by Jenny Kane
Doing her best to picture the shop space empty and freshly decorated, Beth decided to leave the hunt for specific ideas of what to sell on hold, and to face one thing at a time. First she had to decide if she would run the shop herself, or lease it out to someone else. Unsure if she wanted to relinquish control of the space, but knowing she didn’t want to stop teaching either, Beth shook her head against her contrary thoughts.
Could the shop be a general store, a bookshop, or a café? Or maybe even a gallery, as Max had suggested? With its two large windows, the space would be ideal to display paintings, but there were so many galleries locally. Beth knew she needed ideas that were unique enough to make the shop profitable in an area where tourism and art and craft shops already dominated the scene, beyond the displaying of the art work her recent pupils had given to her.
It was no good. She couldn’t think straight this morning. Pulling her shoulders back, subconsciously echoing a gesture her grandfather had used when he was dealing with a particularly difficult client, Beth decided it was best just to be practical and get on with what she knew had to be done. Once the place was cleared and she and Max were slapping on a fresh coat of paint, then she’d start making some choices.
Even though she’d been exhausted from driving for so many hours the day before, it had taken Abi a long time to relax enough to fall asleep. She’d lain under the duvet for hours, listening to the gulls and the rain bouncing off the slate roof above her, her mind a complex mix of ideas and insecurities about what she was doing.
Now though, with a stomach that was full of butterflies, Abi sat in the airy breakfast room, smiling at the hotel’s sole waitress as she delivered her a full English breakfast. Ignoring the echoes of Luke’s voice that mutely scolded her – ‘Too much fat, Abi; how could you? Don’t you know by now that it’ll just stick to your hips?’ – Abi poured herself a mug of tea strong enough to have sustained a removal man for several hours.
As she buttered a slab of thickly cut toast, Abi could see the sun breaking through the clouds, getting ready to shine its way across Cornwall. Chewing her way through some delicious bacon, she could feel her childhood calling to her. She began to eat faster. Would she be able to find Abbey’s House today?
Recalling the advice Max had given her in the pub the evening before, Abi begin to build an itinerary for her day as she ate. Despite her keenness to find the house she’d loved in her youth, she was also aware there was a high chance that seeing it again so many years later could be a major disappointment. So, as much as she wanted to dive straight in and track it down, she was determined to be practical and sensible. First of all she’d fill up her car with petrol, and then she’d go to the nearest place with a cashpoint.
Draining the contents of her mug, feeling as though she’d eaten enough food to sustain her for the whole day rather than just until lunchtime, Abi stood up with a spark of excitement running through her. It was time to go exploring. Today she’d cross off her list all those villages with no broadband coverage. As the kindly ginger-haired decorator had reminded her, without that function Abi simply couldn’t work.
Apart from that dose of common sense, Abi mused as she gathered up her car keys, and her bag ready-packed with maps and the addresses of all the local estate agents, she would let her heart do the decision-making.
Although she was grubby and tired, at last Beth knew she was making progress. She could hardly move for overstuffed black bin liners around her feet. Working hard and fast, Beth had not allowed her mind to stray from the task in hand. With every drawer emptied and the bench clear, over half of the clearout was complete. Beth’s stomach growled noisily, reminding her it was a long time since she’d paused for the round of toast which had doubled as both a late breakfast and an early lunch.
Rolling off her massive overalls, Beth threw them on top of the bags of rubbish she hoped Max would take to the tip for her later, then headed up to her flat for a shower before going to join her best friend in the pub for a much-needed plate of chips.
Sat on the low wall that ran along the seafront of Sennen Cove, Abi stared out in wonder at the beauty of the scene. Despite being gone six o’clock in the evening, the white sandy beach was still full of families making the most of the end of their day at the seaside. Mums wrapped their children in towels, sandcastles dotted the beach, pits had been dug with happy abandon, and collections of shells and pebbles sat ready to decorate sand forts, or to be taken home as souvenirs.
