17. Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Seventeen
O nce I was installed on the pontoon, Harry helped me out of my cold wetsuit and wrapped me back up in my towelling coat, before pulling two thick blankets from the basket and wrapping one around my shoulders and one around her own. Her final touch was producing two oddly shaped bobble hats. I put one on, laughing as it flopped down in front of my eyes.
‘Urgh, another of my disasters.’
‘You made these?’
‘Tried to. I’m determined to get the hang of knitting. It was my New Year’s resolution, but I’ve not mastered it yet. I’ve set myself a rule that I have to wear everything I make. I’m hoping the humiliation will spur me on to improve.’ Harry grinned at me and pulled a flask from the basket.
‘When did you get all this ready?’
‘Technically, it wasn’t me. I gave Seb a list of everything I thought we’d need, and he brought the basket down to the boat first thing.’
‘That was kind of him.’
‘That’s Seb for you.’
‘You two seem close.’
Harry laughed. ‘You don’t mean?’ She looked at me, shook her head, and gave another throaty laugh. ‘Seb’s my cousin, on my mother’s side.’
So I’d misjudged that one, not that it made any difference to me. ‘He owns the farm too?’
Harry shook her head. ‘No, it was my paternal grandparents who left the farm to me.’
‘Has it always been called Lowen Farm?’
‘Yes, my granddad named it. Lowen means happy, or joyful in Cornish.’
‘The name seems very appropriate for this place.’
‘Not if you’re running it,’ said Harry with a chuckle. ‘This place comes with its fair share of stress, trust me.’
‘I’d like to help, if I can.’
‘What did you do before you arrived here?’
My cheeks turned pink, though not with the cold. ‘Nothing, really. I did housework and raised my son.’
‘That’s not nothing. Raising a child is the most important job in the world, and you seem an expert at it if my day spent with your son is anything to go by.’
‘Thank you. He’s pretty special, but I know I’m biased. I’m not demeaning my work as a mother, but when I was younger, everyone expected more from me. I expected more.’
‘So why didn’t you go for it?’
‘When I got married, my husband didn’t want me to work. I was happy to stay at home with Bertie when he was little, but now he’s eight, and out at school from eight until five…’
‘Eight until five?’
‘Private school.’
‘Ah.’
‘Yes, it’s a long day, but with a long commute, which makes finding a job that fits around it tricky. But it also means I have long hours filled with nothing more than a bit of laundry and dusting. My husband even employed a cleaner, so most of my days were spent twiddling my thumbs.’
‘Nice life if you can get it.’
‘I know. I sound really ungrateful.’
Harry laughed. ‘No, you sound like an intelligent woman who fancies filling her time with more than dirty underwear. I couldn’t live like that. I’d be bored out of my mind.’
‘Yes, but boredom’s the least of my worries now. Ironing pairs of pants won’t pay the bills. By not working for the past eight years, I’ve left myself completely unskilled and unqualified for most jobs. I don’t know what I’m going to do. Somehow, I need to find money for rent, not to mention getting Bertie enrolled in a new school.’
I lay back against the pontoon, the weight of all my worries pinning me down onto the wood. The past few days had been a welcome distraction, but I had to face reality again soon.
‘Why have you only planned to stay here for two weeks?’
‘Because whatever I am, I’m not a freeloader. Also, I’ve no idea what’s going on with my husband.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I’ve not heard from him since the day we lost the house almost a month ago.’
‘What a shit.’
I laughed, enjoying the attempts of the weak sun to warm my face.
‘Was it a happy marriage?’
How to answer that? In the end, it seemed easiest to be honest. ‘Not really. We only got married because I was pregnant. I’ve grown fond of him over the years, but it was never any great romance. And I’ve had my suspicions there have been other women. Not that Rob ever rubbed it in my face. He was always discreet, but it still hurt that I wasn’t enough.’
Harry propped herself up on one elbow, and I turned my head to look at her. ‘Liv, I hope I’m not speaking out of turn here, but is there a reason you’re waiting around for your husband before making any life decisions? I mean, it doesn’t seem like he’s reciprocated that respect.’
‘He’s Bertie’s father. I owe it to my son to work things out, if I can.’
‘And what model is that giving to Bertie? That a man can cheat on his wife, lose all their combined wealth, disappear for God knows how long, and she’ll still take him back?’
‘We made vows. In a church.’
‘And?’
‘Marriage is sacred.’
‘But surely Rob’s destroyed the sanctity of your marriage by his actions?’
I stared up at the cloudless sky, reluctant to be drawn into a religious debate about marriage. I wasn’t even a churchgoer, but even so, marriage seemed too precious to discard like a broken toy.
‘Can I put an idea to you?’
‘Go on.’ I turned my head back to Harry. She’d moved her arms behind her head like a pillow and closed her eyes.
‘You may not have any qualifications, but I can tell you’re an intelligent, capable woman. At the moment, you’re stuck in limbo, right?’
‘Yes.’
‘That can’t be doing you or Bertie any good. And that kid needs to be in school. As much as I’d love him to help me on the farm all day, every day, he’s too bright, too inquisitive about the world to be missing out on his education.’
‘You think I should go back to Exeter?’
‘No, I think you should stay here, at least until the summer holidays. I’m sure they’d have space for Bertie in the village school. It would give you both a bit of breathing space, a chance to figure out what you do next. And if your errant husband turns up in the meantime, it wouldn’t hurt to make him wait a while before you rush back into his arms.’
‘But Harry, I’ve got no money. I couldn’t possibly stay here for months without contributing financially.’
‘I’ve been thinking about that, too. I’ve been trying to get this lake project off the ground. Seb’s been taking the lead, but we’re so busy with the other farm work, it’s hard to give the project the attention it deserves. What I’m thinking is that you could take it on.’
‘Me? But I wouldn’t know where to start.’
Harry pulled herself up and sat cross-legged, staring at me. ‘Running a home and caring for a child requires superior organisational skills. I’m guessing you were a member of the school PTA?’
‘For my sins.’
‘Exactly. You have tons of transferable skills. And you won’t be working alone. You and Seb can work on the project together.’
My stomach plummeted. The thought of working closely with Seb left me with an unsettling mix of excitement and horror.
‘As the project hasn’t got off the ground yet, and we’re still waiting to hear about funding, I could only afford to pay you one hundred a week. But obviously food and board would be thrown in, and you’d be welcome to find a second job either in the village or Liskeard, which is only half an hour on the bus.’
‘I don’t know what to say.’
‘Just say yes. Obviously, it’s different from anything you’ve done before, so we could start with a month’s trial. If it doesn’t work out, you can still stay here until the summer. There’s plenty of other work you can help with.’
I shivered but couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or the excitement of finally having some sort of plan, at least for the next few months. ‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome. Now, that hot shower is calling me. Come on, let’s get back. We’ve got a project to get stuck into.’