The House at Hope Corner: The perfect feel good holiday romance novel

by Emma Davies

  ‘Too much bother, I expect,’ replied Flora. ‘I mean, they’re not really, but you do have to pander to them a bit to get the best out of them. I don’t suppose you’ve ever really had the time. But your gardens are lovely, just the same.’

  Hannah stared wistfully out of the window. ‘You should see Grace’s garden, full of flowers; now that is beautiful. Colour everywhere and in summer, the smell… oh, there’s really nothing like it.’

  ‘Grace?’ queried Flora. ‘Grace from the village shop?’

  Hannah nodded. ‘Yes, she lives next door.’

  ‘Does she…? Well, I never knew that. But by next door I guess you mean about three miles away?’

  Hannah smiled. ‘Not quite…’ She turned in the other direction and pointed towards the field beyond the garden. ‘Just over the rise. Her house is on the hill, actually, but you can’t quite see it from here. She has the most amazing views.’

  ‘Strange. She never mentioned that we’re neighbours even though she knows I live here.’ She frowned.

  ‘Grace is a very private person,’ replied Hannah. She leant a little closer. ‘Her husband is, well… rather well known, and she doesn’t like everyone to know. They do know of course, but that’s not the point.’

  ‘What do you mean by rather well known?’ asked Flora. ‘Is he a notorious criminal or something?’ she joked.

  Hannah gave her a searching look. ‘You’re not far off the truth actually… Not a criminal, no, but what in our day we would have called a scoundrel.’ She lowered her voice. ‘Chases anything in a skirt,’ she added. ‘Catches most of them too…’

  ‘Oh.’ Flora’s hand went to her mouth. ‘Poor Grace… And everybody around here knows that, do they? That must be awful for her.’

  ‘Which is why she rarely talks about herself, at least until you get to know her well. Of course what doesn’t help is that her husband is Paul Maynard – you know, the one from the telly. Does all those quiz shows and documentaries.’

  Flora wrinkled her nose. ‘But he’s a smarmy slime ball—’ She stopped suddenly. ‘And Grace is lovely. What on earth does she see in him? Apart from his money, of course… Sorry, that sounds rather uncharitable.’

  ‘And there you have it,’ replied Hannah. ‘That’s what most people think and one of the reasons she likes to keep her private life very much to herself. But Grace met Paul when he was just nineteen, and they’ve been together ever since… thirty-odd years all told.’ Hannah ran a finger across her lips. ‘Of course it’s never discussed, and I would never say this to her face, but I would say that Grace herself is the reason that Paul has been so successful…’

  ‘Ahhh,’ intoned Flora. ‘The “behind every successful man is a woman” theme… I’ve never been sure about that myself, but whatever the dynamics of their relationship it still doesn’t seem right for her to be treated that way. No wonder she likes her private life to stay just that.’ She paused to think. ‘I really liked her when I met her though, I should try to get to know her a bit better.’ She gave a nod as if to underline her thought process. ‘Now, what were we doing? I can’t even remember how we got talking about Grace.’

  ‘Her garden?’ prompted Hannah. ‘The flowers?’ She tutted gently. ‘And I thought it was me whose brain was scattered to the four winds…’

  Flora held a finger in the air. ‘Ah yes…’ She grinned. ‘Right, I expect we had better clear up both ourselves and this mess, hadn’t we? Although Brodie looks to have done most of the hard work for us. And then I’ll go and get the seeds, shall I?’ And with another quick glance at the clock she crossed to the sink and began to run the hot water.

  Not long after, they were both standing inside the greenhouse surveying the debris around them. Despite the spring-like feel to the day it was still far from being warm, but inside at least the glass magnified the heat from the sun and it felt warmer.

  ‘As you can see, it’s been a long while since I’ve been in here,’ said Hannah, pulling a face. ‘And it’s become something of a dumping ground.’

  Flora looked around her. ‘I know.’ She gave a wry smile. ‘I should probably own up to already having had a bit of a nosey,’ she said. ‘But it won’t take much to tidy all this stuff. I’d have done it but I wasn’t sure if these things were still needed. Some of it looks like rubbish to me.’

