Читать книгу Love Heart Lane - Christie Barlow - Страница 9

Back at the cottage the fire was nearly out when Drew and Felicity arrived. Fighting against the blizzard outside, Drew kindly loaded all the wood into the log shed and hauled in a huge basket of wood and placed it by the fire.

‘This should keep you going until morning,’ he said, bending down and poking the embers of the fire before throwing a few more logs into the grate. Within no time at all the fire was thankfully roaring once more.

Rona was more than thankful to Drew and offered him a cup of tea and slice of cake which he was grateful for.

‘Meredith has invited everyone over to the pub tonight for chilli. Are you and Isla going?’ asked Rona turning towards Drew.

‘It’s the first I’ve heard of it but if it’s an open invitation I’m not one to pass up on Meredith’s chilli, and I think it will do Isla good to get out for a while.’

‘Yes, it’s an open invitation. I think she thought everyone would have had quite a day of it with the weather and wouldn’t feel much like cooking.’

‘And she is right, we were having leftover curry. God love that woman, always thinking of others. I’ll pick up Finn from his friend’s and we’ll see you over the pub in about an hour,’ he said, finishing his tea and cake before pulling on his coat that had been warming on the armchair in front of the fire.

‘Good, good,’ said Rona, showing Drew to the front door after Felicity thanked him for rescuing her suitcase and bringing her home.

While she could still hear Rona chatting away to Drew, Felicity wandered through to the kitchen and placed the kettle on the hotplate of the Aga. The sound of the constant dripping from the tap caught her attention but however hard she tried she couldn’t get it to stop. Taking a look around the room she noticed that the place not only seemed tired, but the room felt quite chilly too. She placed her hand on the radiator. It was stone cold and she shivered. The only heat was coming from the Aga. She wandered over to the pantry and opened up the door, astonished to find the shelves near enough bare, when they’d always been packed to the brim with baking ingredients for the teashop cakes.

Felicity could still hear her mum and Drew talking so unlocked the duck-egg coloured door next to the pantry which led into the teashop. She switched on the light and stood and stared.

Drew had been right; this place looked like it hadn’t been in use for a while. Everywhere seemed worn, tired and washed out. Felicity brushed her hand over the counter and a mushroom of dust danced before her eyes. The whole place seemed so lifeless, so colourless. Even the shabby chic coloured bunting that criss-crossed the ceiling looked drab; it had definitely seen better days.

Felicity walked past all the chairs neatly pushed underneath the tables towards the front of the shop. She could visualise her grandmother standing in the front window smoothing down her white pinny before waving madly at her as she walked home from school along Love Heart Lane. Every night, without fail she’d waited in the window at the same time.

Felicity couldn’t help but wonder what had happened here and began to feel guilty and confused. How did she not know the shop had closed? This was her mum’s livelihood.

Through the window Felicity watched Drew climb into his tractor and wave goodbye to Rona as he drove off back home towards Foxglove Farm. The rest of the lane was silent. The line of houses on Love Heart Lane looked like a picturesque snowy Christmas card, with some of the cottages in complete darkness while others were lit up. There was a romantic feel about the place.

Felicity watched Rory, who lived opposite, as he stood in the middle of his living room hugging a mug. She and Rory had grown up together in the village and like everyone else in Heartcross, they had once been good friends. Rory had always known from an early age that he wanted to be a vet. His parents Stuart and Alana Scott ran the veterinary surgery in the village, and Rory was now in partnership with them.

Felicity heard a noise behind her and spun round as Rona appeared by her side. ‘I wondered where you’d got to.’

‘Mum, what’s happened to this place? Why didn’t you tell me the teashop wasn’t up and running?’

The teashop was a place where Felicity had spent most of her free time as a young girl, especially in the school holidays. She’d worked alongside her mum and grandmother helping to bake the scrumptious cakes Bonnie was famously known for, and when she was in her teens she’d waited tables. Early mornings had always been Felicity’s favourite time. The mouth-watering aromas that had drifted from Bonnie’s kitchen were a great start to the day. Before school, Felicity had always helped to arrange the home-baked pastries and cakes in the open counter and on the numerous glass-domed cake stands in exchange for her daily gingerbread man that she took to school without fail.

Most weekends this small teashop would be jam-packed with passing ramblers who’d trek through the mountainous terrain of Heartcross and sample the delicious delights of Bonnie Stewart’s baking. Her grandmother had opened the tearoom on a whim. Her cottage was the last stop on Love Heart Lane before the hikers ventured on the three-hour rocky trek to reach the summit of Heartcross Mountain. It was a great last stop to fuel the body and grab a cuppa and of course use the bathroom facilities.

