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

by Emma Davies

  Isobel had managed to steal a few looks at him when the conversation was not directed at her, and so far he seemed relaxed and happy to be there. Kate had even mentioned Matt on a couple of occasions, and Tom had seemed happy to talk to her about him. Her life was moving on and Tom looked nothing but pleased for her. Isobel hoped he was realising that it was perfectly okay for him to do the same.

  She looked up at the sound of her name, realising that Tom had been talking to her. ‘Sorry… I was miles away.’

  ‘I was just explaining to Adam about Joy’s Acre. I've never known a place like it, but it's hard to explain what it is about it that makes it feel so special. I was tempted to say it's the people, but that would mean paying you a huge compliment too…’ He trailed off with a cheeky grin on his face.

  Isobel stuck out her tongue. ‘Well it's certainly not the tradesmen,’ she said, and then paused for a moment, thinking. ‘Actually, I think it is the people… but I think it's the combination of the right people at the right time if you get what I mean. There’s such a huge amount of energy there, and that does make sense if you think of the place’s history. Back in Victorian times when it was first built, Joy’s Acre was a place that brimmed with creative energy, and even though it became unloved and uncared-for for quite a number of years, I don't think that energy ever really goes away.’

  Adam nodded. ‘It's on a hill, isn't it? I'm not sure why that makes any difference, but it does. I'm a keen walker, and I've done up hill, and down dale all over the country, but there's no feeling on earth like when you're standing on top of a hill.’

  ‘Do you know I've never really thought about that,’ Isobel replied. ‘But I think maybe you're right. Whatever it is, it certainly seems to affect the people there, but then they're very special people too, so that has to play a part. Everyone that works there has their own creative talent. Tom’s friend, Seth, who owns Joy's Acre, is physically creative, he likes to build things, a bit like Tom, I suppose. And his partner, Maddie, doesn’t make things as such, but she has the most extraordinary creative vision. It was more down to her than anybody that Joy’s Acre became what it is today.’

  She paused to take another slice of pizza. ‘Then there’s Clara, who I think might just be the earth mother herself; she has a way of nurturing everything around her, not just plants, but people too. And Trixie is the most amazing cook, she’s even got me drooling and I’d always been a bit take it or leave it when it came to food, but her and Clara’s creativity just keeps growing and growing. They've even started another small business now.’

  ‘And let’s not forget your own creative endeavours,’ said Tom.

  Isobel raised her eyes to the ceiling. ‘Oh yes, they've even got me at it now too. I’ve found myself making corn dollies and salt dough decorations which, if you'd told me three weeks ago I'd be doing, I’d have laughed hysterically.’

  She caught sight of the expression on Adam’s face. ‘Sorry, I'm rambling now. But you kind of have to see it to believe it.’

  Adam leaned forward across the table. ‘You carry on,’ he said. ‘I love it when people ramble, that's where the best stories come from.’

  Isobel grinned. ‘But aren’t I boring you?’ she asked.

  ‘Not at all. Stories are my stock in trade.’ He smiled at the unspoken query in her eyes. ‘I'm a documentary filmmaker,’ he said.

  Chapter 23

  They practically fell through the front door of the cottage, laughing.

  ‘Tom, if you ask me one more time if I'm okay, I swear I will batter you senseless with the nearest blunt object.’

  And just to illustrate her point even further she looked around her for something to wield.

  He threw up his hands in defence. ‘Okay, okay!’ He laughed. ‘I’m just not sure I actually believe you.’

  Isobel grinned. ‘I know, weird, isn’t it? I should be panic-stricken at the very least, but I’m really, really not.’ She was already walking down the hallway. ‘Although, poor man, talk about how to stop a conversation dead. I felt for Adam. It was all going so well, and then, boom!’

  Tom was looking at her, now that they were in the kitchen. ‘I thought you handled it really well though.’

