Trenouth

by Bea Green

  ‘Rubbish?’ repeated Elinor, beginning to feel the heat of her irritation mottle her cheeks. How dare he dismiss her worries about her mother like that?

  ‘Yes, rubbish. We’re all changing, all the time. You can’t arrest the passage of time and we change with experience. Loads of people end up having a midlife crisis, for example. Maybe that’s what this is.’

  ‘Why don’t you think it could be a mental condition like Alzheimer’s?’

  Tony waited until the waiter had cleared away their plates and then he leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table.

  ‘She doesn’t suffer from forgetfulness, does she?’

  Elinor shook her head.

  ‘She doesn’t have any problems communicating? I mean, she doesn’t struggle to remember certain words, does she?’

  Again Elinor shook her head.

  ‘Does she seem confused or disorientated? I mean, she’s not getting lost easily or saying she’s waking up in the morning and wondering where she is? That kind of thing.’

  Elinor took a moment to think about this and then reluctantly shook her head again.

  ‘Then I’m afraid you can only conclude that she knows exactly what she’s doing. To be frank with you, Elinor, I got the impression she was out to rile me from the moment I met her. Don’t ask me why but that was my feeling.’

  Elinor’s forehead creased as he finished talking. Tony reached across and gently rubbed away at the lines.

  ‘Hey, we’re out for a nice meal. Put those worries away. I’m sure everything will become clearer with time.’

  Elinor reached up and grasped his hand. Holding his hand in hers, she smiled at him tenderly.

  ‘You’re right. I’m sorry. This must count as the biggest turn-off ever, talking about your girlfriend’s mother over dinner,’ she said.

  ‘That would be an impossible feat.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘It’s impossible for me to be turned off by you, Elinor. You could talk to me all year about your mother and I’d still fancy you like crazy.’

  Elinor blushed under the ardent look in his eyes and picked up her glass of wine to hide her intense pleasure at hearing him voice his passion for her.

  The rest of the meal passed by pleasantly and soon they were toying with their desserts. Elinor, who was feeling full to bursting, was enjoying feeding Tony some of her chocolate mousse when he dropped a bombshell.

  ‘Elinor, I’d like you to move in with me. I’m tired of commuting backwards and forwards between West Hill and Trenouth. The flat’s empty for me without you.’

  Elinor sat back in surprise.

  ‘So soon?’

  ‘What can I say? Life’s short. You have to live in the moment. I know you’re the one for me. I’m not going to change my mind about that.’

  Elinor could well believe that. Tony was like Leo, he had a will as unstoppable as the sea once his mind was made up. She wasn’t going to dispute him on that point because she knew she’d end up like King Canute trying futilely to stop the sea’s passage. But the very thought of leaving Trenouth was tugging painfully at her heartstrings...

  59

  The next morning Elinor ambled contentedly along to the kitchen, only to find Tony and her mother were there before her. Tony was holding a mug of coffee in his hands but his stance was rigid and tense. Puzzled, Elinor looked at him and saw his chocolate-brown eyes were blazing with anger. After hesitating for a moment, Tony brushed past her and exited the kitchen.

  Elinor turned to her mother and sighed.

  ‘What’s going on, Mum? What have you done now?’

  ‘Nothing at all,’ protested Morwenna adamantly. ‘I’ve done nothing. And if he says I have, don’t believe him.’

  ‘Given your behaviour over the last few days, I think I’d believe him, Mum. What games are you playing?’

  Elinor stared sternly at her mother but if she hoped to abash her she singularly failed. Morwenna pouted and shrugged her shoulders.

  ‘If you’re going to believe him rather than me, there’s nothing else to be said.’

  Morwenna put her mug in the dishwasher and stalked out of the kitchen. Elinor walked back to her room, only to find Tony packing his bag. Elinor looked at him in dismay.

  ‘Tony, you’re not leaving?’ she faltered.

  ‘I’m afraid so. If I stay any longer I might end up belting your mother. So in the interests of our relationship I think it’s best I leave.’

  ‘What did she do?’

  ‘She made a pass at me.’

