Penny turned back and nodded. ‘I’d like that too.’
Kathleen went behind the bar. ‘What would you like?’
‘Just a tea please, I’m driving so…’
‘How about a hot chocolate?’
Penny smiled as she leaned on the bar. ‘You always were so good at making those. We used to come in here before we were legal just so we could have your hot chocolates and you used to let us sit in the booths, making one glass last a whole hour and you never kicked us out.’
‘I liked having you lot in here, and you weren’t doing any harm. The pub has always been a family place, always will be.’
Penny watched as Kathleen put a handful of marshmallows, a large spoonful of cocoa powder and a splash of milk in two tall glasses and stuck them both in the microwave whilst she heated some milk on the coffee machine. The microwave beeped and she pulled the glasses out, poured the hot milk into the gooey chocolatey mixture and gave it a good stir, topping it off with a good layer of squirty cream and a handful of chocolate shavings.
She passed a glass to Penny and gestured for her to go and sit by the fire. Kathleen sat opposite her on a soft leather brown armchair.
Penny took a sip, smiling at the fond memories she had of this drink and this place. She stared into the flames, wondering what she should say about what had happened in the past or whether to say anything at all. Maybe it was best just to let it go, move on and look to the future.
‘I’m sorry,’ Kathleen said and Penny turned to face her. ‘I am so sorry for what happened. I wanted to come and see you after the baby died, but… I don’t know… I thought maybe I should leave you alone for a few days. You had your family around you and I just thought you’d need a bit of space. I planned to come and see you at the weekend but then Chris left you and I found out…’ She trailed off.
‘That he had been sleeping with Jade the entire time I was pregnant?’
‘Yes. I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t know until after the baby had died but when I found out I was so angry at him. Everybody was. But then what happened after, the lies he told about you, I have never been so ashamed of him before.’
Penny swallowed down the pain of that, returning her attention to the hot chocolate.
‘People will believe what they want to believe and most of the town saw the lies for what they were, but as you know, there were some that believed them,’ Kathleen said. ‘I couldn’t look at him for months, barely said a word to him. I was so embarrassed by him. God, he was hated by so many people for what he had done, but that hatred spread to me too. The looks I’d get, the comments. Even some of my friends turned against me as if it was my fault he had slept with Jade, abandoned you and told all those lies. He left the town shortly after, as you know, but I was left with all those looks and comments for months afterwards. I saw you quite a few times around the town but I was never brave enough to come and say anything. I was too ashamed to come and see you personally and eight years have passed and you’ve never been back in the pub since.’
‘Do you blame me?’
‘No, of course not. I just hoped that you didn’t hate me for what happened but, as time went on, I guessed that you did.’
‘I don’t hate you. I hated Chris for a long while, but I never hated you. Because I never saw you again, I just presumed that you believed the lies he told you and that you wouldn’t want a crazy, psychotic person in the pub.’
‘Oh love, I wish I had come to see you, maybe we could have put this to bed years ago.’
Penny nodded, sadly and took another sip of the comforting hot chocolate. They had both been victims of Chris’s actions.
‘You know he’s married now, and has a baby boy. Eric, he’s five months old and Chris absolutely adores him. I guess that must be really hard for you, after seeing how badly he reacted to your baby.’
‘Actually it isn’t. It was hard at the time when I saw the baby clothes and toys you had bought for him, but I hope Chris is a better person now. It was a long time ago and he was young, we both were. If he loves his little boy, as you say he does, I’m genuinely happy for him.’
‘He’s grown up to be a marvellous young man, and a fantastic dad. He’s actually someone I can be proud of. I hope you can forgive him one day.’
‘I don’t hate him any more and I wish him well, though forgiveness might take a little longer.’
Kathleen nodded with understanding. ‘And what about you? I hear you’re seeing Henry Travis.’
Penny sighed. Nothing was secret in this town.
‘He seems like a decent man.’
‘He really is.’
‘And I know it’s early days but do you think you might have your own family one day?’
‘Family comes in different guises. He has a daughter who I adore. Maybe it would be enough to just be part of their family.’
Kathleen nodded. ‘Sometimes the family you pick for yourself is miles better than the one you were given.’
Penny smiled as she looked into the flames. She just had to hope that Henry and Daisy would pick her too.
* * *
It was a while later when Penny pulled back up outside her house. She had chatted to Kathleen for a few hours and, although she wouldn’t be popping into the pub every week, she knew she would be always be very welcome in there from now on.
She let herself into her kitchen and smiled when she saw Jill and Daisy chatting over lunch.
‘Hey.’ Penny dropped a fond kiss on Jill’s head.
‘Hello, lovely,’ Jill said. ‘I made you some lunch and then I found this little waif next door, practically starving to death, so I had to feed her up too, I hope you don’t mind.’
‘Of course not. Can’t have her wasting away.’
Daisy grinned at her as she polished off the last of her sandwich. Penny sat down next to her and gave her a friendly nudge. Daisy nudged her back.
‘I saw you going into The Pilchard earlier, everything OK?’ Jill asked, casually, trying not to let anything slip to nosy ears.
