Summer at West Sands Guest House

by Maggie Conway

  Molly wasn’t an expert in body language but you’d have to be blind not to see he wasn’t exactly comfortable with the topic. He stared at a spot on the ground looking thoughtful, a small muscle working in his jaw. He took a breath as he faced Molly, their eyes meeting for what felt a long moment.

  ‘I was—’ He started to speak just as two middle-aged men appeared from nowhere in front of them, greeting Tom like a long-lost friend.

  At first Molly assumed they knew Tom but it soon became apparent they were golf fans looking for Tom to autograph the caps they were clutching. Molly thought there was something slightly comical about them, like they were overgrown excited schoolboys, but they were clearly golf fanatics intent on making the most of the moment.

  Tom stood up and Molly watched him go through the motions. He was pleasant enough but his discomfort was obvious to her and she watched his fingers flexing as they asked him a few questions about the upcoming tournament.

  Molly wasn’t sure what happened but somehow the mood had shifted and she saw his eyes had become distant, like a shutter had come down.

  Just as the two fans bumbled off with enthusiastic thanks and waves, a vision in white jeans and a halter-neck top complete with a mane of dark hair and to-die-for cheekbones appeared.

  ‘There you are, Tom. Where have you been hiding?’

  Molly furtively regarded the woman who was now placing a perfectly manicured hand on Tom’s arm, feeling herself shrink in the face of such perfection. The woman threw a cool look in Molly’s direction. ‘I’m not interrupting anything, am I?’

  ‘Er, no. Gemma this is Molly. She’s staying at West Sands Guest House—’

  ‘Nice to meet you.’ She raised a hand dismissively. ‘But we really should get going, Tom. I’ve got a good feeling about this house.’

  Tom looked slightly uncomfortable before he glanced over at her with a resigned shrug. Molly found herself alone on the bench, something beginning to feel familiar about seeing Tom being led away by an attractive female. She finished her drink and had no idea why she suddenly felt so deflated.

  ****

  A few hours later, Molly sat with a large glass of wine supervising Lily chopping peppers and tomatoes. Molly was pleased when Lily agreed to help prepare the meal tonight and was keeping a close eye on her to make sure there were no accidents. Lily appeared to relish being entrusted to cut up the vegetables that Molly had brought home and was taking her duties very seriously, her mouth set in a small line of concentration.

  Molly took a sip of wine and then turned her attention back to her laptop. Her intention had been to look at some job vacancies but somehow she had ended up Googling Tom Kennedy. She told herself there was nothing stalker-ish about it. She didn’t know quite why she was doing it – especially as he appeared to be involved with someone – but some strange compulsion had taken over her and she had to find out what had happened.

  She found a few articles easily enough on the fire that had ripped through the top floors of the Palazzo Lacarno hotel in Rome last year on the last night of the European tour. One man had died and several others had been injured. Tom had been playing the best golf of his professional life and been poised to win the title before the fire had broken out.

  By all accounts Tom had been a hero and had been involved in rescuing people which had resulted in him breaking his leg and subsequently giving up the tour. Although there were several articles and interviews, there wasn’t a single comment or quote from Tom himself.

  Molly thought back to earlier and how uneasy he had become with the golf fans and then recalled Judy telling her he was a private man. But there had also been that brief moment earlier when he had looked at her and she had felt a moment of connection. She felt like she was piecing together a complicated puzzle and was forming the impression that there was a lot going on beneath the surface with Tom Kennedy.

  ‘What next, Aunt Molly?’ Lily’s voice broke into her reverie. Molly jumped, feeling rather guilty, and snapped the screen of the laptop closed. Putting down her glass, Molly stood up and joined Lily. ‘That looks great, well done. Next we drizzle olive oil and then sprinkle some sea salt and black pepper.’

  After opening a few cupboards to locate an oven tray, they tipped in all the vegetables and gave it a good mix. ‘Now we can put it in the oven for around half an hour.’

  Earlier Molly had marinated the salmon fillets with olive oil, lemon juice and parsley and they were wrapped in foil already in the oven.

  ‘Will I set the table now?’