As Rona pondered the answer to the question a look of pain crossed her face. ‘It’s not been that easy, Felicity.’ Her voice was low and shaky taking Felicity by surprise. Her mum had always been a tower of strength and seeing the look on her mother’s face, she felt numb, an entire stock of emotions running through her body. ‘What do you mean?’ she asked hesitantly.

‘I tried my best,’ said Rona, holding on to the last trace of pride.

Felicity’s heart sank.

‘I couldn’t do everything.’

Feeling wretched, Felicity blinked back the tears that brimmed in her eyes. The business her grandmother had worked so hard for lay in ruins. What had her grandmother thought? The teashop closed, her hopes and dreams dashed. Felicity swallowed hard. She’d never thought in a million years that this place would close. Add in the factor that her mum was clearly struggling, and Felicity felt shaken by it all.

‘I tried to keep things afloat but everything just spiralled out of control. It all got a bit too much for me.’

The comfortingly familiar life and beloved teashop had folded around Rona and Felicity had been none the wiser. She was devastated that she’d been caught up in her own little world and never realised how bad things had got back home. This place had been the heart of the community for decades, and this was a hurdle that they needed to get over. This place couldn’t stay shut. In deep thought, Felicity linked her arm through her mum’s and turned to slowly walk back into the kitchen of the cottage.

‘I’ll make us a hot drink and bring it through. You go and sit down.’

Rona nodded and settled down on the wingback chair in front of the fire. As soon as the drinks were made Felicity slid herself on to the battered old chesterfield.

‘How long has the shop been closed?’

Rona looked up at her daughter. ‘About eight months.’ She let out a breath. ‘Everything seemed to all go wrong at once.’

‘You mean with Grandma being ill.’

Rona nodded. ‘That was the start of it, but not just that, there was this place too. Everything seemed to break at once. The boiler packed up, the tap’s beginning to leak and looking after your grandma full time meant I couldn’t juggle the shop.’ The tone to her voice was sad.

Felicity sat back and digested this information, ‘Did you get any help with Grandma?’

Rona shook her head and took a sip of her drink. ‘No, all those years ago we’d made a pact; when the time came, she never ever wanted to go into a home. I promised I would care for her until the very end and that’s what I did. She dedicated her life to looking after me, looking after us when you were growing up. I couldn’t even afford my own house after your father died, there was no life insurance or any spare cash. We’d always lived here with Mum and after putting a roof over our heads all this time it wasn’t a big ask. I kept my promise.’

A small tear slid down Rona’s face. ‘I miss her so much. And there’s still so much to sort out, her clothes and belongings, but I just can’t face it all at the minute.’

‘I can help with all that while I’m here.’

Rona smiled with appreciation towards her daughter.

‘Mum, I’m so sorry.’ Felicity was heartbroken and surprised to discover how hard things had become for her mum.

‘It’s not your fault, you have your own life, and your grandmother wouldn’t have wanted you to come home just for her.’

Felicity knew her life hadn’t been all that in the past year. She could have come home at any time to help and felt disappointed in herself that she hadn’t supported her mother more.

‘And the boiler, is that fixed? It does seem awfully cold in the cottage.’

Rona regretfully shook her head, ‘Unfortunately, with the teashop being shut I’ve lost my income and just didn’t have the money to get it fixed. Any savings I had, I used them to get by … to live on for the last eight months.’

Felicity stared at her mum. She couldn’t believe for all this time she had been struggling by herself. ‘How are you heating the water?’

‘With the kettle. I’ve been boiling the water on the Aga to have a wash. It’s going to be all right,’ Rona quickly added with a wan smile.

Felicity’s eyes widened; she couldn’t believe her mum was living like this. Twelve months ago, this cottage had been spick and span, everything gleamed, and the teashop had been packed to the brim with customers, and now everything had changed in such a short space of time.

‘Why didn’t you ask for help, surely Drew would have taken a look at the boiler for you?’

‘I don’t like to bother people and anyway he’s got enough on his plate with the new baby on the way.’

‘Mum, you wouldn’t be bothering them. They’d be upset knowing you’ve been living like this; they would never ever see you in a pickle and without a proper source of heat, especially in the winter months.’

Rona sipped her drink. She was a proud, strong, independent woman and had always been in control, but things had begun to slip when Bonnie had become ill.

‘There’s also Rory – and even Fergus wouldn’t see you struggling surely.’

Now it was Rona’s turn to stare at her daughter. ‘That’s the first time I’ve heard you mention his name in a long time,’ she said in astonishment.

