Page 55 of The Forever Cottage

She marched across to meet him. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’ she demanded of him. ‘I hope your new girlfriend won’t be showing her face. I’m afraid she won’t find a very warm welcome.’

‘No, of course not. This isn’t her kind of thing,’ he said with a note of regret to his voice, ‘but I’ve been coming to the village fete for over twenty years. I thought I’d come and see what was going on.’

‘But this isn’t your life now. Don’t you understand? You left me and our family behind. You need to be building a new life now with Melody. In another village somewhere. Just not here,’ she said airily.

Charles peered behind her, at her friends, taking a double glance when he spotted Nico sitting amongst the group.

‘Is that Nico Brunswick? What’s he doing here?’ Tess noticed the way Charles’s brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. ‘Ah, I see. I get it. Is Nico your legal advisor? Is he the reason behind your desire to expedite this divorce?’

Nico, on hearing his name mentioned, picked up the tray and empties and went off in the direction of the beer tent to order more drinks, obviously wanting to avoid getting involved in any heated discussions.

‘Not at all. Nico is a friend. I always thought he was a lovely, charming man and I’ve been enjoying his company, that’s all. You’ve made new friends, and so have I. You can’t have any quibbles about that.’

‘Oh, Tess.’ He reached out a hand to hers but she pulled hers away. ‘What’s happened to us? I miss what we had, don’t you? I miss you.’

Tess felt a fire ignite inside her chest. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

‘No, absolutely not. You don’t get to say that to me. You’ve made a new life for yourself and now you’ve got to get on with it. There can be no second thoughts.’

Charles’s gaze appraised her and she knew him well enough to recognise the swarm of emotions behind his eyes: sadness mixed with regret.

‘Look, why don’t you go? There’s nothing for you here now.’

He looked around him, clearly unsettled, his eyes alighting on the cake stall.

‘I don’t suppose you baked one of your delicious coffee and walnut sponges for the cake stall?’

She had done for as long as she could remember, and would probably go on doing so for years to come. It was something of a tradition now, as well as being Charles’s favourite.

‘Yes, I did, but you’re out of luck, I’m afraid. It’s already been sold.’

‘Bugger,’ he said, with a rueful shake of his head and then, after a pause, ‘Is Hannah okay?’

‘Yes, she’ll be fine. It might take some time though for her to come to terms with what’s happened. For us all to come to terms with it.’

‘Yes, it seems to be a lot of change all at once, though,’ he said regretfully. For a few moments, they stood in silence together, surveying the scene around them, the scene of happier times in previous years. Charles glanced in the direction of Nico returning with a tray of drinks. ‘I suppose I should go. I’ll leave you to be with your friends. I’ll be in touch, but tell Hannah I love her, won’t you?’

39

‘What is it you young people say?’ Marjorie addressed Hannah. ‘This,’ she said, holding her hands up to the air and looking all around, ‘is my happy place. Especially with all my favourite girls around me.’

They were sitting at the table in the orangery where Tess was serving up a full Sunday roast with tender topside beef, crunchy roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips, cauliflower cheese and humongous Yorkshire puddings, smothered in thick gravy. It was a treat for them all because Tess hadn’t cooked a roast dinner since before Charles left, mainly because it had been far too hot for big dinners but also because there was no fun in cooking for one. Marjorie complained about the offerings served up at the care home, and Hannah had been looking forward to her mum’s Sunday lunch since before she’d left for Australia.

‘Thanks, Mum. This looks amazing,’ said Hannah, tucking in eagerly.

‘I’m glad to see you haven’t lost your appetite,’ said Marjorie, laughing.

‘Never. In fact, I’m hungrier than ever, if that’s even possible.’ Hannah’s gaze drifted out of the window. ‘Ooh, Grandma, did you know that Mum has got a new boyfriend?’

Tess shook her head, casting Hannah an indulgent look. She wasn’t sure how she would refer to Rob, who admittedly, she was spending much more time with these days. Certainly not her boyfriend. She wasn’t a teenager. Not a partner, because that sounded far too businesslike and serious. And ‘friend’ didn’t quite capture the importance of her feelings for the man who had started out as a friend but had become so much more in recent days. Besides, she didn’t feel the need to put a label on their relationship. If other people wanted to do that, then that was up to them.

‘Really?’ Marjorie sounded delighted. ‘No. Do spill the beans. Is this the man who lived in the shed?’

‘Yes!’ said Hannah, her face lighting up eagerly.

‘Mother, it’s not a shed. It’s a beautiful garden annexe. People will hopefully be paying good money to come and stay.’

‘Well, that’s a shame. I had my eye on the place,’ she said with a chuckle. ‘I’m sure you’d love to have me next door, wouldn’t you, darling?’

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