Chapter 1
CHAPTER 1
CATH
‘ T hat’s it then love, we’re off!’
Cath raised her eyebrows and glared at Bruce. The older of the two removal guys didn’t even flinch as he slammed the back doors of the dented white van closed and dusted his hands together.
There was something worryingly final about the action.
‘What do you mean, that’s it?!’ said Cath.
Her voice sounded weary, even to her own ears. She was tired—bone tired—and not just because it was moving day at long last. This feeling had been building inside her ever since her husband of fifteen years had announced that he was bored. Bored with their home. Bored with their life together. Most of all, bored with her.
That moment had triggered an exhausting chain of events that had included hunting for a new job, a new home… and a new life.
Now here she was, standing on Crumbleton’s cobbled high street, surrounded by dozens of boxes and the few pitiful bits of furniture she’d brought with her.
What amounted to all her worldly goods were currently blocking the narrow pavement plus a good portion of the frontage of Crumbleton Bookshop. It was long past closing time, and their lights were out… which was probably just as well. It was going to take ages to ferry everything up the narrow staircase to her new flat!
‘We need to get a shift on,’ said Bruce. ‘Can’t stay here blocking the high street.’
‘Oh,’ said Cath, her tone suddenly more hopeful, ‘you just mean you need to move the van? That’s fair enough. Then we can make a start on getting this lot upstairs. It shouldn’t take too long with the three of us.’
‘Nope, we’re off off,’ said Bruce, shaking his head. ‘We’re done. Finished. The end. Finito. I want to get back up to London this evening.’
The young lad who’d helped turf her boxes out of the van nodded from his perch on the passenger seat. He’d already pulled his seatbelt back on and was busy fiddling with his mobile phone.
‘But… surely you’re going to help me carry everything upstairs first?’ she said, glancing at the mountain of boxes again. Okay, perhaps mountain was over-egging the pudding a bit. It was more like a molehill of boxes considering that it represented her entire life. Still—mountain or molehill—she really could do with a hand.
‘Gotta go!’ said Bruce, shaking his head again.
‘But I paid you!’ said Cath.
She cringed at the distinct wobble that had just crept into her voice. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to burst into tears, yell, or laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. Frankly, all three options sounded like they’d take way more energy than she had left to spare, so she bit her lip instead.
‘You paid us to transport the boxes,’ said Bruce, executing what she’d come to recognise as his trademark shrug. ‘We’ve done that. I mean, if we’re splitting hairs, I should really charge you extra for helping to unload.’
Cath felt herself deflate and the wobble of emotion promptly turned into the flat feeling of defeat. All she wanted to do was curl up on a comfy sofa and go to sleep—preferably under a fluffy blanket. In fact, if she was going to take the fantasy all the way… she wouldn’t mind waking up to a gooey slice of chocolate cake, a cup of perfectly made Earl Grey in her favourite cup, and a half-naked demi-god busily unpacking all her boxes and arranging her new flat for her.
‘Fat chance,’ she muttered, sinking down to sit on the worn stone doorstep between the bakery and the bookshop.
She watched as Bruce climbed up into the van. Two seconds later, he drove off without so much as a fare-thee-well.
‘Well,’ she sighed, ‘this pretty much sucks!’
It definitely wasn’t how she’d imagined beginning this new chapter of her life. She’d been hoping for a certain sense of triumph as she started over with her new flat, new job and—with any luck—new friends. Instead, here she was, all alone and feeling a bit… stranded.
Closing her eyes, Cath sucked in a deep breath and was instantly comforted by the faint aroma of fresh cake and homemade bread wafting towards her from the bakery next door. The sign on their door might say closed , but that lingering scent felt like a warm welcome to the little town she was going to have to learn to call “home”.
‘Tomorrow, I’ll get a fresh loaf and some cake,’ she promised herself quietly, hauling herself back to her feet.
This was the one drawback of rocking up after closing time—she couldn’t even grab a sugary treat to give herself a bit of a boost. It had been her new landlord’s suggestion to wait until after everyone had gone home for the day before braving the high street with the removals van.
Cath hadn’t met Oli in person yet, but she’d been grateful for his email full of meter readings and details about the flat above the bookshop that she’d just rented from him. He’d included a few suggestions about how to make her moving day as easy as possible, too.
Cath might not be able to lay her hands on an emergency piece of chocolate cake right now, but other than that, Oli’s advice had been spot-on. Thanks to him, Bruce hadn’t had to deal with any other traffic on the narrow, winding hill, and she’d known to leave her car outside town in the Marsh Carpark and walk up. Even better, with all the shops shut for the day, the gaggles of tourists had gone home—so at least her vast heap of stuff on the pavement was less likely to cause a pile-up!
