Summer at the Little Cottage on the Hill_An utterly uplifting holiday romance to escape with

by Emma Davies

  The smile fell from his face. ‘Well, what was I supposed to do? If I got up or moved I would have disturbed your playing. I didn’t think you’d want that so I—’

  ‘Carried on spying on me!’

  ‘No,’ he said, his voice low. ‘I sat as still as I could, trying not to sneeze, or scratch or even breathe, so that you could have the privacy you needed. If you hadn’t seen me, you would have been none the wiser.’

  ‘But I did see you.’

  ‘And you interrupted my sleep.’

  She gave a scathing laugh. ‘Well who sleeps like that in the middle of the day anyway? You’re like a child.’

  He visibly swallowed. ‘One that knows when it’s no longer safe to continue working at heights in this heat. Or perhaps that never occurred to you?’

  She bit back the comment she was about to make. It was a valid point, but it made no difference. That piece of music was intensely private, and no one, but no one was ever allowed to hear her play it. She cast about for something else to say, but he beat her to it.

  ‘I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything like that before in my life,’ he said. ‘It was incredible, truly incredible.’

  He was standing, hands hanging limply by his side, head tilted slightly to the left. She could tell that he meant it, but she would be damned if she would acknowledge his compliment, not when he had made her feel so exposed.

  The heat began to rise up her neck. ‘Been to many classical concerts, have you?’

  It was meant to be a sarcastic remark, designed to throw him off his stride. But to her surprise his expression didn’t alter.

  ‘Yes, actually.’

  ‘Yeah… like I believe that.’ It was an automatic retaliation. The words shot out of her mouth before she could stop them, but Tom looked like he’d been slapped.

  She felt dreadful. Her sudden anger left her as quickly as it had arrived and in its place was shame. Tom hadn’t meant any harm, he’d simply been unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and, she realised, he’d been trying to be nice to her.

  The thought that he was actually a fan of classical concerts intrigued her, and she had an urge to find out more. She held his look, toying with the idea that had just come into her head. It was probably unwise but she was going to do it anyway. She sighed, and invited him back to the house for a cup of tea.

  Tom was about to refuse when he suddenly remembered who Isobel was – a guest at Joy’s Acre. And while he didn’t think he’d been particularly rude, he had managed to upset her, quite comprehensively. Ordinarily in this sort of situation he would have made a polite excuse and left Isobel to calm down, but so far her stay with them wasn’t going at all well. After all, lunch hadn’t exactly been a success; despite everyone’s best efforts, Isobel had barely eaten a thing and, although she had been polite enough, the conversation had seemed forced. It had been clear she wished she was somewhere else.

  Reluctantly he accepted her invitation. At least if they had a chat, there would be an opportunity to improve the situation – it could hardly get worse. He indicated to Isobel that she should lead the way and was just following her back up the path when he heard an excited squeal.

  ‘Uncle Tom!’

  Tom’s mouth dropped open in surprise. ‘Oh my God, Lily!’

  He ran down the path just as a small child came full pelt across the garden, shot past Isobel, and threw herself into his arms. He gave her an enormous hug, lifting her up and spinning her round before slowly putting her back down on the ground. He straightened, giving Isobel an apologetic glance before turning back towards the garden. A young woman was walking towards them.

  He held out his arms once more. ‘Kate,’ was all he said, before pulling her in close and holding onto her for some time. He closed his eyes as a wave of emotion washed over him, and it was some moments before he could even speak. To cover his embarrassment, he picked up Lily again, pushing his face into the side of her neck, knowing that his stubble would tickle her and make her squirm. ‘Look at you,’ he said to her laughing face. ‘You’re huge! How did you get to be so big?’

  And then he turned back to Isobel, feeling awkward. ‘This is my niece, Lily,’ he said. ‘Who I haven’t seen in absolutely ages. And my sister-in-law, Kate.’

  Isobel smiled, looking equally ill at ease. ‘Pleased to meet you,’ she said politely. There was a pause for a moment. ‘I’ll go back inside,’ she said. ‘Perhaps I’ll see you later.’

