Chapter 12
I’d remembered to drink a glass of water before I’d got into bed after my evening in the pub with my new friends, but my head still felt a little fragile the following morning, and so I decided to treat myself to a Sunday lie in once I’d retrieved some things from downstairs.
Rafe’s bedroom door was closed, and with no sign of him having surfaced in the kitchen, I released Plato and Socrates from his sitting room, quickly fed them and left Rafe a note warning him not to be fooled by their demands for further food.
Armed with tea, toast and my laptop, I returned to my room ready to snuggle back down in bed for a restorative hour or possibly even two.
Besides sleeping in it, it wasn’t a room I had spent much time in, but as I took a moment to properly admire the original and ornate tiny cast iron fireplace and the view of the magnificent oak in the neighbouring garden, I realised I’d been missing out.
It was a pretty room, further enhanced by my floral sprig bed linen and curtains, and while I drank my tea, I sat on the padded window seat which had a capacious storage space underneath and, from the perfect vantage point, admired the tree in its entirety.
I’d only been in the square a week and a half but already I could see the leaves had changed and I thought it might be nice to take a photograph of the view, with the tree front and centre on a set day every month to record its transformation throughout the seasons.
‘No time like the present,’ I said and took a snap on my phone.
I then ate my toast, climbed back into bed, pulled up the duvet and reached for my laptop.
‘Wow,’ I gasped as I looked at the Wynbridge Autumn Festival website Kate had directed me to along with an Instagram account called Autumn Everything, that the festival’s chief organiser curated.
There were plenty of ideas for me to jot down to potentially include in our equinox party to make more of an event of it, and I found myself wishing there were more canines than just Nell in the square because the dog’s fancy dress photos looked hilarious.
I knew we had at least four cats in proximity, but I couldn’t imagine them tolerating being turned into pumpkins and ghouls! Rafe’s pair certainly wouldn’t so that put two out of the running straightaway.
As I continued to scroll, there was a light knock on my door.
‘Come in,’ I said, but not so loudly that it made my head thump.
The door opened and my father stood there, filling the space and looking rather rumpled.
‘I just wanted to let you know I’m back,’ he said croakily.
‘Back?’ I frowned, then realised he was wearing what he’d had on when I left the house the evening before. ‘Have you been out all night?’
I hadn’t heard him open the front door or come up the stairs.
‘Um,’ he said, looking sheepish, but he needn’t have worried because I wasn’t going to give him a telling off, though I was surprised he hadn’t let me know he wasn’t coming home. ‘Sorry I didn’t message,’ he apologised. ‘The time just seemed to run away with us.’
I noted the ‘us’ and thought his date must have gone well. Very well.
‘I see,’ I said. ‘Well, you’re a grown man and you don’t need to explain anything to me, so—’
‘We spent the entire night—’ he interrupted.
‘No!’ I said loudly. ‘I just said you don’t need to explain anything!’
‘Talking,’ he grinned. ‘We spent the whole night talking.’
I had to smile myself then.
‘What about?’ I asked, feeling interested rather than panicked.
‘Everything,’ he said soppily. ‘Nothing.’
‘And all the things in between?’
‘Something like that.’
He didn’t sound like himself at all.
‘And will you be seeing him again?’ I ventured.
Where Rafe was concerned sometimes, no matter how well a date had gone, that wasn’t always a given.
‘Oh, yes,’ he said. ‘I’ll be seeing him again.’
I resisted the desire to ask more about this man who had got my father looking so smitten. No point getting invested just yet. That was something I had learnt at a young age, but it came from my flighty mum’s behaviour rather than Rafe’s.
There had been a couple of guys who had lasted longer with Mum than a month and I had enjoyed their company around the house.
But, just as I began to get used to having them around regularly and imagined us all playing happy families, Mum would get tired of them, call time, and it would just be the two of us again.
‘Would you like me to get up and make you some breakfast?’ I offered Rafe.
‘No, you stay there,’ he told me. ‘I’ll bring you another tea up if you like.’
‘Yes, please.’
‘What are you up to?’ he asked with a nod at the laptop. ‘Not doom-scrolling, I hope?’
‘No,’ I said, ‘nothing like that. Just catching up with a few things.’
