Chapter 11
Having made a mess of the viewing yesterday, Aria decided to undo a different mess.
But, while making a good start on the overgrown garden at the hut, she found herself continually battling her emotions along with the weeds.
A month after her dad died, her loss was as red-raw as her fingers.
For every plant she touched, a treasured memory unearthed itself.
The wizened leaves of lavender and mint reminded her of his weather-beaten face as he walked the fells, delighting in pointing out the names of flowers and birds.
A spiked fern she didn’t know the name of reminded her of a time Dad planted a line of agaves to bring drama to the garden before deciding only local species would do and digging them all back up.
Bluebells springing up everywhere brought back their forest strolls.
Daisies took her back to early childhood when she used to wrap them around her mother’s wrist, and make her fat rings of dandelion, cackling when Mum told her she’d wee the bed.
Aria had almost forgotten what her mum looked like, but she definitely remembered her eyes.
As she dug, she felt like her dad was with her.
She imagined his solid body enveloping her in a hug, and itched for the real thing.
When her hand grabbed only stalks and leaves, she let out a sob and threw them on the compost heap.
Right now, she felt like throwing herself on top and bawling.
Hot and bothered, she pushed hair out of her eyes with soil-covered fingers, and concentrated on pulling up dock leaves that had taken root everywhere.
It was gruelling work, interrupted every half hour by the noise of the steamer chugging past, yet another reminder of him.
These unassuming weeds were much better at digging into a landscape than she’d been.
After leaving Cumbria, she’d tried to reinvent herself, but it had been hard.
She’d rented a flat, gone to work, remained anonymous and had little impact on either the outside world or office life.
She could go weeks without meeting a human that wasn’t a colleague, and missed the close relationship she’d had with her dad before Felicity muscled in and Justin muscled her out.
Back here, everyone knew the Wilsons, as her father and grandfather had both been so prolific in the community.
Grandad had spent his life working with farmers as a union leader, and when he died her dad had taken up the baton on ensuring Inglemere was run in a fair and democratic way, with nature at the heart of it.
They weren’t a big family – her mum and dad were both only children, but they’d been respected and liked.
So much of her identity had been tied up with their status, perhaps unfairly as she’d never earned it.
Missing her father opened a wound she thought had healed fifteen years ago when her mother was taken from them after a short illness.
Aria put down the garden fork and kicked the spade.
Fatigued by gardening and grief, she marched to the cabin and made a list of things she needed to create a more comfortable temporary home.
Wincing as she sipped on cold coffee dregs, she decided to treat herself to a cappuccino in town.
***
Hiking up the path towards the main road, Aria sneered at the manicured grass belonging to Castle Enterprises.
‘I bet they shipped it in from Wimbledon,’ she said to Tiger, who trotted behind her, cleverly carrying his lead in his teeth. As she approached the road, she saw two men standing in the gap between her perimeter wall and her neighbour’s. They appeared to be sweating over a cement mixer.
She clucked at the intrusion. ‘Excuse me, can I ask what you’re doing?’
‘Well, he’s waffling on about how many sheep constitute a flock while I’m wondering if I should have chicken or lamb curry for tea,’ a scruffy chap in cut-off shorts replied.
‘You won’t eat another la’al lamb when the livestock arrives, believe you me,’ said an older man.
‘Imagine a life with no kebabs!’
‘I meant, what are you doing here?’ Aria snapped.
‘Prepping land for a gate.’ The young man leaned against her wall and took out a vape. She sighed, remembering the panel and all the numbers required to open the front door. It was becoming apparent the head of Castle Enterprises was a control freak who didn’t have a clue about their ways.
‘I don’t know what kind of over-the-top protection your boss believes he might need this time, but I’m sure you’ll agree this is unnecessary,’ she said.
‘We live a simple life in Inglemere, especially by the lake. That gap in the wall has been there for at least fifty years and no one has ever broken into my property. The entrance to this access road is disguised – getting into the drive requires a sharp turn and a considerable amount of skill at the wheel. Most people pass by without realising we are here. So, whatever he has hired you to do, could you please stop until I talk to him about it? As this is most unwelcome, and it’s careless. ’
Her confidence was slightly undermined by the younger man playing with his phone and the older one shaking his head.
‘Look I don’t want to be involved in any domestic debate, love.
I spoke with Mr Castle a couple of hours ago.
He wants it in today. It’s a decent gate.
Made of cedar to blend into the environment.
