New Hope for the Little Cornish Farmhouse

by Nancy Barone

  ‘She’ll be okay,’ Chloe told him. ‘I had it and it was actually lots of fun!’

  ‘That’s because you didn’t go to school and we spoiled you rotten for three weeks,’ I said with a laugh. ‘Come on, Luke, let her sleep for now.’

  I closed the door on our girls and he followed me downstairs, hands in his pockets.

  ‘Are you sure it’s chickenpox?’

  ‘Have you never had it?’ I asked and he shook his head.

  ‘Oh, Jesus. Let’s hope you don’t get it too, then…’

  He laughed and rolled his eyes. ‘I won’t.’

  ‘I’m calling Brian.’

  ‘A doctor, I hope, and not the family vet?’

  I grinned. ‘Yes, our family doctor. He’s been coming here forever and he’s worth his weight in gold.’

  ‘So he knows you well.’

  ‘Oh yeah,’ I agreed as I sauntered into the kitchen to start on a chicken broth. If Jess was anything like my two, she wouldn’t want to eat anything solid. I fetched my mobile and left a message for him to come round. ‘Knows every single little Jenkins drama.’

  ‘The break-up, too?’ he asked.

  I shrugged. ‘When you live in a tiny village, some things can’t be hidden, as hard as you try.’

  ‘You’re telling me,’ he snorted. ‘I live in LA and I can’t take a leak without the whole world knowing.’

  I eyed him from the cooker. ‘Doesn’t it bother you?’

  ‘Does it bother me?’ He rubbed the back of his neck in thought. ‘It never used to, but with Jessica growing up I’m finding it harder to protect her, you know?’

  ‘Do I ever,’ I agreed.

  *

  As it turned out, my diagnosis of Jessica was right. Brian came quickly, visited her and snapped his bag shut. ‘Chickenpox it is.’

  ‘Damn,’ Luke said.

  ‘No worries. Just don’t let her scratch.’

  ‘Thanks, Doctor,’ Luke said and Brian turned and stared at him with sudden interest.

  ‘Are you…?’

  Luke smiled. ‘Yes, it’s me.’

  Brian put a hand on his shoulder and gently pulled him forward as if to kiss him. But Brian had no interest in movies.

  ‘As I suspected. You have it, too, I can already see a few spots. Bed rest and plenty of Nina’s chicken soup.’

  ‘What?’ Luke said. ‘I’m perfectly fine.’

  Brian turned to me. ‘Nina?’

  I could see a couple of spots I hadn’t noticed earlier. ‘I’m on it,’ I promised.

  After Brian left, I marched Luke upstairs and put him in Ben’s room and Ben up with me, grateful for an excuse to cuddle my baby.

  ‘Get into bed. And don’t scratch if you don’t want to ruin that Hollywood face.’ I giggled.

  ‘This is ridiculous. I’m perfectly fine.’

  But when I brought him his chicken soup twenty minutes later, he was sprawled on the mattress as if he’d been steamrolled.

  ‘You okay?’ I said as I set down the tray on Ben’s night table.

  ‘I suddenly feel like a sack of shit,’ he groaned in a feeble voice.

  ‘You’ll be fine. Eat this.’

  ‘Not hungry…’

  ‘Eat. I’m going to give Jessica hers now.’

  He groaned again. ‘Don’t tell her I’ve got it. She’ll worry.’

  ‘You’ll both be fine.’

  ‘And you?’ he croaked.

  ‘We’ve all had it, don’t worry. Now eat.’

  Conte Hospital was now officially open.

  *

  As it turned out, Luke O’Hara was the patient from hell. He was uncomfortable, hot, cranky, thirsty, impatient. But worst of all, he insisted on working in his waking hours, which were not that many, luckily for me. So instead of banging away on my laptop prepping the outline for the next scenes by myself, something even a four-year-old could do, I had to sit in Ben’s armchair with a pad and paper while Luke dictated his tips to me.

  Some were very clever, others a little clichéd. Rather cheesy, really.

  ‘What do you think?’ he asked, taking a sip of water and closing his eyes, finally exhausted into semi-silence.

  How to be honest without seeming to be rude or ungrateful? ‘It’s a little… formulaic.’

  He opened an eye. ‘Exactly what I was aiming for.’

