Chapter 43
FORTY-THREE
Rita pulled into the harbour car park. The bride and the rest of the wedding party wouldn’t be arriving until eleven, and Sennen had tasked her with fetching some pastries to offer in the Nook on arrival. A sugary treat she knew would set the perfect tone for the day.
After parking up, she rounded the corner and almost slammed straight into someone. Rita staggered back, heart jolting violently into her throat. Chloe Brimble. Of all people.
The young woman’s eyes widened, first wary, then edged with anger. Rita’s gaze immediately flicked to the young woman’s enormous pregnancy bump, softening her instinctive caution for just a moment.
‘Snap,’ Rita said gently. ‘I didn’t realise… Sennen never mentioned it.’
Chloe’s Cornish accent was as strong as Stan’s.
‘Well, she wouldn’t have, would she? It seems like she’s too busy pinning my family to that fire at yours.
’ Chloe’s lips trembled. ‘I may be a Brimble, and we may not have always been white as white, but I would never harm anyone… or put my own life’ – she rubbed her bump – ‘or little Alfie’s here, at risk.
’ Tears brimmed in her eyes. ‘And yes, what happened at the solicitors’.
Well… I only helped Jago Jenken with your husband’s will because I needed the money.
I could see what he was doing was out of love for his family.
I’d do the same. He offered me cash for information.
But it backfired on me. I’d been out of work before, due to my grandfather’s reputation, and then was out of work for months after that. ’
Rita hadn’t expected this. Chloe spoke with a raw, urgent conviction, as if she’d been waiting forever to clear her name. Against her better judgement, a flicker of compassion stirred. She knew Jago had acted with good intentions, but Chloe had paid the price, losing her job in the process.
Chloe lifted her gaze, trying to stop the tears from falling. ‘That bloody article didn’t help either. I guess that was down to you too?’
Rita could feel the electricity of raw emotion in the air. ‘It wasn’t, actually. I had no idea. Yes the writer was a guest at my retreat… but she didn’t tell me she was an undercover wedding reporter. She wasn’t too complimentary about us either, if you read it again.’
Chloe was silent, but her fury was still coming off her in waves as she stared at Rita and then turned and walked away.
Rita watched her go. And as she pushed open the door to Betty’s, a sudden wave of nausea rolled through her. Because as much as she wanted to believe that Chloe Brimble wasn’t connected to the fire, something in her gut told her that she shouldn’t.
Rita placed the goodies from Betty’s on her front seat and was just pulling on her seatbelt when a movement on the sea wall in front of her caught her eye.
There, perched on the edge with her legs swinging gently, was Chloe.
She looked different to earlier, Rita thought; the aggression had gone, more a sense of fear or indifference.
The tide lapped lazily against the harbour steps, gulls wheeling overhead, their cries sharp in the chill morning air, carrying the young woman’s shrill voice to her through the open window of the Jimny.
‘Rita, Rita, have you got a minute?’
Rita hesitated, then on sensing the young woman’s obvious distress, got out of the car. As she walked towards her, Chloe’s eyes met hers, wary and pleading all at once.
‘I’d rather you heard it from me first.’ Chloe’s voice was now trembling. ‘Before the old bill work it out. It was an accident… but yes, it was me at your place. But I meant what I said, that I would never put anyone’s life at risk. I didn’t mean to start the fire. I promise.’
Rita looked at her questioningly. Chloe took a deep breath.
‘I lit a candle in one of those lanterns of yours… I’d forgotten my torch, see, and my phone battery was low.
There were matches, I just… I just wanted to see what you had on offer, how you were running your weddings.
I wanted to make ours the best it could be, especially after that article came out.
And then Hilda came in… and I panicked. I dropped it.
It caught on the tablecloth, and it went up like nobody’s business.
I ran, ran for my little one, for my family… and I am truly, truly sorry.’
Rita realised she was holding her breath. ‘And a few weeks before, was that you snooping around too?’
‘Yes.’ Chloe replied quietly.
Rita’s chest tightened. ‘You could have killed someone.’
Chloe looked down, swinging her legs more slowly.
‘I know… but I didn’t. And I guess you have insurance, so…
’ She rubbed her bump. ‘All I’m asking is that you hear me out.
Woman to woman… mum to mum. I can’t go inside.
I can’t get a record. Not with this little one in here.
’ Chloe cradled her tummy this time. ‘He hasn’t got a dad, one that wants him anyway.
It’s just me. And all I want now is for my life to be a success for this little bundle.
’ Her eyes started to fill as she said quietly, ‘They’ll take him away. ’
The breeze tugged at Rita’s jacket, carrying the briny tang of seaweed and salt across the harbour. A fishing boat’s engine rumbled somewhere, and the gulls cried again, circling above.
Rita’s anger eased slightly, replaced by a sharp knot of worry. ‘How did the police leave it with you?’
‘They said they’d be in touch,’ Chloe whispered. ‘I’ve never been good at much, but I want to be good at this. At being a mum, you know. And running the wedding business. Please… please, I beg of you, give me the chance.’
Caught between fury and empathy, Rita’s heart thudded. She could feel Chloe’s desperation, the love for her unborn baby, and something soft inside her began to shift.
Chloe’s lips trembled as she added quietly, ‘Babies… they don’t care about your past. They don’t know your mistakes. They just look at you like you’re their universe. And if I can start out right, then well, I… we’ve got a chance here.’
Rita stayed silent, letting the sea wind and gulls fill the space between them. Finally, with a huge sigh and holding her head up high, she said, ‘I need some time to think.’
Chloe nodded, eyes soft, legs swinging again. ‘If not for me, please think of him.’ She pointed down.
Without another word, Rita climbed back into the car, the engine humming softly.
She sat for a moment, staring at the tide and the wheeling seabirds, letting Chloe’s words settle.
She didn’t know what she would do yet, but looking at that poor, helpless girl on the wall, she found herself imagining a baby’s early years…
and the thought of them without the love of a mother sent a pang through her chest.