Coming Home to Heritage Cove

by Helen J Rolfe

  When he didn’t even apologise for snapping she said, ‘I’m so sorry I left it this long to come back.’

  ‘You did what you had to do.’

  ‘It was selfish. Oh! I never would’ve forgiven myself if –’

  His voice softened. ‘Stop that now, you hear me, Melissa Drew.’

  ‘You don’t need to last-name me.’

  The sunlight was blocked as Harvey stepped through the back door. ‘He does that when we’re in trouble.’ Holding a small basket of eggs, he didn’t pass comment on Melissa’s tears that had begun again.

  ‘That’s right,’ she smiled back at Barney. ‘Remember when I threw an apple at Harvey’s head? You double-named me then, at the top of your voice, scared the living daylights out of me.’

  ‘You took aim and were the perfect shot,’ Barney confirmed, eyes dancing in amusement.

  She’d almost made Harvey cry that day too. She hadn’t realised quite how much it must’ve hurt until she was walking beneath a tree later on and an apple landed plonk on top of her head. She’d wailed, there’d been a smug look from Harvey, and she’d ended up apologising for throwing one at him and causing him pain.

  Harvey was in the kitchen area taking out a frying pan, finding a spatula. ‘Omelette,’ he explained to Barney, ‘as requested.’

  ‘It wasn’t requested. And I’m not hungry,’ Barney grumbled.

  ‘You need to eat,’ Harvey batted back. ‘Call it an early dinner.’

  ‘I’ll bet it’ll be so much better than any hospital food,’ Melissa assured Barney.

  Barney grimaced. ‘Don’t get me started on that.’

  ‘Was it terrible?’ she asked.

  He just grunted in response.

  ‘You need to eat, Barney,’ Harvey’s voice carried over as he began cracking the eggs into a bowl. ‘And the eggs were laid fresh this morning, can’t ask for better than that.’

  Hadn’t he just been to the supermarket? That’s what he’d told her when she bumped into him at the inn, and there was no need to make things up, no matter how desperate he was to get Barney to eat. ‘Laid fresh this morning?’ she repeated, looking Harvey’s way.

  ‘They came from Nola Green’s place,’ Harvey answered as though reading her mind and knowing where her comment was heading.

  ‘They keep chickens at The Copper Plough?’

  ‘At their daughter’s cottage a few doors from the pub,’ Barney told her. ‘She’s got a lot of land out back. After your family…well, you know, after we stopped having the eggs from your chickens, the few of us who’d been lucky enough to have those fresh eggs had to start going to the supermarket and it was never the same. Nola stepped up and decided to bring the custom back to Heritage Cove herself. She bought a fair few chickens, I’m not sure how many.’

  ‘Nineteen,’ Harvey called out from the kitchen, where he was grating cheese. ‘Was twenty until a fox found them.’

  Melissa pulled a face. She remembered her mum’s tears when a fox found one of their chickens once. She was thankful she’d never seen the body, ripped to shreds. It was a brutal way to go. ‘Good to know someone took over,’ she said, even more glad that Barney was one of the lucky few who got to enjoy the eggs that were no doubt richer in taste and colour and creamier than those bought at the shops.

  Harvey was on to chopping the tomatoes and a chunk of ham and Barney must’ve seen her looking over because he whispered to her, ‘Have you two spoken yet?’

  She smiled, mostly glad that despite his up-and-down moods, he was talking and taking an interest. ‘Not properly, it’s been a long time.’

  ‘Shame I can’t even cook you a decent meal,’ Barney moaned. ‘Not much of a homecoming with me like this.’

  ‘You don’t need to worry about feeding me, I’m hoping the pub still does a good fish curry.’

  Barney let out a healthy chuckle. ‘Oh, don’t, it hurts me when I laugh. But you always did like odd foods. Fish curries were one of them, and what else was it you liked? Peanut butter and jam sandwiches?’

  She scrunched her nose. ‘Yeah, don’t eat those anymore.’

  ‘Thank goodness for that. I’m sure you’ve eaten lots of different foods on your travels – it sounds as though you’ve seen most of the world. I can’t wait to hear more about it.’