Felicity had avoided saying Fergus’s name out loud for years; the memories were too painful, and she thought if she pretended he didn’t exist it would all go away, but of course it was never going to go away. It was always going to be there.

Felicity exhaled. ‘I’ve seen him.’

Taking Rona by surprise she sat up straight. ‘You’ve seen Fergus? When? Where?’

‘Today, up at the farm. One of Drew’s Shetlands was stranded in the river. Fergus went in after it and Drew and I helped to rescue them.’

‘In this weather? He’d catch his death.’

‘He nearly did.’ The pang of worry was still firmly in the pit of her stomach.

‘How is he?’

‘He’s okay now,’ answered Felicity, thinking of a cold Fergus shivering out of control.

‘And how did that go down … seeing you?’

Felicity sighed. ‘Difficult, he wasn’t over the moon to see me, which of course is understandable.’

‘Did you talk?’

Felicity shook her head. ‘Not really, it wasn’t the time or the place, but I will. And anyway—’ she attempted to change the subject ‘—what are we going to do about this boiler? We can’t go on boiling kettles on the Aga.’

Rona sighed. ‘There’s a quote on the dresser, but it’s over a thousand pounds for a new one.’

Felicity stood up and wandered over to the stack of papers piled up and stared down at the quote. ‘Mum, let me help. I can pay this.’

‘That’s very kind of you but…’

‘But nothing, I insist. I’ve a little saved up with all the extra work over Christmas and there’s no way I’m going back to London leaving you here with no hot water or heat.’ Felicity flicked a glance towards the living-room clock – it was now past five o’clock. ‘I’ll give them a ring first thing in the morning.’

Rona blinked back her tears and her face brightened. ‘Thank you.’

‘You don’t need to thank me and please talk to me in the future. Let me know if you need help.’

Rona nodded. ‘I will, I promise.’ She got to her feet and enveloped her daughter in a hug. ‘It’s good to have you home, even if it’s only for a little while.’

Felicity felt the love and warmth from her mother as she wrapped her arms tightly around her. She made a promise to herself there and then that she would come home more and ring as often as possible.

‘What time do we need to be at the pub?’ asked Felicity, releasing herself from her mother’s arms and suddenly feeling ravenous.

‘Anytime now,’ answered Rona, looking towards the window. The snow was still coming down thick and fast. ‘Everyone will be there, you know.’ Rona held her daughter’s gaze and Felicity nodded her understanding.

‘Might as well get it over with.’

‘How are you feeling?’

‘A little apprehensive. I know it sounds daft but maybe a little scared of seeing Allie again … I caught up with Isla this afternoon, she was lovely to me. It was like I’d never been away. But I’m not sure how Allie is going to react. She took it badly when I left … and she’s not as forgiving as Isla.’

‘And there’s Aggie too.’ Rona cocked an eyebrow.

Every time Felicity had come back to the village for a brief visit she’d tried not to think about bumping into Aggie but she knew it was going to happen sooner rather than later and it was something she wasn’t looking forward to.

Aggie Campbell was Fergus’s mother, and he lived with her in Fox Hollow Cottage, just at the bottom of Love Heart Lane. Aggie was without a doubt a kind woman, but she had strong opinions, especially when it came to her only son whom she doted on.

‘I know.’

‘And it’s more than likely Fergus will be there. If he’s okay after today.’

Every time Felicity thought of Fergus she felt a tremor of emotion that she couldn’t quite place. She closed her eyes for a split second, the image of him and his soft smile firmly on her mind. If she closed her eyes tight enough she could still feel his strong arms around her and his woody, manly smell as she snuggled into his chest all those years ago. There was a time she’d thought Fergus would always be by her side, every step of the way, growing old together – but she’d messed that up. She gave herself a little shake. All that was in the past. She needed to accept that.

‘It will be okay, you know. I’m sure there will be a time when you can be civil together.’

Felicity really hoped so. She’d never admitted it to anyone before but there were times when she suffered bouts of depression, wondering what her life would have been like if she’d stayed in Heartcross. Would she and Fergus still be together? Would they have gotten over the heartache? Would she have been enough for him? She would never know the answers to those questions. In fact, she’d cried a lot in London, pretending to be perfectly happy, creating a new existence that was basically a pretence.

Of course there had been good times but once the initial excitement and adventure had worn off she’d wanted to go back home on numerous occasions. However, her pride had always stopped her. She’d suffered for her actions and seeing the look Fergus had given her today, it was clear he’d suffered too. She knew him from old and he was still hurting. Over time, Felicity had learnt to block out her deep sadness, but seeing Fergus again, she knew the feelings she’d once had for him were still very much there.