Chapter 7
Miss Lavender showed Bethany to her room and left her to unpack, assuring her that there was no rush and lunch wouldn’t be ready for at least an hour.
The room was a decent size, with fitted wardrobes and another plush carpet. There were French doors opening out onto the garden, but white drapes afforded privacy, and there were thick teal curtains for night-time.
Bethany sank onto the double bed and gazed around her, not really taking in her surroundings. She’d slept in so many strange bedrooms in recent years that it was just one more to add to the list.
She smirked, aware suddenly of how that would sound to a stranger. But the fact was, she’d been alone the entire time. There was no one special in her life. Those strange bedrooms were in temporary accommodation—hotel rooms, holiday cottages, friends’ homes. Well, not even friends if she was being really honest with herself. Acquaintances. People she’d got to know over the years through Ted, but with whom she had more of a polite relationship than a true one.
Since her divorce she hadn’t had a place to call home. Her solicitor had said Ted should be the one to leave the marital home, but Ted didn’t want to move out. And, as he said, the house was far too large for one person and, after all, it had been Ted’s home before Bethany had even met him.
He was right of course, and as much as it hurt her to admit it, the place had never really felt like home to her anyway. The truth was she didn’t feel she’d ever really had a home at all. Not her marital home, and certainly not Whispering Willows. Well, maybe when she was very young, before her mother changed and she’d been left in the care of her father and Joseph. Maybe then it had been a home. Her mother had attempted to make it into some sort of home at least. When she’d died it was just a house. Nothing more.
Sighing, she made a half-hearted attempt to unpack her suitcase. How many times had she done this over the last few years, she wondered, as she hung various items of clothing on coat hangers. Too many times. Sometimes she longed for somewhere she could finally put down roots and stay. Somewhere she could spend the rest of her life.
After her divorce she’d travelled quite a bit, looking for somewhere special. After Ted died, she’d moved in temporarily with Helena, but always hoped to find a place that called to her. A place that would fill her heart with such joy, and such a sense of belonging, that she’d have no alternative but to seek out a house there and begin her new life somewhere that finally felt like home.
When she sold Whispering Willows, what then? When she was finally free to put Tuppenny Bridge behind her for good… what? Where would she go?
‘I’ll stick a pin in a map,’ she murmured to herself, as she draped a blouse over a coat hanger and hung it on the rail. ‘That’s probably the only way I’ll decide. Or I’ll put a few places into a hat and draw one out.’
It was, she admitted, possibly her only option if she was to move forward. And maybe if she bought somewhere she’d grow to love it eventually. She would make it a home by decorating it to her taste and filling it with furniture and belongings she loved, and then, gradually, it would feel like her own little sanctuary. It would win her heart. Bit by bit she’d settle at last.
After emptying her suitcase, she pushed it under the bed, out of the way, and sank back onto the bed. Now what?
Then she remembered she’d promised to call Helena and let her know how things were going, and that she hadn’t done so.
She fished her mobile phone out of her handbag and rang the number. It rang four times before a breathless Helena said, ‘Bethany? Well, it’s about time!’
Bethany smiled. ‘Sorry. I’ve been a bit preoccupied. Are you okay? You sound out of breath.’
‘I heard the phone ringing, and I’d left it in the other room. I ran! You wretch, you didn’t answer my texts! I was worried.’ Helena paused. ‘Are you okay? How’s everything going?’
‘I’m sorry. I was a bit busy. I’m fine. Everything’s going fine.’ It was her standard answer, given automatically. Usually, that was enough to placate most people, but not Helena.
‘Okay, and how’s it going really?’
Bethany rolled her eyes and shuffled back to rest against the headboard. ‘Pretty much as I expected. Well, worse actually.’
‘Worse? Oh no. I’m sorry to hear that. Worse in what way?’
‘I’m not even sure where to begin.’ Bethany glanced around the room. ‘I’m calling you from the spare bedroom in Miss Lavender’s apartment. I’ve moved in with her. She insisted.’
