Page 14 of Finding Love in Micklewick Bay

Standing beside her, Alice’s relief was palpable. ‘Can I get you a drink, lovey?’ Her voice was light as she smiled happily at her daughter. ‘Glass of wine okay?’

‘Mmm. That’d be good, thanks, Mum. Just a small one.’

‘And I’d better take a look at the barbecue; we don’t want anything burnt to a frazzle,’ said Rhys, his tone easy. Stella marvelled at how effortlessly he appeared to have slotted into the dynamic, his presence seeming in no way awkward or uncomfortable. It made her think he must have been to the house several times before.

‘Right, I’ll leave you two to get to know one another a little better while I go and grab you that glass of wine and check on the quiche.’ Alice shot a brief-but-pointed look in Stella’s direction that said, ‘Behave yourself!’

Stella watched as Alice hurried off in the direction of the kitchen. She moved closer to the barbecue where Rhys was turning golden pieces of chicken breast sprinkled with herbs. Helping herself to half a cherry tomato from the salad as she passed the table, and reminding herself to heed her mother’s warning, she said, ‘I gather from Mum you moved to Micklewick Bay only recently.’ She gave him a friendly smile.

Rhys nodded, lifting his gaze to hers, smoke rising in a cloud around him. ‘That’s right, well, it’s getting on for six months ago now.’

Stella nodded. ‘And what was it that tempted you here? Do you have connections to the town, and do you plan on staying?’Softly, softly, Stella.If her mum heard her, she’d be sure to pin her with another of her warning looks.

Rhys smiled. ‘No, I don’t have any connections to the town, didn’t know anyone before I moved here. My reason was, well, Iexpect your mother will have told you that I lost my wife a year ago.’ His smile faltered and sadness briefly clouded his eyes.

Stella winced inwardly as a shard of guilt shot through her, making her instantly regret putting him on the spot. ‘Yes, she mentioned it.’ She pressed her lips together in a sympathetic smile. Though her mum had shared the fact that Rhys’s wife had passed away, she hadn’t gone into any detail, but if he had grown-up children, they must have been married for a while, providing she was the mother of his children, of course. ‘I was sorry to hear of your loss, it can’t have been easy for you, especially if you’d been together a long time.’

‘Thank you, that’s very kind. We’d been together for thirty-five years, married for thirty-two of them.’ He drew in a deep breath. ‘In truth, it was a blessing when it happened. Theresa had been ill for such a long time.’ He paused, turning the chicken once more. His smile reappeared a moment later. ‘Anyway, it was the catalyst that brought me here. I felt I needed a complete change, needed to move on, and a friend recommended I check out Micklewick Bay. He and his family had spent a week in a holiday cottage here and waxed lyrical about it. So, on my next free day, I jumped in my car and ventured over here. I found myself quite taken with the feel of the town; and who wouldn’t love that beach and those cliffs? Anyway, as luck would have it, I spotted a house for sale that looked like it had quite a bit of potential, so I wangled a viewing that day.’

‘You were clearly keen.’

‘I was.’ Rhys nodded. ‘As soon as I got over the doorstep, I knew it was exactly what I needed. And, even better, it was empty and chain-free which meant the sale proceeded swiftly. It’s a bit of a project, for want of a better word, and requires some renovating here and there, but I enjoy turning my hand to that kind of thing. Has a good-sized garden too, perfect for growing vegetables and for my grandchildren to enjoy a runaround.’ He gave a shrug and smiled across at her. ‘So, there you have it, the reason I found myself here in Micklewick Bay.’

‘Sounds like a good one to me.’ Stella was just about to ask whereabouts in town he lived when Alice’s voice made them both turn.

‘Here we are. Sorry I took so long.’ She was walking down the steps, a glass of wine in one hand, a quiche in the other. Judging by the expression on her face, Stella guessed her mum was inexorably relieved to see her daughter and Rhys appeared to be getting along.

The afternoon passed quickly in the suntrap of a garden, birds twittering in the hedges, the industrious hum of bumble bees in the borders. Conversation flowed easily, punctuated with a generous sprinkling of laughter. Stella couldn’t deny the chemistry that danced between her mum and Rhys, and she found herself rather liking him with his affable manner and open expression. He’d spoken warmly of his children and grandchildren, and she’d surprised herself by thinking how lucky they were to have him. He was attentive without being overbearing and she felt confident there was no ulterior motive or shady side to him. Thanks to her profession, she’d encountered a whole variety of personalities in the witness box, from serial charmers to dangerous manipulators, and everything in-between, and had developed a sense of those who were genuine and those who most definitely were not. She felt able to rest easy that her mum had, at last, allowed herself to enjoy a romantic relationship – though Stella still made a conscious decision to monitor things, just in case…

With the sun beating down, and despite being careful not to partake in too much wine, Stella found herself feeling just a little too comfortable stretched out in her generously padded chair. It would have been oh-so easy to spend the rest of the afternoon here, chatting away to her mum and Rhys but, as with every Sunday, she had prep to do for her case the following day. She was about to announce it was time she headed back to her apartment when Rhys cleared his throat. ‘Um, I have something to ask you, Stella, if that’s okay?’ He looked directly at her from the sofa opposite where he was sitting beside her mum, his arm thrown casually around her shoulder. For the first time during the afternoon, Stella detected an air of uncertainty about him.

