Chapter 20 #2
Theo looked at her, then laughed. ‘You really think there’s a clue here?’
She stood and began scanning the wall. ‘I think there are so many clocks and not one of them is ticking. Let Operation Clock Revival begin.’
‘I think I saw a box of tools under the sink.’ A moment later, Theo returned with tiny screwdrivers, spare keys, and oils, laying them out like surgical instruments on the table.
‘One clock at a time…’ he started, then he paused.
‘Actually, I really don’t think we should be touching the clocks.
They’ve been here years, and I’m sure it was in the email that they weren’t to be touched. ’
‘Who is going to know? All we’re doing is opening each one up and seeing if there’s anything unusual inside … and it will be good to hear what tick each type of clock has. You must still get excited when you hear the tick, surely?’
Theo smiled. He knew that level of excitement. A timepiece’s tick was like a person’s fingerprint: each one unique.
‘This is the horological ER,’ she said, handing him a soft cloth.
Finally, he acquiesced. ‘We have a timepiece in cardiac arrest! Emergency surgery is needed – stat!’
The first clock she tackled was a wall clock. Pippa gently opened the back. ‘There’s nothing in this one except a dead spider,’ she declared, inspecting it fully and blowing out a cobweb. She wound it carefully, and with a soft whir, the second hand began to tick.
‘We have life!’
‘One down, another forty-nine to go!’
Another clock ticked to life. Then another. The room began to fill with gentle ticking, uneven and overlapping.
Some clocks sprang back to life with ease. Others needed coaxing.
Theo stepped beside her, holding up an ornate carriage clock. ‘You know, I always liked these. They were the travel clocks of their day. Fancy people took them on grand tours.’
‘Imagine needing a personal brass timepiece just to go to Florence.’
‘Honestly, I admire the commitment.’
‘The pocket watch that my dad gave me could be my travelling timepiece, He said it hadn’t ever worked, but as we know it keeps springing back to life since I’ve been here. Maybe it likes the rain and is some sort of weather clock.’
‘Or maybe the clock decided after you did a runner from your own wedding that it was the right time to start your life again.’
There was a little flutter low in her stomach that she couldn’t ignore. ‘I was actually going to say that to you! There’s something quite romantic about that concept.’ She looked at him, feeling warm and dreamy. ‘And does Doctor Blake think he could be a part of that life?’
She saw it instantly. Theo’s expression shifted. Just a flicker, but enough to remind her of Clara’s phone call in the early hours of the morning, and that Theo’s head and heart were probably both a mess right now. It was enough to make her instantly regret opening her mouth.
‘Oh, I didn’t mean… Look, this morning… There’s no pressure. Honestly. I knew the score. We were in the moment and we’re adults – we make choices. If you want to give your marriage another go, I totally get it. It’s—’
Before she could finish, Theo reached out and pulled her towards him, his hands slipping around her waist. He kissed her firmly and without hesitation.
‘The taste of wine and mouldy cheese…’ she murmured against his lips.
‘The best combination,’ he said, kissing her again.
When he pulled away, he took her empty glass, filled it, then topped up his own. He carried both glasses to the sofa and sat down. Pippa joined him. He turned to her, eyes steady. ‘I don’t just go around sleeping with anyone, you know.’
Her stomach flipped.
He held her gaze. ‘You don’t actually realise how long I’ve waited to be that close to you.’
‘I think I do, I’ve wanted the same,’ she said quietly, honest to a fault.
Theo leaned back. ‘I’m torn, Pip,’ he admitted. ‘Because part of me hates the idea of looking like a failure. Starting again. I didn’t get married for it to fall apart.’
She nodded, saying nothing.
‘But there are just some things…’ He swallowed.
‘Some things you can’t forgive. Sleeping with Sebastian …
of all people…’ His voice cracked slightly.
‘That wasn’t just a mistake. That was … something else.
And the sad thing about it all is that he probably didn’t even really want her. He just did it to get at me.’
Pippa’s stomach twisted. Her chest went tight. ‘Does that mean you don’t forgive me?’
‘There’s nothing to forgive,’ he said gently.
‘We weren’t married. We didn’t set up a home.
Share a bank account. Build a life.’ His mouth twitched.
‘Granted, you really should have had more taste,’ he joked.
‘But seriously, the reason it hurt so much when I heard about it was because … I wanted it to have been me.’
She swiped him playfully.
‘But I’m leaving. First stop New York. The main reason I took the job was to run from my life. It came just at the right time.’
