Chapter 16
It was Saturday morning and the sun had broken over the horizon, promising another day of sunshine. The light was sliding in through the window, bathing Beth in a puddle of sunshine as she lay in bed. She could hear the sea hitting the harbour wall and smell the air, salty and fresh.
Throwing back her covers she tried to leap out of bed, groaning with the effort and sinking back into her pillows instead. Jake had worked hard the previous day, and Beth’s aching shoulders and legs were a testament to how much she had tried to help. He had pulled up boards, banged new ones in place, shouted directions and generally taken over until Beth had almost dropped to her knees with exhaustion. But it had been worth it because Number 4 now had a floor they could walk on, even if there were still gaping holes in the walls and a roof that swayed with every gust of sea breeze.
Sally: Morning!
Beth: Morning
Sally: Working at your hut again today?
Beth: Yeah, still so much to do. But Jake is helping now so we should get on a lot quicker
Sally: Sorry? Jake? The arrogant, mean judgmental man with the merman eyes who you hate? That Jake?
Beth screwed up her face and stared out of the window. Had she called him arrogant and mean? Probably. He was both things.
Beth: He’s been quite nice about it actually
Sally: Nice for an angry rude man? Or just generally nice?
Beth thought hard. He hadn’t laughed at her the previous day, well not very much. He had chuckled for several minutes when she put her foot in a bucket while talking to Sam and not paying attention. And when she’d fallen over, rolling around on the floor yelping, he’d been too busy laughing at first to help her. But he had eventually picked her up, pulling her foot out of the bucket and asking if she was okay. Even if the tears were rolling down his face and his shoulders were shaking. And he had finally called an end to the day when he realised her legs were no longer supporting her.
Beth: Just nice in general I suppose. Well, not nice exactly but not – you know, un-nice
Sally. Not un-nice. Progress! And he’s helping at the hut now?
Beth: Yes. For Aunt Lizzie. He wants to help save her hut. He’s not doing it for me
Sally: Of course not. Because that would mean he was being nice
Beth: Well, he is being a bit nice. What I mean is he’s not doing it because he likes me or because we’re friends or anything
Sally: Of course not. Heaven forbid!
Beth: Anyway, it’s really helping.
Sally: Good! And who knows, he may graduate to full on nice! Have a good day honey x
Beth stared down at her phone. She didn’t think Sally understood about Jake. He was only doing this because he had liked Lizzie. He’d made it clear he didn’t particularly like Beth which was fine because she definitely didn’t like him! She didn’t like the way his lips turned up with amusement when he spoke to her, or the deadpan expression he kept on his face when she asked him which way up to hold the hammer, or what the difference was between a screw and a nail. And she certainly didn’t like those green eyes and the way they mocked her, or the quiet air of confidence that oozed out of him that she found thoroughly irritating. Especially when he pulled off his t-shirt and showed all those rippling muscles.
No, Sally didn’t understand just how annoying he was and getting dressed, Beth made her way to the balcony, trying not to groan out loud at the ache in her back, the cramp in her legs and the pain whenever she lifted her arms.
He was already there, legs outstretched as he admired the view.
‘Ready for more work?’
What she really wanted was to spend the day in bed admiring the clouds.
‘Of course,’ she said, sticking out her chin. ‘But you don’t have to…’
‘I’m free today so it makes sense to get as much done as possible.’
‘Right. But you don’t…’
‘Unless you want me to stay away?’
They both knew that Beth couldn’t get the hut finished without Jake’s intervention, but it still hurt to admit that. She was rather hoping he would just announce that he was too busy to help her and then she could go back to hating him.
‘No,’ she said stiffly. ‘Of course not.’
He grinned and Beth itched to throw her tea at him. ‘Thought not. We’ll get started early, it’s going to be a hot one.’
Her appetite gone, Beth groaned inwardly, telling herself it would be worth it. And if nothing else, it was stopping her from dwelling on Matthew. There was simply no dwelling time available, Jake seemed to be taking up most of her day at the moment, one way or another.
‘What’s Sam’s story?’ asked Jake idly as they both sat back, lifting their faces to the early morning sun. ‘He said he was born in Welby?’
‘Yes. But like my mother, he thought it was small and boring. He left as soon as he could.’ Beth thought back to all the conversations she’d had with the gentle, courteous man. ‘And reading between the lines, I think he wished he had stayed. He told me this was where he’d left his heart, he just realised it too late.’
Jake’s lips tightened a fraction and Beth wondered if he was thinking of his own bruised heart.
‘Actually,’ mused Beth,’ I think he may have had a thing for Aunt Lizzie. He’s misted up a few times when her name has been mentioned.’