Of course, it was a bit of a shame that she couldn’t pop into the bookshop to introduce herself to Oli in person. Not that she really needed to—she already had the keys to the flat. Ruth from Crumbleton Council had posted them to her along with the huge, ornate key for the museum and the Welcome Pack for her new job as the curator. She’d included a note of apology that she wouldn’t be around for Cath’s first few weeks because she was off on holiday to Greece.
Cath didn’t mind that much. She rather relished the idea of having free rein with the museum while she found her way around and made some plans for the place. She’d discovered a list of phone numbers in the Welcome Pack, with instructions to “call any of them” if she had any problems. The thought of bothering random strangers made Cath more than a little bit nervous, and she’d instantly vowed only to use them as a last resort. After all, she hadn’t actually met any of the locals in person yet - the entire interview process had taken place online.
With any luck, her first few weeks would be plain sailing. What could go wrong at a museum?! That said, what would she know?! Cath hadn’t even set foot inside the place yet—there could be all manner of problems waiting to greet her.
There had been several times over the past few weeks when Cath had felt like her impending move to Crumbleton was a dream she might wake up from at any moment.
‘As long as it doesn’t turn out to be a nightmare,’ she sighed.
Ruth had made a few comments during the interview that made Cath suspect she was going to have her work cut out for her. Still… there was nothing like a bit of hard work to help you settle into a new place, was there?
A little wriggle of excitement ran through her as she thought about her new job. Cath couldn’t wait to explore the museum and put her own stamp on the collections there. Her official start date wasn’t for a few days, but she was planning to head up the hill first thing in the morning to take a look around and get a feel for what she’d let herself in for.
Cath wasn’t too worried. She wasn’t afraid of hard work, and frankly, it would make a nice change from the art gallery she’d been in charge of for the past few years. That place was beyond pretentious—filled with self-important exhibitions and an air of superiority.
Of course, it didn’t help that it belonged to her ex-husband.
Cath straightened her shoulders. She wasn’t going to think about him right now. He was firmly in the past, and she had her future to sort out. She had boxes to move, and a new life to settle into. Plus, she really needed that cuppa… she just needed to locate the kettle first!
The thought made her let out a low groan. There was no telling which of these boxes she’d stashed it in. She really should have been a bit more careful when she’d been labelling them. Ah well… perhaps if she started the hunt for it now, there might be some chance of tea before midnight!
Grabbing the nearest box labelled "Kitchen", Cath headed through the front door and took the unfamiliar staircase slowly. Leaving all her belongings unattended outside while she carried the boxes upstairs one by one was hardly ideal. But this wasn’t the city… it would be okay, wouldn’t it? She’d just have to work as fast as she could to get everything stashed away safely upstairs.
Cursing Bruce under her breath, Cath struggled to open the door at the top of the stairs without dropping her heavy load. Pushing it open with her foot, she glanced around the unfamiliar space. She hadn’t had much chance to get a good feel for it yet, but considering she’d agreed to rent it without actually seeing it first, she had to admit that it looked like she’d landed on her feet.
The flat was small, but it felt cosy rather than cramped. The kitchen and living room were open plan, divided by a counter flanked by a couple of high stools. The sitting area was lovely and light, even at this time of the evening, thanks to two huge skylights offering views of the clouds as they skimmed across the sky.
Thankfully, Oli had included some of his larger bits of furniture in the rental agreement. Cath had practically taken his arm off at the offer of all the basics, plus a three-seater sofa. She’d figured that she could always spruce it up with a colourful throw if she didn’t like it. Looking at it now, though, she knew there was no way she’d be covering this beauty up. In fact, it was as much as she could do not to slump straight down into its patchwork depths for a snooze. But no… but there were boxes to move before she could even think of putting her feet up!
‘On that note…!’ she muttered, plonking the first box down onto the kitchen island and darting for the door.
Cath edged sideways through the living room, squeezing between the teetering stacks of boxes as she searched for a spot to place the narrow bookshelf she was carrying. She was exhausted, out of breath, and starting to feel the effects of running up and down the stairs for over an hour with no respite.
Leaning the shelves carefully up against the living room wall, Cath let out a long breath and stared around. The little flat had morphed from cosy to seriously cramped now that she’d brought up the majority of her stuff. The idea that she still had to unpack and sort through it all was more than a little bit daunting. Still, at least this part of the job was nearly done. There was just a giant bag of clothes and a couple of the heavier bits of furniture left down on the pavement. She’d soon be able to have a bit of a breather before phase two commenced.