‘You do?’ She looked from Rhys to her mother, whom she noted also looked a little uncomfortable, fidgeting away and fiddling with the stem of her wine glass. Stella couldn’t begin to imagine where this was heading.

‘Yes, you see, the thing is, I’d rather like to take your mum on holiday. Um… I have a villa in Tuscany and I’ve asked if she’d like to spend a couple of weeks there with me, but I… er, we wanted to check you’d be okay with that before we booked our flights.’

Stella took a moment to assimilate his words. Her mother was going on holiday with a man?Wow!She swallowed, her gaze flicking to her mum who was looking back, concern in her eyes.Get a grip, Stella.Why wouldn’t she go on holiday with Rhys?She fixed a wide smile on her face and said, ‘Of course I’m okay with it. Why wouldn’t I be? And it’s not as if you need my permission to go on holiday, Mum, you know that.’

‘I know I don’t, lovey, but with me only ever going away with friends before, I just thought it would be nice to run it by you first.’ She smiled uncertainly. ‘Well, it was Rhys’s idea I do that, actually.’

Where had her confident, self-assured mum gone? she wondered. This new-found romance appeared to have put her out of her comfort zone, and she was clearly finding it awkward to discuss it with her daughter.

‘Honestly, Mum, you don’t have to run anything by me. I’m not a little girl. I just want you to be happy. And I’m so chuffed for you, it’s time you lived a little and enjoyed yourself. A holiday in Tuscany will do you the world of good.’ Stella spoke with more conviction than she felt and hoped her mum hadn’t picked up on it. More than anything she wanted her mother to be happy – which she very clearly was from what she’d seen that afternoon – she couldn’t help but think that a new relationship was all very well, but spending two weeks with someone you barely know, and in a different country too, was a big step. At least, it was to Stella’s mind. A couple of years ago, Ferdy had invited her to spend a week with him at his villa in Nice, but she’d turned him down flat. The prospect of being cooped-up with a man twenty-four hours a day was more than she could bear. She’d always thought her mother had felt the same way. Not that Stella was going to bring that up right now; there was no way she was going to throw cold water over her mum’s new-found happiness.And besides, it’s none of your business anyway.

Alice’s shoulders dropped as she visibly relaxed, a smile spreading across her face. ‘Thank you, sweetheart, I’m so relieved you feel that way. I have to say, I’ve found myself very much looking forward to it.’

Stella looked on as her mum cast her eyes up at Rhys, happiness radiating from her. He smiled back, giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

‘I’ll get our flights booked tomorrow, darling, see if there are any still available for a week on Saturday.

A week on Saturday?His attentiveness to her mum warmed Stella’s heart. After all her years of being unattached it was goodto see her looking so undeniably happy. Who’d have thought it could happen after all these years?

NINE

Leaving the large Victorian houses and the quieter, more genteel part of town behind, Stella sound found herself weaving her way through the small, characterful terraces that fanned out from the centre like satellite shoots. Reaching the street that offered the quickest route home, she decided to take a detour, opting instead to go the long way round. She needed to clear her head and feel more awake before she could even think about tackling any prep on her brief.

Soon, she found herself on the top prom where the temperature was a few degrees cooler. A light breeze blew in from the sea, brushing refreshingly over her skin. It was a welcome relief after the intense heat of her mum’s garden.

Though she’d enjoyed the afternoon, and finally getting to meet Rhys Baker, Stella still felt the need to assimilate her thoughts on her mother’s relationship with him. Today, she’d learnt that they’d been “friends” for around five months – apparently hitting it off when Rhys had called in at Spick ‘n’ Sparkle’s small premises on Endeavour Road with a view to enlisting the company’s cleaning services as well as having his laundry done. According to Rhys it had taken him three of those months to get Alice to agree to go out on a proper date with himand move their relationship up to the next level – something Stella hadn’t wanted to think too much about. And though she’d never profess to being an expert on relationships, she couldn’t help but think that things seemed to be moving pretty quickly – was it wrong of her to thinktooquickly? Or was this nothing more than her lawyer’s brain stepping in and over-analysing the situation? It wouldn’t be the first occasion if it was.

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