Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Crazy, Stupid, Love”
The line went dead, and Ellie sank onto the small sofa, a leaden weight forming in her stomach while her mind cantered around in confusion.
Then she shoved the phone in her pocket, closed the doors with a fierce snap, snatched up her bag and a thick shawl and shot over to the boot room.
‘Sorry, Dougal,’ she called, as the dog raised its head in hopeful expectation. ‘I’ll take you out as soon as I’m back.’
Ellie strode quickly out of the drive. ‘That’s assuming I’m still alive by then,’ she muttered, speeding down the lane, over the bridge and into the Spar to grab a copy of the paper.
Taking a bench by the harbour, oblivious to the cold stabbing her arms through the ineffectual shawl, she flicked through the pages with shaking hands until she reached the Showbiz News section.
‘Damn it,’ she hissed through her teeth.
How the devil had they got hold of those? And how come her photography business was credited?
Slumping back against the bench, the paper crumpled in her lap, Ellie stared across the water to the trees rising up the steep hillside on the quieter side of the cove.
A few bare branches stretched upwards towards the pale blue sky, surrounded by clusters of gold, copper and russet, with the occasional tall evergreen punctuating the leafy canvas.
Crows caw-cackled in black covens as sea birds soared overhead, but Ellie was oblivious, the sound drowned out by Will’s cutting accusation.
‘How be y’on, my lover?’
With a start, Ellie looked up, then dug deep for a smile as someone emerged from the small chemist shop. ‘Hi, Patrick. How are you?’
‘I’s on me way to visit Cleggie.’ He waved a net bag containing what looked like prescription medication. Then his wizened features sobered, his flint-grey eyes scanning Ellie’s face. ‘You tek care, young’un.’
Ellie watched him go, emotion catching in her throat at his kindness hard on the heels of Will’s anger, but then she became aware of the crunched-up newspaper, and she stuffed it into a nearby recycling bin.
‘Right,’ she said through gritted teeth. ‘Enough, Will Farmer. It’s about time I proved one thing: I can give as good as I get.’
Ellie wrapped her shawl more firmly around her shoulders and marched along the lane leading to the tidal beach and up the track to top.
There were no cars outside Marcus’s cabin when she passed by, and Ellie sped through the gates marked ‘Private’, squelching through muddy puddles until the grassy track became a gravel driveway.
The aroma of woodsmoke reached her, a pale grey spiral of smoke drifting from one of the cottage chimneys, swept aside by the stiff breeze on the clifftop.
Warm now from the exercise, Ellie tied the shawl around her waist, glaring at Will’s filthy black car, parked at an angle by the woodshed. She stalked past it, determined to keep the fire inside burning and stoked, ready for a blazing row.
Ellie had never come this close to Peaches before, having merely skirted past on the path which pierced its way through the bracken-covered hillsides. It was a pretty building, whitewashed and with a slate roof. For all its obvious age, the windows looked new and the exterior well maintained.
Fetching up outside a stable door, the top half of which was hooked open, Ellie was suddenly uncertain of what to do next.
What now? Tap politely, as if she were a neighbour asking for a cup of sugar? Call ‘cooee’?
Ellie suppressed a very unladylike snort. That would simply dilute her arrival. Banging the door with her fist three times, she unlatched the bottom half and stepped into the quarry-tiled porch. There were several timber-latch doors and a staircase winding upwards.
‘Will!’ she shouted. ‘We need to talk!’
A clatter came from somewhere the other side of the far door, and Ellie stepped over, ready to hammer on that one too, but as she raised her fist, it swung open to reveal an ashen-faced Will.
‘Why?’ he barked, his glare pretty indicative of his present feelings.
‘Because,’ Ellie retorted, ‘your tendency to assume the worst of me is continuing to lead you astray, and someone needs to help you see the truth.’
A fraught silence gripped the air between them for a moment, Ellie’s body all but quivering with a combination of dread, anger and desire.
Much as Will roused her ire at that moment, the love she bore for him yet again overrode every emotion and there was nothing she wanted more than to throw herself into his arms.
Except he’d probably stand aside and let her fall flat on her face.
Ellie suppressed the sudden urge to laugh, straightening her shoulders and fixing Will with a stern eye.
‘Fine,’ he bit out, standing back. ‘You’d better come in.’
Ellie brushed past him, trying not to inhale his cologne. It almost worked.
The clatter appeared to be a poker, which lay across the hearth of a deep, inglenook fireplace.
