Chapter 13
13
JOE
He was glad Skye had been open to going out with him and seeing parts of the island. As much as they might have been thrown together, neither of them had planned for this to happen. He loved the island and knew that Lettie would want him to look after Skye and show her around. Now that Melody and Zac seemed to be serious it made sense that Skye would also be on the periphery of the Torel family and, as he was too, to a certain extent, then he should ensure that he did all he could to help Skye make the most of every moment she was on the island.
After breakfast they finished the outstanding tasks from their list and now he was sitting in his car, and waiting for Skye to freshen up and join him.
‘So,’ she said, appearing at the passenger door, looking excited as she got in. ‘Where to first?’
‘I thought we should start on the other side of the island. I could drive you to a few bays and then around the north coast. We could stop at one of the places for a bite to eat for our lunch, then carry on making our way back towards St Ouen, ending up at the farm in time to take Spud and Derek out for a walk and check on all the animals. How does that sound?’
‘Great fun,’ she said, fastening her seat belt.
He drove off wishing they could take the dogs with them but aware that they would probably be happier left in the warmth of the kitchen. ‘It’s a bit nippy today, isn’t it?’
Skye nodded. ‘I guess so.’
Joe looked at her. ‘You’re not cold?’
‘I’m from Scotland, Joe,’ she reminded him. ‘The weather here is incredibly mild. Almost summer-like.’
He saw the glint in her eye and knew she was joking. ‘My blood must be much thinner than yours.’
‘I suppose it’s not surprising if you’ve lived here and in France all your life. I’m used to warm climates since I’ve been travelling but I grew up in Edinburgh and suppose I’m more comfortable with lower temperatures.’
‘I can see you’re going to think me a bit of a wimp,’ he teased as it dawned on him he was enjoying spending time with her.
‘Yes, I have a feeling I might.’
He wasn’t really that cold but there was a nip in the air. Summer was his favourite season and as far as he was concerned it couldn’t come quick enough, but they had a few months to go until then.
His phone rang and, always on alert for a call, Joe indicated as soon as they reached a safe place to pull over on the road. ‘Sorry, I’d better see who this is.’
‘No problem.’ Skye picked up his phone from the cubbyhole in the dashboard and held it ready for when he had parked the car.
He took the phone from her. ‘Thanks.’ He looked at the screen and, seeing it was his mother, sighed. Faye had a knack of calling at the wrong moment and usually wanted him to do something for her. ‘Hopefully this won’t take a moment and then we can get back to sightseeing.’
He answered the call, aware from experience that Faye would continue to ring until he picked up unless she was distracted in some way.
‘Hi, Mum, what’s up?’
‘I need you pick up a couple of bits for me at the village shop and drop them off at the bungalow.’
He thought of Roger with little else to do apart from Faye’s bidding and had to swallow his irritation. ‘Why can’t you or Roger pop to the corner shop? It’s only at the end of the road and sells most things you should need.’
‘I know, Joe, but Roger’s gone out for a walk somewhere and I’ve run out of tea and milk. You know how rattled I get when I can’t have my tea.’
He did. ‘I would have thought after all your years in France you’d be used to drinking coffee by now.’ Before she could answer, unable to resist he added, ‘Anyway, wouldn’t you enjoy a short walk to the shop?’
Noticing Skye wave to get his attention, he raised his eyebrows and held his phone away from him. ‘Sorry about this,’ he whispered.
‘It’s fine. I was just going to say that I don’t mind the detour if you don’t.’
‘It’s not that,’ Joe said, unsure how to finish his sentence without admitting he would rather not go to the bungalow with Skye and deal with his mother’s excitement that he might have found a girlfriend. She seemed to have a mission to see him in a long-term relationship and as far as Joe was concerned he was happy as he was right now. Not that he wouldn’t mind seeing someone again, he thought, just that he would rather the poor girl not have to put up with Faye’s incessant questions when she did meet her.
