Abi's House

by Jenny Kane

  Aware that Max was looking at her questioningly, Abi was glad that Stan was still talking so she didn’t have to explain the sudden withdrawal of her hand.

  ‘And last of all, Abi?’

  She snapped back to attention. ‘Stan?’

  ‘I’ve been thinking, it’s totally up to you of course, but as this place will be yours very soon, I wondered if you’d like to move in now. Get yourself out of that hotel; save all that travelling back and forth to St Just. I mean, Jack’s old cobbler’s shop is only a short walk away. If you can put up with me and Sadie then you’d be very welcome.’

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Sadie sniffed the plant life at Abi’s feet as she read the inscription on the storm-weathered bench. Its plaque stated it had been placed ‘In Loving Memory of Edna, who loved this view from childhood’.

  ‘And I’ve loved Abbey’s House since childhood, Sadie, but does that give me the right to invade Stan’s space before it’s properly mine?’

  Sadie’s brown eyes shone as Abi answered the retriever’s unspoken response. ‘I know it’s what Stan says he wants, but does he really, or is he just being kind?’

  Sitting on Edna’s bench, Abi stared across the sea, zipping her leather jacket up as the breeze turned more gusty. As Sadie huddled against her legs, her patient air calmed Abi’s confused thoughts. ‘And what about Max, Sadie? He’s so lovely, but I’m not sure I deserve him. What if I can’t love him as much as he wants me to?’

  It had been a long day in the studio. Although Abi and Beth had plenty to do, and the time had gone fast, Beth hadn’t been able to prevent herself from asking, just before Abi got ready to leave for the evening, why she was being ‘so tight with Max?’

  Even Abi’s successful acquisitions – a lady who quilted exquisite throws and pictures for the studio gallery in November and a local watercolourist for January – hadn’t lightened the suggestion that Abi had hurt Beth’s best friend.

  Abi wasn’t even sure herself why she hadn’t answered Max’s phone calls the previous evening or all day. Watching the seagulls for a while, Abi couldn’t shake the disappointed look that had crossed Max’s face last night when, after their evening at Stan’s with Peter, he’d asked if she’d like to go for a drink with him and she’d made some feeble excuse about wanting an early night to think about Stan’s offer. Then, with Simon’s accusations still ringing in her head, she’d told him she didn’t want to go to tonight’s pub quiz either.

  Abi was sure Sadie was trying to tell her it wasn’t feeble at all to need to think, but that she couldn’t hide from her feelings forever or she’d lose Max to someone else – or worse, he’d start to think her just as heartless as his ex-wife.

  Crouching down, Abi wrapped Sadie in a cuddle. ‘You’re a wise old thing, aren’t you? Tell me, do you want me to move in early?’

  An enthusiastic wagging of the tail answered her question. ‘OK then, I will.’ Abi stayed where she was, the warmth of Sadie’s fur giving her courage. ‘And Max, is it time I stopped being a coward there?’

  The wagging went into overdrive.

  ‘Do you think he’ll forgive me for being such a fool?’

  Sadie’s tail gave one more decisive wag.

  Standing up, Abi gave Sadie a ‘thank you’ pat, and they strode off towards the Old Success Inn, in the hope that Max would have gone to the quiz anyway. She didn’t want to say what needed saying over the phone.

  Checking with a friendly man in the pub garden that she was allowed to take Sadie into the bar, Abi took a deep breath and, trying not to make a sound as the quizmaster finished his introductions to the evening’s event, spotted Max on his own at the back, his head bent over a quiz sheet.

  Not wanting to interrupt the heavy air of concentration that had descended over the room, Abi, hoping she hadn’t blown her chances with him completely, whispered, ‘Max? Can we join you?’

  Max’s face did not break into its usual friendly grin when he saw Abi, but he did look delighted to see Sadie, who he greeted with silent enthusiasm as the first question was read out. That was when Abi knew for sure what an idiot she was being. If she hadn’t gone all withdrawn and distant for the past twenty-four hours she could have had a greeting like that.