Logs crackled merrily and a warm glow emanated from several lamps.
A laptop lay open on a coffee table which also accommodated a trug of autumn foliage and a stack of magazines.
A squashy leather sofa was placed opposite the hearth, with two armchairs either side, and bookshelves lined both alcoves.
Turning her back on the cosy scene, Ellie tried to hold on to her annoyance.
‘You can’t fire me. I’m a self-employed contractor.’
Will glared at her, closing the door to the hallway and retrieving the poker to stoke the fire.
‘Then our verbal agreement is at an end.’ He shoved a few logs aside, reaching into a basket and tossing a new one on the top.
‘But I haven’t done anything!’
Will swung around, eyes flashing. ‘Yet more lies.’ He flung a newspaper down on the table, the same edition Ellie had just disposed of.
‘Your photos,’ he rasped, hitting the first image with the end of the poker.
‘Taken on your camera.’ He tapped the second.
‘And the article quotes the locations they were taken. Who else has access to them?’
Ellie’s mouth opened, then closed.
‘Exactly!’ Will snapped, folding his arms, the poker now sticking upwards like a sword, unaware he now had soot streaked across his shirt.
‘Just because they are mine, from my camera, doesn’t mean I sold them to the damn paper!’ Ellie retaliated, leaning towards him. ‘Why are you obsessed with assuming the worst of me?’
The last word was, to be fair, a tad high-pitched, and Ellie let out a huff of breath.
Damn him for riling her.
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ he essayed, raising a mocking brow. ‘Past experience, perhaps?’
‘All of which is untrue! Why won’t you believe me? You’re prepared to accept anyone’s word but mine. Seems like I’m not the one with the problem, Will!’
A growl escaped him as he unfolded his arms, but then Will noticed his soiled shirt. Ellie eyed the poker warily as it waved in the air between them as he inspected the damage.
‘Sorry.’ Putting the poker once more in its place, he gestured at the sofa. ‘You may as well sit down. I’m sure we can shout at each other just as well in comfort.’
Will brushed ineffectually at the smear of soot, then dropped into one of the armchairs across the table from Ellie as she perched on the sofa’s edge.
‘Tell me what you do know,’ he said firmly.
‘I’m not blind to the fact they look like my photos, and the paper has me as the photo credit, but I have never been approached by any publication. Nor have I contacted anyone in the press.’
‘And the fact they came from the walk the other day?’
Ellie was flummoxed. ‘I honestly can’t explain it.
The laptop is password protected, with fingerprint sign in, two-factor authentication.
I’ve been working in there for days, constantly editing and marking up the best ones for you to consider.
’ The anger was spent. She had no desire to argue with Will, and much as she hated his constant doubts about her honesty, as much as it pained her, she simply didn’t want the fight to defend her business integrity.
‘Why? What would I gain from doing this?’
Will raised a mocking brow. ‘Money?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Ellie bit out. Then, a thought slid into place. ‘I wonder if this is all part of the same game…’
Will’s dark eyes scanned Ellie’s features, his brow furrowed, and he leaned forward, elbows on his knees, curiosity replacing the earlier anger. ‘What game?’
Ellie got up. It was easier to think if she wasn’t looking at Will, so she walked over to the sash window, which afforded a stunning view of the ocean above the sea of bracken. Wrapping her arms around her middle, she swung around, surprised to find Will had risen to his feet too.
‘Things keep happening. Odd things. I started to wonder if someone was simply being mean, but the pieces suggest the puzzle is more complex. It’s as though my small businesses are being attacked by an invisible hand.
Nasty comments, negative reviews, but not from any known customer.
Thwarting my attempts to promote. But why?
’ She held up both hands, palms up, then lowered them.
‘I’m a photographer. I do weddings, events, portraits and school photos.
I’m making the most innocent of personalised cards, celebrating a baby’s birth, milestone events, Christmas cards.
And now this. Someone, somehow, has managed to steal some images they can’t possibly have had access to and sold them to a paper in my name. ’
Ellie’s voice cracked on the last word. It hurt, it truly did, that there was enough hatred out there somewhere for this to be happening.
Emotion was rising in her chest, and her throat had all but closed.
Will thought she was a liar, that she’d done this to him.
Believed it without question. Struggling for breath, she shot towards the door.
‘Got to go,’ she managed to gasp out, dashing from the room and almost running down the driveway, ears stretched in the hope Will would call her back, or follow, but when she reached the gate, she glanced over her shoulder.
