A Place of Her Own

by Barnes, Miranda

  ‘Thank you, Hannah. Aren’t they lovely?’

  Hannah nodded and smiled happily.

  ‘But who’s sent them, I wonder?’

  Hannah shook her head, still smiling.

  Will, probably. It had to be. She must remember to thank him.

  ‘Oh, what a wonderful day, Hannah. What a wonderful day!’

  She grasped a laughing Hannah, and they performed an impromptu waltz around the shop.

  The first real customer was Mrs. Jackson, from the village, looking for a gift for one of her many, many grandchildren, or great-grandchildren – she was no longer very sure.

  ‘You’ve got it very nice,’ she said, gazing round with fascination. ‘It’s much better now than when Tommy Mavin had it.’

  ‘Tommy Mavin?’ Jenny queried.

  ‘The butcher.’

  ‘Goodness! Is that what it was? That must have been a long time ago.’

  ‘Oh, it was. I was only little then. But I haven’t been in here since. We didn’t get on, you know. His family and mine.’

  Jenny smiled and wondered what year it could have been when Mrs. Jackson was last in the shop. Probably when the Queen was still called Victoria.

  Mrs. Jackson eventually bought a wooden toy with moving parts, a clown on a bicycle. And that was their first sale.

  Other customers came after her. They came in a slow trickle, usually in ones but occasionally in twos. Some bought. Some just looked round. All were pleasant and eager to talk. Jenny relaxed. Hannah grew bored. The morning passed. “Good Times” was truly in business. In time for Christmas, as well.

  Chapter Thirteen

  She couldn’t wait to see them. Lucy and Kat, her two best friends from Dartford. Until the phone call from Lucy, she hadn’t realised how much she missed them.

  ‘If you could find it in your heart to welcome two old friends who are positively aching to see you again in your Northern wilderness … If you have the slightest, tiniest little bit of spare room in your country home...’

  ‘Oh, Luce! Stop it. Stop it at once!’ Jenny was laughing herself silly. ‘You know I would love it if you could manage to visit.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘When do you think you might be able to come?’

  ‘Tomorrow! I’ll tell Kat right now.’

  It wasn’t tomorrow. The visit was arranged for a couple of weeks ahead, early December, when the girls’ respective husbands were to be off somewhere in Spain playing golf. Lucy had two children, but they were to be taken off her hands, too. Kindly grandparents had arranged a visit to some outdoor leisure centre that the children had been to before and loved.

  ‘I should tell you, though,’ Jenny warned, ‘that I’ve got the shop open now.’

  ‘Already? How wonderful! What’s it like? No, don’t tell me. Let it be a surprise.’

  ‘I’ll just say it’s very nice. I’m pleased with it.’

  Lucy had second thoughts. ‘Oh, but you won’t want us there now, will you? You must be far too busy. We’d just get in the way. We...’

  ‘Come, Luce! Come whenever you can.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Oh, good! We can help. We can sell things. Well, maybe I’ll struggle a bit, but I’m sure Kat won’t. Kat would be brilliant in a shop. I’ve always thought so. She’s...’

  Jenny stopped listening. Lucy was famous for her non-stop prattle, as well as for her generosity and good nature. Even if she couldn’t sell anything, she would be a wonderful asset in the shop. People would come from miles around just to experience her.

  For a while, Jenny forgot how busy she was. She simply put it all to one side. She couldn’t wait to see them. Kat and Lucy. How wonderful that they wanted to come and visit, especially now, especially in December. It was a wonder they weren’t terrified by the thought of Northumberland in winter. She was sure most people she knew in Kent would be.

  ***

  Now the day had come. Jenny had driven into Berwick to meet the girls from the London train. She was shivering with anticipation. Scarcely able to conceal her excitement. It had been three months since she had seen anyone from her old life. Longer. Four. Now she was about to see the two people she missed most of all.

  If they hadn’t forgotten, or changed their minds. And if the train hadn’t broken down, or the stupid tracks weren’t being repaired, maintained, upgraded, or whatever else they could do to two steel rails if people in high places set their minds to it.

  The train! Here it was. It was here now. She watched the gleaming, silvery tube glide effortlessly alongside the platform until it eased to a stop, shivered and sank to its knees with a last sigh, already most of the way from King’s Cross to Edinburgh.

  Jenny waited anxiously, half full of excitement, half full of dread that for some reason they wouldn’t be on the train after all.

