Chapter 23
FAYE
The curtains had been left tied back and when she stepped closer to the window she spotted their friend. ‘She’s here!’ She was about to knock on the glass to get Margot’s attention, but Margot was talking to someone.
Bonnie came up behind her and both of them huddled next to the window.
‘Oh, he’s handsome,’ said Bonnie. ‘Do you think he’s asking for directions?’
‘Does that happen a lot?’
‘Oh yes, Howard always found it fun to help people out. I didn’t mind but sometimes it got a bit tedious.’
But when the car roared into life and Margot turned to face them, they saw the expression on her face and they both knew that was no lost soul in the car.
They raced to the door at the same time as the car tyres let out a screech when the man took off. Faye would put money on him being Margot’s husband, Perry.
Bonnie ushered Margot inside. ‘Was that him?’ She’d obviously come to the same conclusion.
‘He knows where I am.’ In a daze Margot came inside. It was as if her legs were barely working as Bonnie led her to the table and sat her down. ‘All this time I’ve been waiting to get another email or for him to make a move.’
‘Well now he has.’ Bonnie unbuttoned Margot’s coat for her. ‘So that’s done, over with. And you’re safe with us.’
Faye made a mug of tea for Margot and set it in front of her and Bonnie turned down the oven.
‘The dinner,’ said Margot. ‘I’m ruining dinner.’
‘Nobody is ruining anything,’ said Bonnie firmly. ‘The dinner will be fine. The potatoes are still in the oven, the lamb is covered and ready. Now tell us what happened exactly?’
Faye covered up the mint sauce as Margot recalled the confrontation with Perry, the way she stood her ground, that she told her husband she had left him and she’d been in touch with a solicitor.
She was shaking and Faye encouraged her to sip the tea and by the time she’d finished it and Bonnie had begun to dish up their dinner she finally managed a small smile.
‘I didn’t get in the car,’ Margot told them both although it sounded like she was telling herself as much as anyone else. ‘I didn’t go with him. Even up until today I didn’t know what I’d do if…’
Faye put an arm around her shoulders and only let go when dinner was on the table and she felt Margot’s body finally relax.
Dinner and conversation were exactly what they needed. Margot was in shock after her encounter but as they talked she realised this moment had been coming and now that it was out of the way, she could keep moving forwards.
Eventually they moved on from talking about Perry to chatting about Margot’s interview, a topic Faye knew would put a smile back on her friend’s face despite her husband’s behaviour.
Margot told them all about the people she’d met, the fun she’d had, the challenges, her nerves.
‘Even if I don’t get the job,’ she said with a smile, ‘today was a day to remember.’ Margot raised her glass. They’d opened a bottle of red to share. ‘To new beginnings and to new friends,’ she said.
‘To new beginnings and new friends,’ Bonnie and Faye chorused.
‘I know we’re talking about brighter things,’ said Margot, ‘but can I just say that until today I’d never stood up to Perry like that, unless you count the time he talked about sending the boys away to boarding school.
I think I got so busy raising a family and doing the right thing that I didn’t see how bad he’d got until it was too late.
Half the time I thought I was being ridiculous; some of the time I told myself just what he told me today: that I was lucky.
And I was. He was never violent; I never wanted for anything in the financial sense.
But I was lost and it took my boys leaving home for me to really see it. ’
Faye had known that her distraction, the talk about the interview, would’ve eventually given way to more talk about Perry. Margot needed to get it all out and Faye was glad that she felt comfortable to do so in the safety of the cottage.
‘You’re a strong person, Margot,’ Bonnie assured her as Faye cleared the plates away and dismissed Bonnie’s effort to help.
The plates still in her hands before she reached the sink, Faye beamed. ‘I bet it felt good to tell him no and to watch him drive away.’
‘It really did. This is it. I am never going back to my marriage.’ She looked at both of them, determination on her face as she removed her wedding ring and platinum engagement ring that had been on the fourth finger of her left hand for far too long already.
‘I’m going to get a job,’ she said firmly.
‘I’m going to make my own money; I won’t have to answer to anyone.
’ She said it with such conviction it was clear she was no longer going to put up with the life she’d had before.