  Isobel sighed. ‘The only thing I could do was come clean. I mean, if the almighty gap in the conversation wasn’t obvious enough, my sharp intake of breath and jaw hanging open would have been. I couldn’t possibly have covered that up, anything less than the truth would have looked utterly contrived. And I didn’t want anything to ruin what really had been a lovely evening. He would have fretted endlessly that he had said the wrong thing for some reason, and whatever excuse we made up would never have convinced him otherwise. He’d have gone on forever not knowing what he’d done. That’s not the start I wanted for you both.’

  Tom gave her a look which made her stomach flip over. ‘But what about the risk?’

  Isobel couldn’t quite believe how she did feel. She had asked herself the same question over and over in the car on the way home, thinking that somehow she was being delusional. But every time she asked the question, she came up with the same answer.

  ‘Do you know, I actually feel relieved. I feel as if a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. So what if my story gets out? Tom, it’s old news. It happened to me years ago, and like the monster under the bed I let it grow and grow until there was no room for it under the bed any more and I let it fill my life as well. Yeah, people might be interested for a few days, or a few weeks, but seeing as I’m not going to be making a comeback any time soon, what does it matter? I won’t be news, and what’s the point of dredging up something that was reported to death at the time? You’ve seen the articles, you know what happened back then… but that’s where it belongs.’

  He nodded, an unfathomable expression on his face. ‘You really are amazing, you know that?’

  She ignored the bait. It was important that Tom knew how she felt, without them getting… distracted.

  ‘Besides, I actually believe what Adam said; that he has never, and will never be interested in making documentaries about stories like mine, and I don’t think he’s lying. So who else is ever going to find out? Chances are it’s no one.’

  ‘I know Kate won’t say anything.’

  ‘There you go then.’

  ‘So, do you think he meant what he said about Joy’s Acre then as well?’

  Isobel scratched her nose as a stray hair tickled her face. ‘That I’m not sure about. I think, despite how things turned out, he still felt a bit self-conscious about what he’d said and that perhaps he was trying to be the perfect guest. He was undoubtedly interested in Joy’s Acre, but I think more from a conversational point of view, and that by the time he gets back to his office in the morning, embroiled in the one hundred and one projects he probably has on the go, he won’t give Joy’s Acre a second thought.’

  She looked at Tom for a moment, and then turned and picked up the kettle, crossing to the sink to fill it.

  ‘So, anyway. I’m not sure you answered my question in the car either. What did you think about Adam? Do you feel happier about things now that you’ve met him?’

  ‘That wouldn't be you changing the subject, would it?’

  ‘Possibly,’ Isobel admitted.

  ‘Well then, yeah, I feel good,’ said Tom. ‘And I didn’t expect to like Adam quite as much as I do. He’s not what I thought Kate would ever go for, but I’m happy that she has. He seems a genuinely nice guy.’

  ‘And…?’

  She could sense rather than see a huge intake of breath.

  ‘I feel as if he’s given me back two people I care about a great deal, and I never thought I’d have that.’

  ‘Kate and Lily, you mean? How so?’

  ‘Matt’s gone, I know that. And nothing is ever going to bring him back. But it’s weird… His memory haunted me so much it stopped me from focusing on the good stuff, on the people left behind. It got so that I dreaded seeing them, because all they did was repr
esent what I had lost, and I forgot that they were still very much alive. Now, though, I can see a future for us all, and that includes remembering Matt as we should, as a part of our lives rather than trying to shut it out. And Lily and Kate are a part of my life too, I know that now.’ He looked up at her. ‘I probably have you to thank for how I feel.’

  Isobel focused on his face. ‘Well I don’t see how. What have I done?’

  ‘Been brave enough to talk about the one thing I couldn’t, the thing that everyone else avoided but that you hit me with right between the eyes. The very thing of course that I needed to talk about.’

  ‘Don’t attribute that to bravery, I—’

  ‘Why ever not, when you’re probably the bravest person I know.’

  She threw him a sideways glance. ‘Yeah, right.’

  ‘I mean it. Not many people could have overcome the things you have.’

