Chapter 21
21
‘Shit! My head hurts! How are you up and looking as bright as a button at this time of the day?’ I asked.
Emma was sitting in the chair by the French doors, wrapped in a blanket, with a fully made-up face, looking glorious, the cool, fresh air making her perfect bob sway slightly in the breeze. She was also drinking what smelt like coffee from the biggest mug I have and rarely use.
‘Ah, my secret pint of water and paracetamol before bed. And a huge coffee in the morning. Works for me every time.’
‘I honestly can’t remember the last time I drank that much. You are a bad influence, Emma.’
‘Ah, once in a while doesn’t hurt. It’s been ages since I’ve had company to drink with. I’ve spent a while drinking on my own to just make myself feel better. And that’s a slippery slope. Have a seat and I’ll make you a coffee. I know it’s only six thirty but it’s such a fabulous time of day and when you wake up somewhere like this, you just have to appreciate the view. I mean, look at that!’
Pulling my dressing gown tighter around me, I stood at the open window and looked out towards the sea, which was twinkling in the early-morning sunshine, the waves gently lapping at the shoreline. The long grasses on the dunes either side of the wide pathway down to the sand rippled gently in the light wind.
It was hard to describe the feeling I had when I looked at the view. Maybe it was joy; maybe it was disbelief that it was real, but it was as if I got a whoosh of something lovely within me and, quite simply, it made my heart happy. Every time I doubted my decision to move here, which was quite often, especially when I spoke to the girls, looking out of that window put all my negative thoughts to one side and I knew it was right for me.
Emma handed me a mug of steaming coffee and I sat in the opposite chair to where she’d been sitting and I pulled the throw across my knees.
‘I’m so sorry, Jo. I should never have just offered you coffee within your own house. That was so rude of me but I honestly feel so comfortable here. Safe too if that doesn’t sound too mad. And honestly, if you are after another person to rent the holiday let or the garage space, I would seriously consider it, you know.’
It was certainly something to think about. I needed to recoup some costs to make this work for me but could I go with the first two people that had approached me? It was a little too much for my head this morning but as we sat and nattered like old friends, it seemed like the right thing to do. It was a huge decision to make but maybe I had to have a little faith in myself and my ability to get things right. A chat with Mum might be a good idea. I would give her a call and talk it through. She was so great at grounding me.
‘Before I forget, I don’t know if you know that there’s a suitcase on top of the wardrobe in the room I’m staying in. I was trying to find out the name of the manufacturer and as I moved the wardrobe a little, it nearly smashed me on the head as it fell off. Bloody heavy too it was. I didn’t like to go mooching in it, but it was so tucked towards the back, I wasn’t sure if you knew about it or not.’
‘I’ve been meaning to look at that for ages. I saw it when I first moved in and keep forgetting about it. I did have a quick look inside and put it down to a load more shite for me to get rid of.’
‘Ah, well, have a good look through. You never know what little gems you might find. I recently had someone find a similar thing and it was a case full of cash.’
‘Gosh, that would come in handy right now, I must admit. And finders keepers. Isn’t that what they say?’
‘Well, if that’s the case, Jo, then maybe it belongs to me.’ Emma grinned.
‘Ha, you wish. I think what’s found in my house belongs to me. It does seem strange saying that this is my house, you know. I wonder if I’ll ever get used to that. I’m still totally flummoxed by the fact that Aunty June left it to me and not Michael, who was, after all, her nephew.’
‘Who knows. Did the solicitor not throw any light on that situation at all?’
‘Only that the will was registered years ago and that the cottage had always been willed to me. She said she knew how much I’d loved it when we visited years ago and when she recently went to the solicitor and was asked if she was still happy with the arrangements she’d made, she said that nothing would make her happier than seeing me in the cottage, loving it as much as she had all these years. All very odd.’
‘She obviously wanted you to have it very much.’
‘Yeah, maybe.’ I shrugged. ‘I suppose it’s still just such a bloody massive surprise, that’s all. Probably even more so for Michael.’