And then Margot turned to Bonnie. ‘Your Howard was so kind to me. He never told me to get out of my marriage, not in so many words, but somehow it was better that way. The things he said helped me see it for what it was, helped me see I could have more, that I was worth more.’
‘That’s my Howard.’ Bonnie smiled.
Faye sat down at the table again. ‘You must miss him so much.’
‘Every single day.’
‘I know he’s missed at the bookshop,’ said Margot. ‘People mention him often. And we all miss him at book club,’ Margot told her.
‘He’d always be there,’ Faye added, ‘every week. He’d always have his pyjamas on apart from when you guys were travelling. He said that coming to the club was like being a part of a midnight mystery, an adventure. He said he felt like a character in an Enid Blyton book.’
Bonnie seemed to love that. ‘Does the book club have anyone else like Howard?’
‘There was only ever one Howard,’ said Margot.
Faye told Bonnie a bit about some of the other members in the Midnight Book Club and Bonnie told them about some of the book clubs Howard had tried over the years, including the one he’d gone to every Tuesday and came home complaining they talked about whisky more than stories.
And as they talked Faye exchanged a look with Margot.
Bonnie was very chatty these days and she was taking more of an interest in what went on beyond her cottage.
Getting her to the bookshop was going to be a challenge but she was taking small steps all the time, like the painting she hadn’t been able to work on and then suddenly found she was able to start, like not inviting them in when they first knocked on her door and now forming a wonderful friendship.
Bonnie was changing and every little step was a win.
‘Are you going to be all right?’ Bonnie asked Margot when it was time to pull on their coats and call it a night. ‘You don’t think Perry will be lurking near your accommodation, do you?’
Margot looked like that was exactly what she suspected. ‘He doesn’t like to lose at anything, but he has a job that means more to him than anything – that’s why he was in a suit and why he was here in the evening; he wouldn’t want to take much time off work.’
‘But you are worried?’ Bonnie pressed.
‘Didn’t you say you had one of those Ring doorbell things at the house in Berkshire?’ Faye asked.
‘We do, but it was only set up on Perry’s phone, not mine.’
She didn’t need to say that it would be to keep tabs on her. Faye worked that out for herself. ‘Shame. That would’ve come in handy to know whether he’d gone back home or not.’
‘I know for certain that I didn’t note the address of my accommodation on my phone. The only way he knew I was in the town is because I’d made some notes about Driftwick Bay.’ She explained all about the cloud, and not realising she had saved the information there rather than to her device.
‘Are you absolutely sure you didn’t put the accommodation address in your notes?’ Bonnie said, worried.
‘Yes, I checked when I was in the bathroom earlier,’ she admitted a little sheepishly.
Bonnie let out a sigh of relief. ‘Thank goodness for that. I was thinking I’d cooked a dodgy lamb; you were in there for quite a while.’
Margot laughed and hugged Bonnie, thanking her for her company and a delicious meal.
Faye hugged Bonnie too but had an idea for Margot. ‘Why don’t you come back to the caravan park with me?’
‘I couldn’t impose on you like that.’
‘Of course you could. Plus it means I don’t have to walk by myself. There’s an extra bedroom. You’ll feel a lot better if you’re not alone tonight.’
Bonnie added, ‘And I’d feel much better if you went with Faye, Margot.’
* * *
Faye had heard Margot get up during the night – the static caravan didn’t have the thickest of walls either internally or externally – and she’d been sound asleep when Faye headed off for her cleaning job.
By the time she got back there was a little note on the table from Margot to say that she had gone to see her solicitor again but she would meet her at Bonnie’s cottage later.
Faye had some lunch and then got on her bike to cycle to Driftwick Bay. She wasn’t sure, if she stayed much longer, whether she would keep using the bike. She could barely feel her fingers they were so numb with cold by the time she stopped at the cycle rack on the hill.
When something soft brushed against her arm as she bent over to do up the lock around the bicycle frame and steel post she turned to see Midas looking at her innocently, his tail wagging.
‘Hey, you.’ She knew full well she’d look up and see Theo too.
‘Hey, to you too,’ said Theo before she could say a word. ‘You’re putting the rest of us to shame with all your cycling up and down this hill, you know. Mum was talking about it yesterday, telling people in the bookshop. Cathy was talking about you in the bakery.’
