Chapter Twenty-Four
“Star Trek”
The walk continued, with them climbing steadily uphill again, soon emerging into an open field, the sounds of the surf breaking against the invisible cliffs below them.
‘Will wants to follow the cliff path,’ Chloe called back to Kate and Ellie. ‘This way.’
She fell into step with Will as they picked up a dirt track running along the edge of the field next to coarse hedging, beyond which the sea stretched towards the horizon, but as the walkway narrowed, permitting single file only, Chloe edged in front of Will, sending him a coy look.
Ellie’s heart twanged in envy over the warm smile in response.
‘Is he likely to be taken in by someone like this?’ Kate mused as she stepped ahead of Ellie to lead the way in the wake of the others.
Ellie didn’t honestly know what Will wanted in a woman these days, but she answered nonetheless.
‘I suspect all men are prone to enjoying a bit of obvious attention.’
‘Discreet,’ Kate laughed over her shoulder at Ellie.
They deliberately walked several paces behind Will and Chloe, chatting about Ryther and how much he was enjoying being back in the cove, and Theo, Dev’s son, who had a fascination for lighthouses.
‘They have an open day at the Gribbin every year.’ Kate pointed towards the red-and-white-banded daymark perched on a headland in the distance. ‘We went this year, and I swear the little cutie was positively quivering in anticipation!’
Ellie smiled affectionately at Kate’s back. Her voice throbbed with the love she clearly held for the little boy.
Will and Chloe had reached a stile, and again, Ellie tried not to notice the twinge within her chest as he held out a hand to help Chloe over. Was it her imagination, or did he hold on to it longer than necessary? Were the girl’s cheeks pink from exercise, or something else?
They both clambered over the stile, but Ellie – protective of the cameras – landed awkwardly.
‘You okay?’ Kate grasped her arm. ‘It’s normally me stumbling. Don’t do that when we’re out on the exposed cliff path, will you?’
Ellie rubbed her ankle. ‘I’ll try not to.’
She was all too aware of Will’s impassive face staring back down the path at them, but she straightened her shoulders and followed Kate, using her as an effective visual block to hide the two in front.
After a while, they reached a small beach. The light was stunning, and Ellie clicked away, conscious that Will had bent down to collect some pebbles, and before long he was skimming them with precision across the water, accompanied by Chloe’s cries of delight.
An unbidden memory flashed into Ellie’s mind as emotion caught at her throat – the day Will had found the flat, smooth stone still sitting in the small velvet box, and for a second, she couldn’t breathe for the pain.
‘Stop it,’ she intoned silently, pushing the memory ruthlessly aside to resume her clicking, swapping from the Canon to the Fuji and back again, depending on whether she was snapping scenery or people.
She pretended not to notice how many were actually of Will: his profile as he stared out across the water, the breeze lifting the hair from his forehead; the silhouette of his figure standing on the rocks, the sun full behind him; Will laughing as a seagull swooped low and snatched a crisp from Chloe’s hand.
There was another small cove after that before they finally approached Polridmouth, and Ellie took a moment to absorb the scene.
Using the widescreen lens, she clicked speedily, the light perfect at that moment, then took copious shots on both cameras of the little cottage nestled at the back of the cove – the alleged inspiration for the boat house in Rebecca – before turning her attention to capturing the reflections in the small, magical lagoon formed by the retreat of the tide.
‘It’s like having a walking Siri with us,’ Kate muttered as Chloe waxed lyrical about the location.
Ellie merely smiled, desperately trying to catch a few images of the ever-changing beach as the waves rolled in and out, shifting shells and seaweed on their retreat. There were ample places for Will to do his pieces to camera. The main difficulty would be choosing one.
‘Beautiful,’ she sighed, carefully wiping the camera lens.
After a while, and when Ellie confirmed she had all the shots she needed for now, Will suggested they head back.
‘The way we came?’ Chloe asked, pointing towards the cliff path. ‘Or we can go across the fields via Coombe Farm? They both join above Readymoney Cove, but the field route is a bit quicker.’
‘Let’s do that.’
Will set off with Chloe at a brisk pace, and Ellie adjusted the camera straps again and shouldered the backpack before following Kate up the track.
Ellie tried not to hear Will and Chloe’s conversation, but the breeze was disobliging, drawing their words across the crisp, autumnal air towards her, as Will outlined some diary entries he’d recently been studying.
‘It’s alleged her parents were not inspired by Daphne’s decision to marry; they had no confidence in the match at first. She was determined, though, ignoring any nay-saying.
She wanted little fuss, taking the boat early in the morning from Ferryside up Pont Pill and walking up through the woods to Lanteglos Church. ’
Chloe gave a gasp of delight. ‘We must do that too, follow in her footsteps.’ She clapped her hands.
‘It’s sooo romantic. Oh, to be so in love that you allow nothing and no one to part you.
I long for such a love, such a simple ceremony.
No fuss, just me and…’ Her words faded, and Ellie all but held her breath, then let it out in a rush as Chloe continued. ‘…the person I loved.’
‘That’s all very noble,’ Will said dryly. ‘But you need witnesses. Daphne and her beau had to resort to using the gravedigger.’
Kate did her best to conceal a splutter of laughter, but Will looked over as though he’d only just realised they were there.
‘Yes, well.’ Chloe hurriedly moved them along. ‘Come on, this is a steep bit.’