‘It is now,’ Penny said, lifting the cover off her plate and tucking into her own sandwich.
Jill smiled with understanding and watched her carefully over her mug of tea. ‘You look different,’ Jill said eventually, ‘and I can’t place what it is.’
‘I had a haircut the other day,’ Penny suggested, though with her hair tied back in its usual ponytail, it was unlikely to be that.
‘No, it’s not that. You look… contented and really happy.’
‘I am happy.’ She tilted her head to the side subtly, hopefully indicating to Jill that the reason she was happy really shouldn’t be talked about in front of Daisy.
Jill picked up on it straight away and stood up to go to the kettle. ‘Did you want a cup of tea?’
‘Yes please.’
‘She is happy, she has a hot date tonight,’ Daisy said. ‘With a sexy Italian of all people.’
Jill turned round. ‘Oh and who might that be?’
‘Fabio,’ Daisy said, delighted that she had gossip to share. ‘He’s an ice carver, just like Penny and very talented.’
She flicked a few buttons on her phone and turned it round to show Jill. Penny laughed as Jill watched the very bizarre proposal video. Daisy was getting enormous pleasure out of this piece of gossip and Penny was loath to burst her bubble and tell her the truth. She had politely and very firmly told Fabio that she wouldn’t be going out with him when he popped round the day before, nor would she be marrying him and having his babies any time in the future. But while Daisy was fixated on this new, exciting bit of news, it might make things easier for her and Henry to secretly be together.
‘Look, you, before you show Jill any more embarrassing videos or photos of me, why don’t you go and get changed into something warmer than your pyjamas and then we can do a bit of carving this afternoon.’
This was the only incentive that Daisy needed. She leapt off the bench with a quick thank you for Jill and then she darted
upstairs to get changed.
Penny got up and shut the connecting door and returned to her sandwich.
‘Am I to presume that the reason you are practically glowing has something to do with her father and not some Italian stallion?’ Jill said, passing her a mug of tea.
‘You would presume correctly. We’re seeing each other, it’s very early days and we don’t want to tell Daisy yet in case she gets upset by it, so we’re just going to see how it goes over the next week or so.’
Jill’s smile filled her whole face. ‘And how is it going?’
Penny blushed and picked up her mug to hide behind it. Jill’s face softened.
‘You’ve fallen in love with him.’
‘I think I might have.’
Jill squealed just as Daisy burst back into the room. ‘What did I miss?’
‘Penny was just telling me about young Fabio.’
Penny cringed a bit, this lie was going to trip her up, she just knew it.
‘Come on, you, we’ve got some carving to be done.’ Penny stood up. ‘Will you be here later?’
‘No lovely, I’m getting off now, but I’ll probably see you Monday.’
Penny kissed her goodbye and ushered Daisy into the cool room, hoping that the subject of Fabio would be dropped.
* * *
Henry wiped his hands on a cloth and looked at the table that was now gleaming in a coat of toffee brown varnish. It had been a brilliant day, working alongside his new colleagues, creating a table almost from scratch, and most importantly he hadn’t seen Clara all day. He hoped that she had got the message the night before and would leave him alone. The factory was closing on Friday for two weeks and this was his last day at work. If he could get through the next ten minutes of work without seeing her then he would be able to have a fresh start after Christmas and hopefully he wouldn’t have to deal with her again. He still had hopes of sharing his designs, but this time he would go straight to Edward or one of the designers.
He heard the click-clack of heels before he saw Clara and his heart sank. He just hoped that she would walk past him. The hope died quickly as the noise of her heels grew louder and closer and then stopped right behind him.
Clara cleared her throat annoyingly and he sighed and turned around.
‘I need a word with you in my office, there’s just some forms I need to go through with you.’ She turned to walk away, clearly expecting him to follow.
‘I thought I’d filled in all the forms,’ Henry said, not moving from his spot.
‘I need to go through some of the details with you,’ Clara snapped, clearly not in the mood to be messed around or fobbed off today.
She stormed off and Henry watched her go. He balled up the cloth, tossed it to one side and followed her. He caught Daniel’s eye as he walked past, who looked at him with confusion.
He climbed the stairs and walked through the office belonging to Audrey. She looked at him as if she had no idea why he would be going to see Clara but she didn’t stop him.
He walked into Clara’s office and deliberately left the door open.
He hadn’t really noticed the night before, presumably because the lights from the factory had been turned off, but one wall was filled with windows overlooking the factory floor, giving her prime viewing of where he had been working moments before. He didn’t like that she had been up here watching him.
‘Close the door,’ she said.
‘I’d rather leave it open if it’s all the same to you.’
She gave a small smug smile and got up from the desk, closing the door herself.
‘Do I scare you, Henry?’ Clara said as she sat back down.
‘Not particularly. But I’m just about to go home so if you can show me the issue with the forms then I can leave.’ He looked pointedly at her empty desk.
‘We need to fix a date for you to take me out for dinner.’
Wow. She wasn’t going to beat around the bush. Well, neither was he.
‘I’m not going to take you out for dinner, Clara. As I told you last night, I have a girlfriend and I don’t think she would take kindly to me dating other women.’