‘Who’s this then?’ asked Lavinia inquisitively as she appeared with two plates piled high with bacon and sausages. ‘Have you come across one of Lizzie’s admirers?’
‘Her what?’
‘Men were always falling in love with Lizzie. There was something about her that attracted them like moths to a flame. But she couldn’t settle, didn’t want to settle, bless her.’ Lavinia’s eyes were nostalgic as she thought back to the friend she missed so much. ‘Always on to her next adventure. And she never regretted her choices. She was supremely happy with her life.’
Beth tried and failed to think of the aunt she knew and loved as a local siren.
‘Well, the elderly gentleman I met used to know her. He was born in Welby but left a long time ago.’
‘Really? What’s his name?’
‘Sam Westmoreland.’
A plate heading in Beth’s direction came crashing onto the table. ‘Sam Westmoreland?’
‘Yes. Oh, I suppose if he and Lizzie were friends, you probably knew him as well?’
The toast rack was topped up with a flurry of movement and Jake’s plate was set in front of him with such haste it almost slid off the table.
‘Yes, yes, I know… I knew Sam. I didn’t know he was back in Welby though.’
Was it Beth’s imagination or was the normally unflappable Lavinia looking a little flustered?
‘Er, yes,’ said Beth uncertainly. ‘He came back for a week to catch up with some old friends. Did you know him well?’
She glanced at Jake who was also looking at Lavinia’s pink cheeks.
‘No. I mean, we all knew each other, we all grew up together. But that was all, he hasn’t been to see me since he came back.’
Trying to decide whether that was disappointment or relief in Lavinia’s voice, Beth chose her words with care. ‘Maybe he doesn’t know where you live now?’ she suggested. ‘And he’s spent the last few days helping me out.’
‘You said he was in love with Lizzie?’
Beth thought hard. Sam had never actually said as such, it was more the expression on his face as he talked about his days as a young man in Welby. And he’d certainly left someone behind.
‘Well, I’m not sure if he….’
‘Stands to reason,’ interrupted Lavinia, picking up the toast that she’d just put on the table and putting it back on her tray together with the jug of milk. ‘Like I say, all the young men fell in love with Lizzie,’ and off she bustled, leaving Beth to stare after her in concern and Jake to gaze longingly at the disappearing toast.
A few hours later, Beth wished she had followed her heart and stayed in bed as Jake paused briefly in his hammering to look around the hut with critical eyes.
‘We’re making good progress,’ he declared
Beth’s shoulders sagged with relief.
‘But there’s still a lot to do,’ he added.
The relief had been short lived and she couldn’t help the small sigh.
‘Tired?’
Did he have to ask like that? In that vaguely superior way that made Beth’s skin itch and her temper boil.
‘No! You?’
His eyebrows winged up beneath the untidy hair falling on his forehead and he grinned.
‘Nope. But there again I do this for a living and you…I forgot. What do you do?’
Beth scowled at him, gripping the hammer she was holding and fantasising about hurling it in his direction.
‘I am an office administrator,’ she said, lifting her chin and glaring. ‘A very good one actually. And I might not know one end of a hammer from the other but if you need anything administering, then I’m your person!’
She heard Sam’s snort of laughter from behind her as Jake chuckled.
‘Touché,’ he said softly. ‘And actually, you are doing an okay job at being a renovator of huts as well.’
Beth stood stiffly, waiting for the sting in the tail.
‘But it’s been a long day and I thought you might be tired.’
Beth would quite frankly rather die than admit that she was exhausted. That her legs were shaking and she could no longer lift her arms without a monumental effort.
‘No, I’m…’
‘Well, I don’t mind admitting I’m done for the day,’ interrupted Sam, to Beth’s eternal relief. ‘And we have got quite a lot done.’
Jake nodded. ‘It will be hard going tomorrow,’ he said. ‘It’s the weekend and the Craggy Heights mob will be down in force.’
Jemima had been absent from the hut today and Beth wondered if she was preparing for her husband’s return. A weekend of restoring his chakra and reigniting his soul, or whatever it was he needed. She looked up at the collection of houses high on the cliff, imagining the occupants gazing down at the tiny town on the coast. Did they all look forward to the weekend, when they could stop their earnest pursuit of money and join the residents of Welby as they enjoyed the simpler things in life, such as the feeling of the sand between their toes and the sun on their faces?
‘They take their weekend quite seriously,’ informed Jake as though he could read her thoughts. ‘They only have two days before their noses have to hit the grindstone again.’
‘Where do they all work?’ asked Beth curiously.
‘Oh, London mainly. Most of them are like Dom. He spends the week in a flat by the office. Two days in his Craggy Heights mansion and then back to London.’