He’s certainly thought about it, your hubby has. ’
She was annoyed by every part of his statement.
‘There are no cedar trees bordering the lake. I can’t believe you don’t know that.
And Mr Castle is not my husband. I’ve never even met the guy, and I am a hundred per cent sure I don’t want to, as my dad loathed him.
My property is situated next door. It was Dad’s fishing cabin, and he cherished it for many years before he died.
It might be worth next to nothing, but I’m its new owner and I should get as much say in the security of it as this Castle bloke.
I showed a viewer around his house today and had to cope with a control panel as complicated as air traffic control – the man is obsessed with keeping everyone out! ’
‘You’re Eddie Wilson’s daughter? I was sorry to hear he passed. He was a good ’un. A man who followed his own compass.’ The older guy held out a rough hand and his clammy fingers clamped around hers.
‘I thought I recognised you from school,’ said the younger builder, looking up briefly. ‘Ayla, right?’
‘Aria.’
‘That was it! You said you have a lake-front hut? I think it’s worth quite a bit more than next to nothing.’ He winked his approval.
The old man folded his arms and focused on Aria.
‘Let me put you right on matters of lakeside security. When the yachts and rich people arrive, the marina will be a magnet for thieves. I’ve seen gates much bigger than this demolished in a ram raid.
People can still hop over these, mind, so I’m suggesting my lad adds something to discomfort anyone who does. ’
‘Discomfort?’
‘Castrate,’ the lad said with another grin.
‘Let me put you right on matters of lakeside etiquette,’ she parroted.
‘As I’m sure you will remember, my dad believed in open access to the lakes and fells for everyone.
No matter how much money you have, who your family is or where you are from.
He built paths for prams and wheelchairs and managed the annual Spring into Summer Swim which everyone was invited to take part in.
He’d never turn a single person away, as long as they respected the environment and enjoyed the outdoors.
The Lakes should be for all. It’s vital that we breathe the air and connect with the natural world.
’ Ironically, she ran out of breath in the delivery of her speech.
‘If you’re short of work, I’m sure Mr Castle will have plenty more in the coming months to occupy you, as I believe he’s due to build twenty houses if all his planning applications are approved. ’
‘Forty. And we’re not short of work, I can assure you.’
‘Forty! Look, please can you stop until I’ve spoken to him? Tiger, put that down!’ She pointed at the floor and her dog dropped a thin pipe he was trying to swipe, making her feel quite pleased at the improvement in their communication.
‘This’ll be nothing compared to the disruption when he builds the marina,’ said the older man, as she clipped Tiger onto his lead.
‘And you’re right to keep a close eye on the little chap there.
It’s a busy road.’ She thought about telling him she knew the road around the lake like the back of her hand but didn’t have the energy.
Instead, she tugged at her dog, who responded by cocking a leg on the weeds.
‘Are you around tonight?’ the young guy asked. ‘If you’re only just home you might not have set up much of a social life for yourself yet. Fancy the pub quiz? We’re short of someone for our team.’
She shook her head, as the last thing she wanted to do was hobnob with the enemy’s staff. ‘I’m hopeless at quizzes.’
‘Dad is too. He mostly comes along to complain about the stout.’
‘Hey, I’m good at the sport and farming!’ the old man exclaimed.
Aria was a little annoyed to see him start digging again.
‘I’m Spanner, by the way,’ the younger man said.
‘You take your dad on all your dates?’
Spanner grimaced. ‘I wouldn’t bring him if it was a proper date. But you need at least three to make a team. You can hitch a ride on the back of my pick-up truck if you have no transport?’
‘Hard pass. I couldn’t take a space from one of your sheep,’ Aria said with a gentle laugh.
‘Maybe you should ask one of them to join you. They’d be great at questions about geography and nature.
’ She walked on towards the bus stop, wondering if the forty houses would ever materialise.
The foundations were being laid for the first house when she’d left the Lakes and it still hadn’t sold.
Aria briefly wondered why there had been a toothbrush in the bathroom of a show home, before picking up a signal.
A voicemail from the agent informed her Stephen had phoned to cancel his viewing earlier.
Wait, what? If that insufferable man wasn’t Stephen, who the hell was he and what were his intentions?
Feeling sick to the stomach that she’d committed a security breach on her first day at work, she tried to remember if the handsome imposter had managed to catch sight of the door code and whether she’d left him alone at any point.
She sighed at the irony of the owner installing all the gates, shutters and codes, only for her to open his house wide and show a potential burglar around.