Chapter 16 #2
‘I don’t think they will have the money for that, we all know charities are crying out for donations,’ Flick said, feeling like she was shooting down every suggestion. And it wasn’t like she could come up with something better.
They all fell quiet as their ideas dried up.
Flick noticed that Polly was staring at Luke, clearly expecting him to swoop in and save the day like he had in the past. And this was why Luke wanted to leave Lovegrove Bay.
Every time something went wrong or when something was broken, it was Luke who was expected to pay out and fix it.
No one liked him for him, they liked him for what he could do for them and that had to be exhausting.
Flick had no doubt if she was to ask him to buy the house, he would do it because he had a heart of gold, but that was exactly why she never would.
She wouldn’t take advantage of him like that.
‘I think we have to be practical,’ Flick said.
‘I hate to say it when you’ve all worked so hard but the most important thing to save is the workshops, that’s the legacy my grandad created when he started this place, that’s what we’ve all rallied behind.
We can make a real difference to people’s lives.
We can approach companies to sponsor something like that, hire the church hall once or twice a week with the sponsor money and continue to teach our art to people with brain injuries.
We can get other art teachers to teach them too, a different workshop each week. ’
‘And what about the rest of us?’ Rose said.
Flick sighed. ‘I don’t know. There was never any guarantee any of this would work.
I guess we just keep on doing what we’re doing now, we keep running the studios and hope for some miracle over the next six months and, in the meantime, you should keep looking around for your own studio space.
Polly, the café is a big success so far, that will look good for any potential buyers.
Maybe someone will buy the place purely for a successful business like yours. ’
They were all quiet, the joy and excitement of seeing life breathed back into this place over the last few days well and truly gone. Slowly they all got up and trudged out and Polly went back into the kitchen, leaving just Flick and Luke.
She moved to sit next to him, taking his hand. He was looking thoughtful.
‘Promise me something,’ Flick said.
‘What?’
‘That you’re not going to go white knight in shining armour with this.’
‘I can’t promise that.’
‘You don’t have to fix everything, it’s not your responsibility. Sometimes things just don’t work out, that’s life, that’s the way it is. You can’t save everybody.’
‘But I have the money, and I can spend it how I see fit.’
‘I will be really angry if you do this.’
He frowned. ‘Why?’
‘Because you’re not a cash cow. Why should you bail us out, it isn’t fair. As I told you before, throwing money at it isn’t the answer. ’
‘But it is, it will solve all your problems.’
‘No, Luke, I don’t want your money. We’ll be fine without it. As long as we can save the workshops in some capacity, I’ll be happy.’
‘But what will you do?’
She shrugged. ‘I don’t know, I’ll be OK, I always am. I’ll stay in Lovegrove Bay long enough to establish the weekly workshops for those with brain injuries in the church hall or some other venue. If I can find a job then I’ll stay here, if not I’ll move on somewhere else, go where the work is.’
‘But this is your home.’
She resisted saying that without him, it wouldn’t be, but she decided to be a little brave. ‘I suppose I could always move to Scotland with you.’
She was only half joking, but she wondered what his reaction to it would be.
‘No. This isn’t right. We’ll fix this. We’ll find a way. You belong here, you have to stay here.’
He got up and walked out and she was left staring after him.
That felt like a very emphatic no to her going to Scotland with him and that left her feeling very confused about what kind of future they might have.
Flick was busily working in the gift shop later.
There was a couple in there looking around at all the craft kits and whereas ordinarily that would make her so happy she couldn’t find any joy in it today.
It just seemed so pointless, building a business up to be a big success to lose it all in a few months.
She looked up as Luke ran upstairs to the mezzanine to talk to her.
‘All sorted,’ Luke said.
‘What?’
‘You don’t have to worry about losing the studios.’
Her heart sank. ‘Luke, you haven’t, please tell me you haven’t bought it.’
‘It seemed the obvious solution.’
Her hands went to her face, making her look like The Scream by Edvard Munch. ‘Luke, you can’t buy me a million-pound house, that’s insane.’
‘I didn’t buy it for you, it’s not yours, it’s in my name. Consider it an investment. I’ll still get twenty-five percent of all profits for the rest of my life.’
‘That’s not how investments work. Investments like this are only worth it if you pay off the money you’ve spent after a few years. It doesn’t matter how successful we are, we are never ever going to be able to pay back a million pounds. Why would you do that?’
‘The workshops are too important. The difference we made to one person is more than worth it, but the help you can give to hundreds or thousands of people over the years is the best thing I could ever spend my money on. And I wanted to do it for you. You belong here. This house, this town, it’s your home.
The gift shop is your dream. And you’re making a difference, I want you to continue doing that. ’
‘Luke, no, I can’t let you do this.’
‘It’s my money to do with what I want. And I want to do this.’
‘I can’t accept it.’
‘It’s not yours to accept, I’ve bought a house, you’re just going to be in charge of it.’
‘What if I don’t want it?’
‘It’s a done deal.’
‘Well undo it, take it back, tell Audrey you’ve changed your mind.’
‘No.’
Flick was trembling and tearful over the shock of what he’d done. She couldn’t even feel any relief or joy right now, she felt kind of numb. And angry and frustrated that her fairy godfather had swooped in to save her one more time. She didn’t want him to waste his money like this.
He smiled. ‘Why are you being so difficult? Most people would say thank you and then celebrate.’
‘I don’t feel that you wasting a million pounds is anything to celebrate. I just can’t get my head around you doing something like this. Most boyfriends might buy their girlfriends a bunch of flowers or a box of chocolates.’
‘I wanted to make you happy.’
She stared at him, a huge lump forming in her throat. Then she moved over to him and took his face in her hands. ‘Thank you, so much. You have no idea what this means.’
‘I do and that’s why I did it. ’
She smiled and hugged him and he wrapped his arms around her.
Her mind was a whirl of emotions. Relief and happiness were obviously at the forefront, she was delighted that her home, the studios and the workshops would be saved.
She was in shock over Luke’s generosity.
But she couldn’t ignore the niggle at the back of her head that he’d paid a million pounds to stop her from moving to Scotland with him.
‘Oh I’ve got the keys to the house, the house in Scotland is now officially mine.’
Talk about rubbing salt in the wound. She forced a smile onto her face and looked up. ‘Congratulations, I’m really happy for you.’
He studied her. ‘You are?’
‘Of course, it’s a new start for both of us.’
She swallowed a lump in her throat. A new start that was hundreds of miles apart. She couldn’t find anything to be happy about that.