I had decided I wouldn’t mention my part in planning the equinox party until I’d gathered what I wanted together and could prove to him that it wasn’t anything like work and wouldn’t have an impact on my rest and recuperation time.
‘I’ll be back in a minute with your tea,’ he said and took my mug and plate with him.
‘I’ve fed the cats!’ I shouted after him, in case he didn’t spot my note or the cunning felines had hidden it.
He was much longer than a minute and while he was downstairs, I could hear him talking in a low voice on the telephone. Surely that couldn’t be his current beau calling already. He was certainly eager if it was, but then Rafe had appeared keen, too.
While I was waiting for my tea, I thought I should check my inbox. I’d completely fallen out of the habit of keeping up with anything online now I didn’t have notification alerts constantly landing on my mobile and interrupting my train of thought.
The first thing I noticed was an email from my friend, Alisha.
She was someone I’d met in year seven at high school, and like me, she had a parent who moved around a lot.
Unlike me however she was often taken abroad and was fluent in Spanish and Italian as a result.
We were both seen as something akin to nomads by the rest of our classmates and formed a friendship which shifted to email when I was moved on before she was.
We hadn’t seen each other in a long time, but we still exchanged news about our lives. She had recently settled in Ottawa, and having admired the photos she sent, I shared the details of my move to Norwich, attaching the photo of the oak tree.
‘What are you so engrossed in?’ Rafe asked when he eventually came back.
I was working my way through the rest of my unread mail by then.
‘An email from Mum,’ I told him and turned the laptop around so he could see the photos I’d downloaded that she’d also sent.
‘Does she usually email?’
‘No, not as a rule. Generally, when she’s away I don’t hear from her from one month to the next.’ I never worried about her being incommunicado because where Flighty Faye was concerned, that was the norm.
‘What has she got to say for herself then? Anything life changing?’
‘Not as far as I can tell. And I’ve read between the lines in as much detail as I can. I think she just wanted to prove to me that she was properly settled.’
‘Well, that’s life changing in itself, isn’t it?’ Rafe pointed out.
‘Yes,’ I agreed. ‘I suppose it is. Either that or she thinks she’ll make us jealous that we’re heading into autumn and winter while she’s basking in an azure-coloured ocean.’
The intense colour reminded me of Erik’s eyes…
‘Well either way, I’m pleased you’ve heard from her,’ Rafe yawned. ‘I’ll leave you to it. Say hello from me if you reply.’
‘Are you going to bed?’
‘Shower first, then just a nap. I want to get some more words down this afternoon before I go and see Dad.’
‘I’ll try not to make too much noise when I get up, and I’ll be heading to the Grow-Well again later.’
‘Have fun,’ he said and took himself off.
I replied to Mum, then checked I hadn’t missed anything else. Just as I was about to log off, an email from Tobias and Madeline’s Highfell address landed. I initially assumed it must have been sent in error, but when I opened it, I realised I was wrong.
‘A Mr Thomas Fuller, who owns a country manor house and estate in Devon, has asked us to forward to you the attached document,’ I read aloud, having first been warmed by their excitement about finally having moved into their house in Portugal.
Building work had held them up but they were properly settled now.
‘We know you’re taking a break from work but wondered if it might be of interest?
He asked us for your email, but we told him you would contact him directly if you wanted any further details. ’
I downloaded the document wondering what it was that Mr Thomas Fuller wanted with me. It didn’t take many seconds of further reading for me to find out.
‘It’s a job,’ I gasped as I scanned the page again. ‘A fantastic job!’
Apparently, Mr Fuller had attended a wedding at Highfell Hall and been extremely impressed with the organisation.
He mentioned that he had spoken to me but given the number of people I talked to at every event, I couldn’t place him.
Our brief conversation however had left a lasting impression on him.
He had also talked about event management with Madeline and Tobias, and they had stressed the importance of having a committed, organised and unflappable manager which they considered me to be. How delightfully flattering.
Now Mr Fuller planned to start offering his home as a venue for weddings etc., and having discovered that Highfell had changed hands and that I was no longer working there, he had contacted Madeline and Tobias directly to ask if they knew if I was looking for another position.
My eyes flicked over the renumeration package.
It was extremely generous and the situation and role sounded very similar to the one I had come from in that it would mean living on-site and taking on the management of all events.
The salary was higher than I’d had before and with living costs kept to a minimum there would be scope to save for the future.