  ‘But do we want our audience to guess the ending, Luke? Don’t we want to be a bit more, I don’t know, imaginative?’

  ‘Nina, formulas work. That’s what Hollywood is built on.’

  ‘But what about the unexpected? The beloved twist?’

  ‘You mean Stella ending up with Aidan? I think she should go with Dylan the playboy. There’s much more scope for imagination there.’

  Hang on a minute. Was he trying to change the ending? ‘But… but what about Stella being true to herself?’

  Luke closed his eyes and groaned. ‘I’m boiling, Nina. Would you mind checking my temperature?’

  I closed my mouth and got out Ben’s electric thermometer. He was boiling, all right, so I went into the bathroom and soaked a washcloth with freezing water and gently replaced it on his forehead. He opened an eye briefly.

  ‘You see? We’re getting on like a house on fire, Nina…’

  That was exactly what I was worried about – me setting him on fire if he insisted on changing everything, even the ending.

  *

  After three weeks of nursing a cranky Hollywood star and a lovely teenage girl who was polite and appreciative of everything we did, they were as good as new. But as they were packing to return to their inn, I realised that it wasn’t practical for them to drive all the way back and forth every day. Besides, we had already broken the ice. So I took a long shot and bit the bullet.

  ‘I think you and Jessica should stay with us.’

  Luke looked at me, eyebrows raised. ‘Are you serious?’ was all he said.

  Oh God, I knew it. It was a horrible idea. There was no way I could offer him the comforts he was used to in his LA mansion. What was I going to cook for him? Soup for the sick was one thing, but three square meals every day? I didn’t know what he liked and didn’t like. Was he a meat and potatoes man, or a pasta freak? Who knew? And would he still want to sleep in a little boy’s bed when he could have luxury service at his inn?

  Chloe took Jessica’s hand. ‘Oh, Dad, can we?’ Jessica begged. ‘Please?’

  Luke smiled at Chloe’s sincere display of affection for his daughter, scratched the stubble on his cheek and then turned to me with a huge grin. ‘We’d absolutely love to, Nina. Thank you so much.’

  I exhaled. ‘Jessica can continue staying with Chloe, and you can stay in Ben’s bed. Is that all right, Ben?’

  My son gave a sharp, satisfied nod. ‘Super cool. Mum’s got a load of interesting books under her bed.’

  Luke’s eyes widened with interest bordering on the naughty as I felt my face going hot.

  ‘It’s just some classics…’ I murmured.

  ‘Oh, for a minute there I thought you had a stash of—’

  I clapped my hands. ‘Right! Everybody back to their rooms to unpack, then. Jack’s invited the kids to Crooked Hill again today. Jessica will be safe in his hands.’

  ‘Are you sure she’s okay, going out so soon?’ Luke asked.

  ‘It’s been three weeks. She needs the fresh air.’

  ‘But how do we know she didn’t get the chickenpox from Jack’s farm? And what about foot and mouth disease, or mad cow disease?’

  I tried my best not to laugh, but it didn’t work. ‘That was an isolated episode years ago, and besides, Jack grows fruit.’

  ‘No animals?’

  ‘Well, the odd stray, but no. No animals. He owns a cider farm.’ As I’d told him before, but somehow he seemed to have forgotten.

  ‘Cider? Cool. Maybe I could buy some off him.’

  ‘And maybe you could open a Californian market for him. Our apples in the West Country are world renowned.�
�

  ‘Is that so?’

  ‘Absolutely.’

  He took my hand. ‘This is a gorgeous corner of the world. Thank you for agreeing to have me in your home. You and me together! A sizzling combination, sweets. To flying sparks…’

  ‘To flying sparks,’ I agreed, wondering if at that rate how long it would take us to progress from flying sparks to flying crockery.

  21

  Friends With Benefits

  ‘How’s Writer’s Paradise?’ Alice asked over the phone the next morning.

  ‘He’s driving me nuts, Alice,’ I hissed into my mobile. ‘Sometimes I wonder if he even likes Stella. He wants her more polite, less polite, louder, softer, a procrastinator, a go-getter and I…’

  ‘But this is good,’ Alice countered. ‘He’s putting your heroine through her paces.’

  ‘I thought my editor had already done that,’ I muttered as I laid the Pyrex dish on a trivet in the middle of the table.

