Chapter 29
As she closed the wrought-iron gate into Pennycress’s front garden behind her, Ellie checked her mobile again.
Still nothing. Tucking it back into her pocket, she rolled her shoulders back, hoping her mum wouldn’t be able to pick up on the fact she was still worried about Murray.
Now, that wouldn’t be a fun conversation if she even gleaned a little of what was going on between her and Murray.
After making her way up the steps to the decking, Ellie let herself through the front door and paused.
The aroma of coffee and freshly baked cakes filled the large hallway, music and laughter escaped from the sitting room, and the chatter of a family heading upstairs filtered down.
She smiled. This is what she’d so loved about working out of Pennycress, the feeling of being a part of something bigger, the feeling of community, of warmth and friendship.
She’d miss it when she was finished with planning Laura and Jackson’s wedding.
Still, she had a while to go yet, and perhaps after that she’d find herself somewhere to work from, somewhere other than her cottage.
Whether it was a shared office space, or just taking her laptop to the local cafe or the bakery, she’d do something.
Walking towards the kitchen, she began pushing the door open, pausing as she heard voices inside. Laura and Jackson were talking, worry creeping into Laura’s tone.
‘…and with the wedding only a few weeks away, what if we can’t get someone else in before then? What if it’s never finished? Summer is our busiest time, and we need people to be able to enjoy the garden.’
‘We’ll get someone else. I’ll ring round first thing in the morning.’ Jackson’s voice was practical, matter-of-fact as he answered.
Clearing her throat, Ellie stepped through. ‘Sorry, I don’t want to intrude. My mum asked me to pop by, and I just wondered if you could tell me what room she’s in.’
Looking over from the table they were sitting at, Laura jumped to her feet, wringing her hands in front of her. ‘Ellie. I—’
‘She’s in Room Two.’ Jackson gave her a brief smile.
‘Thanks.’ Turning back down the hallway, Ellie frowned. There was definitely something wrong. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen Laura acting so jumpy. Pausing, she spun on her feet to face them again. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but is everything okay?’
Laura sighed. ‘It will be. We’ll figure it out. It’s just, what with the decking being half-done and the wedding around the corner…’ She shrugged.
‘The decking?’ Now she was confused. The decking should be replaced well before the wedding. In plenty of time. Murray had already begun the last of the sections that needed to be replaced.
‘Well, yes. If it’s not completely finished in time, then we’ll have to think about moving the ceremony and the reception elsewhere.
It’s one thing expecting our six or eight or so inn guests to avoid the part of the decking being worked on, but it’s another expecting all our wedding guests to.
’ Laura picked up the tea towel draped over the back of the chair next to her and began folding it.
‘Especially since there’ll be little children there. ’
‘But I thought Murray was on track to get the decking completed before the wedding?’
‘He was, but…’ Laura glanced towards Jackson.
Sticking her hand out, Ellie gripped the door handle. There was more. Murray’s workshop was empty because he’d gone, not because he’d moved to somewhere better. He’d upped and left, left her. Her voice rasped as she asked, ‘But what?’
Laura looked again towards Jackson, who grimaced.
‘Please, just tell me. He’s left, hasn’t he? He’s not going to finish your decking?’ Why wouldn’t they tell her? Was it that obvious that Murray had walked out behind her back? Was it that obvious that she was the last one to know his plans had changed? ‘Where’s he gone?’
‘I don’t know.’ Laura shook her head. ‘One minute he was here, the next he’d gone and then half an hour later he sent Jackson a message to say he wouldn’t be back to finish the job. Sorry, we assumed you already knew.’
‘Right, okay.’ And there it was. He had left her again.
Only this time he hadn’t even had the good grace to tell her he was going.
Why had she let herself believe things would be different this time?
Why had she been so convinced that their love for each other – or her love for him, as it turned out – would be enough to ensure things were different this time around?
She pointed towards the hallway and the stairs beyond. ‘I should go.’
‘I’m sorry, Ellie. I know you’d started seeing each other again and I’m sure he didn’t want you to find out this way. Not like this.’ Laura walked towards her, stopping a few steps away.