  Without saying anything, Max pulled out the chair next to him and handed Abi a spare pen.

  Accepting his unspoken invitation, Abi sat down, hoping that she could at least impress him with her general knowledge, even if she couldn’t impress him with her recent behaviour.

  ‘An easy one to start with, ladies and gentlemen.’ The host, a large jolly man, who with his white beard would have made a superb Father Christmas, had a twinkle in his eye which suggested to Abi that he meant exactly that. It was most certainly a warning of the horrors of cerebral acrobatics to come.

  ‘Which Cornish landmark is most associated with the legend of King Arthur?’

  Max had written Tintagel before Abi had even taken the lid off her pen, and she felt a hit of defeat. He hadn’t even looked at her to see if she agreed with his answer. She knew it was easy, and that he didn’t have to ask her opinion, but it still felt like a slight. You only have yourself to blame, Abi told herself as the quizmaster asked, ‘The St Austell Brewery, from where we get many of our excellent alcoholic beverages, introduced which beer initially as a short term special, but it proved so popular that it became a permanent fixture on their brewing list, and has since become their best-selling pint?’

  Abi didn’t have the first clue, but Max was writing down the word Tribute with an air of satisfaction that hinted at the memory of many a satisfying pint consumed.

  The questions continued, and Abi was beginning to feel a complete dunce as she didn’t know the answers to any of them. Each one was based on the local area, the area in which she had chosen to live, and she knew nothing.

  At last, after what seemed like hours, the quizmaster widened the scope of his questions. ‘Which museum can be found on Great Russell Street in London?’

  Max shrugged and looked at Abi.

  Picking up her pen, she wrote down The British Museum with an air of relief that was so obvious Max couldn’t prevent himself from dropping his hostile exterior.

  The atmosphere began to thaw between them as the next question made them both laugh out loud. ‘Over which centuries did the Ming Dynasty rule in China?’

  After that they worked as a team, their hands occasionally touching as they both stroked Sadie’s fur, and although they didn’t catch each other’s eyes, a level of truce was telepathically agreed upon until they had the chance to talk.

  ‘Final question, ladies and gentlemen; and as usual, it is a bit of a stinker.’ The host paused, in the annoying fashion of a television gameshow presenter about to announce the winner, until at last he asked, ‘Which country spawned the original version of the children’s fairy tale Cinderella?’

  ‘Oh, God knows.’ Max groaned. So far they’d had an answer for everything, even if they weren’t completely convinced in one or two cases.

  Abi pulled the paper towards her and wrote down the answer.

  ‘For real?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘How did you know that?’ Max looked impressed, and despite his better judgement, the feelings he’d been doing his best to suppress for the petite woman next to him came rushing back.

  ‘I’m a children’s book illustrator. I’ve tackled a few fairy tales in my time.’

  The quiz host called out, ‘OK, if you could put your names on the top of your quiz sheets, I’ll be over to collect them up in a minute. Why not grab yourselves a drink while I tot up the marks?’

  Max opened his mouth to speak, but Abi held up her hand so she could go first, her words coming out in a mad rush in her hurry to get him to forgive her. ‘I’m sorry. I’ve behaved so badly, and I really have no defence except that I felt so guilty. I couldn’t seem to shift what Simon said about me cheating on Luke. And I do know that thinking that way is insane because we’d never
even met when Luke was alive, and that he has been gone for months now, but Simon hit a nerve I guess, and then when Stan asked me to move in, and then he started talking about not being here forever and all I could think about was Luke dying and how I let him down, and how I might let you down, and …’

  ‘Abi, it’s OK, I …’

  ‘No Max, it isn’t OK. Sadie and I were talking about it just now.’

  ‘Sadie and you?’ He looked at Abi with an affection which clearly stated that she’d gone a bit mad.

  ‘She’s a very wise old girl, aren’t you, sweetie?’ She was met with a nod from Sadie. ‘See!’