  But they were. She spotted Kat’s flounce of red hair first as she hurtled out of the door, followed by a dignified blonde lady swaddled in numerous scarves and an enormous coat that came down to her ankles nearly. Jenny gasped and shook her head. Then she grinned and rushed to meet them.

  They spotted her. Lucy squealed. Kat rushed at her. They met and formed a small circle, and hugged one another, oblivious to the people rushing past and their staring eyes.

  ‘It’s so good to see you!’ Jenny gasped. ‘Thank you so much for coming.’

  ‘So you have missed us?’ Kat said, laughing and stepping back.

  ‘Oh, yes!’

  ‘We did wonder, didn’t we, Luce?’

  ‘We did indeed. But I said she wouldn’t have forgotten us altogether.’

  ‘Oh, Luce!’ Jenny gazed happily at Lucy. ‘What on earth have you got on?’ she asked, laughing and stroking the impressive coat.

  ‘It’s my new winter coat. You need a winter coat if you’re coming to this part of the world.’

  ‘Luce, it’s a lovely day here!’

  It was, too. Mild. Sunshine. Hardly any wind.

  ‘I did tell her,’ Kat said. ‘I said it wasn’t the North Pole – quite!’

  ‘I’m so hot,’ Lucy complained, starting to unfasten her coat. ‘It was hot in the train, and it’s hot here. Why did nobody tell me?’

  ‘I did!’ Kat said. ‘I did tell you.’

  ‘But not firmly enough. Not clearly. You just said it might not be so very cold. What on earth does that mean?’

  Jenny, still laughing, seized both her friends by the arm and started to move them along the platform, heading for the exit.

  ‘You’re blonde now?’ she pointed out, looking at Lucy’s flowing locks.

  ‘Blondes have more fun, Jenny. Didn’t anyone tell you?’

  ‘I’d forgotten that.’

  ‘It’s not true, anyway,’ Kat said. ‘She has a lot less fun than me.’

  ‘That’s not true!’ Lucy wailed. Then she looked around. ‘Is this Scotland?’ she demanded. ‘If it is, why are the men all wearing trousers, instead of kilts? I do love men in kilts.’

  ‘Not quite Scotland,’ Jenny said, laughing. ‘Some say it is, of course, and probably it was once. But legally it’s England. Come on! Let’s go.’

  She piled them into the car and got moving. But it was hard to concentrate on driving. There were so many questions. They all had them, and they all asked them. Lucy also had her inevitable running commentary on everything they passed and saw, and even the things they didn’t see.

  ‘No Highland Pipe band to welcome us, Jen?’ Kat asked.

  ‘Later,’ Jenny told her. ‘Be patient.’

  As they neared Cragley, Jenny felt proud as she anticipated showing her old friends her new home new.

  ‘How quiet it is,’ Kat marvelled. ‘No traffic at all. Is it always like this?’

  ‘Most of the time.’

  ‘Hm,’ Lucy said. ‘But there must be bright lights somewhere?’

  ‘Not one,’ Jenny told her. ‘You’re just going to have to do without them for a few days.’


  ‘I suppose I could re-charge my batteries while I’m here. Is that what you’ve been doing all this time?’

  ‘Me? I’ve been very busy, very busy indeed. Here we are. We’re here.’

  She pulled into the side of the road.

  ‘This it?’ Kat said, gazing out of the window.

  ‘This is it. Cheviot House.’

  ‘My, oh my!’

  ‘It looks a big place,’ Lucy ventured. ‘And the shop! Oh, I can’t wait to see it.’

  ***

  ‘It’s a lovely old house, Jen,’ Kat said, after having been shown around. ‘It’s gorgeous.’

  ‘Thank you. I’m glad you like it.’

  ‘It’s great that all the period detail remains – the fireplaces, the plasterwork, and so on. And I love the staircase. All those spindles! It’s like out of one of those illustrated children’s books.’

  ‘I know just what you mean!’ Jenny nodded vigorously. ‘With one of those coat stands in the hall, with a place for umbrellas.’

  ‘And a cupboard under the stairs where small people can hide and hear delicious grown-up secrets.’

  Exactly! Jenny thought, laughing hard.

  ‘Luce?’ Kat said. ‘You’re unusually quiet. No opinions?’

  Lucy swung round in a slow pirouette. ‘I’m just working out where to have the parties.’

  ‘Oh, Luce!’ Kat said. ‘Don’t you ever stop?’