It was the nearby Roundhouse that held her attention however. Closed now due to the lateness of the hour, to Abi the gallery looked just the same as if had when she was eight years old. A wood and granite building, it had once been a capstan for hauling boats out of the water, but was now an art and crafts centre, and, apart from Abbey’s House, it formed the mainstay of Abi’s childhood holiday memories of the Cove.
As she stared at the building Abi reflected on her day. She must have visited more little towns and villages in one day than she had in her whole life. She’d liked most of them; but couldn’t picture herself actually living in any of them. Nothing had made Abi feel as if she was coming home. She’d struggled to damp down the knowing voice of Luke that spoke softly in her mind: ‘Don’t be silly, baby – just go home.’ But as Abi looked across the cove, with its turquoise sea that could have been in the Caribbean as easily as Cornwall, she knew that this place, right here, right now, felt right.
Maybe she shouldn’t have spent the day being sensible, and simply followed her heart and hunted down the house she remembered falling in love with as a child after all, rather than scanning the whole toe of Cornwall. The problem was, although Sennen wasn’t large, it was a maze of nooks and crannies, with as many houses tucked away as there were on show; she simply had no idea where to start. Abi wished she hadn’t packed her photo of the house in her luggage, or she could have shown it to Max, and he might have been able to tell her were the house was last night.
Thoughts of Max had drifted through Abi’s mind on and off all day. He’d been right. She wasn’t going to find anything to match her dream until she’d tracked down the house from the past. It would have been nice to share the experience of hunting for Abbey’s House with him.
Abi thoughts brought her up short. She didn’t know Max from Adam! Was she so desperate for friendship that she’d gladly spend a day with a man she’d met once in a pub simply because he’d been kind to her?
Not wanting to admit defeat or give in to the feeling of loneliness that was threatening to engulf her, and listening to the rumble of her stomach, Abi decided to go in search of dinner, and make a new plan on the way. Climbing to her feet, taking a lungful of the salty sea air as she did so, Abi told herself sternly that she was returning to the pub she’d visited last night simply because she knew roughly how to find it and because the food was good. She was not going there because she might bump into Max. Abi couldn’t deny however that she was disappointed not to see his van in the car park. It would have been nice to have someone to talk to.
Having been greeted by Patsy, who was keen to make sure she’d had the help she’d needed the night before, Abi had settled down to eat.
Making notes about the pros and cons of the places she’d visited so far, the warming effect of her steak and chips made Abi feel more positive by the second. She was so engrossed in what she was doing, that she didn’t notice the footsteps approaching her table.
‘Hello again,’ Max beamed down at her, ‘how goes the new life hunt?’
‘Oh, hello.’ Glad that he’d caught her between mouthfuls of food, Abi smiled. ‘Mixed fortunes, I think would be the honest answer to that.’
‘Let me guess, you like everything, but you can’t seem to narrow your search down because this county is both spread out and on top of itself all at the same time?’
Rather than being cagey, as she would have been with Luke in case he put her ideas down, Abi nodded, amazed Max had managed to understand and sum up the problem so quickly. ‘That
’s pretty much it. Everywhere was lovely, but not quite … although I’m as sure as I can be that it is Sennen I’d like to ultimately settle in. It felt the most right out of everywhere I’ve been today, and well, you know … and then there’s this house I’m sort of looking for …’
Abi found herself blushing, and she stopped talking. This was a stranger, and she was saying too much. He’d probably only come over to be polite, for goodness’ sake. She hadn’t missed that he’d been taking the occasional covert glance towards the pub door, and was obviously waiting for someone.
‘I’m so sorry, I’m gabbling.’ Abi knocked her notes together on the table, the abrupt need to escape stronger than her need to finish her dinner. ‘Thanks for your help yesterday, but I should leave you in peace.’
