Honeysuckle House

by Christina Jones

  ‘Definitely not,’ Leon said fervently. ‘Look, I know we’re shattered and distraught and not thinking particularly clearly, but if I found someone to buy out my half of the Nook, would that make things easier for you?’

  ‘Have you got someone in mind?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes. Someone who has been right under my nose. Someone I know would run it as well, if not better, than me.’

  ‘Are we home yet?’ Jamie stirred on the back seat and raised his head.

  Rosie gave Leon a warning glance, and smiled at Jamie.

  ‘Yes, love. Only a few more minutes.’

  ‘Good.’ Jamie said. ‘Nearly home – then we’ll all be together again …’

  A Rock To Lean On

  The morning was warm and golden. Rosie sat on the weather-worn bench on the cliff top and watched as the grey of the sea melted mistily into the flax flower blue of the sky. Behind her, Highcliffe was slowly coming to life. She let the gentle breeze pull at her hair, welcoming its freshness.

  Kizzy was still sleeping, no doubt dreaming of Andrew and weddings and happy-ever-afters. A note on the kitchen pin board had announced his unexpected arrival.

  Jamie was asleep, too. Rosie had peeped into his room, and noticed the trails of tears streaking his cheeks. Had they been shed in London? Or in the early hours when he’d realised that Leon wouldn’t be sleeping at the house?

  Together they had gently explained to him, although Rosie would have happily agreed to Leon’s staying if it meant Jamie’s face losing that haunted look.

  Jamie, too exhausted to fight any more, had nodded dumbly and collapsed into bed and Leon had left. Rosie had felt she had never disliked him more than at that moment when he closed the door behind him. She gave another sigh. At least there were William and Lisa – not to mention Lewis and Otis. She had left them in the garden, Lewis gurgling contentedly in his buggy while William and Lisa chased the ever-exuberant Otis around the garden, their laughter echoing into the house.

  Rosie thanked God for that laughter. It was a long time since Honeysuckle House had had anything to laugh about.

  Leon was just waking, screwing up his eyes against the sun that was poking intrusive fingers through the blinds. Felicity’s cream leather sofa, which had seemed the last word in luxury when he’d collapsed on to it last night, now seemed cramped and uncomfortable.

  ‘Good morning, sleepyhead.’ Felicity drifted into the room in a swathe of peach silk, carrying a tray of freshly squeezed orange juice and wholemeal rolls warm from the oven. Leon smiled at her sleepily, loving her, but treacherously wishing for one of Rosie’s Sunday morning fry-ups.

  ‘I didn’t want to wake you last night.’ He struggled into a sitting position, feeling unkempt and unshaven.

  ‘I was just delighted to find you here this morning. It meant that Jamie had been brought home safely.’ She perched on the edge of the sofa, watching him eat. ‘And that you’d chosen to come here rather than stay at Honeysuckle House or go to Steven’s …’

  ‘Jamie wanted me to stay at the house,’ he admitted, ‘but it would have been wrong to begin a pretence that I’ve no intention of continuing. He’s safe. That’s the main thing.’

  ‘I’m so glad.’ Felicity smiled tenderly. ‘You were never out of my thoughts last night. I was quite busy, too, though. I’ve arranged meetings for tomorrow. If you can definitely find a buyer for your half of the Nook, it looks as if we can go ahead with the purchase of the Old Granary.’

  ‘That’s great.’ Leon took her hand, ‘because I’ve already found one …’

  Rosie’s thoughts had drifted, in time with the fat white clouds now skimming the skyline, away from her immediate family. She, too, was thinking of the Nook. If Leon had a buyer for his share of the Nook, it would make tomorrow’s meeting with Paul Beatty easier.

  She would still have to find some means of supporting herself, but if someone else was willing to take over the day-to-day running of the Nook, leaving William as chef, then that would bring some financial security. But who would want to buy into half a business? Carl and Marcia?

  ‘I take it that things are better with your world this morning?’

  The quiet voice made her jump. Steven stood behind the bench, his hair lifted by the breeze, his eyes gentle.

  ‘Yes. Much.’ She smiled.

  ‘Thanks for your phone call last night. I’m glad it was a happy ending.’