  ‘It is a lovely house, though,’ Lucy said. ‘I quite agree. You’ve done ever so well, Jen. And the shop’s gorgeous. I bet you couldn’t have afforded a place like this back home.’

  ‘Certainly not on my salary at the bank.’ Jenny smiled. ‘That, of course, was one reason I moved north.’

  ‘And you don’t find the climate too … too unbearable?’

  ‘Oh, Luce! Of course not. It is the same country, you know. Millions of people live even further north than this.’

  ‘Yes, but they’re Scots. They’re hardy people. Not like you and I, or even Kat.’

  ‘Don’t be so silly! Anyway, you’ve seen what the weather’s like today. It’s not that unusual.’

  ‘What about the natives?’ Lucy persisted. ‘The Northumbrians? Are they friendly?’

  ‘Friends and neighbours,’ Jenny said firmly. ‘In this village that’s what we call them. Natives indeed!’

  ‘Friends and neighbours? How quaint. Will we get to meet any?’

  ‘They’ll be hard to avoid. I’ve made a few friends. Wendy in the village shop. Tom next door, and his children. And Will Renfrew.’

  ‘Tom, Will…? You have been busy.’

  She looked at Kat meaningfully.

  ‘I think Jenny must be having a lovely time,’ Kat said tactfully.

  ‘Yes?’ Lucy said, narrowing her eyes thoughtfully at Jenny. ‘I bet she is. No wonder she’s happy here.’

  ‘Tea anyone?’ Jenny said brightly. ‘Coffee?’

  Chapter Fourteen

  ‘Ladies!’ Will said, doffing an imaginary hat. ‘How was your journey?’

  ‘It took absolutely ages,’ Lucy told him in her best posh voice. ‘Hours!’

  ‘Four,’ Kat added.

  Will shook his head in apparent amazement. Then he turned to Jenny. ‘Such good friends you have, my dear. Travelling all this way, enduring such a journey, just to see you. Not that it wasn’t worth it, I might add! I would be the first to do just the same, given the opportunity.’

  ‘Oh, shut up, Will!’ You’re worse than Lucy.’

  Jenny wasn’t sure if she was amused or indignant. Lucy was up to her old tricks again – playing up to men. And Will was responding to the challenge, like some Edwardian admirer.

  ‘Let me introduce you to my old friends, Kat and Lucy,’ she said hastily. ‘And this is Will Renfrew – artist,’ she added tartly.

  ‘Artist?’ Lucy said in her most breathless voice. ‘Oh, how wonderful!’

  Not to be outdone, Kat smiled and said, ‘I’ve long wanted to meet a real artist, Will. All I ever seem to meet in Dartford are people who paint pictures of dogs and cats, and babies and things. Portrait painters, for Heaven’s sake! It’s as if we’re still stuck in the Middle Ages.’

  ‘Ah!’ Will smiled, nodded with understanding and looked towards Jenny.

  ‘I’ll just make a pot of tea,’ Jenny announced with a wicked smile. ‘I’ll leave you three to get better acquainted.’

  ***

  Never one to conceal her thoughts for long, Lucy took up the subject of Will Renfrew again at the earliest opportunity. ‘Are you interested in him, Jen? Seriously interested?’

  Jenny smiled. ‘Of course I am. He’s a good friend. He’s a very nice man. Interesting, too.’

  Lucy waved a hand impatiently. ‘Of course he is. But that’s not the point, is it?’

  ‘She means interested romantically,’ Kat added helpfully. ‘As in seeing him. Going out with him. Having designs on him. But you don’t need to answer that question. If you don’t want to, that is.’

  ‘Of course she needs to answer it!’ Lucy protested. ‘I didn’t come all this way to have Jenny introduce me to this adorable man – who paints wonderful portraits of dogs and cats, by the way. Ha, ha, ha! – and then have her tell me he’s a very nice man. And interesting, too. Did I?’

  ‘There’s nothing wrong with painting dogs and cats,’ Kat said defensively. ‘I only meant ... How was I to know what he does for a living? Anyway, he paints proper pictures, as well. Doesn’t he?’ she added, looking to Jenny for support.

  Jenny smiled, nodded and sat back and kept quiet. She was enjoying this.

  ‘You could tell just by looking at him what he does,’ Lucy said confidently. ‘Anyone with an ounce of ... At least, I could.’

  ‘Oh, you could! Of course you could. But a normal person is bound to have difficulty.’