  ‘I’d love to tell you.’ When more clattering came from the kitchen she said, ‘But all in good time…I’d better get going and leave you to it.’

  ‘But you only just got here.’ Another crash from the kitchen and Barney must have read the discomfort on her face as she glanced over there. ‘You’ll come back soon?’

  ‘I promise,’ she said. ‘How about I come back again tonight?’

  ‘Oh, would you? I’d like that very much. You’d make an old man very happy.’

  ‘I’ll make us both hot chocolates. I’ve brought some of the most decadent chocolate I picked up in Bruges, I remembered how much you enjoyed a mug on a cold evening. It might not be cold now, but who cares, eh? And so long as you have milk, we’re good to go.’

  ‘The only hot chocolate I ever have is from the tea rooms down the road, none of this deluxe stuff. Although they do add crumbled Cadbury Flake on top if you ask for it.’

  ‘Now that sounds pretty good to me.’

  ‘You don’t always have to be fancy,’ Harvey interjected as he overheard the conversation. He added in that the omelette would be ready in fifteen minutes. Then, ‘Sometimes the simple things in life are enough. At least, they are to some people,’ was his parting shot and Melissa knew full well the remark was aimed at her.

  ‘I’m not sure us talking is a good idea,’ she said quietly to Barney. ‘It seems all Harvey wants to do is lay blame and not take any of it for himself.’

  ‘It’s a shame you two are no longer the little tykes running riot around my barn. You’d argue and then forget about it the next minute. Simpler times. But you’ll work it out.’

  She wasn’t so sure. ‘I’ll get going. The smell drifting from your kitchen is making my tummy protest, I only had a small lunch from the service station.’ She grinned, keeping her voice low. ‘Don’t tell Harvey I said that, wouldn’t want him to think I’m complimenting his cookery skills.’ There had been enough looks passing back and forth between them that she felt the need to escape into the late afternoon sunshine for a while.

  ‘Are you still with your young man?’ Barney asked as she picked up her bag.

  ‘Yes, I’m still with Jay.’ Without a ring she didn’t feel right to announce her engagement yet. They were keeping it to themselves until they’d had a chance to pick something out, make it official.

  When Harvey swore after dropping something in the kitchen Melissa took it as her cue to leave. She’d have to talk to Barney again later about the Wedding Dress Ball. Surely he hadn’t meant it when he said it wouldn’t run this year – and letting someone else be in charge was one thing, but not having it in the barn? That was even more crazy.

  ‘Come back here whenever you’re ready,’ Barney’s voice followed her, ‘and could you check the fridge on your way out to make sure we’ve enough milk?’

  ‘Plenty of milk,’ Harvey assured him.

  Melissa already had her hand on the door to the fridge. ‘You sure?’

  ‘I said so, didn’t I?’

  She didn’t miss his shoulders tense up as she stood so close she’d be able to reach out and touch him if she wanted to.

  Glad to get away from the strained atmosphere at the house, she wondered what kind of reception she’d get at the pub. It could be a case of out of the frying pan into the fire, but at least there’d be alcohol on tap to ease her pain should she need it.

  *

  Harvey shook the spatula enough that the omelette slid onto the plate before taking it on a tray over to Barney. ‘There you go, some of my best work – fluffy eggs, ham, cheese and mushroom folded through.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Barney mumbled, picking up his cutlery.

  Harvey had alr
eady helped him to the bathroom, slowly, and now he tried not to stare while Barney ate but rather to watch him surreptitiously while he was clearing up the frying pan and utensils at the sink. That was one hurdle overcome at least, getting Barney to have a proper meal. He’d barely eaten anything in the hospital whereas he usually had a hearty appetite, and if Harvey could make a few meals and be here to see him eat them, it would put his mind at rest.

  Harvey retrieved the plate and the tray away to wash up. ‘Was it good to see Melissa?’ He wondered whether her presence would go some way towards convincing Barney that he should at least try to get better. He seemed to have more colour in his cheeks now, although that could be from the omelette he supposed.

  ‘It was a lovely surprise, unexpected. Did you know she was coming?’

  ‘I had no idea.’

  ‘How was it for you?’

  ‘Seeing her again?’ He shrugged. ‘I’m glad she’s here, for you.’