  ‘Oh, come on, Tony. I can’t believe that’s true. You must have mistaken her natural tactility for a pass.’

  Tony straightened up and glared at Elinor.

  ‘She grabbed my crotch, Elinor. I don’t think that was by accident, do you?’

  ‘Oh God, no!’

  ‘Yes, Elinor. I’m sorry but that’s the truth. Look, I’ll give you a call later on. I’m going to need to cool down first.’

  With that Tony picked up his bag and made his way out of the house.

  Elinor felt a wave of such red-hot fury overwhelm her that she was sure she’d burst into flames. She stomped down the corridor and angrily opened her mother’s bedroom door, without even the courtesy of knocking first.

  Morwenna was sitting dejectedly on her bed amongst a complete carnage of miscellaneous items, looking a little like the portrait of General Marius sitting forlornly amongst the ruins of Carthage.

  She looked up at Elinor.

  ‘What is it, darling?’

  Scowling at her mother, Elinor suddenly felt her rage slowly draining away as she noticed how old and worn she looked in her silk pyjamas and without any make-up. Her mother seemed so vulnerable these days. She seemed to be on a path to self-destruction and at the end of the day she was only making things harder for herself.

  ‘Mum, you can’t carry on like this,’ Elinor said sadly.

  Her sympathetic tone seemed to strike a chord in Morwenna. Morwenna looked out of the window as though trying to restrain her tears. After a minute or two of silence, Morwenna turned to face Elinor again.

  ‘I’m absolutely fine, Elinor. I really don’t know what you’re talking about,’ she said brightly.

  At that point Elinor gave it up and returned, defeated, to her room. Three more days to go, she said to herself, just three more days. Then peace will be restored once more.

  60

  Elinor began to notice her upper shoulders and neck start to ache with the tension. She started to rub the back of her neck, pushing aside her thick brown hair with impatience. Ever since Tony had said he loved her hair loose she’d given up wearing a ponytail, but today she wished she’d tied it up.

  She was sitting in the dining room of The Ninth Hole, amongst many of her friends and acquaintances who were waiting to have their palms read.

  She’d watched several people walk out of their session with Morwenna in tears and leave in a hurry. Which was a little odd.

  And which wasn’t exactly what Elena had planned on when she’d set the event up. Elena had been hoping people would stay on and have some afternoon tea. In anticipation of this she had cooked a huge batch of scones. But today it looked as though nobody was interested in hanging on after they’d had their palms read.

  What on earth is she telling them, Elinor wondered to herself. She watched Jennifer going in to have her palms read and decided she’d ask her how it went afterwards. As Jennifer walked back into the café after her session, Elinor hurried up to her.

  ‘Jennifer, did everything go OK?’

  Jennifer looked at Elinor implacably.

  ‘No, it didn’t go well. I’m sorry if it hurts you but your mother is a first-class bitch, if you want to know the truth. Nobody in their right mind would say the things she said to me just now.’

  Jennif
er strode angrily to the entrance of the café and walked out without a backward glance.

  With a sense of impending doom, Elinor looked around the room. She decided she was going to have to take control of the situation. Thinking spontaneously wasn’t an asset of hers, but she decided desperate times demanded desperate measures.

  She pretended to look at her phone for a minute and then stood up.

  ‘Right, everyone!’ she yelled, above the babble of voices. ‘I’m afraid my mother’s had an urgent call from home. We’ll have to reschedule the palm reading for another day. I’m so sorry, everyone.’

  There was a collective groan from everyone gathered and then Elinor was pelted with questions. What was wrong? Was her mother going to be OK? Could they help at all?

  Elinor managed to put her amateur acting skills to work and within a short space of time had cleared out the café, promising they would do it again soon.

  She then sat down on a chair and sank her head down into her hands. A little while later Morwenna appeared in the doorway, looking absurdly incongruous in her floor-length silk ball gown.

  ‘Elinor, where is everyone? I’ve been waiting for ages.’

  Elinor lifted her head and gazed at her mother, too emotionally exhausted to say anything.

  Her mother looked around the empty room.

