Chapter 11
11
The pub was absolutely gorgeous. Much more upmarket than it was before with a more varied menu, handed to us by a young lady who guided us to our table, which overlooked the sea.
‘Gosh, Michelle, this must be one of the best tables in the place. How on earth did you get this at such short notice?’
‘Well, you might have to act surprised when they congratulate us on our wedding anniversary.’
I laughed.
‘No, really. They told me that they only allow people to book it for special occasions so the first thing that came into my head was that it was our anniversary.’
‘Oh my God, that’s hilarious.’
‘You might not think that when you’re getting approached to join all of the local LGBGT groups.’
When the waitress approached our table again and took an order for drinks, she winked at us as she was joined by someone who introduced herself as the manager.
‘Don’t worry. We know you’re not a gay couple. We’re not daft, you know.’
‘How do you know that?’ Michelle asked.
‘Our gaydars would have been going off by now and we just saw you checking out the backside of the man in shorts at the bar, madam.’
Michelle laughed. ‘God, I’m so obvious.’ The three of us joined in with her laughter and because we were causing quite a commotion in the quiet pub, it alerted the attention of the aforementioned man with the perfect bottom at the bar.
He turned and gave me a mock salute. ‘Good evening, Jo Jenkins.’ His eyes travelled from my head down to my toes and I thought that if he ever looked at me that way again, my clothes would literally fall off on the spot. I gave a little shiver.
I raised my hand and grinned. ‘Hello, Seamus. Fancy seeing you here.’
‘You looked beautiful first thing this morning. Now you look, well… stunning.’
When Mum had called earlier and I told her I was going out, she said that she hoped I was going to make an effort and dress up. When I said that there was no one I was trying to impress, she told me that I should be doing it for myself, not for anyone else. I hadn’t realised that I’d let myself go until I thought more about it and as time was something I had in abundance, I’d taken the time to curl my hair and apply more make-up than I normally would. Mum was right. It had felt nice. And while I was doing it for myself, it was lovely to get a compliment, my cheeks were definitely becoming quite flushed.
As he turned back again, Michelle mouthed, ‘Phwoar. Who the hell is that?’ at me, and grinned.
The manager returned with a bottle of house Prosecco which we’d decided to order as we were celebrating, after all, and as she was pouring, Michelle asked, ‘So are you going to tell me how you’ve been here for less than a week and you seem to have already met the most gorgeous man in town? You’re a right dark horse, aren’t you?’
I relayed the story of meeting Bill on my first day here and how Seamus had popped by that morning.
‘Honestly, Jo, that cottage is colossal in itself. How many bedrooms does it have again?’
‘Err… only three but five if you count the holiday let.’
‘Seriously, you’ll never use them all. You should definitely convert the garage into an apartment too. Believe me, you can’t get a decent property round here. They just don’t come up for sale at all. You inspired me to have a look around and see if I could afford to relocate my life. I’ve been into every estate agent in town today and they’re all saying the same. Cornish properties are being snapped up left, right and centre, the majority of which are literally on the market for a couple of days. It’s a seller’s market right now. With two buildings to rent out long term, and keeping the main house to yourself, it would still be huge. You’d never need all that space, surely.’
‘Well, I’ll be having visitors come and stay, obviously.’
‘And there’s a stunning B she was trying to help me, but he saw it as interfering, which led to her trying to tell us both what to do in our own home. The girls had ended up arguing with each other because they had to share a room now because Michael had turned one of theirs into an office. They reverted back to their childhood selves, which was bizarre to see. Mum had gone home a day earlier than planned, telling us that her friend needed some help with something, but was very vague over what it was.
I’d been looking forward to us having the perfect family Christmas and even if everyone hadn’t been getting on everyone else’s nerves, I still wouldn’t have got to spend much time with the family together. Because it was actually me in the kitchen doing all the work, Michael not accepting help from anyone else, but insisting on supervising what I was doing rather than helping me himself, and at the end of dinner, I was completely knackered after running around after everyone. At one point, Mum told him that if he didn’t stop telling me what to do and when, she’d ram the garlic baguette that he was insisting on going in the oven at a precise time somewhere that the sun doesn’t shine. He did wince and seemed to calm down a little after that but ever since then, I had insisted that we go out for dinner, and it was normally with one or the other of the girls as their busy jobs needed people to work on Christmas Day.
‘Hello…’ Michelle waved her hand in front of my face.
‘Gosh, sorry! My mind had gone on a little wander then.’
‘Yeah, so I gathered.’ She laughed at me, indicating to the bar where Seamus was chatting to another man.
‘So, Michelle,’ I said, changing the subject, ‘tell me more about your property search. I know you touched on it yesterday a little bit.’