  He nodded. It wasn’t great timing. But given what had just happened between them, perhaps it was for the best. It would give Isobel a chance to calm down a little before they spoke. Besides which there were things he needed to say to Kate, without an audience.

  He smiled at Kate, feeling a silence begin to grow. He knew that both of them were waiting until Isobel was out of earshot, and it was Kate who spoke first.

  ‘Blimey, Tom, who on earth was that gorgeous creature? I hope we didn’t arrive in the middle of something…? Although, I am pleased to see you’re keeping yourself occupied.’ There was a twinkle in her eye.

  Tom groaned. ‘Oh, don’t,’ he said. ‘It’s bad enough that I haven’t seen you for forever, without looking like the total womaniser you always take me for. No, Isobel is just a guest. She’s staying here in one of the cottages.’

  Kate laughed. ‘Yeah, right, pull the other one, Tom. No one can look like that without you taking an interest. I bet she’s not just anything.’

  He ignored her. ‘Don’t take any notice of Mummy,’ he said to Lily, ‘she’s being very rude,’ and he stuck out his tongue before lowering the child to the ground once more.

  He looked up at his sister-in-law, a million questions on his lips. She looked well, he thought, certainly better than the last time he had seen her, although to be fair that was some time ago. He tried to remember when it was, ashamed when he realised that it must be well over six months ago. It was before Christmas so…

  ‘How are you, Tom?’ she asked suddenly.

  He dropped his head. It should be him asking her, not the other way around. ‘I’m okay,’ he said. ‘Busy. There’s plenty here to be going on with, and after that I’m hoping to make a real go of the business.’

  ‘That wasn’t really what I meant.’

  Her sparkling blue eyes were turned on him, fixing him to the spot.

  ‘No, I know…’ He ruffled Lily’s hair. ‘But, yeah, I’m okay. Off the booze… most of the time.’ He thought back to a couple of weeks ago when that had certainly not been the case. ‘I still get the odd moments, but you know, they’re getting fewer and farther between.’

  He drew in a breath. ‘Anyway, what about you? You’re looking well, really well in fact.’ And she was. The sun had brought golden highlights to her already blonde hair, and her face was glowing with health. ‘It’s so lovely to see you.’

  She nodded, smiling, and looked across to Lily, fidgeting slightly with a bracelet on her slender arm. It was clear that she wasn’t going to answer his question.

  ‘Lily has something to tell you, and well, we’ve haven’t seen you in a long time so…’

  Lily beamed. ‘I’ve been learning to play, Uncle Tom,’ she said. ‘Just like you. Only the flute, not the banjo, because they don’t teach that at school. But Mummy says when I’m older maybe I can learn that too.’

  He looked up to see the proud expression on Kate’s face. ‘And she’s doing really well, Tom. Nothing to do with us—’ Her hand went to her mouth as she faltered a little. ‘She just came out with it one day, saying that she wanted to learn an instrument like her uncle.’

  ‘But that’s brilliant, Lily, well done you,’ he said, dropping to his haunches so that he was closer to her height. He looked up at Kate, but she avoided his gaze, just as he knew she would. He should say something really but it was hard to know what. Instead he focused his attention on his niece. ‘So, what have you learnt? Can you play any tunes yet?’

  She nodded, blonde curls bobbing with
the vigorous movement. ‘Lots!’ she said. ‘And that’s why we came, Uncle Tom. ’Cause I’m going to be playing in the end-of-term concert, and Mummy wondered whether you’d like to come.’

  ‘I would love to,’ he said, looking up at Kate again. ‘When is it?’

  ‘Next Friday,’ she said. ‘At four o’clock.’ She was biting her lip.

  ‘Then I’ll be there. Just try and stop me.’

  Lily threw her arms around his neck again, and he pulled her in close, deliberately trying to catch Kate’s eye. She mouthed ‘Thank you’ at him. He would ask her, he decided, but perhaps not yet.

  ‘And Lily finishes school that day for the summer so we wondered if you’d like to come back with us afterwards and stay for tea? I know it’s short notice, but we can have a catch-up then.’