She drummed her long gold nails on the desk watching him carefully, the smug smile turning into something cruel.
‘I don’t care if you are happily married with twelve children. I’m the CEO of White Cliff Bay Furniture Company and trust me when I say I can make things very difficult for you if I so desire.’
His stomach twisted with anger. ‘What are you saying?’
‘Competition for your job was very fierce. You would be very easy to replace.’
Christ. He needed this job. He had moved Daisy across the country to take this job, dragged her away from his parents, her friends. There was no way he was betraying Penny, but even if he wasn’t with her, he would never be blackmailed into sleeping with his boss. The thought disgusted him. Clara was beautiful but he refused to be manipulated like that.
He could feel a rage burning in his gut. He had to walk away now before he said something he would regret.
He turned and stormed out of the office. Audrey stared at him with wide eyes.
‘Mr Travis, I’ve not finished with you yet,’ Clara yelled after him. This was clearly a woman who was very used to getting what she wanted. Not with him.
He turned round and stormed back in. When he spoke, he made sure it was loud enough for Audrey to hear. ‘Let me make this very clear, I am not going to take you out to dinner, I am never going to sleep with you, and if you try to blackmail me into doing so by threatening me with my job I will slap a sexual harassment suit on you so fast you won’t know what’s hit you. I will sue you and this company for every single penny that you have. Now I suggest you get on with your very important work and leave me to get on with the job I was hired to do.’
She went very pale and then stood up. ‘How dare you…’
He walked out and stormed down the stairs, not wanting to hear another word from her poisonous mouth. It was already past five o’clock and people were getting ready to leave, calling out goodbyes to each other as machines were turned off and work areas were tidied up. He grabbed his coat and stormed out.
He had humiliated her in front of her assistant and there was no way he was going to get away with that.
Crap.
He got into his car and slammed his fists against the steering wheel. Manipulative, evil fucking bitch.
He started his car and tore out of the car park.
He’d have to move back to his old town. He couldn’t afford the rent at Penny’s place on the money he got when he was self-employed.
No, he couldn’t move back to where he lived before. Everything was better here, the people, the area, the school. Daisy was happy and he couldn’t uproot her again. And there was his relationship with Penny to think about. He didn’t want to leave her. His throat felt raw at the thought of it.
He pulled up outside the house and rested his head against the steering wheel for a moment. What was he going to do?
He got out and walked round the back of the house, spotting Penny sitting at the kitchen table sketching out one of her designs. Without thinking he walked straight through her back door.
She looked up at him, smiling hugely but her smile quickly fell from her face as she clocked his bad mood. She stood up and he gathered her in his arms and held her tight. She immediately wrapped her arms round him, one hand cupping his head, cradling him against her.
She didn’t ask him why and he was grateful for that. He didn’t want to talk about it. Eventually he pulled away and gave her a brief, quick kiss, leaning his forehead against hers. He was going to fight this with everything he had, because leaving Penny was not something he could even begin to comprehend.
Chapter Sixteen
Henry walked round the outside of the house later, just as Penny came rushing out of her back door. He had calmed down a lot since he had seen Penny earlier; his resolve that Clara wasn’t going to win this had hel
ped. Ice cream in town with his daughter had also helped, she never failed to cheer him up.
‘Hey, you going out for your hot date with Fabio?’ Henry said.
‘Ha, no. I’m going for dinner at my friend Maggie’s house.’
Henry frowned as he followed her round to her car. ‘As in Daniel’s wife?’
Penny nodded and he stopped her with his hand on her arm. ‘He invited me round for dinner too.’
Penny laughed. ‘They’re trying to set us up on a date.’
‘They know about our date the other night though, Maggie was the one that persuaded you to get your legs and everything else waxed.’
‘She didn’t know it was a proper date, she had just heard that we were going out when Jade told everyone in the pub. I told her we were just friends, I think she was just hopeful it would turn out well – she certainly doesn’t know how well it actually turned out for us. She’s obviously trying to push it even more. I can’t believe she invited us and deliberately didn’t tell us the other was coming.’
Henry smiled at the interference. ‘How about we have some fun with them? Get our own back for trying to set us up.’
‘What did you have in mind?’
‘We could go and pretend we hate each other.’
Penny laughed. ‘I like the sound of that. We could still share a car though, their front door is round the side, so they wouldn’t know.’
‘OK, let’s go in mine, you can direct me in case I get lost,’ Henry suggested.
Henry got in the car and Penny got in too. They drove down the hill, through the town and pulled up on the drive at a large smart whitewashed house that had round windows and garish lights everywhere. Snowmen, Santas and several reindeer were lit up on the lawn and a ‘Merry Christmas’ sign flashed in one of the downstairs windows.
He told Penny to go ahead of him and as she knocked the door he got out the car and slowly walked up the drive. He saw Maggie answer the door – well, he saw her huge belly first and then Maggie appeared. Maggie greeted Penny warmly and then smiled in greeting at Henry.
Christmas at Lilac Cottage: (#1 White Cliff Bay) Page 19