Pippa’s smile faded. She shifted closer, tucking one leg beneath herself. ‘I know you’ll be brilliant,’ she said softly. ‘Travelling the world, lecturing… I’m happy you’re doing something you love.’
Theo slipped his arm around her and gave her a squeeze.
‘But,’ she added gently, ‘is that what you really want, Theo?’ She was trying to understand. ‘Did you jump into that job because your marriage was ending? Because you needed something to hold on to? Or is this truly the dream? Is this the thing you want more than anything?’
Theo stared at the ceiling for a moment before he spoke.
‘I’m really not sure.’ He took a sip of wine.
‘Even before Clara did what she did, I started falling apart. I kept questioning if I was happy … if this was it … and every time I looked at her, I felt … wrong. Wrong life, wrong house, wrong everything.’ He swallowed. ‘So yes, in a way, this is an exit.’
‘So you’re running.’
‘Probably,’ he admitted. ‘Part running. Part trying to do something I’m actually good at. Part terrified of staying where everything fell apart.’ Theo looked at her. ‘It felt like my only option,’ he said quietly. ‘Leave. Start again. Put distance between myself and my old life.’
Neither of them said anything for a moment before Theo broke the silence. ‘Come on, let’s carry on with these clocks, and see if we can uncover this mystery before I make the decision about whether I’m going to ring my grandfather and ask some difficult questions.’
‘Are you actually going to ask him?’
‘Possibly…’
* * *
For the next couple of hours they wound and set, bantered and laughed, brushing past each other as they moved from clock to clock.
Tick by tick, the cottage transformed.
‘It’s like we’re inside a heartbeat,’ Pippa said, looking around in awe.
Theo stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by ticking. ‘Or a lunatic’s watch collection.’
Pippa laughed. ‘Look at this collection. Do you think that these were all prototypes? Why keep certain ones?’
‘I’m not sure,’ Theo said. ‘But it’s a hell of a collection.’
A moment later, Pippa was stretched out on the carpet and cutting off another piece of cheese, when her phone began ringing from somewhere under the blanket.
She fished around, nearly knocking over her wine glass. She glanced at the screen and knew she had to answer. He would have heard that the convention had been cancelled and the causeway closed.
‘Hi, Dad.’ She walked into the snug and watched Theo as he sat down and switched on the TV.
‘Pip! I thought you’d drowned after I saw the weather reports.’
She smiled. ‘Still afloat, thanks. Or just about. The rain hasn’t stopped since I’ve arrived.’
‘I think you might need a lifeboat to get off that island.’
‘The news says the island’s cut off until the storm clears. I thought the St Swithin’s Day curse was a myth.’
He laughed. ‘I also saw on the news this morning that the Vale Brothers’ first workshop is up for grabs, and they said interest has gone through the roof.
Doesn’t look anything like a workshop now though, more of a barn conversion, really, but still, quite a headline.
Especially after the Horace Vale interview. ’
Pippa froze. Her eyes flicked automatically towards Theo, who was now sitting on the sofa with his feet up, sipping on his wine.
‘Really? I knew it was a barn conversion now but if it’s on the market…’ She couldn’t hide the excitement in her voice. ‘I need to go and take a look. History was made in that place.’
‘Oh, it’s everywhere, Pip! Newspapers, radio, telly. They’re calling it a “once-in-a-lifetime horological opportunity”.’
‘As soon as I get off the phone I’m onto Rightmove … just to be nosey.’
‘What are you up to? Other than dodging tsunamis.’
‘We’ve been getting all the clocks going in the cottage.’ Pippa thought about sharing the find of Wetherby’s book, but it would take too long to explain.
‘All of them?’ her father repeated. ‘How many is “all”?’
‘Fifty, and it’s currently very noisy. Even the pocket watch you gave me is ticking. It keeps stopping and starting. It’s very bizarre. Did Grandad ever say where he got it from?’
‘When he gave it to me, he said he’d bought it on his honeymoon. I do know they travelled around the Highlands. I’m visiting him in the next hour at the care home.’
‘How is he?’
‘Sometimes he remembers me, sometimes he doesn’t. But he always talks about your grandmother.’
‘Do pass on my love.’
‘Of course, I will.
I’ve got to go, but keep me updated on when you’re heading back, and…’ He paused.
‘What is it?’
‘A van turned up this morning, and Rob has had all your things delivered here.’
‘I’m so sorry you’ve had to deal with that, too.’
‘Don’t you worry. Everything will be back in your room by the time you get home.’
‘Thanks, Dad.’