‘God, yes, especially if he thought he might inherit it one day. What a shame for him.’ Her pinched smile made me laugh. ‘I’ve actually shoved the case down the side of the bedside table. Hope that’s OK but I’m not tall enough to put it back on top of the wardrobe.’
‘Perfect, thank you. I’ll have a look when I get five minutes.’
I heard a little bark and all of a sudden Theo came tumbling through the French doors, panting and looking very happy with himself. He plonked himself down on the blanket which was on the floor. I laughed, wondering where on earth he’d come from, and smiled when, ten seconds later, Seamus appeared on the beach path jogging towards the house, breathless too.
Emma blew out her cheeks.
‘Christ, Jo! I didn’t think that view could get any better, but boy oh boy, it just did.’
I laughed. ‘Good morning, Seamus. I’d have got dressed if I’d known you’d be this early.’
‘Morning, Jo. Don’t mind me, you look all lovely sat snuggled up there. I’m so sorry to interrupt. Well, Theo is. Cheeky little bugger. Look at him sitting there all proud of himself.’
Emma reached out to shake his hand.
‘Hi, I’m Emma. Charmed, I’m sure.’
When he shook hers, I studied him. He really was so lovely.
‘Hi, I’m Seamus. And this is my very cheeky dog who seems to have taken a shine to our Jo here.’
Emma raised her eyebrows. ‘Yeah, she’s got a special something about her, hasn’t she?’
Seamus locked eyes with me. Seconds passed before he spoke.
‘She sure has.’
The awkward silence needed breaking, so I offered him a drink and when he said yes, I went to potter around in the kitchen.
Emma came in behind me and put her empty cup on the side.
‘You’re a dark horse, madam. You’ve only been here five minutes and seem to have made friends with the most handsome man in the world.’
‘Is he? I hadn’t noticed.’ I scratched at my neck.
‘If I wasn’t a grieving widow, I’m not sure how responsible I might be around him. You should totally go for it, Jo. It would do you the world of good. If he looks like that with his clothes on, can you just imagine what…’
‘Stop right there, madam. It’s not like that. We’re just friends and he’s been giving me some advice about the house. He’s in the trade so he’s perfect to help me. And I don’t know anyone else around here anyway. Come on, let’s go back out there. Or he’ll think we’re talking about him.’
She raised one eyebrow again and I narrowed my eyes at her and laughed as she swept back out. Emma didn’t seem to walk anywhere, she definitely swept.
‘I was just telling Jo how much I’d love to live here, and she said you’re helping her with the cottage. Isn’t it gorgeous? I’m totally in love with it.’
The two of them began to talk amongst themselves, chatting easily, with Emma explaining how she’d come over to value some of the pieces of furniture but hadn’t actually got round to it. She laughed as she told him it was the plan for last night but we got tiddly on G&Ts on the decking instead.
‘Why don’t I go and get dressed and then I can give you that tour that I promised.’
It would do me good to get away because now Emma had put the idea of Seamus with no clothes on into my head, I couldn’t think of anything else. Maybe it was a cold shower that I needed. This was supposed to be the time of my life where I was discovering myself, not throwing myself at the first handsome man that appeared before me. I’d been tied to a family for so long that I didn’t even know who I was any more, but one thing I did know was that being by the sea and having lovely friends in my life was a really good start to finding out.
* * *
‘Christ almighty, Jo, you’ve got some sorting out to do in here,’ Emma said as we made our way into a downstairs room which I’d hardly been in yet myself. It was the room that Aunty June always used to call the best room, but rarely used because it didn’t have as nice a view as the room she used as the lounge, and it now housed a huge dining table with two carved chairs at each end and four dining chairs on either side. A massive sideboard with shelves and shelves full of cut-glass decanters, vases and what she always used to call her trifle bowls. I had thought about using the table to do a jigsaw when I first moved in, but hadn’t got very far as I didn’t think it was light enough and wasn’t one of my favourite rooms.
‘Tell me about it. I’ve already done loads too.’