  ‘You did good, getting in touch with her. I know it must’ve taken a big swallow of pride.’

  ‘I couldn’t do anything else, Barney.’

  ‘What did you do, tell her I was at death’s door?’

  ‘Hardly, what makes you think that?’ When Barney moved to get comfortable Harvey grabbed a cushion from the sofa and wedged it behind his back. ‘Better?’

  ‘Much. And the reason I ask the question is because she was pretty upset when she got here.’

  ‘She’s been away a long time.’ But when Barney gave him a look that told him he wasn’t buying it he added, ‘I didn’t exactly give her many details in my message. It was a rush job, I knew it had to be done.’

  ‘And you wanted to punish her.’

  He opened his mouth to deny it but couldn’t. ‘She should be grateful I even got in touch.’

  ‘She hurt you, I know she did.’

  ‘Ancient history.’

  ‘Is it?’

  ‘I hardly cry myself to sleep over her, Barney.’

  ‘Are you hanging around when she comes back this evening?’

  ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea. But I’ll be staying here tonight.’ He held up a hand to stop any argument. ‘You’re not staying in this house on your own when you’ve just come out of hospital. And I’ve already put sheets on the spare bed upstairs.’

  ‘Good job my room is on the ground floor, I suppose. At least I won’t have to attempt the stairs myself.’

  ‘We need to get you moving around a bit.’

  ‘Not today, son, not today.’ He closed his eyes then, feeling full with food, content to be home.

  Maybe with Melissa around for a while they’d be able to convince Barney that this fall was a bump in the road and not an insurmountable roadblock. Barney’s lack of interest or enthusiasm for getting back to normal was hard enough for Harvey to see, but for Melissa? It would be punishing, because to her it must seem like she’d lost the Barney she knew and loved all over again.

  Chapter Four

  Harvey stayed away from Barney’s house last night until he was sure Melissa would’ve left for the evening and by the time he got there Barney was asleep, so he crept up to bed without having to face the inevitable rundown of what they’d talked about and what she’d been up to in her absence.

  Harvey had taken leave from his job as a loft fitter for the rest of this week to be around for Barney but he was still following up on existing jobs and when Barney made it clear that he was hovering too much this morning after he’d fixed him a decent breakfast, Harvey had nipped out to walk Winnie and drop some plans from his employer over to the bakery. The owners, sisters Celeste and Jade, lived in the cottage directly behind, which had its own lane to access it winding round to The Street from a smaller road on the other side of the Heritage Inn. The cottage was more of a house, proportion-wise, and had a decent-sized loft space they wanted converting into two rooms and a bathroom, so today he could finally show them the drawings and discuss the next steps.

  Back at Barney’s place now he held a box of glazed doughnuts aloft as he stepped in through the open back door. ‘For the patient.’

  ‘Sugary rubbish.’

  ‘They’re from the bakery, compliments of Celeste and Jade.’ In exchange for a full progress report on the patient, of course.

  ‘Then you’d better bring them over.’

  ‘Are you sure? I can get rid of them if you don’t think they’re nutritious enough.’

  ‘Never said that, did I?’

  Harvey opened the box for Barney to make his selection. ‘Did you see the rainbow yesterday evening?’ he asked, satisfied that Barney’s appetite was back a bit as he tucked into a doughnut glazed with toffee sauce. Probably not the best diet for recovering after surgery, but at least it made the man happy.

  ‘Melissa and I saw it out the window. It arched right over the barn, best I’ve seen in a long while,’ he smiled.

  The good response was probably more to do with Melissa’s visit than the act of Mother Nature and Harvey supposed he should get used to her name being mentioned a lot while she was still here. He wondered how he was going to get through the next few weeks seeing her, hearing about her, knowing she was close but no longer a part of his life.

  ‘Did you tell Melissa that you don’t want the Wedding Dress Ball to go ahead?’ Barney hadn’t mentioned it to him again but with the event date looming, Harvey was beginning to wonder how serious he was about calling the whole thing off.

  ‘I did.’

  ‘And what did she have to say?’

  ‘Not a lot.’