‘Not at all!’ Max looked at her plate, ‘I interrupted you, not the other way around. And anyway, you haven’t finished. Besides,’ he gave her an even bigger smile that did strangely pleasant things to Abi’s insides, ‘I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious to know which house in particular it is you’re looking for. I might know where …’
Her companion broke off as a woman came up to his side. She was short next to Max, but tall compared to Abi. The newcomer's dark brown hair hung loosely across her shoulders, and looked as if she had recently washed it and not worried about hanging around at home to make sure it was properly dry before she came out. Luke would have had a fit if Abi had done that.
This must be the girlfriend or the wife then. Abi was taken aback by her disappointment that the decorator was attached, and then gave herself a mental shake. Just because a man had been nice to her didn’t mean a thing. Plus, Max was so far from her type it was laughable to even think about him in those terms. I do not find him attractive; he’s just the first nice man to show any sort of interest in me for a very long time without having an agenda of his own.
‘Abi, may I introduce my best friend in all the world, Miss Beth Philips, schoolteacher of this parish, property owner, and like yourself, a lass about to embark on a brand new adventure!’
Chapter Nine
Beth gave Abi a welcoming handshake. ‘Well, that was quite an introduction! I’m pleased to meet you, Abi. So what adventure are you having then, if you don’t mind me asking?’
Again taken by surprise by how genuine this new stranger sounded, Abi found herself offering Beth and Max seats, which, to her greater surprise still, they took.
‘I’m either relocating or escaping from the clutches of the wicked metropolis,’ Abi gave a little laugh to show she was joking about the last part, even though she knew in her heart she wasn’t, ‘How about you?’
‘Oh, I’m in a dither about a shop,’ said Beth, ‘but I have to say your adventure sounds far more life-changing – and loads more exciting!’
Abi smiled. ‘I’m not sure about that. It’s definitely exciting, but it’s also a bit scary. New area with no one I know and everything, but it feels the right thing to do now that …’
Aware that since her arrival in Cornwall she seemed to be suffering from a severe case of verbal diarrhoea, Abi abruptly stopped talking. She had to know someone a great deal better before telling them about Luke. Anyway, this woman seemed nice. Abi didn’t want to put her off being a potential friend by admitting how weak and feeble she had been when she’d been married and kill off any respect Beth might have her before they’d had a chance to get to know each other.
Rubbing his hands together as if more than satisfied that they were all sitting together, Max called over to Patsy for a refill of Abi’s drink, and two pints of the local beer for himself and Beth, along with a couple of plates of the house special fish and chips.
‘So then, where have you been so far?’
Abi sighed, her determination to be upbeat waning in the face of such friendliness. It was so much easier pretending everything was OK when you were afraid to show weakness. ‘Where haven’t I been? Penzance, St Ives, Lamorna, Marazion … All lovely, but it was Sennen I fell in love with. But as it’s so small, the chances of me finding a suitable home are slim. Silly to set my heart on something I probably can’t have. I was just wondering if I should go back to Surrey and make the best of what I’ve got.’
‘Not silly at all.’ Max was shaking his head in earnest, ‘and I notice you said go back, and not go home. That sort of implies that your heart isn’t in Surrey anymore.’
Beth was nodding in agreement. ‘If you’re relocating then it has to feel right, you can’t live your life in the wrong place. I assume you work for yourself and can live anywhere, that’s how it usually is for incomers.’
‘I’m an illustrator for a children’s book publisher, so although I don’t work for myself, I can work anywhere, providing there’s enough light, space, and broadband coverage!’
Max and Beth laughed. ‘Then there are definitely some places that you have to cross off your list – including some roads in Sennen, but not all of them.’
Beth unrolled a hairband from her wrist, swept her brown hair from her eyes and pulled it up into a stubby ponytail, ‘So, this dream house then, tell us all! Is it in Sennen village or the Sennen Cove area?’
Abi stabbed at her last forkful of food, her need to share at odds with years of reticence. Here though, she reminded herself, she needn’t be the introvert she’d become since her marriage. Here she was allowed to be sociable. ‘I’m not entirely sure. I fell in love with the house as a child when I was on holiday with my parents. It is definitely around Sennen, and I remember it being near the sea, but I realise that hardly narrows things down.’
