Читать книгу Confetti at the Cornish Café: The perfect summer romance for 2018 - Phillipa Ashley, Phillipa Ashley - Страница 14

‘Demi will probably hate me drawing attention to her like this and, love,’ he looks straight at me, ‘it’s not easy for me to say it, either, but the ill wind that brought that storm was one of the better things that’s happened to me lately. It’s no use me pretending that things have been smooth in my family since Penny died …’

Rachel’s arm slips through Dad’s. He pauses and when he goes on his voice is shaky.

‘But then I met Rachel and she helped bring back the light into my life.’

There are a few ‘ohs’ and quiet murmurs of support from my cousins and a family friend. Kyle stands up straighter and his lips are set in a line as if he’s trying to suppress any emotion.

A hand rests lightly on the small of my back. Cal knows instinctively that this situation is tough for me, even if I know Dad had to get things off his chest. I don’t know what I’d do without Cal sometimes and that realisation makes me feel exposed and raw. Letting down my guard and allowing myself to care about people again has been terrifying at times. It’s as if I’m being swept along by a current, unable to stop myself even though I want to.

‘As you know, Rachel, Freya and myself were forced out of our cottage by the floods on Christmas Eve,’ Dad goes on. ‘We were sleeping on the floor of the community hall and due to circumstances, we had nowhere to go. You could say we were homeless. Even though we knew we’d eventually have a place to go, for a few days, we experienced how that felt and it wasn’t an experience we’d care to repeat. We thought we’d be spending our Christmas on the floor of that hall.’

Rachel looks down at the floor and back up again, her eyes suspiciously bright.

‘Anyway, chance brought us in the way of Demi and Cal and, cutting a very long story short, they put us up here at Kilhallon, as you know. Family life is a shaky business at times, to say the least. We’ve had more than our share of rocks that we’ve foundered on. I’ve not been the best skipper, to use a seafaring phrase, and I’ve run my own ship onto the rocks in the past and my crew has suffered.’

I see a few gentle sympathetic smiles, but I’m digging my nails in my palm. Cal’s hand now rests at my waist. I grip the stem of my glass tightly. The people in front of me swim in and out of focus. My nose itches but I must not cry.

‘But we’re in sight of the harbour again now,’ Dad goes on. ‘We’re safe and in our home and thanks to the flood, I have all my girls and my son with me for the first time in way too long. I’m thankful for that …’ His words are racing by as his nerves get the better of him. I half want his speech to be over too, though I know he had to say these words and I needed to hear them.

He raises his glass and declares, ‘To my family. Rachel, Demi, Kyle and Freya. Thank you and good health and happiness to you all.’

He lifts his glass to his lips, takes a sip then puts it on the desk. While everyone is toasting us all, Dad sits down and Rachel kisses him.

‘Are you OK?’ Cal whispers.

‘Hmmghh.’ It’s all I can manage.

Freya suddenly lets out a loud yawn and everyone laughs.

‘She’s letting me know what she thinks of my speech,’ Dad says. ‘Good job I left it there.’

People laugh in relief and normal chatter resumes.

Kyle joins us. ‘I’m glad we’re all together again, even if it has been a tough journey. Would be good to have a proper catch-up while I’m on leave.’

‘How long are you back for?’

‘Only this week. Then it’s back to Catterick for my unit before we’re deployed to Cyprus for six months. I’m a corporal now,’ he says, proudly.

‘Wow, you’ve done well. Dad said you’d done two tours of Afghanistan over the past few years. That must have been tough.’

‘It wasn’t a walk in the park but my mates helped me through.’

I know he’s downplaying how horrible it must have been … and dangerous. I suppress a shudder. ‘I wish I’d known exactly where you were. I’d have called you and written to you.’

‘No, you don’t. Dad worried about me enough, I didn’t need you fretting about me day and night. It’s history now and I’m going into a training role soon so I’ll at least be in the same country for the foreseeable future.’ He pauses. ‘I’m sorry I pissed off to the army and abandoned you and Dad. It was a cowardly thing to do but I couldn’t handle Mum going and I definitely couldn’t handle the way Dad reacted. I know you were cut up by it and you needed me, but I left you. I’m sorry.’

‘It’s water under the bridge now. We all did what we had to to survive.’

He smiles at me. ‘Mum used to say that.’

‘What?’

‘Water under the bridge. You said it the exact same way.’

‘I didn’t realise.’

‘Shh. Don’t go slushy on me. You’ve been busy too. Look at this place. It’s pretty cool. Rachel said you built and got it off the ground yourself.’

I laugh. ‘Not with my bare hands. Cal put up the money but he let me have free rein with designing and running it.’

‘It’s great. Don’t you think this …’ he says, taking in the room with a glance ‘… is weird? The Joneses coming together as a family again after everything that happened to us?’

‘It’s very weird.’

He puts his arm around me and gives me a brief hug, then he’s back in Kyle mode. ‘Right, I’m starving. D’you think anyone will mind if I have another beer and second helpings of the food? They don’t feed me properly in the army.’

‘That’s not true. I heard you get fed all day long. But yes, help yourself.’

I take a deep breath, happy to have cleared the air a little with Kyle. Cal opens a beer for him and they start talking. Auntie Serena is saying goodbye to my dad at the door after showing her face, so we can all relax now. I sip my wine, and the tension slowly ebbs from my body. I got through today and there’s hope ahead. Clouds are clearing over the sea and spring is definitely on its way.