‘Now that’s the sort of local gossip I actually don’t mind.
’ And for the first time since her sister had done what Faye considered the unthinkable she didn’t feel got at, she felt almost unreachable, like she’d taken a step back and the same things wouldn’t get to her the way they once had.
It was crazy to think that of course, but perhaps it was the magic of Dorset.
‘How are things in that regard?’ He had Midas sit at the kerb before they crossed over the road. ‘The gossip I mean.’
They carried on their way. ‘I love my sister but I’m beginning to accept that she will never change. I don’t even know the full story about her getting back together with Mark, and I don’t think I want to.’
‘Maybe it’s time to make yourself a priority,’ he suggested.
She almost asked whether it was selfish to think that way, but she’d had a long talk with her dad about it and after all these years she was beginning to see that thinking of herself was only fair.
In the same way Margot deserved a life away from Perry, Faye knew she needed the separation from her sister.
‘I will start putting myself first,’ she assured him, ‘but it’s still hard to do.’ She stopped before they reached the bookshop, not ready to go inside yet.
‘I get it. Sibling relationships are powerful. It’s hard to admit when they aren’t working. It’s not like a friend – you’d walk away a lot easier if a friend behaved that way, wouldn’t you?’
‘I suppose, when you put it that way, yes. I think we put up with more when it’s family.’
‘So, what will happen when you’re back in Australia?’ He looked good today, a dark navy waterproof jacket bulky around his frame to ward off the autumnal chill, his strong hands exposed to the elements as he held Midas’s lead with one and fussed the dog’s head with the other.
‘I’m not sure. And I don’t really know when I’ll go back either.’
‘But you live there.’ Did she detect hope in his voice? ‘What about work?’
‘Hairdressing is kind of mobile.’ She definitely detected a smile now – just a small one that wouldn’t quite give him away unless you were looking carefully. ‘I can make it work here too.’
He pondered what she’d said. ‘You know it gets really cold in winter here, don’t you?’
‘I know.’ And she didn’t care. ‘I think it might be the right thing for me, at least for a while. I’m not sure whether it will be permanent, but I’ll go with the flow.’
‘Well, it will be nice to see a bit more of you.’
She wasn’t sure what to say to that as they went inside the bookshop.
‘Mum looks a bit frazzled,’ said Theo. ‘I’m just going to go and make sure she’s all right.’
Faye sat down in one of the little nooks and fussed over Midas until Theo came back over.
‘Is Iris okay?’ she asked him.
‘She’s stressing. She’s only had the bookshop open half the time it was operating when Howard was around. Bonnie insists it’s okay – she was on the phone to her just then – but Mum doesn’t want to let her down.’
‘I think she’s doing well to manage on her own.’
‘I’ll tell her you said so.’ He nudged her and the touch felt electric.
‘What’s in the bag?’ Faye asked him as he shrugged off a backpack.
‘A few things for Midas. I’m off to visit my sister for a couple of days and Mum is dog-sitting. Which I feel terrible about now.’ He looked over at Iris again and frowned.
‘You don’t want to take Midas with you?’
‘I could’ve done but felt bad as he’s needed here tomorrow. So it’s a bit of a catch-22 I suppose.’
He really was incredibly kind and thoughtful. It reminded her of the way he’d been at school especially the time he told her that her skirt was tucked into her knickers when she came out of the girls’ toilets. She almost emitted a giggle at something she’d forgotten about until now.
And as Theo handed over the bag to his mum and fussed over Midas as if he was going to be gone for a month rather than a couple of days, the second part of her master plan presented itself.
This was perfect. And so before Theo left she took him aside and shared her idea with him. And then she told Iris.
All she had to do now was let Margot know and it would be all systems go.
Maybe, just maybe they could get Bonnie to go back inside Driftwick Bay Books, and if they did then she might see that even though Howard had gone his legacy hadn’t.
The bookshop had become a part of him like the book club had become a part of Faye after her auntie died, and sometimes holding on to something so special ended up bringing more meaning to your life than you ever thought possible.
She kept everything crossed that this would work.