The Cornish Guest House (44 page)

Robert was sitting on the end of the bed, listening to Liz while he pulled on his socks. It was Monday morning now, the restaurant was closed, and they’d agreed to spend the day together.

Sarah and Andy had left for Penzance an hour or two earlier. They both needed to return to work and, although they’d begged Loveday to go with them, she’d refused, insisting she had things to do and promising instead to visit soon. Naturally, Liz and Robert had insisted that she stay at Bag End instead and, when Liz had mooted the idea of welcoming Tabitha and Oscar, too, Loveday had readily agreed.

‘They can take the spare room and I’ll share with Rosie – that is, if she doesn’t mind.’

The flat at Jack’s Cottage was paid up for another two months but no one wanted Loveday to live there on her own, least of all her. She’d been round to collect a few things and had returned distraught, because it held so many memories. Liz had warned that she mustn’t go again. ‘I’m happy to fetch anything you’ve forgotten. You’re welcome here for as long as you like.’

When Liz had finished speaking, Robert ran a hand through his hair. ‘It’s a big undertaking. I don’t want you, Loveday or Rosie put in any danger, or the baby, for that matter. I’m just not sure.’

Liz went over to the window. She could still just about make out her daughter, walking in her funny lopsided way up Humble Hill towards the bus stop. The cumbersome black school bag was strapped tightly to her back so that she had to bend over, tortoise-like, and propel herself forward. Liz winced, wishing, as usual, that Rosie wasn’t so stubborn and would accept a lift. Still, it was perhaps this very obstinacy that kept her going.

She vanished from view and Liz turned back to her husband, now fastening the buttons on his blue and white striped shirt.

‘Here, let me do the cuffs.’ He held out his wrists obediently. ‘The police will install a panic alarm and we’ll have a special officer as our point of contact. I want to do this for her, just until she finds a place of her own.’

Robert took his wife’s hands and tugged her gently towards him, so that she lost her balance and landed on the bed beside him.

‘I don’t know, Lizzie.’ Propped on an elbow, he leaned over and stroked the hair off her face, staring into her eyes as if searching for answers. ‘I’m just not sure.’

They’d been informed by police that Luke would shortly be charged with fraud and money-laundering, and that he was facing seizure of all his assets and up to twelve years behind bars. The investigation would take months but there was already plenty of evidence, officers having searched the offices of Henry Mount Financial Services and found sucker lists of thousands of victims from all over the country.

Robert listened while Liz reminded him that, though Luke would most likely be released on court bail when the trial date was set, once free from prison he wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near Tremarnock or, indeed, Cornwall. What’s more, if he were to break any of his bail conditions, he’d be back in jail immediately.

‘So what do you think?’ she asked.

Robert tucked a strand of her hair behind an ear, still gazing at her intently. ‘It’s a big decision and it affects us all, not just this family but our neighbours and the rest of the village, too.’

She tipped her head on one side. ‘You owe me, remember.’

He flinched, not wishing to be reminded. ‘I do, but I’m thinking about your safety.’

It had just started to rain and as drops splattered against the windowpane and trickled down, making wiggly patterns on the glass as they went, she realised that, far from wanting to go out to lunch, as they’d discussed, what she desired more than anything was to stay here, with him, until Rosie returned, preferably entwined in his arms, which was her favourite place in the whole world.

‘I’m not right about everything, but I’m right about a lot of things,’ she wheedled with a half-smile, hoping to resolve the matter quickly. ‘I thought you were going to listen to me more.’

He drew himself up to sitting. ‘OK, you win. They can come.’

Then he bent down and kissed her on the lips and she closed her eyes for a moment, drinking in the sweet taste of harmony that she’d feared lost for ever. Robert, her Robert. He was back and she’d never let him go again. At that moment everything seemed just perfect, because they were as one again, and together, she thought, they could cope with whatever life threw their way.

‘No more misunderstandings, Lizzie,’ he whispered, echoing her thoughts. ‘No more ugly quarrels. If we disagree, we’ll talk it through, like now.’

They lay on the bed and she rested her head against him, listening to his steady heartbeat and feeling the rise and fall of his breath.

‘I think, if it’s possible, I love you even more than I did before. You’re an amazing woman.’

She wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry with happiness, so she did both, and he held her tight until the trembling subsided and she was calm again, listening to the minutes tick by, the odd shout outside, the spattering rain, the occasional swish of a car as it glided through puddles, the sounds of the universe unfolding as it should.

When she finally moved, ready to rise, it seemed as if the weather was clearing at last, but then the sky blackened and another sudden roll of thunder overhead made her jump and the room shake and rattle.

Robert glanced out of the window at the rain falling in thicker, heavier sheets.

‘D’you think we should ditch the going-out-to-lunch idea?’

She nodded. ‘Filthy day.’

‘What shall we do, then?’

‘You could help me with RosieCraft. I’m terribly behind with the orders.’

‘I can think of better ways to occupy our time.’

She looked at him and he was smiling mischievously. It was tempting, but… ‘We can’t. Loveday’s downstairs.’

He jumped up and padded swiftly to the bedroom door, clicking it shut. ‘She won’t come in.’ Then he started to unbuckle the belt on his jeans, staring at her the whole time.

‘She might hear!’ Liz protested, watching his every move.

‘Not if we’re quiet.’ He looked tall and very other, more beautiful, perhaps, than she’d ever seen him.

Soon he was standing over her, manoeuvring her out of her top, her socks, her trousers.

‘Robert!’ she whispered, ‘It’s Monday morning!’

‘I like Mondays.’

‘Don’t,’ she gasped. The bra came off and he threw it unceremoniously across the room. ‘You might upset the baby.’

‘You should have thought of that before.’

She was going to declare that she had a long list of jobs, like washing Sarah’s and Andy’s sheets and calling the hospital to find out when Pat was coming home, never mind her business, which had been sorely neglected. But before she knew it his hands were all over her, his mouth on hers, and she found that she couldn’t say anything more at all.

*

Two days later, Liz collected Pat from hospital and brought her home. Before they arrived, the villagers had rallied round getting things ready, and the old woman’s fridge and freezer were crammed with homemade meals that she could pop straight in the oven. Jean had made several of her signature chicken pies, Barbara a variety of casseroles, while Felipe and Tony had replenished her fruit bowl and filled her cupboards with tins of soup, packets of biscuits and jars of jam and marmalade. The previous morning, Liz and Esme had spent several hours cleaning The Nook from top to bottom and putting fresh flowers in vases beside her bed and in her front room so that the whole place smelled delicious.

Now, at last, Pat was ensconced in her favourite chair in front of the electric fire, with a white shawl round her shoulders and a pink crocheted blanket over her knees. Beside her, on the little table, was a mug of tea and an open, family-sized box of luxury choccy bickies.

‘You won’t be able to eat the lot!’ Liz laughed, picking up the cushion that had fallen on the floor and propping it behind her friend’s back. She bent forward and adjusted the shawl. ‘What time did you say Emily’s arriving? I hope the A38’s not too busy.’

Emily was to stay, as promised, for a week, and after that the villagers were to operate a rota system for another seven days so that the old woman was never alone, even at night. Thankfully, there were enough volunteers to make that possible. Pat was much improved, but the arm was still weak, and no one wanted to risk her falling over and damaging it again.

‘’Bout two o’clock,’ Pat replied, noticing Liz glance yet again through the little window over the figurine display on the shelf. She’d thought she was being discreet.

‘You can’t fool me, you know,’ Pat grumbled finally. ‘All right I’ll see her, but tell her to come quick before I change my mind.’

Relieved, Liz beckoned to Loveday, who’d been waiting anxiously outside. Soon there was a knock and the girl entered, looking for all the world as if she were about to undergo a life-threatening operation worse even than the one Pat had endured.

‘It’s me,’ she said unnecessarily, hovering with her back to the wall and taking a piece of paper from her pocket before launching into the lengthy apology that she’d spent hours writing the night before.

Pat listened grimly, occasionally making a funny noise at the back of her throat as if something was stuck, and her mouth, thin at the best of times, seemed to shrink to a line no wider than a pencil mark.

‘I told you he was a bad ’un,’ she said at last, waggling a gnarled finger at the girl, ‘but you wouldn’t listen, would you? Oh, no! And look what happened. Stole all my savings, didn’t he? The lot. Me and Geoffrey saved all our lives for that, I don’t mind telling you. And I broke my arm because of it. And then to crown it all you ran away, giving your poor family the biggest fright of their lives.’