‘The view from here’s amazing. I’ve a better chance to appreciate it today. My mind was on other things when we were here for Christmas dinner.’ Rachel smiles.

‘It was cosy in here at Christmas but I think Demelza’s is at its best on a bright day like this,’ I say, moving over to the window with her. A few friends and family are enjoying the view too and some have ventured outside though they’re wrapped up well against the wind. The swell is up and the Atlantic topped with white caps but the sun is out and the promise of spring is in the air. ‘The location is our biggest selling point, even if we’re a little out of the way, people will make the effort to come here for the view. The customers love it, even in a storm. Especially in a storm.’ I wince. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean that storms are a selling point.’

She laughs. ‘We both know they’re a hazard of living down here. You know that we moved into Porthleven temporarily after we left Kilhallon? Some days the waves were as high as the clock tower. The locals had to time getting in and out of the inn at the edge of the harbour in between the massive breakers. It’s a wonder some didn’t get swept away and most of them were drenched anyway.’

I shiver. ‘How’s the work going on your place?’

‘Coming on thanks to Gary’s mates and help from Cal. We can’t decorate properly downstairs until the plaster’s dried out a bit more, but upstairs is fine and we’re mostly living up there. It’s our own home again and that’s what matters. Not that I wasn’t grateful to come here and for my cousin’s flat, but you know what it’s like … nowhere’s as good as your own place. I wouldn’t like to be homeless for long.’ She giggles and slaps her forehead with her palm. ‘Now I’ve put my foot in it.’

It’s almost funny, the way we’re dancing round each other, trying not to say the wrong thing. Now that I’ve got to know Rachel better, seeing her with Dad is becoming more normal and easier to handle. Looking back to when she first came on the scene in Dad’s life, she was never particularly horrible to me, but we both used to rub each other up the wrong way. It can’t have been easy for her to have a teenager in the house who hated her guts and thought she’d tried to take her mum’s place.

‘It’s way better for us all that I have my own home now.’ Heat rises up my neck at the memory of things I said about Rachel to my dad. ‘And I love working here and having my own business. I’ve earned a small sum from the publishers for my cookbook and I’m investing that in the cafe.’

‘Your dad told me about your book. That’s a great achievement.’

‘I haven’t finished writing it yet. Although I come up with a lot of the recipes, Eva Spero and her team develop them further and refine them. I don’t have time to write every word. The publisher is going to arrange the photography.’

‘You should still be proud of what you’ve done, as your dad says. To be honest, I’ll have to go back to work sooner or later. We need the money, especially now we have Freya and the insurance didn’t cover all the damage. There have been other costs that we’ve just had to cover, but I’m not complaining.’

‘Will you go back to your old job at Trevarrian Estate?’

Rachel pulls a face. ‘I don’t think so. I enjoyed working there but I’ve discussed things with your dad and decided that having Freya could be a new start for us all. I don’t mind working hard but I’d like more flexibility so that Gary and I can share the childcare, with my parents’ help. Besides, I already felt I was ready to do more than work in the admin office. I’d been doing it a long time.’

I have to admit, the idea of my dad sharing the childcare for a newborn is more than I can process.

‘What will you do?’

She looks slightly embarrassed. ‘I was thinking of offering my services as a virtual PA to companies. Lots of small businesses can’t afford to hire a full-time staff and I have so much experience running the office at the estate. Trevarrian may look like a grand stately home and the owners are charming but they’re also totally scatty and eccentric. I ended up doing everything from making sure the roof didn’t fall down to organising clay-pigeon shooting and corporate dinners.’

‘Sounds like you were very busy.’

‘I worked very long hours and the pay wasn’t great, though Lord Trevarrian was fun to work for. With a few decent clients, I think I can earn almost as much and spend more time with Freya.’ She holds up crossed fingers. ‘Trevarrian might let me do some freelance work too but I need other customers. Who knows, it might be a disaster but after seeing how you and Cal have turned Kilhallon around, I feel inspired.’

‘Me? An inspiration?’

‘Yeah. You made me think I should go for what I want.’

Rachel hugs me briefly but warmly and my throat goes scratchy.

There’s a wail from Freya’s Moses basket. Freya is very red in the face and clenching her fists. She’s also doing what Nana Demelza would have called ‘chuntering’. Her face has gone very red and I think she’s about to wake up – and make a lot of noise.

Rachel winces. ‘Oh dear. I think she’s filling her nappy.’

I glance down at my savoury scone topped with local ham and piccalilli and find my appetite has gone.

‘I’ll have to change her. Can I use your customer loo?’

‘Course you can. In fact, I’ll help you.’

Rachel wrinkles her nose. ‘Are you sure you want to do that? Freya’s dirty nappy in a confined space isn’t the most pleasant prospect.’

‘I’ll put a peg on my nose and, after all, she is my sister so I’d better get used to helping out when I can.’

‘On your head be it,’ Rachel replies with a laugh. ‘Although I hope it won’t come to that.’

‘It’s fine,’ I say, already closing my nostrils. With an idea forming in my mind, I follow Rachel into the toilets, carrying Freya’s changing bag.

While I help Rachel, I chat a bit more about the idea for her business.

‘Did you say you were in charge of the events at Trevarrian?’