Chapter 20 #2
‘Of course I don’t mind.’ And when Faye headed for the bathroom she heard Bonnie tell Midas, ‘You can stay right here with me for a bit, can’t you.’
In the bathroom Faye texted Iris who was in on the plan and sure enough after she flushed the toilet and used the sink her phone rang about a minute after she got back to talking to Bonnie in the hallway.
‘I’m coming straight away,’ Faye said urgently, her acting skills not too great but hopefully enough. She told Bonnie, ‘Iris has caught someone trying to take my bike.’
‘Oh, dear Lord. You don’t think it’s that man again, do you?’
‘What? Er… no… it’s a young lad apparently.’ She hadn’t banked on Bonnie asking her any questions, especially not about her previous unpleasant encounter.
Thankfully, she didn’t ask any more. She ushered her out of the front door saying, ‘You go! Scare them off. But be careful!’
Faye ran from the cottage. She had to make it look real and when she was out of sight further down the hill, just in case Bonnie was looking out of her window, she slowed to a walk.
She’d hang around down in the high street for a bit, give Bonnie and Midas some time together.
Iris had approved of the idea when Faye shared it and they hadn’t been able to ask Theo whether it was okay because he was at work.
‘As long as Midas is safe and happy, he won’t mind,’ Iris had told Faye.
Faye wanted to give Bonnie and Midas some decent time alone.
Her reading on therapy dogs had suggested that a dog might have a calming presence, increase feel-good hormones with companionship and at the same time reduce stress and anxiety.
Bonnie was grieving too and Faye had everything crossed that Midas’s unconditional love might be just what she needed to help her with that as well.
She got the feeling that Howard would’ve approved of this part of the plan.
She headed for the bakery to pick up some afternoon tea for her and Bonnie.
She opted for Eccles cakes and if Bonnie still wouldn’t go for a walk they’d have some time together, with Midas too, and then Faye would leave her to it.
But she would try again and again until this worked.
Howard would hate to think of his wife hiding away from the world.
Outside the bakery she gave Bonnie a quick call – Iris had given her her phone number.
She told her that everything was fine, the kid trying to take her bike had run off, but she was just going to see if Iris needed a hand in the shop.
Bonnie replied telling her to take her time, that her and Midas were fine.
Faye smiled. She’d known they would be.
She was just turning from the side street to go back up the hill when she saw Theo come out of the bookshop. She crossed over.
‘You kidnapped my dog?’ he asked.
She grinned. ‘Kind of. It’s a long story.’
He spotted the bump on her head. ‘And that? Is that a long story too?’
‘I’m afraid so.’ She grimaced. She really didn’t want to explain that one.
‘Mum filled me in on your plan with Midas.’
‘You’re fine with Midas being a part of it?’
‘Of course. He enjoys being with people and when he’s not needed at the bookshop it’s better he has company. That’s why I showed up. It’s my lunch hour and for once I can escape – not always the case as a teacher.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry – you planned to walk him?’
‘It’s really not a problem.’ He zipped up his coat. ‘Autumn is here.’
‘It sure is.’ She looked down the hill towards Lulworth Cove. ‘It’s so beautiful even when the weather is the opposite.’
‘Do you miss the English winters? Or is that a silly question? I bet you don’t give them a moment’s thought with all that Australian sunshine.’
‘Actually, it’s not such a silly question. I do miss it sometimes, the cosy winters, a huge fireplace like the one I remember having as a kid, the dark and snuggling up.’
‘All sounds very romantic. Then of course there are the howling winds, the heavy showers, the fact you can’t feel your face because it’s gone numb with the cold.’
She began to laugh. ‘All right, those are things I don’t particularly miss.’
‘Is your dad enjoying being back?’
They stood for a good fifteen minutes talking about her dad, her uncle, her parents’ marriage, or rather divorce, her life in Queensland, and they even talked a bit about the book club.
‘Howard was a lovely chap.’ Theo stepped off the kerb to let a lady with a pram walk past on the pavement.