‘You’d rather I not be there,’ Skye whispered.
He could see she was trying to hide her hurt, assuming he didn’t want to see his mother with Skye in tow. ‘It’s not what you think.’
Skye smiled. ‘Really, it’s fine. It was just a thought.’
‘No, it’s just?—’
‘Joe?’ Faye shouted. ‘Are you still there?’
Aware Faye was calling for him, he rolled his eyes and brought the phone nearer to his face once again. ‘Sorry, Mum. You were saying?’ He had no idea what she had been talking about, but assumed it had something to do with why she was insisting he did her shopping at that moment.
‘Well, I did wonder. I thought for a moment there I was talking to myself.’
‘Sorry, Mum.’ He didn’t like to admit that she had been. ‘I’m listening. Carry on.’
‘It’s my sciatica. Damn thing has flared up again and I’m in agony. If I was fine I would have been happy to go to the shop and get to know the people running the place. You know how friendly I always am. And I’d be out walking with Roger right now rather than stuck here in this miserable place.’
He didn’t like to remind her that the house she was being so rude about was his and that he had moved out to let her and her husband have the home to themselves.
‘Fine. Let me know what you want and I’ll get it for you. I won’t be able to stop for too long though because I’m out with a work colleague who’s new to the island and I’m supposed to be taking her on a tour of some of the sights.’
‘Her?’ The one word was filled with his mother’s intrigue.
He closed his eyes, desperate not to give in to his irritation. ‘Mum, we work together, nothing more.’ He smiled at Skye and, seeing she was staring out of the window, assumed she was lost in thought taking in the scenery.
‘No need to give you a list,’ she said, sounding overly cheerful all of a sudden. ‘I’ll call them and ask them to put everything by. I’m sure they’ll do that for me.’
‘I’m sure they will.’ He didn’t doubt it for a moment. Faye could be very persuasive when she was at her most charming. ‘I’ll be with you in about twenty minutes.’
‘Sorry about the detour, Skye.’ Not wishing to waste her time, he tried to think how to make the most of having to go out of their way. ‘Although, there are a couple of places like Noirmont and Ouaisné that I’m sure you’d enjoy visiting, but we can do those another day.’
He caught Skye staring at him, an unreadable expression on her face.
‘Would you rather go there today?’
She shook her head. ‘Not at all. I’m in your hands. You decide what we see and when. It’s not like I have a clue what’s here anyway.’
He must have been mistaken. ‘Great. East it is then. We’ll go there as soon as we’re done at Mum’s.’
Mum’s? That hadn’t taken long for him to forget it was his house and now automatically think of the bungalow as his mother’s home.
‘Sounds perfect.’
They turned into the road and, relieved to spot a parking space just outside the store, Joe parked. ‘Is there anything I can get for you while I’m here?’ he asked.
Skye shook her head. ‘I’m good, thanks.’
Joe hurried inside. ‘Hi, Joe,’ the shopkeeper, Mal, said cheerfully. ‘Not like you to drive here?’
Joe sighed. ‘I’m housesitting at a friend’s farm while they’re away,’ he explained. ‘My mother and stepfather have moved into my place. In fact, she was going to phone through an order for me to collect.’ Aware not everyone would accommodate such a thing, Joe decided to apologise for any inconvenience. ‘I’ll understand if you decided it’s not something you wish to do.’
The jovial man shook his head. ‘Not at all. I was only too happy to oblige. Faye explained she now lives in Gerry’s place.’
Hearing the man mention his beloved grandfather, Joe smiled. ‘That’s right.’
‘Sorry, it’s your place now.’ He crossed his arms and leant against the counter. ‘I suppose I’ve been referring to it as Gerry’s place for decades and keep forgetting he’s gone.’
Joe couldn’t miss Mal’s sadness at his grandfather’s passing and somehow it helped ease his own grief slightly to be reminded how loved his grandfather was by so many other islanders. Joe listened as Mal reminisced while he checked through a bag of groceries Faye had requested and began ringing them up on the till.