Ellie shook her head and gave a small smile. This wasn’t Laura’s fault. ‘It’s okay. Thanks for telling me. It’s more than he’s done.’
‘Ellie, I—’
‘I should go and see what my mum wants. Honestly, I’m fine. I’m sure he’ll get in contact soon enough.’ With one last forced smile, Ellie turned on her heels and began running up the stairs.
At the top of the landing, she stopped, the glow from the setting sun catching her eye.
Turning, she placed her hands on the windowsill and looked through the small window overlooking the garden below.
As she took breath after breath, she tried to compose herself.
The last thing she needed was her mum realising she and Murray had got involved again, and that he’d abandoned her once more. She needed to put on a brave face.
Glancing again at her mobile, she tucked it back into her pocket as a new wave of disappointment washed over her, before turning and rapping her knuckles on her mum’s bedroom door. ‘Mum, it’s me.’
After waiting a few moments without an answer, Ellie turned to retreat down the stairs again, a part of her relieved that she could slink back to her cottage and try to make some sort of sense of the evening’s events rather than having to pretend everything was as it had been a mere few hours ago.
Just as she gave up and walked across the landing towards the stairs, she heard the quiet creak of a door behind her. No such luck.
‘Eleanor, love. Thank you for coming.’ Kathy’s voice sounded from behind her.
Taking a deep breath in, Ellie turned back to face her mum and walked the few short steps back towards her. ‘Hi, Mum. What can I help you with?’
‘Come on in.’ Taking a step out onto the hallway, Kathy glanced first towards the other guest room doors and then towards the stairs as though she were afraid of someone overhearing. ‘We don’t need to be talking out on the landing like this.’
‘Okay.’ Following her mum into her room, Ellie sat down on a small armchair by the window. ‘Did you have a nice walk into the village?’
‘Oh, I didn’t go in the end.’ Kathy lowered herself to the armchair opposite her.
‘That’s a shame. Hopefully, you’ll run into Miss Cooke tomorrow then.
She’ll probably have a little more time to chat during the day, anyway.
’ Ellie glanced out of the window, which, being as her mum’s room was positioned at the front of Pennycress, overlooked the street.
She squinted against the setting sun, trying to decipher if the van coming towards them was Murray’s or not, her heart sinking as the tree surgeon’s logo came into view.
Nope, not his. Of course it wasn’t his, he was likely miles away by now.
‘Did you hear me, love?’ Reaching over, Kathy placed her hand on Ellie’s knee.
Snapping her attention back to her mum, for the first time since she’d stepped foot inside the room, Ellie noticed how pale her mum looked, how out of sorts.
‘Mum, what’s the matter? Is everything okay with you and Dad?
Did he get back okay?’ She searched her mum’s eyes, suddenly worried she’d asked her up here to tell her something serious, to tell her the real reason she’d travelled all this way to see her.
‘Your dad’s fine, love.’
‘Then what? Is it you?’ Ellie glanced at her mum up and down. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Yes, yes.’ Kathy drew a quick breath in as if ready to divulge whatever news she had to say. ‘I’m sorry, Eleanor.’
‘You’re sorry?’ Ellie frowned. Had she completely missed something?
The whole evening’s events just seemed so surreal to her right now, as though she’d jumped from one strange situation to another and was trying to work out what on earth was going on.
First Murray disappearing on her and now her own mum speaking in riddles. ‘Why are you sorry?’
‘For everything.’ Kathy pulled a tissue from where it had been tucked up her sleeve and dabbed her eyes.
‘Oh, Mum. What have you got to be sorry about? I know you came here with the best intentions. And I’m sorry I was so surprised to see you.
’ Ellie crossed her legs. Surprised? Shocked more like it, but she understood.
After hearing that she and Rick were over, her mum had just been worried about her.
‘I just wasn’t expecting to see you, that’s all, but it doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate you coming.
I do. I know you’re just looking out for me. I—’
Holding her hand up, palm forward, Kathy waited until Ellie’s voice trailed off before speaking. ‘No, I’m not apologising for coming here. I only came because I care about you. I’m apologising because I think I may have made things worse for you.’