  ‘Thanks, Lily, that would be great. And I’m sure Luke will help you, won’t you, Luke?’ She lifted an eyebrow looking down at Luke who had appeared crawling along the floor playing with his cars. He appeared to consider the request for a moment before his cheeks dimpled into a smile. ‘All right.’

  ‘Thanks, kids.’ Molly nodded in satisfaction as they scuttle off to find plates and cutlery.

  ‘Okay, what have you done to my children? They’re setting the table and not fighting with each other.’ Anna came into the kitchen, slapping down a pile of papers on the kitchen table.

  ‘That’s because you’re their mum—’

  ‘—whereas you’re their cool aunt.’ Anna grinned.

  ‘What’s that you’ve got there?’ Molly asked.

  Anna gave her a sheepish look. ‘I’ve been approached about a job so I’m taking a look at the details.’

  ‘I thought you were going to take a few weeks off?’

  ‘I know, but I hate to turn work down.’ Anna grimaced, helping herself to a glass of wine from the open bottle. ‘I’m just taking a look.’

  ‘What’s the job?’ Molly wiped her hands and joined her at the table.

  ‘It’s a Scottish company, they manufacture engineered structural timber. They’re looking for a small freelance team to develop desktop applications – all stuff I’ve done before so it shouldn’t be too demanding.’

  Molly couldn’t help wondering what Anna’s definition of demanding was.

  ‘I’d probably need to go to Forres now and again,’ Anna continued.

  ‘Forres. That’s up north, right?’

  ‘About a four-hour drive from here or I suppose I could get the train,’ she murmured almost to herself.

  ‘But you don’t have to do it,’ Molly suggested lightly.

  ‘No.’ She shrugged. ‘But I’ve never turned down a job before.’

  Molly knew how much Anna’s career meant to her and could understand it being difficult for her to turn work down. But she worried that her sister-in-law was pushing herself and was sure a proper break would do her the world of good.

  Anna pushed the papers to one side and Molly hoped that Anna didn’t feel pressurised into taking the job. Just then they heard the front door followed by a chorus of ‘Daddy!’ as Luke and Lily scampered through to the hall to greet him. The two women shared a smile and as she went to serve dinner, Molly thought to herself what a lovely way that was to be welcomed home.

  Chapter Seven

  A few mornings later Molly walked into the kitchen where a stand-off between Luke and Lily appeared to be in progress. They were scowling at each other, Lily standing guard in front of the fridge with her arms crossed and her mouth set in a tight line.

  ‘Hello, you two,’ Molly said brightly, hoping to diffuse the impasse. She soon discovered the dispute was over breakfast.

  ‘Luke wants ice cream for breakfast just ’cos Mum isn’t here,’ Lily informed Molly, keeping her eyes fixed on her little brother.

  ‘She’s not the boss of me.’

  ‘Yes I am, I’m the oldest.’

  Luke was wearing his Spiderman pyjama top over his trousers – not necessarily unheard of but combined with his un-brushed hair and odd socks, Molly was fairly certain he’d dressed himself. Lily’s dark hair was pulled into a messy ponytail and Molly’s heart lurched at how young and vulnerable they looked.

  ‘Where is everyone?’ she asked, looking from one to the oth
er.

  ‘Dad had to go to work for a meeting and he told us to get dressed by ourselves and have breakfast. He said to leave Mummy in bed because she’s got a sore head. And he put me in charge.’ Lily lifted large eyes to Molly, and her earnest expression reminded her so much of Stuart when they used to argue as children.

  Molly chewed her lip thinking. That didn’t sound like Anna at all. She realised two pairs of eyes were now regarding her solemnly, awaiting her adjudication. She racked her brain trying to think of a way of sorting this without upsetting either of them and hopefully remain their favourite aunt.

  ‘How about we have some cereal and toast now and then as a treat, I’ll take you for a really special ice cream later?’

  Luke’s approval was immediate and he happily took a seat at the table and was already reaching for the cereal box as Molly raised questioning eyebrows to Lily. Molly felt her shoulders sag in relief when she was rewarded with a conciliatory shrug as she joined her brother at the table.