There was no one in sight, no movement beyond the seagulls wheeling against a vivid blue sky and a plume of smoke drifting into the air before fading away.
Friday rolled around, and Ellie was torn over whether she felt relief or despair Will hadn’t made any further attempt at contact.
As this led her down a frustrating path of delusion she’d travelled before, she resolutely turned her back on thoughts of the man, determined instead to look forward to a girly evening at Kate’s.
With Bella finally back, ready to pack up her things at the cottage, it would be a full house, and thankfully, nothing had happened to upset their careful arrangements.
With Liam and Jason at Westerleigh for the night, Ellie set off for Harbourwatch with a positive stride, Nicki and an excited Anna by her side.
‘How’s Oliver feeling about being in charge tonight?’ Ellie asked as they approached The Lugger, whose lights shone like a beacon in the gathering darkness.
‘He’s an old hand at putting the twins to bed.
It’s just I so rarely have a night out without him.
’ Anna sent Ellie an impish look as they crossed the bridge, their shadows long in the lamplight.
‘To be honest, I think Oliver’s not sure whether he should worry more about how to keep Nicki’s boys happy when he hasn’t a clue about gaming, or about my finding my way home afterwards. ’
Ellie laughed, knowing full well Anna was hardly the misbehaving type. She was the glue that held them all together.
‘Oh, did you hear what happened with Mrs L?’ Anna added.
‘No! Please tell me she didn’t have an accident on that scooter!’
Anna grinned as they walked along the front. ‘According to Gemma, Matt had worked out there was a journo in the cove, posing as a dog walker, easing the locals into cosy natter but actually trying to tease out information on Will and his whereabouts.’
Skin prickling, Ellie shot Anna a wary look. Would Will blame her for this as well?
‘So what happened?’ Nicki asked as they came to a halt outside the Spar.
‘He sent Mrs L in her direction.’
Appalled, Ellie stared at Anna. ‘Oh no! Not one of Polkerran Point’s greatest gossips.’
‘You forget,’ Nicki cautioned as they entered the shop. ‘The cove has more than protective rocks. Mrs L is part of our hidden harbour patrol! I defy anyone not in the know to get any sense out of that woman when she’s on duty!’
Only half-reassured this wouldn’t become another issue for Will, Ellie tried to forget it as they stopped to collect Bella before resuming their walk along the lane towards Harbourwatch.
‘It’s a shame Gemma’s away,’ Nicki mused. ‘Oh, how’s the trip going?’
‘They’re loving it.’ Anna’s tone was subdued, and the others exchanged a puzzled look. ‘I’m just worried… Oh, take no notice of me.’ She shook her head, but as she turned to move on, Bella grabbed her arm.
‘Hey, don’t leave us hanging! Don’t tell me they’re having problems? They always seem so happy.’
‘Oh, no! No, it’s not that.’ Anna’s hazel eyes shone as they approached the tall, wrought-iron gates of Harbourwatch.
‘I’m being silly. And a bit selfish.’ She lowered her voice.
‘Matty’s going to propose when they get to Milan.
It’s where Gemma had been heading when her travels came to an abrupt end last year, and she was forced to come home.
Without that, she’d never have met him. He felt it would be a nicer memory for her. ’
‘That’s wonderful!’ Ellie exclaimed. ‘Why does that make you sad or selfish?’
‘Matty gets restless. I think it stems from all those years of touring with the band when he was younger. I worry they’ll find the perfect place on one of these trips and decide to stay there.’
‘Nonsense,’ Nicki declared. ‘They’ve found their haven; it’s a secluded creek on a tidal inlet.’
‘And each other,’ Ellie added. ‘Besides, didn’t Gemma say when they were leaving that she already couldn’t wait to come home?’
Anna summoned a watery smile, and Nicki clapped her hands.
‘Good. Now, let’s get inside and open this wine.’
Ellie made to follow them, then became aware of someone walking up the lane from the tidal beach. In the gloom, it was hard to see who it was at first, but as the glow from a nearby lamppost touched the leather cap, her heart began racing, and she made to hurry after the girls.
What was Will doing, lurking by the beach in the dark? Not having seen him since their row over the photos, Ellie had no desire for a repeat match, or a harsh stare from him as he passed by.
‘Ellie, wait.’
Will’s voice was low, vibrant with emotion. Was he still angry?