I thought back to the time I just stood and tried to work out what to keep and what to throw away. These were someone’s memories and that felt like a huge responsibility. There were bottles of spirits with foreign names, most probably brought back from travels. There were mementoes from all sorts of occasions. Trophies on a Welsh dresser that June had clearly won at bowls and years and years of pictures. And then there were the things that I had no clue about. Photographs of people we didn’t know. What did you even do with things like that? The worst of it was that, despite being married to Michael for so long, with this being his family too, I had no idea who half the people were. Did I get him involved? But then again, I hardly wanted to speak to him, let alone be talking to him about things like this. He wasn’t interested in his own family memories. Not bothered about having photos of our girls when they were little. I wondered whether it was just a fundamental difference between men and women. Did you feel differently when you’d carried a person around inside you for nine months and then had to be entirely responsible once they were born? Did dads feel differently to mums?
‘Helloooo!’
‘God, sorry, Emma. I went off on a right tangent then.’
‘I could see that.’
‘Right, let’s start this tour then. Lead the way. Are you coming too, Seamus?’
‘Why not? I’ll never tire of this beautiful old place.’
We all followed each other in a line.
‘It’s bigger than it looks.’
I could hear Emma sniggering behind me and it made me grin. She was so childish but hilarious at the same time. How could it be that I’d only met her properly last night?
‘That’s what they all say, Seamus!’
‘Very funny. You coming, Theo?’
Theo lifted his head off the blanket, squinted at his master, and went back to sleep.
‘Take it that’s a no, then. Shall we start at the top of the house? Then we can go and look at the buildings outside. Michelle has got her heart set on the garage though. Seamus, you’ve also already looked at it.’
Emma laughed. ‘When you told me about Michelle last night I thought she sounded lovely. Now I know she’s getting the best rooms, I think I hate her.’
We laughed but Seamus, who didn’t know what we’d been talking about, interrupted us.
‘It would be good to get a second look though, and do some measuring up. Then I can start to get some firm prices together for you. I’ve also just remembered something I meant to tell you when I arrived. I’ve just seen cars and moving vans stop outside of the gates of the house next door. Well, you know the one up the road.’
‘Great, I won’t be the new neighbour now then.’
‘You won’t. They have some posh cars though. Can’t wait to meet them. Right, I haven’t got all day to stand here gossiping about the neighbours. I’ll crack on, shall I?’
Emma and I left Seamus with his tape measure after she’d oohed and aahed at the view from the Juliet balcony.
The second floor was as big as the top, probably more so as the gabled roof took some of the room off the top floor. Behind each door were boxes and boxes of stuff. Some were marked with labels, indicating that Aunty June had clearly been trying to have a sort out. There was a TV that looked like it had come from the seventies and what looked like an old record player too. I couldn’t quite work out which bedroom Aunty June used for herself.
‘This furniture is quite something, you know, Jo.’ Emma was running her hands across a kidney-shaped dressing table and when she pulled out the top drawer, it quirkily folded back in on itself. ‘G-plan at a guess. These could be collectors’ items. Especially if they have the stamp on the bottom. Do you mind?’
Before I’d given her permission, she was down on her hands and knees scrambling around underneath.
‘God, I’m good. Yep, G-plan for sure. It was all the rage in the seventies. This is good-quality stuff. I’ve got a book at home that has all the furniture listed. There are people out there that might pay good money for stuff like this.’
‘Really?’ I found it hard to believe. It was old, and needed a bloody good clean above anything else. I just couldn’t see past the film of dust that was lying on the top.
‘Yep, I promise you.’ She got her phone out and started to snap photos from all angles. ‘We’ll be able to get more of an idea when it’s clean and then we have a couple of options really. We could dress it properly and then put some pictures on Facebook – there are specialist groups on there. Some people might buy the stuff and strip it back and do it up if it’s needed. It’s the framework more than anything that they need. That’ll take a bit of time obviously.’
‘Or?’
‘Or we take them to auction and see what they fetch. Ooh, this is the most fun I’ve had for a year! Show me more!’