Beth thanked Patsy as fresh drinks were delivered to the table, before asking Abi, ‘So what’s special about this house?’
With a slight feeling of self-consciousness, Abi began to explain about how her parents had joked that ‘Abbey’s House’ should belong to her, and was relieved when neither Max nor Beth laughed at her or told her she was being fanciful.
‘I just need to find it. I know the chances of it being for sale are nil, and that it will probably be nothing at all like I remember, but I don’t feel I can start looking for a new home before I’ve squashed the slim possibility of owning it myself.’
Max tilted his head in her direction, ‘And that’s what you want, deep down? To own the house you remember?’
Abi gave a mini-inclination of her head as if she was embarrassed. Hearing her dream coming from someone else’s lips sounded preposterous. ‘Let’s just say I need to lay the ghost to rest before I start being sensible. I’m pretty sure that Sennen is where I’m going to start my new life, though.’ Feeling that she’d been the centre of attention for long enough, Abi asked, ‘How about you, Beth? What’s your new adventure?’
‘How about I tell you tomorrow? Fancy a local tour of Sennen?’
‘Oh, that would be wonderful! Are you sure you have time?’
Max put down the pint he’d been sipping, ‘Beth’s a schoolteacher, lass, which makes her a lady of leisure until September!’
Beth was nervous. It had been ages since she’d spent any sort of quality time with a female friend outside the confines of a classroom. She’d surprised herself by offering to give Abi a guided tour of the bits of Sennen and the surrounding area that she thought she might have missed. The woman was a stranger, for goodness’ sake! But Max had obviously liked her, and although Max was friendly with absolutely everyone, he rarely engaged women in more conversation than necessary. The distrust Max’s ex-wife Lucinda had engendered in him had been all-consuming, and Beth found herself more than a little curious about Abi and her search for a house that might not even exist beyond her childhood imagination.
As she sat on a bench at the bottom of picturesque Cove Hill, where she’d arranged to meet Abi, Beth watched the narrow street before her begin to fill with the early morning tourists, as they left their accommodation in search of a traditional breakfast. The cafés were already doing a brisk trade.
Searching the steady flow of traff
ic hunting optimistically for a car parking space, Beth kept her eyes peeled for the dark blue Alfa Romeo Max had told her Abi drove. A few minutes later, she spotted it, and was impressed as it was parked comfortably in a roadside spot Beth knew she’d have had trouble reversing something half the size into.
‘I’m impressed!’ Beth waved at the woman walking towards her, her smile giving her away to be as apprehensive about their day as Beth was. ‘I could never have got even my little car in there. Reversing and I have never been good friends, which is why I tend to walk everywhere I can!’
Abi felt a tiny flutter of pride, ‘London parking practice. I had no idea it would pay off so well down here!’
Beth laughed. ‘Well, if you can’t make ends meet with your pictures you could run a course for the locals to learn city parking techniques!’
Smiling at the unexpected dig Beth was making at her own shortcomings, Abi turned to look along the row of cottages that ran along Cove Hill. ‘They’re so beautiful.’
‘They are indeed. Incredible views as well.’
The bright blue of the clear sky and the pretty vista in each direction she turned filled Abi with a rush of optimism as Beth said, ‘First things first then, a cuppa in one of the local cafés, or a walking tour of the main village and then a coffee?’
‘I don’t mind. Whatever you’d like? You should choose as you’ve given up your day for me.’
Beth laughed again. ‘All I’ve given up is hours of tidying and cleaning. Plus, it’s the perfect excuse to put off a major decision for another twenty-four hours. You’re doing me a favour, believe me!’
‘That will be a decision about the new life you’re about to embark on, that Max mentioned in the pub?’
‘That’ll be it.’ Beth stood up, ‘Shall we make the best of both worlds and grab a takeout coffee to drink while we walk the length of Sennen’s main street? Then I’ll take you on a tour of the tucked-away roads and a few of the nearby villages.’
