Chapter 21
He checked his phone when he got home – three o’clock. If he nipped down to the supermarket and got some food, he could have a shower and then chill out for a couple of hours before ringing Jacob. Sunday morning had to be a good time to catch him before he headed out for a morning on the surf.
‘Lovely day for it,’ said Mrs Birnie, the elderly woman who lived in the cottage next door. ‘I think we might be getting proper spring at last.’
She pulled off one of the gardening gloves she was wearing and scratched her nose with the back of her hand. ‘My hay fever is on the way back, so that must be a sign.’
‘I’m just heading up to the shop,’ he said. ‘Do you want anything while I’m there?’
‘Oh you’re an angel,’ she said, beaming. ‘I was going to head up there for a pint of milk when I’d finished gardening, but I’m worn out. Getting too old for this sort of thing.’ She tipped her head toward the wooden planters that stood on either side of the stone step.
‘I can always give you a hand with those, if you like.’
‘Ach.’ She smiled again. ‘I complain about it, but it keeps me fit. I don’t want to turn into one of those old ladies who just sits in front of the television all day long when I’m still energetic enough to get my garden sorted. But I won’t say no to you picking up some messages for me if you’re offering. Let me get my purse.’
‘Not at all,’ said Gabe. ‘I think I can splash out on a pint of milk.’
‘I was going to ask if you’d pick me up a packet of Penguin biscuits as well.’
‘I can do that, too.’
He headed up the road on foot towards the little supermarket. It was amazing to see how the village was coming to life with the beginning of spring and the change in the weather. All along the sea wall groups of tourists were gathered, chatting and eating ice cream or looking out to sea where in the distance the little boat which toured the waters showing visitors the sea life could be seen heading back to shore.
‘Alright mate?’ Gabe turned, hearing a familiar voice. The three young lads from his planting gang were sitting at one of the wooden tables outside the Applemore Hotel, and as he crossed to say hello a couple of other familiar faces returned from the bar with pints of beer and plates of chips. The smell made his stomach growl.
‘Fancy joining us?’
‘I’d love to,’ he said, tipping his head in the direction of the store, ‘but I’m on a mission for my neighbour. Promised her I’d pick up a couple of bits and pieces.’
‘Come back afterwards,’ said Ed, coming back from the bar with a bottle of expensive beer.
‘I might just do that,’ said Gabe, raising a hand in farewell.
He was just paying for the shopping when he heard the couple behind him pointing out the bookshelf which had appeared since his last visit.
‘Look that’s cute, isn’t it? Dolina said they were putting a little shelf up here for people who can’t make it down to the library.’
He smiled to himself, thinking about Meg. It had been nice – no, more than that – going out for a walk with her. He’d pretty much put relationships out of his mind when he’d left England, and for what seemed like a good reason.
He paid for the shopping and headed back to the cottage. It had clouded over and the tables outside the hotel had thinned out as people headed back into the warmth of the bar.
‘Thanks so much for that,’ said Mrs Birnie, beaming as he knocked on the door to deliver her shopping. ‘How much do I owe you?’
She made to open her purse, but he shook his head.
‘It’s nothing, honestly.’
‘Let me give you something as a thank you, then. Wait there.’ She turned and made her way down the hall and opening the door into the little kitchen. The cottages were a mirror image of each other, but where his had been smartly decorated for letting purposes, Mrs Birnie’s entrance hallway was wallpapered with an old-fashioned rose patterned paper and hung with countless framed photographs of her family.
‘Here you are,’ she said a moment later. ‘Some scotch pancakes. You can take them for your lunch tomorrow if you don’t eat them tonight.’
She passed him a paper bag, giving his forearm a squeeze with her free hand.
‘You are very kind.’
‘It’s my pleasure,’ he said, holding onto the bag of pancakes. They were still slightly warm and the smell of fresh baking rose to his nostrils. ‘These smell good.’
‘My grandsons love them,’ she said, smiling. ‘Whenever they come to visit with their families, they always insist I make a mountain of them so they can take them back when they go.’
‘They’re not local, then?’
She shook her head with a regretful smile. ‘No, more’s the pity. No, my children all went off down south in search of work. Their children did the same. It’s sad, because it’s such a lovely place to grow up, but it’s the same story all the time in Applemore.’
‘Hopefully things might start to change a little,’ he said, thinking of the big Lochbrannich project. ‘The forestry is always looking for people.’
‘Och, yes, let’s hope so. We need some young blood like you coming into the village to keep it going.’
Gabe grinned. ‘I’m not sure I’d count myself as young blood.’
Mrs Birnie chucked at that. ‘You’re young in my eyes,’ she said, shaking her head.
He had to admit that he’d felt like a teenager that afternoon, turning up at the lighthouse with butterflies in his stomach, hoping that he might just bump into Meg.
He unloaded the bag of shopping and made a cup of coffee, heading back into the sitting room and balancing his phone against a lamp on the table.
For a few moments, it rang out, and he was about to hang up.