  ‘Well, he’s not avant-garde looking, is he?’ Lucy persisted. ‘So he’s not an experimental artist, like at Tate Modern, or somewhere. And he’s not dressed in rags, and corduroy and things. So he’s not penniless either. He paints, but he makes a living out of it. So he must paint what people want to buy. Right?’

  ‘Portraits of dogs and cats?’ Kat asked.

  ‘Exactly!’

  ‘Listen to Madame Maigret!’ Kat invited, with a despairing look at Jenny.

  ‘Oh, I am,’ Jenny assured her. ‘And it’s absolutely fascinating.’

  ‘I’m wasted here, on you two,’ Lucy said unabashed. But she wasn’t finished yet. ‘Will is obviously slightly prosperous,’ she continued. ‘That means he paints things that sell – in his own lifetime. That’s always a plus. At least, I think so. Hence family portraits, and the like.’

  Lucy paused and looked round expectantly, waiting for the applause.

  ‘Bravo!’ Kat admitted.

  ‘Actually,’ Jenny added, when laughter allowed, ‘I think he’s fairly prosperous anyway, even without his painting. He lives in an absolutely enormous house that his grandfather built.’

  ‘Lives alone?’ Lucy demanded.

  Jenny nodded.

  ‘I knew it! I just knew it. He’s been waiting all his life, Jen, for someone like you – someone exactly like you – to come along. You have been out with him, obviously?’

  ‘A few times. We’ve had a meal together. That sort of thing. I’ve been to his house. He comes here.’

  ‘Wonderful!’ Lucy breathed. ‘You’ve got him interested, Jen. Strike while the iron is hot, girl. That’s my advice. What do you say, Kat?’

  ‘Oh, yes! Yes, indeed. He’d make a wonderful catch.’

  It was too much. Jenny turned away, embarrassed now. ‘I’m not sure how interested I am in him, though,’ she said with a sigh. ‘Not in the way you two mean, that is.’

  ‘Well, you should be,’ Lucy said severely. ‘You’re not getting any younger, Jen. None of us is. That old biological clock is ticking ever more loudly, you know. You want a family, don’t you?’

  ‘Who would like another coffee
?’ Jenny asked, desperate to change the subject. ‘Or a glass of sherry, or white wine?’

  ‘Another thing,’ Lucy added, casting the last vestige of caution aside, ‘if you marry Will, you won’t have to bother with the shop. You won’t need to.’

  ‘That’s enough!’ Jenny said sharply. ‘For your information, I have no marriage thoughts or plans at all. Not in relation to Will or anyone else. And, Lucy, I love my shop. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and now I can. I wouldn’t give it up for anything. I really do want it.’

  After a moment’s hesitation, the irrepressible Lucy said, ‘But you don’t know if you want Will?’

  ‘No, I don’t.’

  ‘That’s a pity.’ Lucy glanced at the other two and added, ‘There goes my chance of getting a free portrait of my cat. The kids, as well, sadly.’

  Jenny stared at her, scandalised. Then Kat winked. Lucy fluttered her eyelids with mock innocence. And Jenny began to laugh.

  The laughter became hysterical. Lucy threw a cushion at Kat, who responded. Like old times, Jenny realised. Absolute pandemonium had begun.

  ‘You two!’ Jenny gasped.

  Then she, too, grabbed a cushion to wield.

  ‘I know Lucy can be terrible,’ Kat said later, ‘but sometimes her instincts are right, you know. I’ve often found that. Maybe you should think seriously about Will. He obviously likes you a lot.’

  ‘It’s far too soon, Kat,’ Jenny protested. ‘He is a lovely man, I agree, but I hardly know him. Besides, I’m not sure he’s interested in me anyway.’

  ‘Oh, he is! Lucy and I are both sure of it. And you like him. So work at it. Reciprocate. Let him see the interest is mutual – or that it might be, in time. That’s all we’re saying. If you are interested, that is?’

  ‘Mm.’

  ‘It’s a long time since you and Pete split up. You should try again.’

  Ah, yes! Pete. Jenny had almost forgotten about Pete, and their engagement. It was another lifetime ago. Even before Mum had become so ill. Kat was so wrong if she thought that was still an obstacle.

  On the other hand, she really didn’t know about Will. Not in this sense, she didn’t. She just thought of him as a friend. That’s all, and everything, he was – so far. It seemed enough.