An Unexpected Affair (9 page)

Chapter
12: New Beginnings

On Saturday it was business as normal in the shop. Erika spent most of the day seated behind the cash desk while Eleanor dashed around, helping customers with their questions and unpacking new deliveries. Running the bookshop was much harder work than she had anticipated, but Eleanor loved the variety of it and enjoyed the relationships she had managed to build up with her customers.

At the end of the day she got a call from Malcolm Pearce. After some chit chat about her holidays and his house move he came to the point. “I don’t mean to bother you, but I just wondered whether perhaps you had a cheque for me yet?”

In the excitement of the trip to France, Eleanor had completely forgotten to send off the money. “I’m so sorry, Mr Pearce! Yes, I have it here now,” she said, digging it out from a drawer. She looked at the clock. “We’ll be closing soon. Why don’t I jump in the van and bring it over this evening?”

“Oh, you don’t have to come all this way. Why don’t you drop it in at my son’s house next time you’re passing, then he can bring it over.”

Eleanor didn’t know where Daniel Pearce lived, so she scribbled down the address on a notepad and promised to deliver the cheque in the morning.

“Great,” she said to Erika as she put the phone down. “Let’s just hope that Daniel’s out. I don’t think I could cope with Mr Crumpet first thing in the morning.”

Erika laughed, “I think you’re being a bit harsh. He was very kind to me and great with Connie and Harold when you were away.”

“Hmm, so I gather. Maybe it’s just me he’s not keen on.”

“That’s nonsense, but if you’re so worried about it, why don’t you go now and get it over with?”

“That’s a good idea. Let’s shut up shop, and I’ll walk over there with Bella.”

Back at the cottage Eleanor got out a map to check exactly where she was going. She could see that Daniel’s house was one of the swanky places on the way out of town, facing the sea. She had driven by many times but had not realised that that was where he and Freya lived. She decided to cut through the woods, so changed out of her work clothes into dog-walking trousers and wellies.

From the house she walked down to the sea front then followed a footpath sign that led the way up the cliff. It was a lovely walk along the rough path, twigs and fir cones crushing under her feet sending up a fresh, spicy scent. The dog chased back and forth investigating all the interesting smells.

After a short climb, the path reached the top road and Eleanor arrived at what she thought must be the address. She checked the number on her bit of paper then went through a wooden gate and down a gravel drive. The property at the end of the drive caught her completely by surprise. Although from the road it looked like a standard late-Victorian house, the side of the building that faced the sea was one huge garden room. Here, the brick walls had been almost completely replaced with oak frames and tall panes of glass. From inside, anyone living there would have uninterrupted views of the coastline for miles on either side. It was obviously a modern development, but it was beautifully done.

“Wow,” Eleanor whispered to herself. “Someone must be doing okay to be able to afford a place like this.”

There was no car in the drive, so she was pretty sure that Daniel was not at home. Plucking up her courage she walked around the house, hoping to find something as humdrum as a letterbox. Eventually she spotted a modified milk churn by a side door. Above it, there was an engraved plaque on the wall that proclaimed ‘Pearce & Pearce, Architects’.

So Daniel was an architect and it looked like Freya was one too, judging by the names. She posted the envelope containing Malcolm’s cheque into the milk churn, hoping that it was indeed a letterbox and not a litter bin, and turned to leave.

As she did so, she caught sight of people in the garden room. She was going to wave or say hello when she realised that the man she could see was Daniel Pearce and that he had his arms wrapped around a much younger woman. Feeling that she was looking at something that she shouldn’t be witness to, Eleanor ducked behind a large shrub. Was this the ‘other woman’? She didn’t know why Daniel and Freya had split up, after all.

She was trapped: there was no way she could leave without being seen by the people in the house. She knew that she shouldn’t look, but from her post behind the bushes, she could spy on proceedings without being seen. The woman – girl really – was tall and fair, with long hair that fell in what could only be described as ringlets. She looked upset and Daniel appeared to be trying to comfort her.

At that moment, Eleanor became aware that Bella was no longer by her side. She looked around and realised to her horror that the dog had somehow recognised Daniel through the glass and was trotting over, tail wagging, to greet him.

She felt quite sick as she saw Daniel move away from the young woman and slide open one of the large glass doors. He knelt down to greet the dog, a look of puzzlement on his face. Just as Eleanor thought it couldn’t get any worse, the dog turned around and ran back to where she was concealed behind the rhododendrons.

“Eleanor, is that you?” said Daniel, peering in her direction.

She smiled and waved as she came out from behind the shrubbery. “Hi, yes, it’s me,” she said, a grin frozen on her face. “I just came to drop off your father’s cheque. Over there,” she added, pointing towards the milk churn.

Daniel frowned. “Yes, quite a lot of people make that mistake.”

The blonde girl, who had been crouching by the dog, scratching her behind the ears, now stood up and peered at Eleanor. “Aren’t you going to invite your friend in?” she asked, turning to Daniel.

Eleanor was hovering midway between them and the bush.

“Yes, of course. Won’t you take the weight off your wellies and come in?” he asked, obviously amused by her discomfort.

“Oh, I don’t know,” said Eleanor, shuffling from foot to foot, wishing the ground would open up and swallow her. “I should get back. It’s Bella’s tea time.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” said the girl. “We’ve got lots of dog food here, haven’t we dad? Or has mum taken that too?” With the last comment, the girl burst into tears.