  Hannah nodded. ‘I’d say most of it is rubbish. It’s certainly been in here far longer than it needed to be. Let’s just clear off that work bench for starters and then we can put what we need on it for now and stack the rest under the benches on the other side. We can throw as we go.’

  ‘I’ve already spied several bags of compost and loads of pots,’ said Flora. ‘Buried under that lot. Shall we try to pull those out first?’

  Hannah was staring where Flora pointed but Flora could tell she wasn’t really seeing it.

  ‘Do you suppose he’s doing okay, Flora?’ she said, suddenly.

  Flora looked up as if scenting the air. ‘Yes,’ she replied firmly. ‘I think he’s doing fine.’ She checked her watch. All being well, Fraser would now be halfway through his operation. She lightly touched Hannah’s arm. ‘Come on, let’s not stop now, eh?’ They needed to keep busy.

  With a visible effort Hannah pulled herself out of her reverie and met Flora’s eyes. ‘Won’t it be lovely for Fraser – to see all these beautiful flowers come the summertime.’

  There was a sudden lump in Flora’s throat. ‘Do you know what his favourite is?’ she asked.

  ‘Love in a Mist,’ Hannah replied without thinking. ‘And cornflowers, blue like my eyes…’

  Flora turned and picked up a pile of old sacks from the floor behind her. She couldn’t say another word.

  With the two of them working systematically, it wasn’t long before order was restored and soon they had cleared a work bench and laid out an assortment of pots and trays. Importantly, they had found two more big bags of compost languishing in the corner, more than enough for what they would need, and Flora dragged these over to the bench. Fifteen more minutes saw the pots and trays filled with soil and finally Flora was able to pull the packets of seeds from her pocket and spread them out.

  ‘I’m a bit of a hoarder,’ she admitted, grinning. In front of her were at least twenty different varieties of flower seeds. ‘Once I’d started collecting them I found it hard to stop.’

  ‘You don’t say…’

  Flora pulled a couple of packets forward. ‘So these, obviously, for Fraser…’ she said. ‘And what else, Hannah, what are your favourites?’

  Hannah immediately snatched up a packet. ‘Oh, larkspur,’ she said. ‘Anything old-fashioned like these.’ She touched another. ‘Ranunculus, too.’

  Flora smiled at the joy on her face. ‘Right, then, we’ll start with these.’ She looked down at the bench. ‘How about we do two of the big pots of each of these, and then see what we’ve got left over?’ She handed two of the packets to Hannah, who smiled at them dreamily.

  ‘I had ranunculus in my wedding bouquet,’ she said. ‘Goodness, that was a long time ago…’

  ‘How long have you two been married?’ asked Flora.

  Hannah’s head came up slightly. ‘It will be thirty-five years this year. In May. We got married on May Day.’

  ‘Well, then we need to make sure that this year is extra special, don’t we? Fraser will be up and running about like a spring chicken by then, so it will be perfect…’ She had expected to see Hannah’s face light up, but was surprised to see it fall.

  ‘I was rather hoping that perhaps you and Ned… but now I’m not at all sure that’s going to be possible. I can’t see how we could make all the arrangements in time, not now there’s this…’

  Getting married on May Day? Flora wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about the idea. She knew there was no rush, but… She pursed her lips. What bothered her was the nagging doubt that if they didn’t get married soon, they wouldn’t get married at all. It would be quite some time before Fraser was
able to take up his former role on the farm and they would continue to be as busy. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to take time away from the farm.

  ‘Hannah, there’s no rush. Ned and I can get married any time. What’s important is that Fraser makes as full a recovery as possible, and then once things are more settled we can think about it then.’

  She tore off the top of the packet of seeds she was holding, trying to judge how to pitch her next statement.

  ‘And it might be that it will be easier to have the wedding somewhere else and let them take the strain, rather than having it here, with all the extra work that involves. I expect there are some lovely places around.’

  Hannah considered this for all of a millisecond. ‘No, I don’t think so,’ she said. ‘I think we’d hate that.’