Not much of a life, thought Beth. Even if it did buy you a house on top of a cliff. No wonder Jemima always looked so disconsolate. She spent her entire week waiting for her husband to come home, only to have him upset by the state of Number 4 and relieved to get back to London, where no doubt his view was rarely spoilt by a derelict hut. There again, she thought, packing her bag, maybe it was Jemima he couldn’t wait to leave behind at the end of the weekend and struggling to put one foot in front of the other, she followed a still sprightly Jake back to Welcome.
He waited by the door for her, watching her slow movements with a touch of sympathy in his eyes.
‘You've worked hard today,’ he said softly and Beth didn't have the energy to work out whether he was being condescending and rude or quietly approving of her efforts.
‘So have you,’ she said tiredly.
He smiled and she decided that maybe it was the latter. Perhaps she had finally proved herself to the demanding Jake Balfour. There did seem to be a different expression in those green eyes tonight, not one she could remember seeing there before.
‘What are you doing tonight?’ he asked as they pushed open the door into the blissfully cool hallway.
Beth tripped over her feet and she stared at him from beneath hair that was soaked in sweat and hanging in rat’s tails down her back.
‘W-what?’ she mumbled, pushing her hair out of her face and looking at him with wide eyes. ‘Sorry, what did you say?’
‘I asked what you were doing tonight,’ repeated Jake slowly.
She must be even more exhausted than she’d realised, thought Beth. Why was Jake interested in her plans for the evening? He’d never asked her before. Unless, oh goodness, was he about to ask her out?
‘What am I doing?’ she asked, her eyes widening.
‘Yes. What are you doing?’
‘Tonight?’ she squeaked in alarm.
His lips twitched. ‘Yes, Beth. What are you doing tonight,’ he repeated.
He had definitely been nicer to her today. Almost pleasant. Still, it was a big jump to go from nice to asking her out, a jump Beth wasn’t sure she was ready to take.
A date with Jake Balfour? Sit opposite those bewitching green eyes and talk about what? The state of the world, tourism in Welby-on-the-Sea, the pain of a partner that lets you down, starting again with someone new.
She felt a trickle of fear travel down her back. Because whilst she felt spending any time with Jake was a very bad idea, there had been a little flicker deep inside, very deep inside, which had leapt high and strong at the thought of spending an evening in his company.
‘Why?’
It came out a little harsher than Beth had intended, more of an accusation than a question. But the blood had started pumping around her body so quickly it was making her light-headed and more than a little anxious.
‘Why?’ he asked, taken aback at the word she had almost shouted at him.
‘I mean, why do you want to know?’
Why was it suddenly much harder to breathe, she wondered. Like something was lodged in her chest and the air was having to fight its way past to fill her lungs. Oh no, spending an evening with Jake was not a good idea. She was still getting over Matthew for a start. She still shed a tear for him every night when her head hit her pillow and she remembered the feel of his arms wrapped around her. It was far too soon to think about letting anyone else back into her heart, especially someone like Jake.
‘I just…’ he began only for Beth to interrupt, holding up her hand to stop his words.
She didn’t want to hear him ask. Because she wasn’t entirely sure she would say no. She wanted to say ‘no’; a very definite ‘ are you mad’ , kind of no. A ‘ we don’t like each other why would I go out with you ’, kind of no. The trouble was, she wasn’t sure it would come out like that. There was a very real danger that it might come out as a yes. And that would be a disaster.
‘Sorry! I just don’t think that’s a good idea,’ she said breathlessly before her heart took over and said something different. ‘I mean, thank you but I just don’t think that under the circumstances…I don’t think…I don’t…’
‘I just wondered what you were doing tonight,’ interrupted Jake, making no effort to hide his grin. ‘I’m going out with a few friends for a pint,’ he added carefully, ‘and I just wondered what you were doing. To relax, you know, after a hard day at work.’
The dimple was very much in evidence as he sent her a smile. ‘Did you think I was about to ask you out?’
Beth could feel the burning in her cheeks and wanted to climb under the nearest rock and slowly die of humiliation. Of course Jake hadn’t been about to ask her out. Why on earth would he? He didn’t even like her! She closed her eyes briefly, searching deep inside for her dignity which she had misplaced somewhere in the last few minutes.
‘No! Of course not. I just don’t think it’s a good idea to …er…you know, ask each other things. I mean I know we’re not friends, not really so don’t feel you have to ask me… what I’m doing, or where I’m going, or even if I’m alright!’
She began pushing past him, desperate to put some distance between them, as much distance as was humanly possible in the shortest space of time.
Jake was grinning as Beth continued to babble.
‘We should keep this about the hut…which I know is what you want and I agree. So you don’t have to ask me anything…nothing…really…’
And she was gone, running up the stairs as quickly as she could to escape the sound of the chuckles that were following her.