  Tom smiled. Of course, now was not the time to ask her about the thing she was trying hard not to mention. The thing which was making her eyes sparkle and had removed the tired pallor from her skin. She had it all planned, after all. There would be a proper civilised occasion to have a talk about how she was, and what was happening in her life. It would be a much better opportunity than now, with a snatched, unprepared-for conversation when he was supposed to be at a work.

  ‘Will Adam be coming, Mummy? Tom can meet him if he is.’

  Tom saw Kate’s eyes flutter closed as her daughter innocently gave the game away, and he had to smile to himself; out of the mouth of babes, indeed.

  ‘I’m not sure, sweetheart.’ She looked at her watch as Tom straightened up. There was a pause for a few moments and then, ‘Actually, we ought to be going now, Lily.’ She couldn’t quite meet his eye.

  ‘Right, well, come on then, scamp,’ he said to Lily. ‘Give me another hug to be going on with, and I will see you on Friday.’ He waggled a finger at her. ‘And don’t forget to practise!’

  ‘I won’t!’

  She kissed his cheek before running off ahead of her mum. Tom watched her fondly, the innocence of her youth utterly beguiling. He waited until she was a little distance away, before turning back to Kate and gently taking her arm. He caught the other one and pulled her round to face him so he could softly drop a kiss on her forehead.

  ‘I’m happy for you, Kate, I really am. I never expected you to stay on your own forever.’

  She blushed. ‘I know, it’s just that—’

  ‘Just nothing,’ he interrupted. ‘Be happy, Kate, that’s all I want.’

  Her eyes began to glisten. ‘Thanks, Tom. I know I should have told you, but…’

  He held a finger to her lips. ‘There’s never a right time, except the one we have now. That’s all you really need to know.’ He stared into the distance. ‘And Lily is an absolute credit to you. Look at her, she’s happy, carefree, excited by learning new things, everything a child should be. It’s the right thing for her too.’

  ‘It’s early days, Tom. Who knows whether it will work out.’

  He linked arms with her as they began to walk down the path. ‘Who knows indeed. But you can have enormous fun trying to find out.’

  Tom walked Kate and Lily out to the car, waiting until Lily was settled inside and safely buckled into her seatbelt, before leaning in to give her another kiss. He stood back and watched as the car reversed before pulling forwards again and making its way slowly down the drive. He waved the whole time, intermittently blowing kisses at Lily, and keeping the smile on his face until he was sure they were out of sight. Then he stood for a moment, his face falling, before retracing his steps back into the main garden.

  He had known that this day would come. Never quite sure when, but knowing that it would. Kate was too young, too vibrant a woman to be on her own, and he was certainly no substitute for a father figure in Lily’s life. His niece needed the security and love from two parents, but even though he knew it was the right thing for them both, he felt the hurt wriggle its way down inside him that little bit deeper. Not that he would ever let Kate see that, of course, and he was genuinely happy for her, but it was another chapter over, another sign that things were moving forward and leaving the past behind. And he really wasn’t sure that he was ready for that.

  Chapter 5

  Tom paused before knocking on Isobel’s door. He wasn’t in the mood for tortured conversation, but he supposed he ought to get it over and done with. For all their sakes, it wouldn’t do to leave their very first guest quite as irate as she had been earlier. And he had quite enough to be thinking about already without getting into trouble with Seth as well. Or Maddie, for that matter. She could be quite the force to reckon with.

  The door opened almost immediately and, in the split second before Isobel smiled back at him, Tom was caught by another flash of recognition, which went almost as quickly as it had come.

  It was a small smile but it was a start. She pulled the door wider.

  ‘I saw you coming,’ she said. ‘So the kettle’s on.’ She turned and walked back down the hallway.

  Tom trailed after her. ‘I should apologise,’ he said. ‘For being so rude earlier. It was one of those awkward situations,’ he added. ‘Not awkward between you and me, but between me and my sister-in-law, and I felt like you got caught up in the middle of it, so I'm sorry. Kate and I haven't seen each other in ages, and I'm supposed to be Lily’s godfather, but I'm doing a terrible job. Kate’s on her own now you see, and I always feel rather guilty when I first see them and never know what to say.’

  He was rambling now. ‘Sorry,’ he said again.