  Flora gave a tight smile. ‘Well, then… as I said, plenty of time to think about it.’ Today was really not the day to have this conversation. She stared at the packet in her hand. Still, at least the seed of the idea had been sown. Oh, the irony…

  She sprinkled a few seeds over the tray of compost. ‘These are going to look so gorgeous,’ she added, trying to lighten the mood. ‘We’ll have to have a look and see where the best place will be for them once they’ve grown on a bit and can be planted out. Where do you think they should go?’

  ‘Well, as we’ll have so many, I think I’d like to have some for the cottage garden as well. If we do ever get to move in there there’s only a patch of lawn at the back so a few flower beds would look very pretty. The rest I was thinking would look lovely on the big triangle between the two houses. It’s where we have the table and chairs out in summer, under the shade of the big chestnut.’

  Flora nodded. ‘Imagine how great they’ll smell too. Well, I think that’s settled then. We’d better get a few more done.’

  The hands of the clock were creeping round, and by the time they had finished and tidied up, watered their seeds and washed their hands, Flora reckoned it might be time for a cup of tea. And a phone call.

  Chapter Twelve

  Flora’s heart was literally pounding in her chest, and she hoped to God that Fraser’s still was too. She felt like she was choking; as if her stomach had somehow risen, leaving her lungs with no room to expand. One look at Hannah’s face confirmed that she was feeling just the same. Flora shook her head. Of course she was. How ridiculous to think she could be anything other than terrified.

  They were both sitting at the kitchen table, a mug of tea and a plate of biscuits in front of them. The biscuits lay untouched and, although Flora’s mouth was dry as a bone, she couldn’t bring herself to drink. She had completely underestimated the amount of time they would need to finish up in the greenhouse, and making a pot of tea had taken all of three minutes, not the twenty they had until it was time to make the call.

  ‘Would you like me to ring for you?’ Flora asked. She didn’t want to at all, but she had to offer.

  Hannah inhaled a deep breath. ‘No, I should ring. That’s kind of you, Flora, but…’ She couldn’t finish the sentence. She stared out across the room, her fingers wrapped tightly around her mug, drawing comfort from the warmth.

  The hospital hadn’t rung them; that had to be a good sign, thought Flora. If anything had happened during the operation they would have made contact. She swallowed and sneaked a glance at Hannah, reaching down to stroke the top of Brodie’s head, which was pressed hard against her knee and had been since the moment they’d sat down.

  ‘I think I’ll ring now,’ announced Hannah, getting to her feet. ‘I can’t stand this. Even if they tell me to ring back, that’s okay. It’ll be something.’

  Flora nodded and watched as she left the room. Should she go with her, to stand by her side? Should she loiter by the kitchen door and try to hear what was being said? Or should she just give Hannah some space and wait for her to return? She leant forward and buried her face in Brodie’s fur. ‘What do I do, boy?’ she whispered. ‘What would Hannah want?’

  But she knew what she would want, and so she slowly got to her feet and went out into the hallway.

  Hannah’s hands were shaking as she dialled the number, but as she waited for it to connect she smiled gratefully at Flora. It must have rung about twenty or thirty times before it was answered and, as Hannah made her request, Flora’s stomach shifted, fizzing with anxiety.

  There was a long pause and then Hannah closed her eyes, her lips murmuring, her breath leaving her in short pants. ‘Oh, thank God…’ She held out the receiver to Flora and melted back down the corridor.

  Flora stared at it in surprise. ‘Hello?’ she said.

  The voice at the other end sounded just as confused as she was.

  ‘No, I’m sorry, this is… I’m Fraser’s… daughter-in-law. Yes, I think his wife’s just gone to sit down.’ She listened for a moment. ‘Okay, no, that’s lovely, thank you. Oh… we’re so relieved… Yes, I will. Thanks… Bye.’ She hung up, a rushing noise in her ear, trying to keep the nurse’s words in her head so that she could repeat them.

  Hannah had returned to sit at the table, her back to Flora as she entered the room and, as Flora moved back to her original seat, she could see slow silent tears making their way down Hannah’s cheeks.

  ‘I thought I’d lost him,’ she said, as soon as Flora sat down.

