Chapter Four
Roo rose to her feet with a shaky smile. ‘Matt has some – er – news for us, Zen.’
Matt nodded at the paper bag. ‘I do, and it’s very kind of you to bring treats.’
‘I didn’t.’ Zennor dropped the bag on her desk and sat behind it, although that metre of wood and air didn’t feel anywhere far enough away from him.
The last time she’d seen him, he’d been dressed as a waiter, wild-eyed, drunk and desperate. There wasn’t a flicker of that in the cool self-assured man before her. Did he not feel any guilt or shame for what he’d put her through?
‘I’ll – um – make us a coffee,’ Roo muttered.
Zennor forced a smile as icy as a blast chiller. ‘Thanks, Roo, but no need. I’m sure Matt won’t be staying long. I can’t possibly think what he might have to say that involves me – us.’
Roo edged away. ‘Well – um – I’ll put the kettle on anyway while – er – Matt explains.’
With Roo having legged it into the kitchen, Zennor was left alone with Matt for the first time since they’d been dating.
She’d been angry and hurt and confused when he left for Australia.
In the years since, even when her anger had cooled and she’d persuaded herself she’d moved on, she was still convinced he had a hand in ruining her marriage.
And he was still Matt, even though the scruffy surf T-shirts and board shorts of his youth had been replaced by this box-fresh white one and the smart jeans.
Even his black Adidas trainers looked brand new.
There was something tamed and restrained about this Matt – not that it made his intrusion into her space any easier to deal with.
‘OK if I sit down?’ he asked, already collecting the visitor’s chair from the side of the office.
‘If you feel the need, although Roo and I are very busy. It’s getting towards the height of the season and we have so much to do. I’m sure you’re busy too and I wouldn’t like to keep you from whatever it is you do these days.’ She curled her lip. ‘I assume it’s singing?’
He placed the chair in front of her and sat down. ‘I haven’t sung professionally in a long time,’ he said coolly. ‘My current area is more … property related.’
‘Property related?’ Zennor smirked. ‘How impressive.’
‘Not really. It’s only a job. I never intended to get into property but when my grandad died, he left me his bungalow.’
Her stomach clenched. She’d been going through the throes of her divorce when news had reached her about Harry Veryan.
She remembered a wiry yet muscular man who’d been able to take on many of the younger members of the club in races.
That was no surprise, given Harry had been a Commonwealth freestyle medallist back in the day.
Even though she had been angry with Matt, her heart had gone out to him and she had wondered how he would cope. She should have messaged him, no matter what had passed between them. She hadn’t even gone to the funeral.
Feeling terrible, Zennor said, ‘Oh. Yes, I heard Harry had passed away. I am so sorry. He was such a lovely man and he always seemed so fit and full of life …’
‘He was seventy-seven.’
‘Seventy-seven …’ Zennor checked herself. ‘I didn’t realise but I suppose I ought to have done. He just seemed young for his age,’ she added, the sting now gone from her tone.
‘It was sudden and it happened while I was working on a job in London so I wasn’t here. Mum and Dad were just about to emigrate to Australia permanently. I can’t help thinking Grandad died of a broken heart.’
‘I – I don’t know what to say … other than I’m sorry you weren’t there.’
‘Nothing I can do now. By the way, I was very sorry to hear about your dad. That must have been a terrible shock too.’
His softened tone brought tears to her eyes and her anger pivoted to grief. ‘Thanks. It was very sudden and he was only fifty-eight.’
‘I wanted to message you with my condolences …’ he said, barely able to look her in the eye. ‘But I – thought it best not to and, to be honest, I was still in a mess over Harry. I was thinking of you and your mum, though. I knew what you must have been going through.’
A fist-sized lump rose to Zennor’s throat and stopped her from answering – not that she had a clue what to say.
When her father had a sudden heart attack on the golf course two years previously, she was still getting over her split from Trev.
Hayden Smith’s death had been a huge blow but she’d had to set her own grief aside to support her mother.
Trev had moved to Brighton by then to launch his latest bar/restaurant.
He hadn’t been able to come to the funeral and she’d thought Matt wasn’t even in Cornwall.
‘I’m sorry,’ Matt said again and for a second, she caught an echo of the man she’d once loved and she’d thought had loved her. Zennor knew that one more sympathetic word from him would result in a flood of tears she wouldn’t be able to stem. Grief caught up at the most inconvenient times.
‘It’s – OK. We weren’t in touch and I didn’t expect to hear from you,’ she said quickly. ‘But why are you here now?’
Matt took a breath, as if he was relieved to be given permission to move on from emotional topics. ‘Grandad’s place was on a big plot overlooking the sea with room for two more houses at the side.’
‘In the dunes at Gwithian, wasn’t it? That’s zillionaires’ row now.’
‘Yeah. He built the place in the seventies. He’d have been gobsmacked to know what it was worth.
’ He glanced away awkwardly before continuing.
‘Anyway, I did the place up almost on my own, sold the plots separately and invested the money in some old offices in Redruth. And now,’ he said quietly, ‘here we are.’
‘Here we are? So, you’re permanently back in St Ives?’ She struggled not to sound aghast.
‘Not in the town itself. I’ve bought a flat in Hayle, not that I spend much time in it. I’m always out working …’
‘Hayle?’ The nearby estuary town was far too close for comfort.
‘Nice for you, but I, um, I’m still not sure what your business has to do with me – and Roo,’ she added, trying to moderate her tone.
No matter how taken aback she was by Matt’s reappearance, she regretted her initial hostility and didn’t want to come across as childish.