‘Great chap, Gerry was. Sorely missed around here and at pétanque. We won the league once with him on the team.’
‘Really?’ Joe didn’t recall his grandfather ever mentioning playing pétanque.
‘Yes, he was a good ’un.’ Mal finished with the items and rang up the total. ‘That’ll be fifty-three pounds and seventeen pence, mate.’
Joe took his card from his jeans pocket and paid for his mother’s food. He lifted the bag off the counter. ‘Thanks for doing this. I appreciate it.’
‘No problem at all,’ Mal said. ‘I told Faye that next time I can drop her shopping off if you or she can’t fetch it.’
Joe wondered if his mother had thought to mention that she did in fact have a husband who would usually be happy to do the shopping for her. Or, Joe mused, maybe he wasn’t. It wasn’t as if Joe knew much about him at all, he realised, apart from his first name.
He thanked Mal once more and took the shopping out to the car. ‘Sorry for the wait,’ he said to Skye.
‘It’s fine. I’m perfectly happy sitting here.’
‘The house is only a little further along here,’ he explained.
Joe drove down the lane to the bungalow and had to carefully pass a postal van parked in the narrow lane before he pulled up outside. He and Skye got out of the car and realised the man was leaning against the garden wall with his leg tilted at an odd angle.
‘Is everything all right?’ Joe asked, wondering if the man needed his help. Spotting his mother standing nearby for the first time, he asked her the same thing.
‘We’re fine,’ Faye explained. ‘Stan here was just showing me some exercises to help with my sciatica.’
‘I was just delivering that parcel for Faye,’ Stan said. ‘And asked why she was having difficulty walking. I’ve been demonstrating a few exercises I learnt at Pilates. Going to lessons has been an enormous help to me since I got sciatica. I was telling Faye that once she’s in less pain she should try doing this, gentle like. Then, when she’s better she should come to the classes at the parish hall. It only costs a few quid each time and I can’t tell you how much it’s helped me. I’m always happiest on a Wednesday when I’ve finished a class.’
Liking the idea and thinking of this as a way for his mother and maybe Roger to make a few friends on the island, Joe hoped to encourage her. ‘Sounds like a good idea to me, Mum. What do you think?’
She pursed her lips. ‘I might give it a go. No harm in trying, I suppose.’
An elderly lady he recognised as Mrs de la Mare walked up to them. ‘What’s happening here then?’ she asked. ‘Oh, Stan. You’ve not hurt yourself again, have you?’
‘No.’ Stan laughed, lowering his leg. ‘I was explaining to Faye here?—’
‘I’m afraid I’m going to have to go into the house and sit down. My leg is rather sore standing here. Thanks for your suggestion, Stan,’ Faye said, smiling at them. ‘I’ll certainly give it some thought.’ She turned to the neighbour. ‘Nice to meet you.’
Joe gave a nod to the pair of them and followed his mother inside, standing by the open doorway to let Skye walk into the house. ‘Sorry about this,’ he whispered.
She seemed amused rather than annoyed, he noticed with relief.
As soon as they were in the kitchen, Joe put the bag of groceries onto the worktop. ‘Here you go, Mum. All safely delivered.’
His mother didn’t seem interested in what he had brought. He turned to see her smiling at Skye.
‘Now, who is this friend of yours, Joe, and why haven’t I met her before?’
* * *
Joe pulled an apologetic face at Skye as he drove them away from the bungalow an hour later. ‘Sorry about that. Mum is lovely but she can be a bit nosy sometimes, especially where I’m concerned.’
Skye grinned. ‘She only wants the best for you, I imagine. Isn’t that what most mothers would do if their child brought someone they don’t know to their house?’
‘I suppose you’re right.’
‘Anyway, I liked Faye.’