‘Miss Lavender?’ There was a question in Helena’s tone but then she said, ‘Oh! The artist’s descendant who thinks she rules the town?’
‘That’s the one.’ Bethany laughed, but then felt a bit guilty. After all, Miss Lavender had been kindness itself to her. ‘She’s actually been lovely to me and didn’t like to think of me staying at The Lady Dorothy. It’s just a bit…’
‘Too much?’ Helena said sympathetically. ‘Feeling crowded already?’
‘Yeah,’ Bethany admitted, grateful that she didn’t have to explain. ‘At least at the pub I didn’t have to make any effort.’
‘Maybe it will do you good,’ Helena said gently. ‘You’ve been on your own for too long. Time to connect with other people again, don’t you think?’
‘I’ve been living with you for over a year!’ Bethany said indignantly.
‘That’s not what I meant, and you know it.’ Helena sighed. ‘Anyway, how was it? Going back to Whispering Willows, I mean.’
‘Awful.’ Bethany shuddered at the memory. ‘Bad enough just being there again. All those memories! But honestly, you should see the state of the place.’
‘Grim?’
‘Grim doesn’t begin to describe it. It’s a dump. It needs gutting if you ask me.’
‘Well, that’s not your problem, is it? You’re getting rid of it, aren’t you? Just sort out the contents and hand the lot over to an estate agent. Let them worry about it.’
‘It’s not that simple,’ Bethany said grimly. ‘There’s something of a fly in the ointment there.’
‘Oh?’
‘It turns out that the place is now a horse sanctuary, and I’m suddenly responsible for thirteen horses, ponies and donkeys.’
‘You’re what?’
‘I know! Nobody warned me about that, did they? I was horrified when I found out. I mean, what am I supposed to do with them all?’
‘Sell them?’ Helena suggested doubtfully.
‘I don’t think that’s an option. I’ve only briefly met them, but I think they’re all too old or damaged to just blithely sell on.’
She thought about poor old, hollow-backed Chester, and little Barney the Exmoor pony who was plagued by sweet itch and spent half the year swathed in barrier cream and a protective coat and hood.
Then there were Diamond and Sapphire, two elderly donkeys whose owner had died and who had been left alone in a paddock, forgotten about until the owner’s nephew thankfully remembered them. And four Shetland ponies whose previous owners had apparently neglected them dreadfully and had been planning to abandon them until an acquaintance had tipped off the owners of the sanctuary in East Yorkshire, where Summer had previously worked.
The sanctuary owners hadn’t had room for the Shetlands, apparently, but Joseph had taken them in. Summer had told her this, her eyes shining as she recalled how generous and kind Joseph was.
Whatever their problems, Bethany couldn’t deny that her brother had been good to the horses in his life.
‘Wouldn’t another sanctuary take them?’ Helena asked hopefully.
‘In today’s economic climate?’ Bethany shook her head, even though her friend couldn’t see her. ‘I highly doubt it, although I’ll have to try. You never know, I might get lucky. I don’t know what else I can do to be honest.’
‘So make the calls and get them sorted, then you can stick the house up for sale and get out of there,’ Helena said, sounding more cheerful. ‘Time to start hunting for your new home. You need to put down some roots, don’t you think?’
‘I think there’ll be a delay on that, too,’ Bethany admitted, uncomfortably aware that it might sound as if she was deliberately putting obstacles in her own path. ‘It’s the house. Like I said, it’s a mess. Really needs gutting. I don’t think it would be a good idea to put the house on the market the state it’s in. I was thinking, maybe I’d do it up a bit. Well, it would definitely increase the asking price if I did, so…’
‘But you hardly need the money!’ Helena’s voice was puzzled. ‘You got a very generous divorce settlement from Ted, and you still have most of your own inheritance, and I’m sure that’s more than enough to buy your own place and then some. What does it matter if you don’t make much from Whispering Willows, as long as it’s off your hands. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?’ She hesitated. ‘It is still what you want, isn’t it, Bethany?’