She wasn’t wrong, and when they reached the top of the incline by the farm, Ellie paused to draw breath, shifting the backpack a little in an attempt to ease the strain on her shoulders, which had begun to ache.
Will had stopped to take a call, and Ellie grabbed the moment to perch on a tree stump, fishing out her own phone and skimming through her inbox.
‘It’s been fabulous, hasn’t it?’ Chloe joined her and Kate. ‘Will wants to do the walk from Bodinnick to Lanteglos next week.’
‘It’s part of the Hall Walk,’ Kate offered.
Ellie looked up from studying her phone. ‘I picked up a good walk book from the tourist place not long ago. Covers a good few walks over the top there, if you’d like to borrow it to plan a route?’
Chloe beamed, but as Will ended his call and beckoned, she scurried across the field to join him.
Relieved the ordeal would soon be over, Ellie rose wearily to her feet as they resumed the walk, scaling stiles and kissing gates, trailing ever further behind.
They entered a copse of trees with a more even path underfoot, and almost out of breath, Ellie paused for a second, reassuring Kate she was fine, merely needing to remove a stone from her boot.
At Ellie’s insistence, Kate continued on, but as Ellie bent to retie her lace, she heard footsteps and straightened to meet Will’s solemn gaze.
‘Give that to me.’
He gestured at the cumbersome pack, which remained on Ellie’s back.
Unimpressed with his resigned air, and out of patience with her heart, which dipped as she took in the wind-raked hair and those dark, intense eyes, Ellie sought for words that wouldn’t come.
‘Ellie? Did you hear me?’
She rolled her eyes. ‘Obviously. I’m a bit tired, Will, not deaf.’
Will’s countenance reflected uncertainty, and Ellie tore her gaze away before she could throw herself into his arms, begging him to never let go.
Cameras might get in the way… could be awks…
Despite the now-careering heartbeat, unable to prevent her lips from twitching, Ellie calmly removed the backpack and handed it over.
‘Give me the cameras, too. I’ll wear them for the rest of the way.’
‘No. The cameras are my lifeblood. The tools of my profession. I will protect them fiercely.’ Ellie folded her arms over the cameras. ‘Nice little dig at parental influence back there, by the way, and the alleged merits of being as stubborn as an ox.’
‘It’s a mule.’ Will’s eyes flashed. ‘And I was simply explaining how parents aren’t always right.’
‘And they don’t always win their point, like with Daphne.’
Will hefted the backpack onto his shoulder, his dark, brooding gaze lingering on Ellie’s flushed countenance.
As a reel spun through Ellie’s mind, snapshots of them falling in love that summer, her eyes scanned Will’s conflicted features. Could he be recalling the same?
‘Will!’
They both started at Chloe’s call.
‘Come on, you said you needed to be back by four, remember?’
Will hesitated, the expression on his face hard to read, then turned on his heel, and Ellie followed him across the last field before the descent back down to Readymoney Cove.
‘Well, that was fun,’ she mused to herself as Kate fell into step beside her.
For some reason, she could feel a laugh bubbling up, but where it came from, she had no idea. She didn’t feel remotely amused at all.
As soon as she got home, Ellie put the camera batteries on charge and retrieved the memory cards, inserting them in the reader before ensuring the cameras were carefully stored for when she next needed them.
Setting up the laptop on the island – and thankful for the quiet, with Anna out at baby and toddler group and Oliver at work – Ellie plugged in the hard drive and created a folder for the day’s shots. Heavens, she must have taken hundreds!
Dragging the shoot to the drive, she checked the download notification. Two hours.
‘You’d better not take that long,’ she warned the screen, heading for the kettle.
After a snack of tea and biscuits, Ellie brushed her fingers against her jeans, checking on the progress with the photos, which were speeding along now.
‘Oh, no, cutie.’ She scooped Heathcliff into her arms as she jumped onto the island to see what Ellie was up to. ‘You can come with me. Cats and keyboards during a download do not mix well.’
Heading upstairs with Heathcliff, Ellie deposited her on the bed and released her hair from its scarf, before going to shower and donning her loungewear.
By the time she’d returned to the kitchen, and she’d fed both Heathcliff and Dougal, the download was almost complete. After making another cup of tea, Ellie perched on a stool and stared across to the window, reflecting on Will’s words.
A double-edged sword, she acknowledged. On one side, at least he’d been curious enough to look for the elusive email; on the other, he’d proved it wasn’t in his inbox.
Eventually, the download completed, but the images were slow to load, an occupational hazard for Ellie, as she always took so many. Gradually, she began working through them, her heart lurching every time a headshot of Will appeared on the screen.
Sticking to the spec for the job, Ellie had kept her focus mainly on shooting wide-angle pictures, making the most of the landscape and backdrop while also showcasing the figures – suitably distant and anonymous, almost Lowry-like shadows on the canvas.
Her love of portraits, however, had taken over now and again, and she’d switched to the other camera, clicking continuously on closer shots of Will, stood on the firm sand, staring out to sea, or head down, deep in thought; of Chloe pointing here and there, laughing at something Will had said.
Had Kate’s speculations been on point? Chloe’s manner towards him was definitely on the flirtatious side, but what about Will?
Ellie swallowed hard and shot out of her seat. She couldn’t bear thinking about it…