsettle her, though, even though she liked to sit there. Of course, that could just have been the early stages of the Alzheimer’s.’
Anna’s gaze turned towards the sea, Kate’s returned to where Dev and Theo could be seen getting into a motorboat moored to a small jetty only visible because of the position of Westerleigh.
Was there any point in letting her feelings take free rein, when Dev was so obviously between the proverbial rock and hard place over Leigh’s unpredictable behaviour and he’d made it patently obvious he would always put Theo’s happiness before his own?
Kate raised the blinds in her bedroom at The Lookout on the Monday after half term, conscious of a sense of well-being.
Despite it raining all day on the Sunday, she and Mollie had enjoyed themselves, using the confinement to the house to scour the internet for ideas for a summer break. The gorgeous images of turquoise seas and pine-clad hillsides in Greece had met with their mutual approval, along with the vague plan to add a trip to Athens in at the end of the week so Mollie could indulge her love of history.
As Mollie headed into the snug later, Kate slowly lowered the lid of her laptop. So many of the resorts showed happy families, but even more had softly filtered images of couples walking hand-in-hand on golden beaches or smiling into each other’s eyes as they dined by the waterside.
Perhaps one day she’d go somewhere romantic with a special someone?
The fact Dev was the first – the only, Kate begrudgingly owned – person to pop into her mind, she accepted. Surely her interest in him (which showed no sign of waning) was borne purely from his being the first man outside of work she’d interacted with in, well, years?
With Mollie back at school, and conscious time was flying by, Kate doubled her efforts to find a venue for the village fayre. Logistically, the harbourfront alone wouldn’t work – although some use could be made of it – but she continued to explore other possibilities, from a community building on offer near Golant and the kind suggestion by one of the local fishermen to use the village hall at Polwelyn, under the management of his cousin. Sadly, as both were not actually in the cove, she eschewed the idea.
She left a message for the head of the PTA to see if she had any ideas. As Dev had mentioned, the school wouldn’t be in use, as it would be the summer holidays.
Continuing to work some evenings or weekends because of events, whenever Kate had a day off in the week, she’d start the day with a brisk walk along the cliff path, she’d then pick up her laptop bag and head down into Polkerran.
On days when the weather hinted at the summer to come, she’d sit outside on the terrace at the new restaurant, Harbourmasters, where it was only a glance across the narrow road skirting the harbour to the water beyond and all its distracting activity.
With the laptop open and her trusty notebook to hand, she updated the details on the village website and community Facebook page, replied to emails and tried not to panic about what hadn’t yet been resolved.
Ever present, however, in the back of her mind was Dev. Time to be honest with herself. She fancied him, but perhaps it was a good thing he was unattainable, wrapped up in the tendrils of a divorce that seemed to have stalled.
At the very least, it stopped her from taking any initiative. It was obvious from the little Dev had let slip that Leigh was possessive despite her flakiness over the commitment to the marriage. Both Dev and Theo needed a complication like that in their lives like a hole in the head, and Kate certainly wasn’t going to be the one to do the damage.
It was a brutal reminder of the truth and, with resolve, she made efforts to banish her attraction and immersed herself in work, putting in more and more hours in her determination to think of nothing but that and Mollie.
Mollie, however, didn’t seem to need half as much of Kate’s attention as she used to. Thankful for her daughter’s improved spirits and – as much as mercurial teens could be – happiness, it sadly left her with even more regrets over Hugo’s great deception.
One blustery Tuesday, as June took hold, Kate took a seat inside Harbourmasters, warmly greeting Tyler, the friendly manager.
‘I’ll have a flat white for now,’ Kate said, as he showed her to her favourite table by the window. For some reason, she’d not slept well and needed the caffeine kick. ‘But I’ll stay on for lunch, if that’s okay.’
‘We’re not too busy today,’ Tyler confirmed. ‘Got some great specials on, mind.’
Kate immersed herself in emails, then pushed the laptop aside and opened her notebook to sketch out a rough idea of where each table would be if they managed to secure the school grounds.
Two flat whites later, she sat back in her seat, her eyes scratchy, as a WhatsApp came through from Mollie, asking if it was okay to go to Freya’s house after school.