  ‘You two start and I’ll just pop up to see your mum, okay?’

  Upstairs, Molly knocked gently on Anna’s bedroom door and crept into the room. The blind was half open so she was able to make out Anna’s silhouette on the bed. Molly blinked as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

  ‘Anna?’ she whispered.

  ‘I’m just getting up.’ Very slowly, she sat herself up, her eyes narrowing in pain against the sliver of light from the window.

  ‘Don’t move,’ Molly urged. Usually so full of energy, it felt terrible to see Anna like this. ‘Do you need to see a doctor?’

  ‘No, I’m fine,’ she croaked, looking anything but fine. ‘It’s just a migraine – I haven’t had one for a long time but I always keep medicine to take in case. I just need to lie in the dark for a while.’ She managed a weak smile but looked utterly exhausted.

  ‘Can I get you anything?’

  Anna gently shook her head. ‘Stuart won’t be long, he only had to go in for a meeting this morning. It’s just the children—’

  ‘I’ll take care of them,’ Molly said fluffing up the pillows so Anna could lie down again. ‘You stay here and don’t worry about anything. I’ll have my phone if you need anything, okay?’

  Back downstairs and with bowls of cereal consumed and dishes washed and put away, Molly turned her attention to the day and what to do. She was sure she’d read an article recently saying that boredom was good for kids’ creativity but didn’t necessarily want to test that theory today. She needed to get them out of the house, but suddenly the day stretching ahead of them seemed quite long. The sun was out so that was promising.

  ‘Would you like to go to the beach?’

  ‘No,’ came the unanimous reply. At least they were agreeing on something, thought Molly optimistically.

  ‘Can we go to the aquarium again?’ Luke suggested brightly.

  ‘Uh-uh.’ Lily shook her head.

  Spotting her golf clubs in the hall, inspiration came to Molly. She remembered the junior tournament Tom had mentioned and didn’t know why she hadn’t thought of it before – the golf range would be perfect for the children.

  ‘Kids, how’d you like to go to the golf range?’

  ‘Yay!’ Luke jumped up and down excitedly.

  ‘Great, that’s decided then,’ Molly said, taking Lily’s resigned shrug as agreement.

  An hour later Molly almost regretted her suggestion to take a picnic, such was the time it took to organise with more disputes over what fillings to have for the sandwiches. It took much longer to get ready than Molly ever could have imagined – getting dressed and finding shoes, brushing teeth and applying sun cream. The process renewing Molly’s respect for parents everywhere.

  Eventually, they were all bundled into the car and ready to go. They drove along the coastal road with the sea sparkling beside them. The children fell quiet in the back of the car and Molly spied Lily from her rear-view mirror staring out of the window. She wondered what she was going through her mind and hoped she wasn’t worrying about her mother.

  Molly’s previous visits to Drumloch had been by foot but this time she drove along the main road before turning into another short stretch of road which brought her to the small car park in front of the golf school. As she brought the car to a stop, Molly looked around, always struck by the sense of tranquillity and beauty of the location.

  Lily and Luke were already scrambling out of the car as Molly rummaged in her bag for her sunglasses. Climbing out of the car, she spotted Tom right away in one of the teaching bays with an older man in the middle of a lesson. Luke happily skipped ahead while Lily trailed behind, seemingly not yet fully convinced this was a good idea. As she drew closer Tom looked over and gave her a small smile, making Molly glad she’d washed her hair this morning and chosen to wear the pretty cream lace top with her denim skirt.

  With the help of Kenny in the reception area, they were soon sorted with buckets of balls and suitable clubs. Molly thought it best just to let Lily and Luke get used to holding the clubs and have a go at hitting the balls. Without a shred of self-consciousness, Luke began to whack the balls, not even waiting to see where one landed before hitting the next one. Lily on the other hand was more considered and took her time lining up each ball and watching to see how far she had hit it. Molly wanted to make sure they didn’t think there was a right or wrong way, she just wanted them to enjoy it.

  ‘That’s it, well done,’ she encouraged Luke while surreptitiously glancing over at Tom. The lesson appeared to be finished now and he was chatting to the man. Even from a distance Molly felt acutely aware of his physical closeness. She didn’t know what it was about him that affected her so much. She wasn’t sure how to process it, except to know it wouldn’t do her any good.