  There it was again, that distracting look in his eye.

  ‘So, did you mean it when you said that you were going to stay at Joy’s Acre?’

  She set the kettle to boil. ‘Well, I can’t stay here… I don’t have enough money, and I—’ She stopped as he took a step closer. ‘Thought perhaps—’

  ‘That you might have my spare room?’

  She looked up at him. ‘Yes…’

  ‘Or my not-so-spare room…’

  ‘Yes…’ Oh God.

  Seconds later she was in his arms, his lips against hers, his hands buried somewhere in her hair, and she had absolutely no idea where she was.

  It could easily have been her heart beating, except that the noise seemed to be coming from outside of her body, an altogether different rhythm. Whatever it was, it was insistent. Reluctantly she began to pull away. She had no idea what the time was, but it must be quite late.

  ‘I’ll go,’ said Tom, motioning towards the door. He grinned. ‘It’s probably Maddie, wanting to know whether I’m about to have my wicked way with you.’

  ‘Well then,’ replied Isobel, skipping out of his reach. ‘I shall be able to tell her myself that, yes, you are…’

  She pulled open the door, fully expecting to see a smiling face on the other side, and surprised to see it was Seth and not Maddie after all. And then she stopped dead.

  ‘Hello, Isobel.’

  It took only a second for her world to turn upside down as the blood rushed from her head and the horizon tilted alarmingly. She would have fallen had Tom’s arms not materialised from nowhere. There was a strange anguished mewling noise coming from somewhere and then she realised that it was her.

  ‘Mum!’

  ‘I’m sorry, Tom,’ said Seth, ‘but she said it was urgent, and I—’

  ‘I’ve come for my daughter. I’m taking her home.’

  Isobel trembled violently. She was aware of Tom moving swiftly to her side and then his hands were holding her face, forcing her to look in his eyes.

  ‘It’s okay, Isobel, it’s okay.’ He took a step past her. ‘Well Isobel doesn’t look like she wants to go, so I don’t think that’s going to be happening. I have no idea what’s going on here, but you certainly were not invited in, so on that basis, Seth, perhaps you could show her out.’

  ‘Don’t get involved with things you don’t understand,’ said her mother, narrowing her eyes and peering at Tom. ‘Ah, I see… You’ll be the reason why Isobel has decided to behave in such a ridiculous fashion. Well I’m sorry to disappoint you, young man, but Isobel has obviously told you a pack of lies about herself. She’s a very sick girl and can’t possibly stay here, she needs to be at home. Where she can be loved and cared for properly.’

  The colour drained from Tom’s face. He looked utterly distraught, and anger suddenly flared inside of Isobel, the adrenaline surge giving her back her voice.

  ‘I’m only going to say this one more time, Mum. I made it quite clear that I wasn’t coming home when I spoke to you on the phone, and nothing about that statement has changed. In fact, you can take this as notice that I have now officially left home so don’t waste any more breath. I don’t care what you say any more, I’m not interested.’

  ‘Oh, you might think you have all the answers, but you’re forgetting one simple thing. You have no money and nowhere to live. You can’t stay here forever, can you?’

  Isobel had argued with her mum plenty of times over the years, but whenever they did, it always came back to the same thing, and as soon as her mum played the trump card, Isobel would know she had lost – but not this time.

  ‘No, Mother, I can’t. But there are other places to live, apart from just here or with you. And it’s funny how as soon as you begin to think you can have a future, you suddenly find one stretching out ahead of you.’

  ‘Oh pathetic…’ Her mum’s voice was dripping with disdain as she took in the pair of them standing firm on the doorstep. ‘How much more predictable can you get? A beautiful girl with a tragic past… and you think you’ll be the one to save her. Well, how noble indeed. You know nothing about my daughter, nothing at all, and yet you’ve obviously swallowed all her lies in your desperate rush to get her into bed. I bet she hasn’t told you everything.’

