Chapter Twenty-Six
The One Where Someone’s Reunited
Anna had suggested they go to the tidal beach on Saturday – something she’d also roped Nicki and her boys into, as Hamish had done something to his back when unloading his catch and planned to go up to the urgent treatment centre in Port Wenneth – and Kate kicked off the covers and headed for the shower, mulling over what to wear.
‘You’re going to a beach, idiot,’ she muttered as she padded across the room.
Directly below the house of the man you can’t stop thinking about… who likes your company.
‘Who’s also in relationship hell. The last thing I want is to make it worse for him,’ Kate scolded as she shed her dressing gown, turning the shower to cold.
To emphasise the point, she began singing the chorus to ‘I’m gonna wash that man right outta my hair’. It was from her mum’s favourite musical and although not entirely apt, it helped.
The warm breeze flowing in from the window steered Kate towards her favourite soft shorts and a finely layered strappy top, and soon she was outside the gate to Nicki’s cottage, pleased with the light tan already building on her limbs and enjoying the glimpse of the glimmering water, dancing in the bright sunlight as though someone had cast a handful of stars over it.
There was a steady flow of pleasure craft moving in rhythm across the undulating surface of the harbour, happy voices floating across the balmy air and, being the weekend, families with young children were already making their way along the lane towards the bridge, carrying buckets and spades, towels and bags of sustenance.
‘It’s the calm before the storm,’ Nicki said sagely as she stuffed a towel into the bag on the kitchen table.
‘We don’t like to knock it, mind,’ Hamish added. ‘Those emmets, they want to come, and we need them, but there’s no denying we’re glad to see the end of ’em when they head back up country in the autumn.’
Kate laughed, lifting the cool box and adding it to the laden trolley. ‘Right, let’s go. Judging by the bouncing heads outside, there’s a bit of impatience to get there.’
Pulling the trolley down the lane, Kate’s gaze – yet again – fixed on Harbourwatch, perched on its sheer cliffs across the water. Was Dev at home? It had been more clear than ever last night how happy he was to have Theo living at Harbourwatch, but she could sense the undercurrents, as though he half expected Leigh to turn up. Would she stay this time, or snatch his son away again?
‘Hey, Kate!’
Rousing herself, Kate speeded up, aware the little passenger ferry had docked on the jetty, and she stepped aboard as Hamish waved them off before heading to collect their car from its parking space.
Mollie, Liam and Jason sat together, giggling about something or other, and Kate exchanged a look with Nicki.
‘Plotting some mischief, no doubt.’
As they approached the beach, Kate forced herself not to peer through the open gates into Harbourwatch, hidden mostly behind its high walls, chattering inanely to Nicki about nothing in particular and oblivious to her friend’s amused glance.
‘There’s Anna.’
They steered the trolley down the ramp onto the firm sand, heading to the rocks bordering the right-hand side of the secluded cove.
‘Can we have an ice cream?’ Jason’s gaze was fixed on a family as they passed, all enjoying some of the delicious wares from the small cafe.
‘In a minute,’ Nicki warned. ‘Let’s get sorted first.’
Several families had settled in for a long stay, with little pop-up tents, rugs spread out with picnic fare and various beach toys scattered around.
‘It’ll be rammed in a few weeks’ time,’ Anna said, as they laid out their own towels to temporarily claim their bit of beach, unloading the cool box and two bags for life stuffed with buckets, spades and inflatables.
Having already donned their swimwear under their shorts and T-shirts, Liam and Jason whipped them off and tossed them at Nicki, who caught them, laughing.
‘Be careful, boys! Put your beach shoes on, please, before you go into the water.’
Mollie stripped off too, and they headed down to where the shallow, gentle waves lapped the wet sand, and were soon kicking water at each other.
Anna had also brought a cool box along and she dug into it, handing around chilled homemade lemonade and shortbread, and the three of them sat on the towels, leaning against the smooth rocks behind them.
Kate adjusted her position a little to avoid a protrusion of rock, but found by doing so, she was looking straight up at Harbourwatch, whose upper floors and rooftops were just visible in their embrace of tall trees.
‘Wondering where a certain person is, are we?’ Nicki nudged Kate’s arm.
‘I was thinking about Theo, actually,’ she responded primly.
Anna chuckled, stretching out her long legs. ‘Of course you were.’
‘I was simply mulling on how lovely it must be as a child to grow up somewhere like this. Idyllic.’ She sent a wry smile towards the others. ‘Until teenage, perhaps.’
‘My mum thought I was mad, giving everything up to move here and marry a fisherman. Mind you, I was only in my early twenties. She probably thought I hadn’t shopped around enough.’ Nicki gave a splutter of laughter. ‘Trouble is, there weren’t that many good shops where I lived ten years ago and there are even less now.’