  Taking a sip of the glass of wine that some secret code between Max and the barman had caused to appear at their table, Abi returned to her explanation. ‘I’ve been afraid to like you. To more than like you. And I know we’ve already held hands and kissed, and we said we’d go slowly and everything, but I felt bad that I’m not been more forthcoming. I see Beth and Jacob together … they’re so happy, and their relationship has gone from nothing to full-on in seconds. I’m not sure Jacob’s had a night at home since he first turned up. I really want to be able to give you that, but I’m not that sort of person, and …’

  This time Max interrupted. ‘And of course, neither of them have been hurt before. Not like we have. Lucinda chewed me up and spat me out. I didn’t think I’d ever get over it, and I certainly didn’t think I could ever contemplate being with someone else. And you’ve been widowed, and spent years trying to be what your husband wanted you to be, and not who you are. That sort of thing takes time to get past. So, although I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t more than a little keen to see if there are any interesting birthmarks, tattoos, or secret markings on that body of yours, I also need time to trust. It isn’t just you.’

  Max held Abi’s gaze before adding, ‘I also know I take things way too personally. I felt rejected when you dropped my hand over at Stan’s, and I was cross with myself because I knew you’d have a good reason, but I still convinced myself you’d changed your mind about me. I even thought you might back out of the sale and leave Stan high and dry.’

  Abi looked horrified. ‘I would never do that in a million years!’

  ‘I know.’

  They both looked at Sadie, who was giving them a stare that quite clearly implied they were as bad as each other.

  ‘So will you take Stan up on his offer to move in?’

  Abi shrugged ‘I’m not sure. What do you think?’

  ‘You’ve offered to keep his room as his for as long as he wants it, even after he has moved out, and Stan is no fool, Abi. Trust me, he wouldn’t have offered if he didn’t mean it. I think it might be good for you. A transitional period for you both.’

  There was the bang of a pint glass on the bar, and all the attention in the room returned to the quizmaster. ‘As ever, folks, it was a close-run thing! But, ahead of everyone else by just two points, we have a winner. Before I reveal who that is, however, let’s go through the answers.’

  ‘We never used to have all this faffing about before Dave got addicted to watching Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’ Max muttered under his breath.

  Abi giggled as they listened to Dave start to read out the list of answers. After about ten, she looked at Max. Unless her memory was playing tricks on her, they had got all of the answers correct so far.

  Max put his hand over hers as they got to question twenty, and still Abi was sure they hadn’t put a foot wrong.

  ‘And the final answer, ladies and gentleman, which only one team got correct, the answer to which country did the original Cinderella come from is … Egypt!’

  The collective groans of ‘No way!’ from the other teams as Dave revealed the correct response, drowned out Max’s cry of ‘Oh, good girl!’

  As he hugged her, Abi said, ‘That’s what Stan keeps telling me I am.’

  ‘Not too good, I hope!’ Max’s eyes twinkled as a blush travelled over Abi’s cheeks and relief flood her system.

  She was spared having to reply by the sound of Dave announcing ‘Tonight’s winners, with a total of twenty-five points out of twenty-five, are Max and Abi.’

  Graciously receiving their round of applause, Abi’s face flushed when Dave came over to the table with their prize of a bottle of malt whiskey and said, ‘Welcome to the Old Success, lass. I’ve no idea where you’ve sprung up from, but you obviously bring Max luck. The poor old soul has spent a lifetime coming second. Never seen him win before.’

  As Dave returned to his other customers, Abi turned to Max. ‘Is that right?’

  ‘Sort of sums me up. Always the runner-up. Never quite good enough. Lucinda used to say that a lot. I can hear her now: “Oh for goodness’ sake, Max, all you have to do is try that little bit harder.” She wasn’t one for being second-best.’

  Abi had the feeling that Lucinda and Luke would have got on like a house on fire. ‘Sounds familiar. Luke was always on at me for not being ambitious. He never understood that I was happy as I was.’

  Max held Abi’s hand. ‘That’s the difference between people who earn their living doing things to make other people happy, and people who earn their living to make money. All that ambition can’t make folk content in the end, can it? I mean, if it did they’d be happy with what they have, rather than be in the constant pursuit of more, surely?’