  Didn’t sound like the Melissa he knew, but Harvey sensed he wasn’t going to get much more out of Barney today. ‘How’s the pain?’

  ‘You asked me that this morning.’

  ‘You’re right, I did.’ He’d forgotten, or maybe he hadn’t – he just didn’t seem to be able to get a straight answer.

  ‘I’ve taken my medication as per the nurse’s instructions,’ Barney informed him, perhaps sensing he was only asking out of concern, ‘but I’m still too tired to try moving.’

  ‘Not like you to admit defeat.’

  ‘It’s been a long day.’

  ‘You’re not even halfway through it yet. Didn’t the doughnut sugar rush do you any good?’ He held up the box to offer another but Barney waved it away.

  ‘I need a lie down.’

  ‘You might feel better if you stay out here rather than go to bed again.’ He’d not been up all that long.

  ‘Put the lid on those doughnuts, they’ll keep,’ Barney instructed. ‘Now, could you help an old man to the bathroom?’

  Harvey let Barney have the privacy he needed once they reached the bathroom and was on hand to take him from there to the bedroom, where he held on to him as Barney gingerly lowered himself onto the mattress. With Harvey’s help he lifted his legs up onto the bed and settled back against the pillows.

  ‘I’ll be around if you need me,’ said Harvey. He’d never really been in this room since he was younger, unless you counted the time he’d had to retrieve a dead bird that had fallen down the chimney into the ornate fireplace on the wall opposite the foot of the bed. ‘I’m going to go and fix the table in the barn.’

  ‘Whatever for?’

  ‘Because it needs doing. It’ll collapse next time you put apples on it otherwise, it’s been on its last legs for ages.’

  ‘Leave it.’

  ‘It’s no bother.’

  ‘I’m too old to be picking apples and squeezing fresh juice anymore, I should buy it from the supermarket like everyone else.’

  ‘I think we both know you won’t.’

  ‘Who says? I might try online ordering.’

  ‘Now I’ve heard everything,’ Harvey laughed. ‘Whatever happened to online orders being a sin unless you were housebound? It robs people of jobs working in the shops, you said.’

  ‘I did say that, didn’t I?’ he winced. ‘Well, maybe I’ll persuade Lottie from the corner shop to stock some better brand
s.’

  ‘You do that, although it still won’t be the same as the juice you make here.’

  ‘Leave fixing the table, Harvey. I’m sure you’ve got your own things to be getting on with.’

  ‘It won’t take me long. Is there anything else I can get you before I go outside?’

  ‘A blanket, if you don’t mind.’ Barney harrumphed. ‘I hate making a fuss.’

  It was unlike him to ask for anything but hopefully this was a temporary state of mind. Surely somewhere along the line they’d reach a turning point and Barney would go back to his normal self.

  ‘You’ll find one on the top shelf of the wardrobe. Pop it on the end of my bed,’ Barney went on. ‘I can pull it over me when I need to.’

  Usually Barney protested when things weren’t to his liking, he valued independence – he wasn’t the man who asked for a blanket just in case, he was the man who would put himself through pain to get the blanket rather than have to ask for it to be provided. Harvey had envisioned the most difficult patient on earth when they left the hospital ward, the moaning and demanding that he could manage perfectly fine. But those expected traits had somehow been exchanged for this melancholy, this acceptance of defeat, and it had Harvey second-guessing whether Barney was himself at all. The doctors had warned him a fall could knock some patients’ confidence, and at the time Harvey had doubted that would happen to Barney. But now? Now he was worried.

  Harvey opened up the wardrobe and tugged out the red woollen blanket from the shelf above a selection of jumpers, trousers, a couple of shirts and a lightweight jacket. He put the blanket on the end of the bed, rolled it back so it would be easy to grab, then went to shut the wardrobe doors, but when he did he noticed something long at the end of a rail. Wrapped in see-through plastic, on closer inspection it was definitely a dress.

  ‘Something you need to tell me, Barney?’ Harvey pulled out the dress on its hanger. ‘I’m not sure it would suit you,’ he joked peering at what was clearly a wedding gown.

  Barney opened one eye and his lethargy almost didn’t alert him to the find but his face turned stony when he saw what Harvey was holding. ‘Put that away.’