  ‘More a tricky beginning.’ Rosie squinted against the sun. ‘I shall have to keep an eye on Jamie – but at least Leon has agreed to spend more time with him. We’ve agreed –’ she laughed at the word ‘– to become model parents for Jamie’s sake. Separated, but united in our love for the children.’

  ‘Good.’ Steven sat down beside her. ‘And the rest of the brood?’

  ‘All right, I think. William and Lisa are playing happy families, and Andrew turned up last night so no doubt we’ll be hearing about nothing but the wedding from that quarter. No, Jamie’s the one being most hurt by all this …’

  ‘Apart from you.’

  ‘Apart from me.’ She returned his smile, relaxing, listening to the gentle waves on the shingle.

  ‘You look lovely.’ His voice seemed to rise and fall with the waves.

  ‘I look a scruff!’ she retorted.

  ‘Don’t argue.’ Steven laughed with her. ‘You’re beautiful.’

  ‘Maybe I’ll become a supermodel, then.’ She grinned, feeling absurdly young and lighthearted after the traumas of the last few days.

  She turned to him, suddenly serious. ‘Leon mentioned that he might have found a buyer for his half of the Nook. Has he said anything to you?’

  ‘Yes.’ Steven looked away, his eyes following a boat on the horizon. ‘I didn’t say anything earlier because you were so worried about Jamie, but yes, he has. It’s me. He’s offered me the chance to become your partner …’

  She gaped at him. ‘You! What do you know about restaurants – apart from eating your way through the menu and ordering the best wines?’

  ‘Absolutely nothing.’ He grinned. ‘And that’s the way I intend to keep it. I shall be a sleeping partner, buying out Leon’s share and putting William in full control – which, goodness knows, he deserves. I’ve no intention of interfering with the way Cookery Nook operates. I just thought it would help you out of one of your dilemmas.’

  Rosie stood up, the wind from the sea wrapping her long cotton skirt about her legs. ‘You didn’t have some ulterior motive?’

  ‘Such as?’ Steven’s voice was low.

  ‘Well – Leon is your friend. Buying out his share in the Nook will enable him and Felicity Phelps to go ahead with the Four Seasons, won’t it? Also –’ she added quickly, as he was about to speak, ‘– it means that you and I can be seen together without raising eyebrows, doesn’t it?’

  For a minute he gazed out over the tumbling waves, then he turned to face her.

  ‘Leon will finance the Four Seasons somehow – you know that as well as I do. And if he’d raised the money through loans, what would that do for your security? They’d use the Nook as collateral, and you could lose everything. If he sold it to a stranger who might not want a mere half interest in it, who’s to say they’d keep William on? If I buy Leon’s share, it’ll be for one reason only – to keep you and the children safe …’

  Rosie believed him, and she was grateful to him. It was just … ‘What about the other reason?’

  ‘Being seen together without tongues wagging?’ His eyes crinkled at the corners. ‘What do you think?’

  She was unable to stop her own smile matching his. ‘You’re impossible!’

  ‘So I’ve been told.’ He moved towards her and rested his hands on her shoulders. ‘So, Mrs Brodie, if I become your business partner – and I stress ‘business’ – do I take it you’ll raise no objections?’

  ‘Better the devil you know, I suppose,’ she agreed. ‘It’s certainly better for William. And I can carry on with my plans to keep the
family afloat.’

  She turned her head, avoiding his eyes. Knowing how he felt about her, she was still too vulnerable to allow him to weaken her newly found resolve. Let Leon and Felicity throw themselves into the love affair of the century, she thought wearily. I’m the one who’s going to keep home and family together – and I don’t want complications like Steven Casey making my knees go weak …

  ‘Ah, yes, your plans.’ Sensing her reserve, Steven dropped his hands. ‘Have you decided what you’re going to do?’

  ‘Actually, yes.’ Rosie pushed her wayward hair behind her ears. ‘I’ll have to go through the pros and cons with Paul Beatty, of course, but the answer has been staring me in the face all the time.’

  ‘Which is?’

  ‘You’ll have to wait and see,’ she teased him. ‘Maybe we’ll have a business meeting to discuss it. I believe Leon’s always found business meetings very useful!’

  ‘You must feel a whole lot better when you can make a joke about it.’