She growled like a wild beast and glared at Loveday, who stared hard at the floor, unable to meet her gaze.

‘Hanging’s too good for that man,’ Pat went on, shaking her head. ‘He should be hanged, drawn and quartered, that’s what. Can’t think what got into you, falling for him like that. I thought you had more sense.’

Loveday choked and Liz, who was feeling a little sorry for her, would have pointed out that others had been charmed by Luke, too, but Pat was so ferocious that she didn’t dare. She’d never seen the old woman so angry; you wouldn’t believe that she’d been tucked up in her hospital bed earlier, looking like a sweet old granny.

‘I’m sorry,’ Loveday said again miserably, sounding like a broken record. ‘I was foolish, I know.’

‘
Foolish?
’ Pat roared. ‘Downright daft, more like. You could have got yourself killed, I don’t mind telling you. Men like that don’t stop at nothing. You’re lucky to be standing here today, having a strip torn off by me.’

There was a pause as she narrowed her eyes while Loveday shed hot tears, and Liz just stood there, feeling uncomfortable.

‘Now, look here,’ Pat said at last, softening a little, ‘I know you didn’t mean any harm, but you should have thought—’

‘He seemed so nice,’ wailed Loveday. ‘I’ll never forgive myself.’

Pat glanced at Liz, who ushered Loveday to the sofa and settled beside her, putting an arm round her shoulder because she needed it.

‘It could’ve been worse, I suppose,’ the old woman muttered. ‘The money’s gone but we’re still here, just about in one piece.’

She cocked her head and waited for Loveday to quieten down. ‘That’s better. I can see you properly now. You’ve changed since I last saw you. You’re prettier and I think…’ She stroked her chin, ‘Yes, that’s it, I reckon you might’ve grown up a bit!’

Loveday peeped out of still-damp eyes to see if Pat was joking and she gave an enigmatic little smile.

‘Here, let’s have one of these,’ she said, passing the box of biscuits from the table. ‘We all need sweetening up.’

Nobody really wanted a biscuit but it seemed like the right thing to do, and while they ate, Pat filled in the silence with tales of the battleaxe in the hospital bed opposite, plus the brood of children and grandchildren who visited her.

‘Right rough lot they are,’ she said, sniffing. ‘I’ll bet not a single one earns an honest living. All scroungers, I shouldn’t wonder, fiddling benefits and up to no good. You can tell just by looking at them.’

‘You can’t say that!’ Liz protested. ‘You don’t know anything about them!’

‘Don’t need to. You can see it in their eyes. Sort of mean and shifty, if you know what I mean.’

Liz laughed, she couldn’t help herself. ‘Heaven help us if you judge us all on our appearances! Look at me today. I haven’t even brushed my hair because I was worried I’d be late for you, and as for make-up, no chance. I look like a tramp!’

Pat eyed her up and down. ‘Well, you’ve been better, I’ll admit, and you could do with a nice neat perm like mine, but no one would take you for a criminal, your face is too honest.’

She glanced again at Loveday, who was picking nervously at the corner of a nail. ‘It’s all right’ the old woman whispered, taking pity on her. ‘Some folk are masters at disguising their true colours. You can’t tell what they’re like till you really get to know ’em, and by then it’s too late.’

‘You were right from the start about Luke, though,’ Loveday said unhappily. ‘Like you said, you warned me and I didn’t listen.’

‘In my experience, young people rarely do. We all learn from our mistakes, that’s the way of the world. It’s just a shame others have to get hurt in the process.’

Loveday swallowed. ‘I’ll pay you back,’ she said in a small voice. ‘Every last penny, I promise.’

Pat took a deep breath. ‘We’ll see about that. We can talk about it another time. Fortunately, I’m not going to starve, not with all them blooming chicken pies in the freezer. There’s enough to feed the five thousand.’

There was a pause while she took a sip of tea, then she leaned forward and cleared her throat. ‘Now, what I want to know is, how’re we going to get that Jesse of yours back? It won’t do, him avoiding us all like this and talking about going off somewhere on his own. It won’t do at all.’

Loveday took a tissue from the box by Pat’s elbow and blew her nose before explaining that it was hopeless, that she’d lost him, but Pat was having none of it.