  ‘Like this, Aunt Molly?’

  Giving her head a little shake, she turned her attention to Luke. Mustering all his might, he thwacked the ball as hard as he could, shouting in delight as the ball shot into the air and reached the fifty-yard marker. Molly spent the next few minutes watching Luke and Lily. She was delighted to see them having fun and more than a little relieved. Hopefully with all this energy being expended there’d be less chance of fractiousness later.

  Seeing their buckets of balls were nearly empty and realising their time was almost up, Molly went to fetch the picnic bag from the car.

  When she returned a couple of minutes later, the man who had been with Tom was talking to the children. He was tall, with snowy white hair and twinkly grey eyes and judging by the way he had Lily and Luke giggling, Molly had more than a sneaking suspicion he had grandchildren of his own.

  He introduced himself as Harry, joking that the children were playing better than him after his sixth lesson. After a while Tom came over and Harry bid the little group farewell.

  ‘You look as if you have your hands full today.’ Tom smiled, nodding his head towards the children.

  Molly glanced at him, suddenly feeling shy and self-conscious. She’d thought about him often – probably too often – in the last few days and seeing him again now, she felt her body reacting to him. She took a breath, trying to calm herself, and turned to introduce Luke and Lily.

  ‘Hi, guys.’ Tom grinned at them. ‘How are you getting on? Are you enjoying yourselves?’

  ‘I’m really rubbish,’ Luke informed him happily.

  ‘Not at all, I was the exact same at your age. You just have to keep practising.’

  Much to the children’s delight, Tom fetched another bucket of balls and then spent the next half hour helping them to take shots. Molly stood watching, her heart lifting to see Lily so clearly enjoying herself.

  Tom hunkered down so he was eye to eye with Luke and helped him line up his next shot. Her eyes drifted to Tom’s forearms and Molly thought she might be slightly obsessed with them.

  Watching as Tom now helped Lily take a shot, Molly appreciated how patient and encouraging he was while also making it fun. ‘Will I be as good as you one day?’ Lu
ke asked Tom earnestly.

  ‘You’ll be better than me if you practise and work hard,’ Tom assured him.

  ‘Can you get rich playing golf?’ Lily asked, sounding so serious that Molly had to bite her lip not to laugh.

  Tom let out a low chuckle. ‘Well, top players can.’

  ‘Are you a top player?’

  ‘Not anymore,’ he said with a half-smile. ‘Now I’m happy to teach golf.’

  ‘Talking of which,’ Molly interjected, ‘I think we’ve taken up enough of your time today.’ She raised her eyebrows at the children. ‘What do you say to Tom?’

  ‘Thank you,’ they chorused.

  ‘They really enjoyed that, thanks.’ Molly smiled, appreciating he had given them what was basically a free lesson.

  ‘Molly, I’m really thirsty now,’ Luke moaned, tugging at her sleeve.

  ‘I can get you a glass of water from the office,’ Tom offered.

  Molly shook her head, holding up the picnic bag. ‘We’ve actually brought our own.’

  ‘You’ve come well prepared.’

  ‘Have you ever thought about a drinks machine or even a café in the reception area?’

  Tom looked a bit sheepish. ‘Ah, yes. We’ve still got a long way to go. This is our first summer so we’re not fully set up the way we want to be yet.’

  Molly looked down, blushing. ‘Sorry, I hope you don’t think I’m being rude, telling you how to run your business. Only I’ve been in enough places with these two to know the usefulness of having a place for refreshments.’

  ‘You’re absolutely right. The reception area is something we need to develop – drinks are a priority.’ He nodded solemnly but his eyes caught hers with a sparkle of warmth.

  ‘We’re having a picnic,’ Luke announced.

  ‘That sounds good.’

  ‘We’ve got ham sandwiches.’

  ‘And cheese and tomato,’ Lily quipped.

  ‘Right kids, let’s go.’ Molly started to head to the picnic area, pretty sure Tom wasn’t interested in sandwich fillings.