‘You did?’ Joe was surprised how happy her comment made him. ‘I’m glad.’
‘She’s such a character. She reminded me of Patsy a bit. Don’t you think they have some similar qualities?’
He thought about the strong, positive, fun woman who came to the island last summer with Melody. The grandmother and her granddaughter had made a massive impact on everyone connected to Hollyhock Farm.
‘Yes, I think you’re right,’ he agreed, slowing the car to an almost crawl as they reached the end of the traffic jam near Beaumont.
Once past the filter-in turn, the traffic began moving more quickly. Eventually, they reached Gorey, and Joe hoped Skye was going to enjoy the places he had planned to take her.
‘Look at that!’ Skye pointed through the windscreen at the majestic castle rising high above them as they drove along the road from Gorey village.
‘What do you think?’ Recalling Skye was used to seeing the grandiose Edinburgh Castle, he added, ‘I suppose you’re used to seeing castles in Scotland. I imagine this is nothing compared to those.’
She laughed. ‘In this instance I am impressed. That’s a pretty castle and it’s very imposing the way it stands so high above those lovely terraced houses below it on the pier.’
‘We can go in if you like, but I thought today we could just stop on the road and take some photos. Maybe go down to the small bay behind the castle green.’
‘I’m happy to do whatever you think.’
‘Fine,’ Joe said happily. ‘Then we’ll start our tour with that.’
Once down on the beach he recalled part of the movie that was filmed there in the fifties. ‘Do you know Rock Hudson filmed Sea Devils in this very bay in the fifties?’
When Skye didn’t respond he looked over his shoulder to check she wasn’t having trouble following him down. ‘You OK?’
‘Fine,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘I was just trying to think where I’d heard that name before.’
He recalled his mother being shocked when he hadn’t known who the actor was either when she first told him this snippet of information. ‘There was a series about Hollywood. He was one of the actors depicted in it.’
She frowned and he could tell she was thinking about what he had said. ‘That’s it. I remember watching that a couple of years ago.’
They walked along the small beach and Skye made him stop for a couple of selfies.
‘Smile then,’ Skye said, holding up her mobile to take a photo of them with the rolling waves in the background.
‘I thought I was.’ Joe laughed.
She took the photo. ‘Do you know when I first saw you at the farm and realised who you were, it never occurred to me that we could ever be friends.’
Her comment surprised him initially, then he thought back to how they had both reacted to each other when he had gone to her hotel room and tried to persuade her to leave the hotel. Disappointed to discover her opinion of him, Joe decided he would nonetheless need to respect them and keep any feelings he had for her hidden.
‘Don’t you agree?’
He looked down at her pretty face and wished she saw him differently. ‘I do,’ he fibbed, forcing a smile.
‘This is fun,’ she said, nudging him lightly on his arm. ‘Although I can’t help feeling a little guilty about leaving the farm when I’m only on the island to help look after the place.’
Not wishing the excitement of Skye’s day to be ruined, he frowned. ‘Lettie’s not going to expect us to be there all the time,’ he said. ‘In fact, I’m sure she’d be surprised if I didn’t show you around the island. She would definitely want me to make sure you have time to enjoy yourself away from work while you’re here.’
‘In that case, I won’t worry so much, but we shouldn’t be away too long.’
‘I agree. To be honest, nothing is that far away from anywhere here and at the most it probably only takes twenty-five to thirty minutes to drive from one end of the island to the other.’
Skye stopped walking and stared out to sea. ‘I forget it’s only a small island. I’m used to it taking ages to travel from one place to another at home.’
She breathed in deeply through her nose, slowly exhaling afterwards. Joe noticed her eyes were closed and did the same. Even if she did only see him as a friend, this was relaxing and he decided he should take note of how someone who saw the island for the first time viewed everything. He would make the time to stop and appreciate the sights and sounds of the beaches more often. Skye was good company and he realised he could easily get used to days like these.