When he checked his watch she asked, ‘Do you need to go?’
‘Not just yet, so we could walk if you like.’
‘Sure.’
They began to head down the hill towards the coastal path and when they reached it Theo said, ‘So, the bump on your head?’ He was still looking in the same direction as her, out across the water.
‘I fell off my bike.’ And with the soothing sounds of the waves crashing in the distance she found herself telling him all about her sister, the scandal, what led her to coming here, all the way to being chased by that man.
‘You should’ve called the police.’ She could feel him watching her now.
‘I will if I see him again, or rather if he hassles me again. So far I’ve not set eyes on him.’
They didn’t stay watching the sea for long and when they set off back up the hill they’d moved on to talking about his job, how much he loved being a primary school teacher, and how settled he was here.
‘I always thought that I’d want to stay in London,’ he admitted. ‘It was great being there for a while, having the city right on my doorstep. It was a lot of fun but when a job came up here I took it as a sign.’
‘Any regrets?’
‘None.’ They’d almost reached the bookshop when Theo told her, ‘Be careful. You know, in case that man is hanging around again.’
She liked that he cared. ‘I think Bonnie scared him off.’
‘Good for her.’
‘I’d better get going, take Midas on the nice long walk I promised him,’ she said. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll return him to the shop in plenty of time for his afternoon shift.’
‘I bet he’s loving all the added attention he’s getting.’
‘I hope in some way he can help Bonnie.’ She shrugged.
‘Hey, don’t doubt yourself. It was a good idea.
’ He put a hand briefly to her shoulder for reassurance and the touch, although light, sent her a little bit giddy.
She hadn’t expected to have feelings for anyone so soon after Brad, but she did.
It had felt weird at the start but now it felt normal.
Now it felt right. But she was leaving, and that thought did the opposite of making her feel giddy; it made her feel sad.
‘Carers often bring adults with learning difficulties into the shop,’ Theo went on, oblivious to the storm of feelings brewing inside her. ‘Midas seems to be good with everyone so I’ve no doubt he’ll be good for Bonnie.’
When they reached the point where he had to cross over to head back to the school and she carried on up the hill, she wedged the bag from the bakery under her arm so she could check her emails.
She usually paid a fixed monthly fee to the salon for renting a chair there and had been allowed to put it on hold, but they had written yesterday to ask whether she would recommence payments for the following month.
She’d said that, at the moment, she had no idea how long she would stay in England.
She wanted to see whether they were going to give the chair to someone else or whether they would wait a while longer.
The email was there and she replied to negotiate a date that would give her another four weeks before she would have to either start renting the chair again or give it up.
Her life was in Australia, wasn’t it? She was on holiday here, which wasn’t the same thing, but it wasn’t as clear cut as it had been when she first came here to get away. Already she was beginning to feel ties form. And she had to admit Theo might be a part of that.
She was about to close her email when another one jumped out at her.
It was from one of the customers at her dad’s water-sports business in Queensland and so she clicked on it assuming this would be about booking more lessons, or asking whether her dad had a certain piece of equipment for sale.
But it wasn’t. This was from Daryl, a lovely man in his seventies who had learned to kayak with her five years ago at the age of sixty-eight and had fallen in love with the sport.
She smiled. Daryl was lovely, great company.
But the smile fell away when she read on.
He had written because he was aware that Keith and Faye weren’t around at the moment.
He thought they should know that the reporters had been asking questions to everyone who came to the business and that morning he’d been hounded himself for comment when he was only a customer.
Faye knew what being targeted was like and felt for him.
But hadn’t the gossip died down now? Weren’t people tired of the story?
It was only when she stood at the side of the pavement moving out of the way of the same lady from earlier pushing her pram uphill that she did a bit of reconnaissance on her phone. And she didn’t have to do much to find out why this was happening.
The headline:
Politician Leaves Wife for Lover Half His Age
said it all. She didn’t need to read the body of text beneath it to know that her sister, Steph, and Brad’s father were back together.