  ‘But an onscreen Stella is much more alive!’ Alice continued. ‘She’ll have a face, even though we don’t know whose yet.’

  I wanted to argue that she already had a face even before the movie, but decided against it. Alice and Luke saw things the same way. I guess I was the odd one out, the one who knew absolutely nothing about the big screen. Plus, I wasn’t about to quibble with whomever got cast or anything, just as long as she could act and do Stella justice.

  I was beginning to wonder whether I’d made a colossal mistake inviting Luke to stay. Jessica was a dream guest, and I was growing fonder and fonder of her every day. But Luke? He was a handful. Of all the producers in Hollywood who could have come across my book, why did it have to be demanding, gorgeous, flirty him?

  ‘Breakfast is ready, Alice. Gotta go. Call me when you’re down next month and I’ll have something nice for you to eat.’

  ‘I’ll bring the wine,’ she chimed.

  ‘Sounds like a plan,’ I said and rang off. Good old Alice. I owed her everything. It seemed like I owed a lot of people everything: Alf, my Ice Cream Ladies, Emma, Jack. And the only way I could pay them back was to be there for them as much as I could.

  When I went downstairs, Luke was already up and stirring coffee. It was still something I’d never get over, something utterly surreal. Imagine coming down the stairs one morning, and out of the blue, some Hollywood star is standing in your kitchen in his boxers (not that Luke was) having his morning coffee.

  ‘Mornin’,’ Luke said as I padded into the kitchen. ‘I hope you don’t mind, but I had to check on Jessica. Chloe opened her eyes for a moment and harrumphed – it was so funny. If I’d had a stranger in my room I’d have jumped six feet!’

  ‘No worries,’ I said, and we stood shoulder to shoulder, looking out to the garden. The irises were late this year. And I had a whole lot of gardening to do. I felt him turn to me.

  ‘I’m glad I had you to help me look after her, Nina.’

  I shrugged. ‘You’re doing fine. Better than any father I’ve ever seen.’

  ‘Better than Phil…?’ he asked softly and I looked up from my coffee.

  ‘Oh.’ I giggled. ‘Anyone else would be more broody than him.’

  ‘It’s so strange, Nina…’

  ‘What is?’

  ‘That thanks to your book, I feel like I’ve known you forever.’

  I rolled my eyes. ‘And I feel like I’ve known you forever, thanks to Google.’

  ‘Thank God for that,’ he chuckled. ‘Do you miss not having him around?’

  ‘Who, Phil? You must be joking. The kids do, though. I’m just glad our family life is back on track now.’

  ‘Their life was never off track, Nina. Not with someone like you at the helm.’

  ‘Yeah, well, there were some tough times. Up until a few weeks ago, actually. If you hadn’t come along I don’t know what I’d have done.’

  The scale of what I’d said hit me when I saw the expression on his face. But it was true. I shrugged, hiding my face in my mug. ‘My financial situation was so dire I was about to lose the house, the kids’ places at school… everything.’

  He took a sip, never taking his eyes off me. He had that way of looking at you that made you feel all his attention was concentrated solely on you. He made women feel special, and I had to confess that his charm was beginning to rub off on me. Particularly as he was such a loving father.

  ‘Was… all of it autobiographical?’ he wanted to know, but kept his voice low in case I decided I wanted to pretend I hadn’t heard his question. Classy guy, no doubt. A bit nosy, but then again, I knew it was for the sake of the movie. Why the hell would he care about my life otherwise?

  ‘Oh, some things. There was, of course, lots of poetic licence. I am a writer, after all.’

  ‘Hm. What about the cliff scene? Did you really think that he wanted to push you off it? And did you really write that message in your diary to the effect that if you were found dead it would most likely have been him?’

  ‘Of course not,’ I said hotly. Phil had never been a violent man, but there had been more than one instance in which I felt he wasn’t capable of parenting. I just couldn’t risk it. I could feel my blood draining from my face. I should never have left that in there, I now realised.

  ‘Okay,’ he said softly. ‘We all have our secrets.’

  ‘No, that one isn’t true. But it makes for good effect, doesn’t it?’ I said.

  He took a sip of his coffee and swallowed it, and his eyes swung to mine again, studying me. Then his lips widened into a grin.

  ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘It does, actually. Listen, tomorrow I’m seeing a friend in London who wants to meet Jessica. We’ll be gone a couple of days.’

  ‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Shall I continue with the script in the meantime?’

  ‘Let’s take a break. You’ve worked hard, between that and nursing me. We’ll continue when I get back, okay?’

  ‘No problem,’ I said, and decided to invite Jack and Emma over in the meantime. I hadn’t seen Emma since Luke had arrived. I wondered who the friend in London was.

  *

  The next day I saw Luke and Jessica off with a hamper of food for their trip, my hand already on my mobile.

  ‘Hello?’ Emma said.

  ‘Em? It’s me.’

  ‘Well, hello, Me,’ she said. ‘What’s up?’

  ‘How about dinner tonight at mine? I’ll call Jack.’

  ‘What about your superstar?’

  ‘He’s gone away until tomorrow night.’

  ‘Cool. Have you noticed that you actually haven’t introduced us?’

  I slapped my hand against my forehead. ‘I haven’t? Jesus, Em, I’m so sorry – you’re right! I’ll do it when they get back. Chanel will love Jessica, I can assure you.’

  ‘Well, actually, Chanel is a bit jealous at the moment. Chloe hasn’t called her for ages. And we only live next door.’

  ‘I know, I know… we’re horrible friends, Em, I’m mortified.’

  ‘Well, then you’ll have to make up for it by having a dinner in honour of your old friends.’

  ‘I will. See you later, then?’

  ‘Laters,’ she promised. ‘But I don’t know about Chanel. She’s pretty pissed off at the moment.’

  ‘I’ll send Chloe over immediately to apologise,’ I promised.

  *

  ‘Did you hear?’ Em said as she eased herself into her favourite chair that evening. ‘Old Audrey is getting married.’

  I stopped in mid-stir. ‘Audrey Audrey? The spinster?’

  ‘The very one. Jesus, you have to wonder what’s happening to the world if eighty-year-old women are getting married and we’re not.’

  ‘Oh, I already gave in that department.’ I laughed, handing her a mug of coffee. It seemed that Luke had got me hooked on it.

  ‘Ooh, that’s hot. But Nina, wouldn’t you want someone to keep you warm at night? The trouble is finding someone worth it. If you found someone, wouldn’t you risk it all over aga
in?’

  I smiled as I buried my nose into my own mug. I knew my friend. This was not about me, but about her own love life. She was on the mooch, if not already just about to close in on someone. Her expression, not mine, because Em always saw love as a game, a conquest, a prize to be awarded to the most valiant.

  ‘Em, it’s just not for me. I’m just too busy for a bloke.’ Besides, I was closed for business. My parts were weary, not to say dead. No more production chain for me.

  ‘Nina, I can’t keep it to myself any longer. I’ve got news myself!’

  ‘Please don’t tell me you and Jack have both found someone. Then I’ll be the odd one out.’

  She stopped smiling. ‘Why would you say that?’

  I shrugged. ‘I have heard rumours that he’s seeing someone.’

  She put her mug down slowly. ‘Did they… say who?’

  I shrugged. ‘No, but did you think that we’d be Three’s Company forever?’

  ‘No, but—’

  ‘Come on, let’s have it, then. What’s your news?’

  ‘I’m moving to Truro, lock, stock and wedding samples!’

  I gasped. ‘Noooo, why?’

  ‘Because it’ll be easier getting my own clients. I don’t want to work for someone else forever. I want to be my own boss, like you.’

  ‘I’m so proud of you, you’ve finally done it. Your own business!’

  ‘Thanks, luv. Jack’s promised to help me move.’

  ‘I’ll help, too.’

  ‘No, you won’t. You’re busy enough as it is. I can hardly still believe it! My own schedule, my own terms, my own clients! And I’m crapping myself!’

  ‘Nonsense, Em! You’ll be absolutely brilliant. You already are! I’d let you organise my wedding in less than a heartbeat!’

  ‘Well, maybe I might, one day.’

  ‘Fat chance. I’m so happy for you and Chanel, but miserable for me and Chloe. Who am I going to talk to in the evenings?’

  ‘I’ll only be half an hour away, you silly sausage. In any case, Jack’s still around. He’ll die before he leaves Crooked Hill.’

  ‘But you’ll come over during the weekends and stuff?’

  She pursed her lips. ‘That’s the thing, Nina. A lot of my clients only have time to meet up on weekends.’