Tapping away in response, Kate was vaguely aware of someone being shown to a table by the other window. She put the phone aside and looked up.
Dev.
Kate silently warned her heart to behave itself and dipped her head, staring at her screen but not taking in any words.
‘Kate.’ Dev stood awkwardly by his chair across the room. ‘Hi,’ he raised a hesitant hand.
Smiling, Kate waved back. ‘Are you having lunch?’ He nodded, and it was so reminiscent of Theo, her heart melted. ‘Care for some company? I’m bored of my own.’
It was true. Besides, she really did need to talk to Dev about the printer’s quote for the banners, so why not do it now?
Because you’ve got a phone, numerous message apps, email or—
Kate silenced the voice firmly.
Dev looked uncertainly between Kate’s table and his own, hands shoved self-consciously into his pockets.
‘Could do with chatting through a couple of things, if you don’t mind?’
That seemed to seal the deal, and Dev joined her.
One of Tyler’s efficient team took their order, and left alone, Kate willed the easy colour to stay below her collar as Dev’s eyes met hers across the table. He really did have ridiculously thick lashes for a man, and those blue-grey eyes were like a calm sea on a winter’s day…
‘So?’
Kate blinked.
‘What did you want to chat about?’
‘Oh! Yes. This.’ Kate scrolled back through her emails, opening the one from the printer about the large banners and showing it to Dev, trying not to notice as his fingers brushed hers when he took the phone from her.
‘It’s a bit steeper than expected.’ He handed the phone back, and in an attempt not to touch him again, Kate took it with two fingers, which resulted in her dropping it on the table with a clatter.
‘Yes, it is, mainly because it needs to be in colour, but costs have gone up everywhere. At least there’s a bit of discount because we’d like three of them.’
‘Okay, that’s fine. Anything else?’
‘Just the nutty problem of a sizeable venue. I’m waiting on the head at the school, but she’s been hectic with all the final term prep.’
They talked sundries as they ate and Kate, her tongue probably a little too loosened by the delicious wine, decided to take the risk of Dev leaving his meal behind and scarpering back to Harbourwatch by broaching the subject of his son.
‘How’s Theo?’
To her surprise, he smiled, such a gorgeous smile, it infused his entire countenance.
‘Still full of the lighthouse trip, but even happier now it’s been decided he’s coming to live with me for a while.’
‘That’s fantastic! I’m so happy for you. And for Theo, too.’
‘Leigh’s chasing some big role – she won’t say where – which means constantly being away for extended periods, but also she’s finally accepted he’s not happy in the prep school. She wanted him to board, but he’s only little. He’s going to attend the village school and stay for the duration of the summer. I’m hoping he’ll be able to continue there when the new term starts in September.’
Filled with delight for the little boy, Kate couldn’t stop smiling. ‘When’s he coming? It’d be lovely if you—’ She hesitated. ‘If you want – or Theo does – would you like to come over with him sometime? Mollie’s very good with younger children.’
There, that was okay, wasn’t it? It wasn’t about Kate wanting to spend a bit more time with Dev, was it?
You’re not deceiving anyone, least of all yourself…
Smiling even more brightly to squish the thought, Kate waited for the rebuttal.
Dev looked down at his plate, which he’d almost cleared. ‘I – er…’ He ran a hand through his hair and that damn fringe flopped down once more.
Kate sat on her hands as he raised his head to meet her wary gaze.
‘That would be…’
Nice? A nightmare? The worst possible thing I can think of?
‘Lovely. If you don’t mind.’ He picked up his fork and mindlessly moved the remaining pasta around, then looked up at Kate again. ‘I don’t… get out much.’
‘Nor do I, to be honest. My only evenings out are when I’m working at an event.’
Oh no! Had she just hinted at him coming round one evening ? Or even worse, taking her out ?
Thankfully, Tyler’s timing was impeccable, and as they ordered coffee, Kate’s skin cooled.
The conversation became mundane after that, and Dev left Kate to finish as he had a meeting with one of his tenant farmers up near Trebutwith Bay.
Kate emerged from the restaurant into the same blustery day she’d left behind that morning, her mind a jumble of confusion over Dev, the feelings he’d begun to stir in her and why he’d paid her share of the bill too before he left.