Daniel hugged her to his chest. “Don’t cry, sweetheart. You’ll see Crumpet again soon, I’m sure. Emily is upset because Freya has taken the dog,” he said over his daughter’s head.

“I’m so sorry,” said Eleanor, patting the girl’s arm. “You can take my dog for a walk any time you like!”

“That’s really kind of you,” sniffed Emily, disentangling herself from her father’s embrace. “Especially as we’ve never met before.”

Daniel smiled. “Let’s go inside and I’ll introduce you to each other.”

“Well, if you’re sure.”

“Quite sure,” he said. “And Bella, too.”

After they had made their introductions, Daniel looked at his watch. “Tea? Or would you like something stronger? Wine perhaps?”

“Lovely,” said Eleanor.

“Elderflower cordial for me, dad please.”

“Okay love. And can you get the food out for the dog?”

Emily opened the cupboard under the sink and pulled out a dish and a selection of tins. “Rabbit, turkey or lamb?” she asked Bella, who sat at her feet.

Eleanor smiled and looked around the room.

Along the back wall were wall-to-ceiling shelves covered in glossy books on Eleanor’s favourite subjects: art, architecture, history, gardening, travel. In between the books were intriguing artefacts, small prints and pieces of sculpture.

“Wow!” she said, moving towards them. “Can I have a look?”

“Sure, help yourself,” said Daniel. “You can see why I didn’t want to buy any more books from you the other evening.”

She turned as he handed her a glass of chilled Sauvignon Blanc, feeling chastened. “I had no idea that you were such a bookworm.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Ah, there are lots of things that you don’t know about me yet.”

He’s right, thought Eleanor. What do I know about this man except that he likes books, has a beautiful daughter and an ex-wife who’s a dog-thief?

“Come and see this.” Daniel walked to the end of the room and pressed a switch that lifted the blinds. It was sunset and the sun hovered like a pink tangerine on the edge of the water.

“That is gorgeous,” said Eleanor, admiring the view. “Whenever I see a sunset like that, I think it’s not surprising that in the past people thought you could fall off the edge of the world if you went too far west.”

Daniel laughed and joined her on one of the big blue sofas. “Not if you were a sailor. Sailors knew from experience that the world wasn’t flat.”

“Oh, don’t get dad started on sailing,” said Emily.

Eleanor looked surprised. “You’re a sailor?”

“There you are you see,” said Daniel, grinning. “Something else you didn’t know about me.”

He’s teasing me, she thought. “Okay, okay. There are lots of things that you don’t know about me, either.”

Daniel laughed, “I doubt it, having spent over a week in the shop with your mother.”

Eleanor cringed, “What has she been saying?”

“Nothing bad, honest.” Daniel was quiet for a moment, watching the sun as it fizzed on the water. “You know, I had a camper van like yours when I was younger. I loved it.”

“Oh, what happened to it?”

Daniel looked over his shoulder to see whether his daughter was listening, but Emily had disappeared into the next room with the dog.

“Freya made me get rid of it when we had Emily. Thought it was dangerous or impractical or something.”

“What a shame,” said Eleanor. “I bought mine precisely because we had one when the children were little. Being in the van brings back lots of happy memories for me.” She looked out at the sea, remembering the blissful times they’d spent as a family camping on the beach. “My kids adored spending the whole day at the seaside, getting pink in the sun, eating gritty egg sandwiches and going to bed with their belly buttons and ears still full of sand.” She laughed at the memory. “Oh dear, I was a terrible mother!”

Daniel smiled and looked at her. “It sounds like you were – you are – a great mother.”

Eleanor laughed. “Ha! That’s what Joe says when he wants to borrow the van and go surfing.”

“Clever chap,” said Daniel, topping up her glass of wine.

“So tell me about this boat of yours.”

“Oh, she’s a classic wooden sailing boat with a small galley and sleeping area.” He smiled, wistfully. “She’s my pride and joy.”

“She sounds perfect,” said Eleanor, who had always fancied spending some time on the ocean waves.

“She is,” said Daniel, “but I don’t get out in her as much as I would like.”

“Why’s that?”

“Freya was a bit of a landlubber and it’s not the same being out on the water on your own.”

“It sounds a bit like me and the van. I don’t get out in her as much as I should, though at least I’ve got the dog for company.”

Daniel laughed. “You make me sound like a real loser!”

“Sorry, that’s not what I meant,” said Eleanor, worried that she had offended him just as they were getting to know each other a little better. “Trust me to put my foot in it.”

“You haven’t put your foot in it at all,” said Daniel, turning on the sofa to face her. “In fact, you’ve given me an idea.”

“Oh, yes. And what’s that?” asked Eleanor, suddenly quite charmed by this man.

“Why don’t we take your camper van to the beach and go sailing in my boat?”

“You mean, just you and me? Together?”

“And Bella, of course.”

Before the words had come out of her mouth she knew exactly what they would be. “I can’t think of anything nicer.”

“Great,” said Daniel, smiling with pleasure and clinking his glass against hers. “It’s a date! And I hope it will be the first of many.”

“Me too,” said Eleanor.

And
so it was.

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