Kate rolled up a shawl and lay her head on it, enjoying the strength of the sun on her bare limbs, and bent her legs to dig her toes into the soft sand.
‘What was your upbringing like, Kate?’
Staring up at the sky, which was cloudless today, Kate mulled on life back at home.
‘I have lovely but slightly pushy parents.’ She turned her head to the side, then met Anna’s gaze where she sat on the other side of Nicki. ‘Oh, God, Anna. I’m sorry. We’re so thoughtless, chuntering on here negatively about parents.’
A small smile touched Anna’s lips as she shook her head. ‘You don’t have to worry about me. My whole perspective has changed in recent years, firstly from having Oliver in my life, then discovering my brother. And now…’ She hesitated, then rested a hand on her tummy, and Nicki sat forward with an audible gasp as Kate scrabbled upright.
‘You’re not!’ she exclaimed in delight, and as happiness flooded Anna’s face and a tear slid down her cheek, she almost crawled over Nicki’s legs to hug her friend.
‘I’m so happy for you!’
Nicki wrapped her arms around them both as best she could for someone so petite. ‘Me too!’
With a watery giggle, Anna met their avid expressions as they released her.
‘It’s twins.’
‘Wow!’ Nicki’s eyes fastened on Anna’s middle.
‘In at the deep end for Oliver, then,’ Kate added as she crawled back to her towel.
‘Let’s raise our lemonades to the Babies Seymour!’
Kate and Nicki bombarded Anna with questions, who admitted she’d been struggling with tiredness – hence her only having one room in use at the B&B recently. She was four months along, didn’t yet know the genders and the babies were due in December.
‘The perfect little Christmas gifts,’ Kate said mistily.
Anna, however, rolled her eyes as she dug into the cool box for more refreshments. ‘Gemma is in her element. Matt’s warned me she’ll probably buy the babies little elf costumes.’ She smiled wistfully. ‘If we can only get some help for Oliver, things will be perfect.’
‘I thought Matt had found someone?’
‘She’s a bit reluctant to commit to spending six months here. Maybe some people just don’t like Cornwall.’
They all exchanged a look, then burst out laughing, but conversation was at an end for a while, as the boys and Mollie returned begging for treats. Mollie took some cash from Kate and led Liam and Jason over to get ice creams, which they tucked into with relish, perched on a flat bed of rock nearby.
The boys were noisily debating whether spending some of their pocket money on a fishing net or a crabbing line would deliver the best results, with Mollie acting as umpire, as the ladies resumed their conversation from earlier.
‘So how did you meet Hugo? Is it indelicate to ask?’ Nicki squinted over at Kate, who shrugged. Funny how any mention of him in recent months left her… not so much cold, as numb.
‘He was presented to me. Or rather, my parents shoved me at him. They wanted me to go to St Andrew’s, you know?’
‘Ooh, were you trying to catch a prince?’ Nicki teased.
‘My mum hoped so. Imagine, me with my lower-middle roots. I knew for a fact I’d be way out of my comfort zone, and I can’t tell you how happy I am the other Kate got him.’
‘So where did you study?’
Kate leaned back against the rock again, conscious of its warmth seeping through the sheer fabric of her top.
‘Bath. I didn’t meet anyone special, but I headed home afterwards and Dad – who’d recently joined the local golf club – brought Hugo home one day.’ She rolled her eyes at Nicki and Anna. ‘He was everything they considered a suitable match – Oxford educated, career-focused and loaded. I was too na?ve to see beyond the idea of falling in love. Hugo seemed more than happy, but I don’t think my parents ever knew he for ever derided the inferiority of my upbringing and lack of valuable connections.’
‘Like Mr Darcy, but without the character improvement,’ Anna intoned.
Mollie, who’d – unbeknownst to the ladies – come over to collect a book from her bag, interrupted them.
‘Hey,’ she said plaintively, holding aloft a battered copy of Pride & Prejudice . ‘Anna only lent me this last week. No spoilers, please.’
Exchanging amused looks, the ladies changed the subject and, Kate reflected, as Nicki got up to join her boys in the water and Anna lay down to close her eyes, that although she may have been an idiot to marry Hugo in the first place, she wouldn’t change things, even if she could. She had Mollie as compensation for the loveless, often miserable marriage, and she had hope. Hope that there was another future out there, somewhere.
At Harbourwatch, she refused to look.
The hot weather continued into July and Kate continued to enjoy the walk to the hotel. As she crossed the bridge on a Thursday lunch time – having a later start due to needing to work the evening – she could see the build-up of visitors steadily increasing.