‘Hello!’ A familiar face – older now, his hair sun-bleached and his skin tanned from a long summer spending every moment he could on the beach – grinned back at him.
‘Gabe! Hi.’
Gabe felt the same complicated mixture of affection, pride, and something else he couldn’t quite name whenever he spoke to Jacob. How you were meant to feel about an ex-stepchild who hadn’t been a child when you came into their life wasn’t something that the books or websites really talked about.
‘Jacob.’ He watched his face smiling broadly on the screen.
‘How’s it going?’
Jacob had developed a distinct New Zealand twang.
Gabe chatted to him, filling him in on the project plans, telling him about life in Applemore, asking how things were going on the other side of the world. Neither of them brought up the elephant in the room.
‘Things are great.’ Jacob looked happy. ‘Really good. Rosie’s due in a month. That’s one of the reasons I was calling, actually,’ he said, rubbing a hand over his face.
‘Everything okay? I mean with the baby?’
‘Oh yeah, so far so good. She’s taking it all in her stride. She’s out at a pregnancy yoga class this morning.’
‘Interesting.’
Jacob grinned. ‘It’s not really your thing, is it?’
‘I don’t think I’m the yoga type, no.’
‘We had the scan,’ said Jacob, ‘and it’s a boy. And we wanted to give him your name as a middle name.’
It came out in a rush, Jacob suddenly sounding like the teenage boy he’d been when Gabe first met him. He felt a wave of affection for him.
‘Jacob,’ he said, his voice gruff with emotion. ‘Are you serious?’
Jacob nodded. ‘Yeah. We talked about it. I – I mean we kind of went through a lot together, one way or another. And I know I bailed at the first opportunity.’
Gabe shook his head. ‘You didn’t bail. You took the chance to start a new life somewhere amazing.’
‘Somewhere my dad lived.’ Jacob grimaced slightly.
Gabe looked at him through the screen, and for a moment wished more than anything that he could magic away the miles and be there to put an arm around the man who’d once been an angry, truculent young teenager.
‘Somewhere,’ Gabe said gently, ‘where your mother wasn’t.’
Jacob’s lips were pressed firmly in a line as he nodded. There was a moment of silence.
‘Sorry,’ said Gabe, pushing both hands through his hair as he thought. ‘That wasn’t fair.’
‘It was true, though. Living with an alcoholic wasn’t much fun for anyone.’
‘I think we can both agree on that.’ Gabe lifted an eyebrow, and the understatement made Jacob laugh.
They talked for another half an hour, catching up on what they’d been doing and Jacob’s plans for the house they were rebuilding. It had been tough for him, moving to the other side of the world only to lose his father a few brief years after they’d reconnected – but somehow the pressure, and meeting his easy-going girlfriend Rosie, had been the making of him.
‘I’d better get going,’ said Jacob, glancing over his shoulder. ‘That’s Rosie coming back, and I promised her I’d get started on painting the nursery this morning.’
‘Sorry,’ said Gabe. ‘Didn’t mean to hold you up.’
Jacob shook his head. ‘Not at all. I’m glad you called – I didn’t want to ask you by sending a message. It just seemed a bit impersonal.’
‘I’m honoured, truly.’ Gabe felt the lump rising in his throat again.
‘You believed in me even when I was a complete pain in the ass.’
‘You –’ Gabe laughed.
‘You going to try to deny it?’
Gabe gave a wry grin. ‘No, you were a royal pain in the ass. But you grew out of it in the end. And now look at you.’
‘Hey,’ said a voice in the background. A moment later, a very pregnant Rosie joined Jacob, her long blonde hair tied back in a plait and a bump underneath her workout vest. ‘Gabe, it’s lovely to see you. You’re looking great.’ She gave a little wave and patted her stomach. ‘Did Jake tell you about the name idea?’
‘He did. I’m touched.’
She put an arm around Jacob’s shoulders, and he looked up at her with affection.
‘Did you mention your mother?’
Gabe sat back slightly in his chair, feeling the familiar sense of disquiet that entered him whenever his ex was mentioned.
Jacob shot Rosie a look, which even via FaceTime from the other side of the world clearly said shut up.
‘What about her?’
Jacob shook his head. ‘Oh, nothing. Nothing much. She’s been – away.’
‘Oh.’ Gabe lifted his chin slightly in a nod of acknowledgement.
Jacob lifted his hands palms upward in a stop gesture. ‘Anyway, I wasn’t going to mention it. I wanted to talk to you about the baby, that was all.’
Rosie looked slightly pained. Gabe felt awkward that he’d been the one to make her feel uncomfortable.
Trying to smooth it over, he changed the subject, asking about the nursery renovation plans, and then once things were slightly less awkward, they said goodbye, with a promise they’d catch up sooner rather than later.
Gabe looked at Stanley, who was flat out and snoring on the sofa, worn out after his walk. Suddenly, an evening chilling at home in front of Netflix didn’t feel that appealing. Grabbing his keys, he headed back out to join the lads for a game of pool at the Applemore Hotel.