It would be better if she could feign a polite level of indifference and get rid of him as quickly as possible, along with the bittersweet memories he’d brought with him.
‘Well …’ The slight hesitation and almost imperceptible lick of the lips made Zennor’s antennae twitch. ‘You know I always liked working with my hands and, as I mentioned, I now specialise in acquiring and managing commercial property …’
Her skin prickled. ‘No. No, you don’t mean …’
‘If you’re referring to this place,’ Matt said, waving his hand around, ‘then yes, I have bought it. I signed the contract with Mikey Sawyer yesterday. This building is now my responsibility.’
Her gasp was impossible to suppress. Surely she’d misheard. ‘But how?’
‘Mikey needed a buyer,’ he said, his gaze shifting from Zennor to the window.
‘But why – why this building?’ Zennor blurted out. ‘You knew. You knew it was my – our – business.’
He seemed fixated by a seagull staring in through the rotting window frame. He certainly seemed unable to look her in the eye.
Finally, he swung round, arms folded across his chest defensively. ‘Yes, I knew.’
‘But why didn’t you tell us what you intended to do before you actually did it? You could have consulted us. Why didn’t Mikey warn us?’
‘Because I asked him to keep the deal discreet. He’s been having some financial difficulties and he asked me if I’d consider taking the place on.’
Zennor knew that Mikey had been avoiding doing repairs for a long time and now understood why – he must be struggling. Even so, she was incredulous. ‘Mikey really wanted you to do that?’
‘Yes, and I wanted to help him. His son, Tyler, is a good mate of mine and he’s been worried about the stress on his dad.’ Matt nodded at the window. ‘You must have noticed the state of the place. It’s falling apart and it doesn’t even meet current building standards or fire regs.’
‘We’d noticed …’ Zennor shot back, hearing the kettle come to the boil in the kitchenette and longing for Roo to come back in.
‘Then you must have suspected Mikey was struggling to look after the property.’ Matt softened his voice.
‘Tyler says he’s been embarrassed and worried about the state of the building to the point of being ill.
When I suggested I take it on, Mikey was relieved to get the place off his hands.
He actually told me that you and Roo deserved a better landlord who could bring the place up to scratch.
It needs to meet the requirements of a modern premises and that can only help your image and attract more business. ’
‘So, have you come here to tell me you’re hiking the rent because we can charge more for having a fancy office?’ She couldn’t help herself. So many shocks piling one on another had stripped her manners clean away. Matt was bringing out all her buried hurt and resentment.
‘Actually, I’m offering you the place on the same terms, albeit that I want to make a few improvements.’
‘Improvements?’ she echoed.
‘A rewire. New kitchen area. Fix the leaky roof. Make it fire safe. It’s all in the contract. Up to you if you sign or move.’ He glanced at the splintered window frame and then back at her. He picked up his car keys. ‘For now, I’m sure you want to think it over but I’d appreciate a swift reply.’
At that moment, Roo ventured in with a tray and three mugs.
‘Thanks, Roo.’ Matt treated her to the warm smile that had once ignited a glow in Zennor’s heart.
‘I’m afraid I’m already running late for another appointment.
My legal team has emailed all the details of the new tenancy agreements and sent a copy in the post. When you’ve had a chance for a good look through – and if you’re happy—’
Zennor couldn’t suppress a huff.
‘If you’re in agreement and want to continue the tenancy, let my team know. Now, I really have to go.’
‘Thanks,’ Roo said.
Matt flashed a brief but friendly smile at her. ‘You’re welcome.’
He left by the front door, quickly swallowed up by the crowds on the Wharf.
After a moment of silence during which she wondered whether Matt Veryan waltzing back into her life, announcing he owned her business premises and declaring he had a direct effect on its future had been a nightmare, Zennor clenched her fists and let out a strangled scream of frustration.
‘Gah! Well, that’s just brilliant, isn’t it? Typical Matt. Thinks he’s right. He hasn’t changed a bit.’
Roo leaned back in her chair, hands cupped around her mug. ‘Wow, why don’t you say what you really feel.’
‘Sorry, Roo. It’s just – he took me by surprise. I’d thought about him turning up in my life so many times and I always intended to act cool, as if I didn’t care.’
‘But you do, Zen, and that’s OK. You can’t sweep the past away when your feelings are still raw.’
‘Thanks. That’s true, but I really wanted to be more grown up about the situation. Now he knows I am still rattled by what happened – by him – and that’s the worst bit. But’, she said with a determined set of her shoulders, ‘if we are going to be seeing more of him …’
‘I don’t think we have a choice …’
‘And that’s exactly it. Matt has taken our choices away. He’s bulldozed back into my life – our lives – without even asking if we wanted him to. That’s why I really, really, really want to make sure I’m – we’re in control of the situation from now on.’
Roo listened to all of this with a weary expression.
‘He is going to sort the building out though – and you must admit the place is falling apart around our ears. The alternative is to try and find completely new premises and this is the height of the season. I hate to point it out it but we really don’t have much choice but to accept his offer. ’
Zennor groaned in exasperation. ‘I agree but why did it have to be him? He must have bought the place hoping we’d be the grateful recipients of his good works,’ she said sarcastically. ‘He probably thinks he should be looking out for me because I’m on my own.’
‘Er …’ Roo raised her hand.
‘Not in business,’ Zennor qualified. ‘You know what I mean. But I don’t need a man looking out for me.’ She grabbed at the door to the kitchenette, twisting the handle. It came off in her hand, the recoil almost throwing her backwards. ‘Argh!’
The handle clattered against the side of the bin. ‘And I don’t need anyone trying to complicate my life again – least of all Matt Veryan.’