She took a short cut, then spotted Mrs Lovelace outside her cottage and diverted to say hello.
‘Everything okay, Mrs L?’ Kate smiled at the elderly lady. ‘Is that Cleggie’s?’ She pointed to the mobility scooter parked by the gate.
‘Nay, my lovely,’ Mrs Lovelace beamed up at her, a hand resting on the nifty little basket attached to the front. ‘Aways wanted one, so I treated m’self.’
‘Of course. Well, drive carefully. These hills are steep.’
By the time she reached the hotel, Kate heeded her own words. Thankfully, she’d learned to walk in her Converse trainers and don her more favoured heels once at work.
It was a busy afternoon, especially as it was also prime wedding season, with a couple of weekends coming up when the whole hotel would operate as a private hire venue for two such events.
Studying the online schedule of the one coming up soon, she made a few notes, then looked up in relief at the interruption as Nicki’s head peered around the door.
‘Got time for a cuppa? I’ve just finished.’
Kate glanced at her phone. Three o’clock. It was going to be a long evening. ‘Always.’
They settled in a shaded area of the large terrace, which was busy with people indulging in afternoon tea or early cocktails.
A heat haze hovered over the sea where it met the bay, shimmering like glass, and the sun shone from a rich blue sky.
‘Oh, look. There’s Oliver and Matt.’
Kate turned to follow the direction of Nicki’s gaze, to see the two men in conversation with a woman whose back was to them.
Nicki sipped her tea. ‘Gosh, I needed this.’ She kicked off her sandals and wriggled her toes. ‘If town wasn’t so rammed, I’d go down to the harbour and dip my toes.’
Kate laughed. ‘You’ll have to watch they don’t catch you. No swimming allowed, remember?’
Nicki chuckled. ‘Jem’s a bit jobs-worth, isn’t he?’ Then, her eyes widened. ‘Oh my God!’
‘What?’ Kate frowned. ‘Did you forget something?’
Nicki, however, had leapt to her feet and shot across the terrace.
Oliver, Matt and their companion were heading across the patio towards the doors into the hotel, but Nicki had flown towards the woman, arms outstretched.
‘Bella!’ She exclaimed, and the woman did a double-take, then hugged Nicki as she all but threw herself at her.
‘Hey! I forgot you lived down this way now.’
‘Kate, come here.’
Nicki beckoned her over. ‘This is my cousin Ellie’s mate, we met on our post-graduation holiday all those years ago.’
‘Hi, I’m Bella. I used to tutor Matt when he was trying his hand at a History A Level last year.’
Kate shook hands with the striking woman. She had pale gold hair, flowing over her tanned shoulders, a prominent nose and the most startling pair of amber, almost hawk-like eyes, which Kate felt didn’t miss a trick.
Nicki nudged Bella’s arm. ‘So, what are you doing here?’
‘Matt put me in touch with Oliver. I’m going to be his research assistant for the next six months.’
‘Fabulous.’ Nicki’s eyes danced with delight. ‘We’ll have to get Ellie down too and have a proper reunion.’
Bella sent Oliver an apologetic look. ‘I’ll be here to work, Nicki, not party like the last time.’ A shadow crossed her face, but it was gone so fast, Kate wasn’t sure if she’d imagined it.
‘But you’ll be living here? Will you stay at the B&B?’
‘Oliver has one of his cottages free from next month, so I’ll be taking that.’
With that, the three of them left, and Kate parted with Nicki at the door to the salon and returned to her office.
She tried to focus on work, making phone calls to double-check delivery times for the cake, balloon displays and flowers, and chasing the champagne order. Then, Kate turned her attention to the impending evening, but after a few moments, she pushed back in her chair and went over to look out of the window.
Kate’s mind swiftly returned, as it so often did throughout the day, to Dev. Surrounded as she was with people getting hitched, people having babies, people celebrating the big moments in life, it was hard not to reflect on both their present situations. Did Dev have regrets? He was hard to read, despite his obvious thawing.
She had a suspicion he wasn’t necessarily in love with his almost-ex-wife any more, but that he would do anything – quite rightly – for Theo’s happiness, even if meant compromising his own.
As this not only emphasised Dev’s goodness over Hugo – and her ex-husband’s dismissive attitude towards their daughter – but also brought back the weight of culpability Kate still struggled with at times, she hugged her arms across her middle, shivering despite the pleasant weather.
Mollie’s current happiness must surely mean she’d done the right thing?
‘Well, it’s too late now,’ Kate admonished softly, turning away from the view and the temptation to go for a long walk.
Kate closed the lid of her laptop with a snap.
That should curb any urge to check the livestream at the beach. Dev had enough on his plate, without being served the added complication of an anonymous stalker.