  ‘Did you say something to them?’

  ‘No, Mum, you did. Congratulations. You probably lost me a good few friends this afternoon.’

  ‘Oh, honey. Don’t be so silly. It’s only a little harmless fun.’

  Elinor smiled sceptically.

  ‘Really? “A little harmless fun?” Is that what you call this week from hell?’

  Morwenna opened her mouth to speak but Elinor lifted up her hand.

  ‘No, don’t say anything more, Mum. I’m tired of your lies.’

  ‘But...’

  ‘No, I don’t want to hear it.’

  She saw Elena standing in the doorway looking confused.

  ‘Elena, I’m really, really sorry. I had to cancel the palm reading. My mother was upsetting everyone with the things she was foretelling. I saw a few people leaving in tears and I decided we had to stop.’

  ‘Who gave you the right to cancel my palm reading event, Elinor?’ asked Morwenna in a furious voice.

  ‘You did!’ yelled Elinor, unable to tolerate her mother’s misbehaviour any more. ‘You’ve bloody well been causing havoc since you got here! I just wish you’d go home and leave me! I’ve had enough of your idiotic behaviour!’

  Elinor glanced apprehensively for a moment at Elena but she didn’t seem to be remotely shocked. In fact, she seemed totally unfazed. Maybe her Spanish upbringing helped in this respect.

  ‘Elinor, why would you speak to me like that?’ asked Morwenna, bursting into tears. She sobbed loudly, with fat tears streaming down her face and her shoulders shaking, but Elinor remained stony-faced.

  ‘Mum, I’ve had enough of your disgraceful behaviour. You’d better tell me what’s going on or there’s a good chance our relationship will never be the same again.’

  Morwenna collapsed onto a chair and sobbed her heart out. Elena, soft-hearted as always, went up to Morwenna and patted her heaving shoulders awkwardly.

  ‘There, there,’ she said consolingly. ‘Elinor doesn’t mean the things she say. All will be better in the morning.’

  ‘I bloody well do mean the things I say, Elena. You’ve no idea what a nightmare she’s been.’

  Elinor waited with her arms folded at the other side of the room. Morwenna’s sobs slowly but surely died down and within a few minutes Elinor caught her mother peeking hopefully at her. Elinor stayed where she was and stared angrily back at her. She saw her mother blench as the realisation that she’d seriously incensed her daughter hit home.

  Morwenna looked down at her hands, her upper lip quivering.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered.

  ‘What did you just say, Mum?’ asked Elinor impatiently.

  ‘I said I’m sorry, OK? I’m sorry I screwed everything up for you. I couldn’t help myself. I was so utterly distraught when I heard you had no intention of returning to Glasgow. And yet you didn’t seem to spare any thought as to how I would feel. You were too busy swanning around with your new Cornish friends and your new boyfriend.’

  The venom in Morwenna’s voice seemed to shock even Elena.

  ‘I’ve nothing left,’ continued Morwenna, in a milder tone of voice. ‘You’re the only one who makes my life worth living. My life’s just empty without you. And I so wish I’d never sent you to stay with Leo. At the time, I just didn’t know how to snap you out of your issues.’

  There was a silence in the room while all of them remained lost in thought.

  Morwenna reached up and grabbed Elena’s hand.

  ‘I’m sorry I made a mess of your event, Elena. I wasn’t planning to, at all. I promise you. I don’t know what came over me.’ She turned to face Elinor. ‘All I wanted to do was hurt you, Elinor, the way you hurt me so callously when you told me you didn’t want to come back to Glasgow.’

  A thought popped into Elinor’s head. She stood up angrily.

  ‘Mum, was it you that cracked the top of my surfboard?’

  Morwenna looked at her daughter aghast. She didn’t say anything but she didn’t need to. Her face said it all.

  ‘Ahhh! Mum! I can’t believe you!’ shouted Elinor, making her mother flinch and cower in the corner.

  ‘I never realised how controlling you were until today,’ continued Elinor, shaking her head in bemusement. ‘If you’d loved me at all you’d have let me cut myself loose from you. You’d have set me free. You can’t live your life through me. That’s what went wrong with you and Dad.’