  ‘Who’s joking?’ she retorted over her shoulder. ‘I mean it. We’ll have a business meeting tomorrow evening, after I’ve been to the bank. Come up to the house about half-past seven, and I’ll cook a meal.’

  ‘What about Jamie?’

  ‘I’ll explain things to Jamie. Once he accepts that Leon has left because he wants to –’ She shrugged. ‘Well, I’m sure he’ll understand.’

  ‘And you’d give it all up tomorrow if Leon would come back, wouldn’t you?’

  Rosie paused and turned to face him. ‘I – I honestly don’t think so. Anyway, why speculate on the impossible? Leon’s made it quite clear that Felicity offers him a future he could never find with us.’

  ‘He’s a fool.’ Steven slid his arm companionably round her shoulders. ‘Hey, isn’t that love’s young dream thundering through the undergrowth?’

  Rosie grinned. Kizzy, her hair flying, was running full pelt towards them.

  ‘Hi, Mum – Steven.’ Kizzy panted to a halt. ‘Oh, don’t look so panicky. Jamie’s asleep, the house hasn’t burned down, William and Lisa are feeding Lewis, and I’m just off to visit Andrew’s parents. They’ve invited me for lunch, and then we’re going to discuss the wedding …’

  ‘And?’ Rosie prompted, knowing her daughter.

  ‘And what?’ Kizzy scuffed at the path, sending up a dusty cloud.

  ‘And where’s the inner glow that prospective brides are supposed to have? Or at least some sort of twinkle in your eye because Andrew’s back in Highcliffe? What’s wrong, love?’

  ‘Nothing. I don’t think it’s sunk in yet, that’s all.’ Kizzy twisted her fingers in a stray curl. ‘I expect I’ll feel better when I’ve spoken to his parents. I do love him, Mum – it’s just –’ She broke off.

  ‘If you have any doubts at all, darling, don’t be pressurised into anything you don’t want to do. Look, come back home and we’ll talk.’

  ‘Later. Let me go and see them all first. I want to see what Mr Pearson has done with the chalet, and what plans Andrew has for turning the nursery into a garden centre. And to see where I’m supposed to fit into all this.’

  Rosie watched her go. ‘That is not a happy girl,’ she said to Steven. ‘She looks so defeated, somehow.’

  ‘You’ve all been through a lot.’ Steven followed Rosie’s eyes. ‘Perhaps Kizzy views marriage and happy-ever-afters with a bit more cynicism now, and who can blame her? Maybe they’ll postpone the wedding.’

  ‘I hope they do, honestly. But I don’t want her to finish with Andrew altogether just because of what’s happened to us. Leon had no idea what he was doing to this family when he took up with Felicity.’

  ‘It’s one thing after another with your lot at the moment, isn’t it?’ Norma Beatty pushed her gardening hat further back on her head, and nodded towards Jamie, pottering about in the borders. ‘He looks happier though.’

  Rosie lifted her face to the dappled sunshine. ‘I told him he could have some friends round, but he chose to come here with me. I think he’ll be a bit shaken up for a while – and this is his second home.’

  ‘Poor little mite.’ Norma smiled fondly at Jamie’s thin frame, hair fashionably spiked, as he dextrously replanted the unwieldy mallow bushes. ‘He was probably more frightened about being in London than any of you. He’ll have learned his lesson. And if he doesn’t make it as a footballer, he’ll always be able to make a living as a gardener.’

  ‘He’s certainly got green fingers, even if it is unfashionable. All his friends seem to want to work with computers. Still …’ She moved along the bench to give Norma room. ‘I just want them all to be happy.’

  ‘And they will be.’ Norma nodded. ‘You and Leon are good parents. You’ve given them the right values. Even if you’re not together, they’ll still have that rock to lean on.’

  Rosie glanced across at Jamie, completely immersed in his gardening. He seemed more settled. He’d even agreed quite eagerly to Steven coming to dinner, when Rosie had explained that it would mean the Nook would continue as before if Steven became a partner. Gently, she’d elaborated on Leon’s plans for the Old Granary, allowing Jamie to work out that his dad really had left home for good, but that he would still be part of their lives.

  ‘Just think,’ she’d said, with far more enthusiasm than she felt, ‘when Dad opens the Four Seasons you’ll have two places to go and be fed!’

  ‘Will they do burgers?’ Jamie had asked. ‘Dad and William never did burgers at the Nook.’