‘Of course it is! It’s not the money really. It’s…’ Bethany shook her head helplessly. What was it? Why didn’t she just walk away and leave everything to Clive and Summer and the estate agent? Surely, between them all, they could sort the whole mess out. Why should she be bothered? ‘…The horses,’ she finished weakly. ‘I must think of their welfare. I can’t leave until they’re safely rehomed, so I might as well spend my time productively, improving the house.’
She was sure she heard Helena sigh.
‘I suppose so,’ her friend said at last. ‘These horses—I hope you’ve got help with them? Thirteen is an awful lot to care for by yourself.’
‘Oh yes, there’s Summer and—and Clive.’
‘Who are they?’
‘Summer’s worked for Joseph for ages apparently, and she’s devoted to the animals. Only a young girl, early twenties. She seems nice enough. Very earnest and a bit idealistic, but her heart’s in the right place.’
Would people once have described her in that way? She realised with a sinking feeling that they very well might have. She hoped Summer would always be a bit idealistic and that life wouldn’t show her too much of its dark side, the way it had her.
‘And Clive?’
‘Clive…’ She thought about the big, sandy-haired, grey-eyed Scot. ‘Clive was Joseph’s friend. He’s a vet but he’s helping at the stables because Summer’s going to Australia to visit family and Clive’s volunteering in her place. He’s—capable.’
And kind-hearted, and pig-headed, and caring, and bossy. He clearly didn’t think much of her and had idolised Joseph. She wondered how well he’d really known her brother.
But more than anything, Clive was grieving. She could see the pain in his eyes every time she looked at him. Miss Lavender had said that he’d also been great friends with Julian Callaghan, who’d died over fourteen years ago. So Clive had lost two good friends. He’d grieved twice over. It was a lot. She supposed volunteering at the sanctuary was his way of doing something constructive with all that grief. She couldn’t blame him for that.
‘What about his job? Seems a lot to fit in, being a vet and volunteering at the horse sanctuary.’
‘He’s got a locum covering his shifts at the surgery. He’s been in place for a while, actually. Clive took leave to move in and care for Joseph in his last few months.’
‘Wow.’ Helena was clearly impressed. ‘Sounds like a very special man.’
‘Joseph seems to have inspired great loyalty,’ Bethany said. ‘Summer can’t speak highly enough of him. She’s in tears every time she mentions him, but that doesn’t stop her telling me how Joseph would react to any given situation, and making sure I know just how wonderful he was.’
‘Have you…’ Helena paused, clearly considering her next words. ‘Have you changed your mind about Joseph at all?’
Bethany frowned, almost sure she caught an uneasy tone in Helena’s voice.
‘Has time and distance made you think differently about him?’
Had it? Bethany thought about the dedication her brother had shown to the animals in his care. He’d obviously neglected himself and the house dreadfully to make sure those horses, ponies, and donkeys were looked after and cherished. He’d also clearly made a great impression on Summer and Clive.
She couldn’t deny he’d always been wonderful with animals, showing a real affinity with them. But it had taken him a long time to find the courage to protect them all. She still remembered that day when he’d first done so. The first horse he’d ever rescued. How scared he must have been. She’d been so impressed. Awestruck even. She’d thought he was absolutely wonderful.
But that hadn’t lasted, had it? The sudden warmth she’d felt towards her brother evaporated, replaced by the coldness she was more familiar with. He might have been eager to protect horses, but he’d not been so great at protecting her. In fact, he’d hurt her more than anyone ever had before.
And the worst part of it was that he wasn’t even sorry. Not really. He’d let her go and hadn’t bothered to contact her since. There wasn’t any room for Bethany in Joseph’s heart, clearly. It was too full of wretched horses.
She gripped her phone as her eyes narrowed. ‘No, nothing’s changed. I know what Joseph was and he may have fooled Clive and Summer, but I know the real him.’ She blinked away tears. ‘You’re right, of course. I’ll make some calls. See if I can find new homes for the horses, then I’ll contact the estate agent. The sooner I’m out of Tuppenny Bridge the better.’