‘Yeah, well, as I said, I’d got an appointment down this way so thought I’d make a long weekend of it because I’ve always wanted to buy a property down here. If I didn’t like you so much, I’d be right jealous of you.’ She laughed. ‘In fact, I’ve rung my boss today and taken next week off at late notice, I thought I’d use the time to look around more.’
‘So are you looking for a weekend place?’
‘To be honest, I think I was, but now you’ve inspired me to maybe even move full time, Jo. You’re a proper legend for doing what you’ve done.’
‘Gosh, me?’
‘Yeah, you. You’re a proper badass bird. Look at you. You’ve got life sussed.’
I scoffed loudly.
‘Ha! You think? My husband of twenty-five years ran off with his secretary, and yes, I’m aware of what a cliché that is, who is many years younger than me and also my best friend. They now live in the luxury villa we chose together in Spain. He thinks he can still demand my time and attention when it suits him and I agree to keep the peace. My girls think I’m a complete lunatic because I’ve moved to Cornwall, yet they don’t really think that badly of him and what he’s done. I’ve got no money, a house that appears to be falling apart around me – according to the builders that came in today – and for the first time in my life I might have to get myself a job and support myself. So, I’m not really feeling very badass at the moment, Michelle. Not at all.’
‘Oh, Jo, but look at all the endless opportunities that are open to you right now.’
I dipped my head to one side, and raised my eyebrows, inviting her to elaborate. It was certainly an interesting way to look at things.
‘So, you just say no to your ex-husband. That’s the easiest of all. Change your number if necessary. If he needs to contact you, he can contact you through the girls.’
‘Oh, but I can’t do that.’
‘Because…?’
‘Because, well, there might be something serious he needs me for.’
‘Now listen, love. He made his choice. Without wishing to be harsh here, he is no longer your responsibility. How old are your girls?’
‘Melissa is thirty and Lucy is twenty-eight.’
‘Well, they’re not kids any more, are they?’
‘I suppose not.’
‘You’ve got an exciting new life in front of you. That’s a huge, exciting opportunity in itself.’
‘But I don’t know anyone here. I’ve got no friends.’
Michelle took a slow sip from her glass and placed it back on the table.
‘Jo, you’ve been here no time and you’ve already been hit on by the local fit bloke and you are out in the local pub on a Saturday night with me, your fabulous new friend.’ She flicked her long hair behind her and preened.
‘Well, when you say it like that…’
‘And job wise, if you need to get a job, then that’s something to look forward to as well. Have a think about the things that you’ve always wanted to do. Before you met Michael, before you had a family. What did you want to do? What ignited your passion? What were your hopes and dreams? Is there anything there that might still float your boat, so to speak? I mean a metaphorical boat, rather than a real one, although we are in the right place if that was your thing.’
How did this woman, who I’d only just met, manage to inspire me? Manage to make me think that I could do anything that I wanted to do? She was the badass, not me.
‘OK, Michelle, enough about me. Stop trying to steer the subject away from you. What’s your plan?’
‘Oh, look, here’s our food.’
We didn’t get to chat much about the personal stuff during dinner, we just oohed and aahed a lot at how fabulous the food was. I’d chosen salmon and new potatoes with fresh spring vegetables, and Michelle had chosen steak and ale pie, chips and peas. As always, I wished I’d had what she’d ordered now, as it looked delicious, especially as the dark brown gravy oozed out as she cut into the pie and she declared how divine it was.
Despite us both only agreeing to look at the dessert menu to pacify the waitress as we were full, we both chose sticky toffee pudding and clotted cream and managed every bit.
When she came back from the ladies’ room, and sat back down, I rested my chin on my hands and looked directly at her. There was no escape for her now.
‘So, you can’t avoid telling me about you all night, you know.’
She took a deep sigh and rubbed at something on her arm, and I could see that she was considering whether she could open up. I could tell that this made her uncomfortable.
‘I rarely share anything personal about myself with anyone.’ She chewed the inside of her cheek and I knew she was contemplating whether she could trust me or not. We’d not known each other very long but I hoped that she would open up to me. We all needed someone to be open with. If you try to keep it all in, that’s where things manifest and become huge, and end up affecting you more than you could ever imagine.
‘It’s hardly like I know anyone that you know, so even if I did tell anyone, then it’s never going to get back anyway. Also, I’m not a blabbermouth. I have two daughters. I have more secrets inside me than Boris Johnson’s private secretary.’
She laughed and took a deep breath before she uttered her next words, which came as a big surprise.
‘On the outside I have the perfect job, the perfect life even. But the truth is… I’m utterly and painfully lonely, Jo.’