  ‘You’ll have to ask him. I expect they’ll have a fast food outlet somewhere in the complex.’

  ‘Brill!’ Jamie’s eyes were shining. ‘Maybe I could even work there at weekends or something. Then I could save enough money for the school football tour next summer. That’d be really mega …’

  Yes! Rosie nodded to herself in the sleepy garden. Jamie was recovering with all the resilience of youth.

  ‘Oh, Rosie, we were clearing out the conservatory and I wondered if Kizzy would like those cane chairs?’ Norma waved a hand towards them. ‘They’d look really nice with a few new cushions.’

  I’m sure she’d love them,’ Rosie agreed. ‘She’s probably planning her new home at this very minute …’

  At that very minute, Kizzy was glaring at Andrew in something like fury. ‘No! No way! I can’t agree to it!’

  ‘But why not?’ Andrew shook his head. ‘Mum and Dad have been so helpful, and with all the fuss in your family I’m sure they only thought they were acting for the best …’

  ‘They’re taking over!’ Kizzy wailed. ‘Can’t you see? Because you’ve been away in Edinburgh for so long, they’ve got used to making your decisions for you. But they’re not going to make mine!’

  ‘They’re not trying to!’

  ‘Yes, they are. It’s all cut and dried! For goodness’ sake – I’m not even out of school yet. I don’t want to be tied to a kitchen sink – let alone your mother’s kitchen sink – yet, if ever! You and your dad to run the garden centre while I help your mother about the house – become a diligent little housewife in rubber gloves and a frilly apron? No, thank you!’

  ‘They didn’t mean it like that! They only said –’

  ‘That once we’re married I should have “some time to get used to things” and you and your dad should do the “men’s work” …’

  ‘What’s wrong with that?’

  ‘Everything!’ Kizzy turned tear-filled eyes to him. ‘We were going to run the garden centre, Andrew. You and me. I was going to do the accounts, the publicity, while you fronted the operation. As partners. That was the whole idea. That was why you went to college. Wasn’t it?’

  ‘But Dad doesn’t want to relinquish the reins yet – and it is his business. I can’t just step in and say, “thanks for getting it off the ground but your way is hopelessly old fashioned, so just leave it to me and Kizzy now”, can I?’

  ‘I know that. I don’t want you to hurt them – but this is my life we’re talking about.’
r />   ‘Our life,’ Andrew said softly, pulling her against him. ‘You seem to have forgotten the “our”, Kizzy. You’ve changed.’

  ‘So have you!’ She pulled away from him. ‘You’ve changed so much that you’ve forgotten our dreams.’

  ‘The dreams were the only thing that made Edinburgh bearable.’ He sighed. ‘Dreaming of coming back to Highcliffe and putting all that theory into practice. Having the best garden centre in the area – with you as my wife. And now, because your father has decided to leave home, you’re behaving like a stranger. What do you want, Kizzy?’

  ‘I don’t know!’ The cry was despairing. ‘But I know what I don’t want. I don’t want to be a clone of your mother, always fussing about dusting the skirting boards. And I don’t want to be a clone of mine, either, throwing away the best part of my life on a mistake!’

  ‘So I’m a mistake, am I?’ Andrew’s voice was dangerously cold.

  ‘I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore.’

  Andrew looked at the chalet, so lovingly refurbished by his father, at the rooms that, in a few months, he and Kizzy were supposed to be living in as husband and wife. At the stuff of his dreams.

  ‘So what do you think we should do?’ His heart was in his mouth.

  ‘If I had an engagement ring,’ Kizzy said, ‘I’d give it back to you. As it is, I think we’d better forget it, Andrew. I can’t marry you.’

  ‘And when did all this happen?’ Leon looked at Kizzy across the table.

  ‘Yesterday.’ Kizzy steadied her trembling lip and concentrated on her coffee. ‘He only came back two days ago – and now I’ve ruined it …’

  ‘No, you haven’t.’ Leon reached out and clasped her hand. ‘True, you might have been more diplomatic – but you’ve never been noted for your tact, darling, have you? Both you and Andrew have been living on dreams for so long.’

  ‘I must have inherited that from you, then.’ Kizzy looked at him. ‘That’s what you do, isn’t it?’