‘Knock knock?!’
A tap on the door followed by an unfamiliar voice made Cath jump.
‘Hello?’ she squeaked, turning awkwardly on the spot and peering over a stack of boxes. There were two people grinning at her. The man was holding her chunky coffee table as though it weighed no more than a feather. The woman next to him had the handles of Cath’s huge tartan laundry bag clutched in her hands, and a packed shopping bag slung over her shoulder.
‘Cath?’ said the man. ‘I’m Oli—and this is Ruby, my much better half!’
Rubbing the grubby cuffs of her jumper across her face just in case she looked as sweaty as she felt, Cath plastered on a smile and picked her way towards them.
‘It’s so good to meet you,’ she said, relieving Ruby of the heavy bag. ‘Thanks for bringing these up!’
‘A pleasure,’ said Oli, placing the coffee table down next to the sofa. ‘Though it looks like your guys have almost finished the job!’
‘My guys?’ laughed Cath. ‘Fat chance. They cleared off the moment the van was empty. I’m almost done though.’
‘You’re kidding?’ said Ruby, staring around. ‘You brought all this up by yourself? You must be knackered! See, I told you we should have come down sooner.’ She elbowed Oli in the ribs.
‘Oi!’ he laughed, swerving to avoid a second jab. ‘I just didn’t want to crowd you the minute you arrived,’ he added, turning to Cath with an apologetic smile. ‘Crumbleton can be full-on, but if I’d have known you were doing all this on your own—’
‘It’s fine,’ said Cath, cutting him off with a smile. ‘It’s lovely to meet you both, though! I’d offer you a cup of tea, but I haven’t unearthed the kettle yet.’
‘Don’t worry about that,’ said Oli.
‘Yeah—we come bearing gifts!’ said Ruby, patting her shopping bag. ‘If you don’t mind me gate-crashing your new kitchen, I’ll have you sorted in a jiffy.’
‘Be my guest,’ said Cath in weary amusement.
‘And I’ll bring up the last few bits of your stuff,’ said Oli.
‘You don’t have to…!’ said Cath, more than aware that her protest was just for show. Her arms were throbbing, and her legs felt like lead weights. She was running on fumes by this point.
‘He definitely does have to!’ said Ruby. ‘We know how knackering it is to move house—and we only moved from here to the top of the hill. We had tons of help getting our stuff up there… and I swear I still needed to sleep for a week afterwards. We still haven’t unpacked everything, but at least that place is bigger so there’s more room to stash the boxes until we get around to it. This place is…’
‘Cosy!’ said Cath with a tired smile.
‘Yup – that’s one way of putting it.’
‘Is that why you moved out?’ asked Cath curiously, perching on one of the high stools at the kitchen island. She watched as Ruby unpacked her shopping bag, setting out a box of tea bags, a small jar of instant coffee, and several promising-looking white paper bags that looked like they might have come from the bakery.
‘Yep,’ Ruby nodded. ‘This is a lovely home for one person… two at a push. But I’m a writer and I work from home, so we needed a bit more space. I can get a little bit scary when I’m on deadline! Milly offered us her place over the flower shop when she moved onto Murray’s boat out in the marshes—and we grabbed it before anyone else could jump in. It’s perfect for us. There are more bedrooms, so I’ve turned one into an office.’
‘Perfect timing for me too!’ said Cath. ‘Sounds like it’s pretty hardcore getting your hands on anywhere to rent in the centre of Crumbleton. I swear I thought I was going to have to turn the job down at one point if I couldn’t find anywhere.’
‘It can be practically impossible,’ laughed Ruby. ‘But Caroline mentioned to Ruth that Oli was going to rent out this flat, and she grabbed it for you before Oli even had the chance to advertise it.’
‘Lucky for me,’ said Cath, reeling slightly at the mention of yet another new name. She wondered if she’d ever figure out who they all were – Milly, Murray, Caroline…
‘Now,’ said Ruby, giving her a shrewd look. ‘I’m betting you haven’t even had a drink since you arrived?’
Cath shook her head. ‘My kettle is… in one of these boxes. Somewhere. Maybe!’
‘Lucky I stashed this in here earlier, then,’ said Ruby, bending down to retrieve an electric kettle from the cupboard under the sink. ‘And there’s milk in the fridge, plus eggs, cheese, butter… and I’ve got a fresh loaf and some pastries here.’
‘Are you serious?’ said Cath.
‘Dead serious,’ said Ruby. ‘Welcome to Crumbleton.’