  Ignoring the fact that they were in a public place, Abi leaned forward and kissed Max lightly on the lips, ‘If you keep saying things like that, Mr Pendale, there is a strong chance that I’ll never let you go.’

  ‘That’s good, because I have no intention of letting you let me go! So, shall we walk Sadie home to Abbey’s House?’

  ‘How about walking us both home to Abbey’s House?’

  ‘You’re going to move in then?’

  ‘If Stan still wants me to, then yes. Let’s go and tell him together.’

  Chapter Thirty-two

  ‘Beth?’ Abi was working from the laptop, which was sat on her desk, now a firmly established part of the studio gallery.

  ‘Yes, hun?’ Beth stopped singing along to the radio, and laid down the invitations she’d been stuffing into envelopes.

  ‘Are you sure you want to have two launches? Don’t misunderstand me, I think having a family launch to let the children see their work, and then an official launch is a wonderful idea, but can the budget stretch to it?’

  ‘I know it’s a bit of an extravagance, but I want to do this. And anyway, only the official launch is coming out of the business account, which is now in the black thanks to you securing exhibit deposits from three more artists. The family do is for me, so I’m paying for that myself.’

  ‘You can’t do that! I mean, I must go halves with you. It isn’t fair that you have to pay for that on your own.’

  Beth shook her head. ‘I insist, but if it makes you feel better you can pay for the postage on this lot!’ She waved the pile of addressed invite envelopes in the air. ‘But the food, drink, balloons, and so on are on me.’

  ‘But …’

  Beth held up her hand, ‘Listen, Abi, you’ll be working on your illustrations while the kids crowd round you and put you off big time. Believe me, it’s payment enough to have you to deal with the incessant questions from Brandon and his fellow handfuls.’

  Abi laughed. ‘If you say so!’

  Running her eyes down the list of emails before her, Abi gulped. She had been putting off mentioning to Beth that she needed to get back to her work as soon as possible. Now there could be no more delaying the moment. ‘Talking of my illustrations, Beth, I think I’ve pushed my publisher as far as they’ll go. I need to start producing some work again.’

  ‘Oh, hell! I’m so sorry. I had no idea you had people waiting for work.’ Beth looked horror-struck at the possibility that she’d been interrupting Abi’s schedule.

  ‘Not at all, you haven’t. They owed me time. I didn’t take any time off after Luke died. I just ploughed on, hoping the world would go aw
ay; hiding in my work. That was fine at first, but you can’t keep going like that for long. So when I finally snapped and ran down here, Genie Press gave me the bereavement leave they’d offered me earlier. Plus of course, my hours are flexible, and I can work whenever I like.’

  ‘But now the leave time is over and the work is piling up?’

  ‘That’s about it. Although, don’t worry, no one is cracking the whip or anything. I’m very lucky. There are three of us doing the pictures for the publisher, and they take on three books at a time. We each take it in turns to pick the book we want to illustrate next.’

  ‘Hey, that’s really cool! So you have a one in three chance of illustrating your favourite of the three each time.’

  ‘Exactly. And as it’s so much easier to draw pictures for a book you like, then it’s a really good way to work. For now I simply have to confirm to the guys at Genie that I’m back in the game.’

  ‘You will say yes, won’t you?’

  ‘Of course, I just hoped I’d have another couple of weeks so that we could get this place properly up and running.’

  Beth smiled at her friend. ‘Your job is wrapped up in this place, hun; we need to you to have work to do, so people can pop in and go gooey over your illustrations.’

  ‘Bless you. Talking of which, the author of The Pickle Twins and Genie have agreed that we can print a few of the stills from the book to put up on the walls – if you want them, of course.’

  Clapping, Beth was thrilled. ‘Do you think you could have them here in time for the launch day?’

  ‘I already have them! I drew them after all.’ Abi tapped her laptop affectionately. ‘Once I’ve painted or drawn them on paper, they get digitally zapped onto my baby here. I just needed permission from the author.’