  ‘Oh, I rather thought you were going to apologise for listening in on my practice earlier.’

  Something deflated inside of Tom. This wasn’t going to be as easy as he’d hoped.

  ‘Well, yes of course, I apologise for that too, but…’ He should have stopped right there, but the ‘but’ had just slipped out.

  ‘But?’ Her two eyebrows were arched in perfect symmetry.

  He squirmed. ‘But, in my defence, I didn’t actually ruin your playing. It wasn’t my fault you took up position where you did, and I was asleep when you walked into the field. If I’d have been awake, I would have alerted you to my presence before you even started. In any case you still played beautifully.’

  He groaned inwardly. Oh, just shut up Tom, don’t dig the hole any bigger than it needs to be.

  She turned her back on him, reaching up into a cupboard and taking down two mugs.

  ‘I hadn't even noticed,’ she replied. ‘Any awkwardness with your niece, I mean. But then I don’t have much experience with children. I’m an only child so no siblings to procreate, and I certainly don’t have any of my own. In any case, Lily seemed to be very fond of you, so you can't be doing too bad a job.’

  Tom shrugged. ‘That's young children for you. They’re happy to enjoy the present and she doesn't seem to bear a grudge about the length of time that goes by between my visits.’

  ‘So why don’t you visit? Do they live too far away?’

  He shook his head. ‘About five minutes from here. I practically have to drive past the house on my way home. It’s pathetic. I should see far more of them than I do.’

  ‘I’m sure you have your reasons.’ She pulled out a box of teabags from the same cupboard. ‘I only drink fruit tea when I’m working,’ she added. ‘Do you want one of those… or coffee, I suppose? Someone left some here.’

  Tom winced. That ‘someone’ had been Maddie, who had carefully put together a welcome pack of necessities for their guest. He’d had teeth pulled that were more enjoyable than this conversation.

  ‘Coffee would be perfect, thanks. Milk and two sugars.’

  ‘I suppose you always think because they live just up the road that you can visit them any time, and I imagine you always convince yourself you'll do just that. But then, somehow… you never do.’

  ‘Something like that,’ muttered Tom, wishing she would bloody well hurry up with his drink.

  She swung around, tilting her head at him. ‘I suppose you think I’m being cr
itical?’ she said. ‘I’m not. I just know how time flies by, without us ever realising how much of it has passed… and I know what families are like too. I suppose we love them really, but it’s never as straightforward as that, is it?’

  Tom looked up sharply from where he was picking at a callus on the inside of his thumb.

  ‘No,’ he said slowly, a surprised expression on his face. ‘It’s not.’

  She set a mug down in front of him. ‘So, what did they come for today then? If you haven’t seen them for so long.’

  Tom was certainly not about to tell her the real reason. ‘Lily has started music lessons at school,’ he said instead. ‘There’s an end-of-term concert on Friday and they’ve invited me to go and watch.’

  ‘Oh? Which instrument?’

  ‘Well I would imagine it will be a variety, but Lily will be playing the flute.’

  She nodded, taking her own seat, a slight wistful expression crossing her face. ‘I always wanted to play the flute as a child. Far more romantic than the violin, or so I thought at the time, hard to remember why really. The concerts I do remember though. Endless numbers of them – Easter, summer, Christmas, harvest festival. Any excuse to be shown off…’

  She pulled at the string of the teabag still floating in her drink, dunking it up and down. The sweet sickly smell was making Tom feel slightly queasy. ‘That all stopped after a while though. I moved on to bigger things. It’s years since I’ve been to that sort of concert.’

  Tom had the distinct impression that she wasn’t really talking to him, just speaking out loud.

  ‘You could come if you liked?’ The words were out of his mouth before he had a chance to rein them in. That caught her attention.

  ‘Oh, I don’t think so. Why would you possibly want me there?’

  Good question.

  ‘Well, trip down memory lane and all that? I’m sure Kate and Lily wouldn’t mind. Think about it. It’s not until Friday anyway. You don’t have to give me your answer now.’

  She dipped her head in acknowledgement. ‘Memory lane isn’t somewhere I’m hugely keen to go, but I will consider it, thank you.’