  She reached over to take her hand. ‘I know,’ she said. ‘But it’s over, Hannah.’ She beamed. It wasn’t over, not by a long chalk, it was only just beginning, but Flora wasn’t about to divulge any of her memories or the things she’d uncovered during her Internet research. ‘The nurse said the operation went well and, although he’s not awake yet, he’s in recovery. You can see him tomorrow.’

  Hannah gave a series of rapid nods, and clutched briefly at Flora’s hand before her grip went slack again.

  ‘Shall I make us some more tea?’ Flora asked, but there was a swift shake of the head. ‘Are you sure, because I’m going to have another?’ Flora’s tongue was now welded to the roof of her mouth. She got up to re-boil the kettle. ‘We must let Ned know too,’ she added, turning back around, but Hannah was still staring into space. ‘Hannah?’

  The vacant eyes slowly refocused on her.

  ‘Would you like to give Ned a ring?’

  It seemed an age before Hannah answered. ‘No, dear… you can speak to him. If you don’t mind I think I might go and have a lie-down. I’m suddenly feeling incredibly tired.’

  She looked exhausted. As if the strain of keeping everything under control had suddenly collapsed and she could no longer even control the way her face looked. Flora smiled warmly.

  ‘No, you go, it will do you the power of good.’

  Suddenly the long afternoon stretched ahead of her. She paused for a moment, wondering how best to phrase what she wanted to say next.

  ‘Before you go though, Hannah, when we were talking before, about the wedding, it made me wonder about other arrangements as well… Have you thought about what you’re going to do when Fraser comes home?’

  There was a sideways glance. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Well, practical stuff, I guess. Where you’ll sleep, for one.’

  Hannah was concentrating on the table in front of her. There was a pause and then she looked up, a surprised expression on her face.

  ‘Do I need to think about that? I haven’t really…’ She trailed off.

  ‘Hannah,’ said Flora gently. ‘Did you read any of the leaflets that the hospital gave you?’

  There was a slight shake of the head. ‘No, I couldn’t. I don’t want to know. I just want him home.’

  Flora feared as much. ‘Okay,’ she said lightly. ‘Well, we can talk about it as and when we need to, it’s no big deal. Fraser won’t be out of hospital for a week or so anyway, so we have a little time, but the one thing I think we do need to sort out is sleeping arrangements. I don’t think he’ll be able to manage the stairs for a few days, and he may well need help with certain… personal things…’ S
he stopped when she realised that Hannah clearly hadn’t thought about any of this. She gave a small smile. ‘Fraser’s a big man and you might not be able to manage on your own…’ She cleared her throat. ‘Ned and I were talking about it last night and we wondered if it might be better if we made up a bedroom for Fraser downstairs?’

  There was silence for a few moments as Hannah stared at her hands.

  ‘We just thought that might be easier for you,’ added Flora. ‘And we could make the room really nice.’ She smiled again. ‘Anyway, we don’t need to think about that now this minute, but if you like I can make a start this afternoon. The dining room is never used. It’s a huge room, quite airy when the curtains are open, and… it has a fire. I expect Fraser will feel pretty fragile and the last thing he’ll need is to feel cold…’

  Hannah got slowly to her feet. ‘I’m really not sure that’s necessary,’ she said. ‘And I certainly can’t think about it now, dear.’ She gave a weak smile and, crossing to trail a hand across Brodie’s head, left the room.

  Flora stared at the doorway, and the sudden huge empty space of the kitchen. Now what was she going to do? She needed to contact Ned first of course, but after that… The prospect of a free afternoon held little appeal – there were far too many things to think about and nothing she wanted to dwell on. She stared at the kettle. She must be practical and keep busy. There were any number of things to attend to, and the dining room would need a lot of sorting if it was to become what she had in mind. She walked out of the kitchen, Brodie trailing behind her.

  It only took a few moments standing in the quiet space to realise that this was the last place she wanted to be. She had a desperate need to get out of the house again and, as she looked down at Brodie’s upturned face beside her, she knew what she would do. Brodie was sure to want a walk, the surplus eggs needed a new home but, more importantly, she needed a friendly face and she knew just where to find one of those.