  Tom took a step forward. ‘I know everything there is to know, and you’re right, your daughter is probably the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met,’ he said, his voice dropping by almost an octave. ‘She is also one of the kindest, the bravest, most generous, and talented people I have ever been lucky enough to know… despite her upbringing. Now I’m only going to say this once. You are on private property, and certainly not welcome here at this time. Are you going to leave now, or do we have to call the police?’

  Seth took his mobile phone from his pocket.

  ‘Oh, tawdry threats now, is it?’ She drew herself up. ‘Right, well I was trying to make this easier for you, Isobel. But now you’ve forced me to come out and say the very thing I was trying to protect you from.’ She put her hand to her forehead. ‘It’s bad enough…’

  Isobel looked at Tom, faltering for a second. What did she mean?

  ‘Mum?’

  ‘I didn’t want to have to tell you like this…’

  She could feel Tom’s arm tightening around her.

  ‘I’m sorry, Isobel, but your father has had a massive stroke. He’s in intensive care… and, I’m afraid, not expected to last the night.’

  Chapter 24

  ‘Shit,’ said Tom, looking at Maddie. ‘Shit, shit, shit.’

  ‘I’m so sorry, Tom, but I’m not sure what else we can do.’

  ‘I should have followed them… or gone with her at the very least. Not just let her drive off with that… psychopath!’

  ‘Tom, you don’t know that. Just because you didn’t like what you’ve been told before, you can’t go jumping to conclusions. For all you know her mum was telling the truth about Isobel’s father. In fact, I’m sure she was. It’s an outrageous lie to have told otherwise.’

  ‘Yeah,’ muttered Tom. ‘Now you’re getting it…’ He rubbed at his forehead, frowning. ‘Anyway, what do you mean, just because I didn’t like what I’ve been told before? By whom? Isobel… or her mum?’

  Maddie remained silent.

  Tom glared at her. ‘I don’t bloody believe you…! You saw what Isobel was like when she first came here – uptight as hell, pale, wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t say boo to a goose. All that stuff she told me… she was not making it up. Why the hell would she?’

  ‘Tom, I didn’t mean—’

  ‘And you of all people should know what it feels like to have lies made up about you…’ He broke off suddenly, sagging into a chair and putting his head in his hands. ‘Christ, Mads, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…’ He was close to tears.

  Maddie leaned over and put an arm around his shoulders. ‘We’ll keep looking,’ she said. ‘Just because it doesn’t look as if she has any social media accounts doesn’t mean she doesn’t exist. There’ll be a trace of her somewhere, we’ll find her. Besides, all her stuff is still here, Tom, she’ll hav
e to come back for it sometime… or someone will.’

  She paused for a moment. ‘And I need to apologise, Tom. I let my worries about this place get in the way of our friendship and that was inexcusable. I should never have doubted that what you and Isobel shared was something special.’ She squeezed his shoulder. ‘I’ll do everything I can to help you find her.’

  He looked up at her gratefully. ‘Thanks, Maddie,’ he said, only just managing to get the words out.

  ‘And thinking about it logically… if what her mother said was true then it’s quite possible that Isobel has just lost her father. Whatever their relationship, she’ll be in shock and grieving. But, you’re not going anywhere, she knows that. And she’ll come back to you when she’s ready.’

  Tom blinked hard. He knew Maddie was trying to help, but the problem was that he didn’t believe a word Isobel’s mother had said, and nothing would convince him otherwise. He’d been so bloody stupid. Why hadn’t he asked Isobel for her address at the very least? He knew she didn’t want to go home, and yet he’d done nothing to stop her being taken back. And now she was gone. And had been for three days.

  There was an insistent ping from the computer beside him, and he got to his feet wearily. He’d taken enough of Maddie’s time already and she had work to do. So did he for that matter, but the thought of climbing back up onto the roof again so that he could stare at Isobel’s cottage all day wasn’t one he relished. He’d go and grab a bite to eat and then see. Perhaps he might knock off early and go to the pub.