  ‘Listen, you keep your dad out of this,’ spat Morwenna, looking thoroughly ruffled.

  Elinor bit her tongue, rolled her eyes and looked across at her dejected mother.

  ‘What do we do now?’ she asked.

  Morwenna looked at her pleadingly.

  ‘Are you sure you won’t come back?’

  Elinor shook her head firmly.

  Morwenna bent her head down sadly.

  ‘Listen, Mum, you get loads of time off with your job. We could do more stuff together. Like weekends away, that kind of thing. It’s true I hadn’t really thought about the repercussions for you when I decided to stay. You see, my stay in Cornwall’s healed me. When you find that kind of relief you never ever want to go back.’

  Morwenna nodded resignedly.

  ‘I can see that, Elinor. I always did see it. I’m just sad I wasn’t the one to help you. But you’re right. You’re stronger down here. As I said, I’m sorry for being so unreasonable.’

  Elinor went and wrapped her arms around her repentant mother, who started to sob again. She didn’t know if her mother was ever going to get used to the idea of her living permanently in Cornwall, but she hoped she would.

  Elena, who’d been watching their interchange with all the intense fascination of a soap opera addict, clapped her hands happily and announced she would make them all some tea and scones.

  61

  ‘She’ll be fine. Don’t you worry about her,’ said Leo, handing Elinor a cup of tea after dropping Morwenna off at Newquay Airport.

  ‘I know, I think she’ll be fine,’ agreed Elinor. ‘I’ll make sure I keep in regular contact with her.’

  They both drank their tea in companionable silence as they sat in the living room at Trenouth. Elinor couldn’t help feeling guilty about it but she’d felt a deep and profound relief when she saw her volatile mother making her way through security. Hopefully, over time they’d be able to patch things up but for now she needed the calm of a normal, run-of-the-mill day.

  Occasionally, the rustle and cawing of a jackdaw that had built its nest on top of t
he chimney echoed down. Elinor hoped it wouldn’t take it into its head to explore further down the chimney as had happened already a few times, according to Leo. He’d become an expert at trapping the birds and releasing them back to the outdoors.

  Elinor shut her eyes briefly, enjoying the peace. But something was niggling inside of her, refusing to let her relax.

  ‘Tony’s asked me to move in with him,’ Elinor said suddenly, voicing her concerns at last.

  Leo nodded.

  ‘I thought the day would come,’ he said sagely.

  ‘But this place feels like home to me. I love it so, so much. I’m feeling torn in two, to be honest with you, Leo.’

  ‘I’ve been thinking about you moving in with Tony for a little while. I think it’s the right decision for you both. But I was also thinking how you’re sharing studio space with Barbara at the moment. Come the summer, that woman has so many visitors it’ll be like Clapham Junction over there. I know you’ll hate it.’

  Leo stood up stiffly and walked over to his desk to pick up a folder. He returned with it to the coffee table. Opening it up, he pulled out a large chart and smoothed it carefully on the table.

  ‘I’ve had an architect out to look at converting the garage into a studio space. It would mean inserting a door on the sidewall and a large window right across the area where the garage door is, which is south-facing. He’s also suggesting putting a skylight in the roof. Both would have blinds, of course, so if it became too sunny you could dim the light.’

  ‘You can’t do that!’ exclaimed Elinor, aghast. ‘You love that garage! Seriously, this would be a very bad idea. You’d regret it.’

  Leo who’d been studying the building plan, looked up at Elinor.

  ‘I have never in my life bothered to waste any time on regrets. You should know that by now. I’ve thought it all through and made up my mind. You’re not going to be able to change it now. To be honest with you, I’ve enjoyed having you around and it would be lovely for me to see you paint here.’

  He leaned back onto the armchair.

  ‘This way you can use Trenouth as your work space and you don’t have to separate yourself from everything you love around here,’ he said calmly. ‘I know I couldn’t do it. But it’s also true you and Tony need your own space together. This would be the best of both worlds.’