Page 45 of A Cornish Love Story
I looked at him through my eyelashes, at the way he was staring at the fireplace, the intricate plasterwork that his team had rescued and painstakingly restored, so the surround looked as good as new.
‘Your project isn’t going to be a failure just because Sparks hasn’t got all its bugs squashed.’
He rubbed his eyes. ‘We’ve spentyearssquashing Sparks’s bugs. The Panic Room stuff, that’s my fault because I hadn’t linked up the systems, and I didn’t anticipate it getting activated at the open house. But my override code failing? Some of the strange things that have been happening?’ He shook his head. ‘It’s a complicated programme, but I thought I understood it.’
‘Once she’d cleared the windows, she asked me if I wasall good.’
Ethan’s expression went from frustrated to horrified. ‘That’s … she couldn’t have.’
‘You knowTerminator? I would definitely write a story for theStarif the house tried to kill us. As long as it didn’t succeed, of course. Then we’d just be a cautionary tale about the perils of putting your faith in AI.’
‘It has a huge number of incredibly useful, potentially lifesaving applications,’ Ethan said.
‘I’m not going to put that in my article. Nobody wants a lecture on useful, boring Artificial Intelligence. They want the horror and excitement of dishwashers firing laser guns and toasters with murderous intent.’
Ethan’s mouth tugged up. ‘Did you really come here for an article?’
‘Is there any more champagne?’ I pushed myself onto my knees. ‘I’m thirsty.’
‘George.’ He put his hand on my arm, and I sat back down.
‘My editor is expecting an article from me, but that’s not the only reason I’m here.’
‘So … what is it? Why did you come?’
I closed my eyes and heard him get up. ‘Ethan?’
‘Two secs,’ he called, and a minute later he returned with another platter of canapés and a bottle of water with a solid stopper. He resumed his position, facing me cross-legged on the rug, and put two tumblers down, pouring us each a glass. ‘Right. I’ve supplied you with water and nutrients, and now I want to know. What are you doing here?’
‘OK.’ I took a sip of water. ‘So, after Mum had gone, I wasn’t in a particularly good place.’
Ethan went still. ‘Your mum’s … gone? George, I’m so sorry, I had no idea—’
‘She hasn’t died.’ I reached a placatory hand towards him. ‘She’s fine, a whole lot better, in fact. But she …’ I exhaled. ‘She’s moved to the Lake District with one of her nurses – a guy called Dane.’ I winced. ‘He has a skull earring, Ethan. And a mullet that looks like it came over from Australia in the Eighties.’
‘That’s … I don’t know what to say.’ He was rubbingat the pattern on the rug, his head down, and I could see that he was trying not to laugh.
‘It is not funny,’ I said, but my lips twitched traitorously. ‘I came back from university for her, gave up everything, and then she just … she left.’
Ethan met my gaze, his smile gone. ‘That’s shit. I’m so sorry.’
‘Thank you.’ I sighed. ‘Although, maybe that’s not fair. After what happened with us, I never really settled at university, and when I look back now I’m not sure how much of it was really her, or if I was just looking for an excuse, but …’ I faltered when he squeezed my bare calf. Just once, quickly. I took a deep breath. ‘Anyway, not long after she moved away with Dane, I went to cover a story for theStar.That side of things hadn’t been going very well, and my editor, Wynn, knew my heart wasn’t in it. But, although the house was paid off, and Mum’s been letting me live in it, I—’
‘She’s beenlettingyou live in it?’
I shrugged. ‘She bought it when I was little, before Cornwall was fashionable, and it’s just a mid-terrace, so the mortgage is paid and she wants to sell it. It would be a good chunk of money for her and Dane, and I don’t know how long I have.’
‘She shouldn’t be putting pressure on you.’
‘This is not the point of my story,’ I said, and Ethan nodded at me to continue. ‘I still needed money for food, and I didwantto do well at work, so when Wynn asked me to meet this old woman who hadsupposedly seen the Alperwick Mermaid – you know I love that legend – well, it felt serendipitous. I thought I could get a funny piece out of it, something I would really enjoy writing.’
‘Someone actually contacted the paper to say they’d seen the mermaid?’
I smiled at the memory. ‘It will make sense in a minute.’
‘Go on, then.’ Ethan popped a salmon blini in his mouth.
‘I took my camera and notepad and walked to this address, which was one of the bungalows on the high road – you know which ones I mean?’
