by Holly Martin
She glanced over at Rome who was busily cutting out all the glass pieces he needed for a large glass mural that had been commissioned for the local school that sat right on Buttercup Beach. This was a massive project that incorporated all of their skills, from fused glass, to stained glass copper foiling, and even some mosaicking. She was so excited about working on this project and she needed this woman to hurry up and call so she could get back to helping him.
The school had been so enthusiastic about Rome creating a piece for them, but they were super strict on the fact that it had to be ready and fitted for the new school year at the beginning of September when the new building was going to be opened. It was going to be part of the grand opening ceremony with a barbeque on the beach and there was to be a big unveiling with the island’s mayor. It was a big deal for Rome to get such an important commission but it was going to take many, many hours to make and, although there were still six weeks until the start of term, she knew Rome was worried about getting it finished on time, especially with some of the other commissions that were coming in.
Freya was worried too but for completely different reasons. This mural was going to be on show to the whole island and any tourists that came to visit as it would be facing out onto Buttercup Beach. It would be there for many years to come and her contribution was a huge part of it. She felt enormously proud to have her work showcased like that in a community that had taken her in and she wanted to do everything she could to make Rome and Hope Island proud too.
Thankfully all the work for the Under the Sea carnival had been finished the week before. It had been carefully packed away into a wooden crate and shipped over to Penzance and, though they were going to Penzance the following week to help set up the float that would represent Hope Island, they would only be gone for two days and then they could really focus on the school mural.
Rome had insisted that she would be in charge of designing the sea parts of the mural and she had spent several days experimenting with fused glass and dichroic glass to get the metallic, sparkly look she wanted for the waves just right. She couldn’t wait to get started on that part.
She checked her watch again. Petal, a journalist from a local magazine, was already fifteen minutes late for the interview. Freya got up to go and help Rome while she was waiting but the phone rang before she got anywhere near him. She sighed and went back to answer it.
Petal greeted Freya with a happiness and enthusiasm that was clearly fake and started explaining the article she was writing, which Freya already knew about since it had been discussed via email. Petal clearly fancied her magazine as Cornwall’s own answer to Heat magazine, though in reality it was a million miles from that. Her finger was so on the pulse that she had only just discovered Rome nearly a year after his mini brush with fame. Petal was doing an article on Cornwall’s top ten sexiest men and wanted to feature Rome. Freya knew that Rome had no interest in taking part in such an article even though he was aware of it. He hated doing interviews. While he could talk for hours about stained glass and the process of how he made his pieces, when it came to questions about himself he would often resort to monosyllabic answers. So it was down to her to answer all the questions for the magazine on his behalf. She’d done this several times before, so she knew lots of the answers off by heart.
‘Tell me about how he got into working with stained glass?’ Petal said.
‘Rome was a glazier, he just fitted normal windows in houses across the Scilly Isles and Cornwall but he’d get quite a lot of requests for stained glass panels or picture windows. Coming from an art and design background, it was something he was really interested in doing. He did a few courses in it and started producing his own and it was something he loved.’
‘I understand he didn’t start Through the Looking Glass, his stained glass business, until after his wife died.’
Freya’s heart sank. She hated these journalists who wanted to pry into every part of Rome’s life. Talking about Paige seemed so private. Rome didn’t mind but Freya did on his behalf.
‘His fiancée,’ Freya corrected.
‘Oh that’s right, they weren’t even married,’ Petal said, dismissively. ‘What was the motivation for changing his career after she had died?’
Freya cringed, knowing that Rome was probably listening to every word she said. She had no idea why Rome had felt the need to change careers after Paige had died and she wasn’t about to ask him either.
‘Life is short,’ Freya answered vaguely. ‘The plans we have may never happen if we wait until tomorrow. So it’s best to make them happen today.’
‘So, nothing to do with the huge sum of money Rome got from Phantom Rides when they settled out of court for wrongful death?’
Freya sat up straight. ‘We are not talking about that.’
Rome looked round, frowning at her tone.
‘Oh honey, don’t be silly. Of course we are. As a hot, young bachelor, our readers will be very interested to know that Rome Lancaster is filthy rich with it. I heard it was a seven-figure sum. That’s quite a large sum considering they weren’t even married.’
‘This was the woman he loved,’ Freya protested.
‘And how do you put a price on a life?’
Freya had no words.
‘Though I heard her body was so mangled, they had to use dental records to identify her. I guess they paid the big money because of that.’
She sat down heavily on the stool behind her, watching Rome looking at her with concern. She knew that Paige had died in a horrible rollercoaster accident but she didn’t know all the details. She also knew that Phantom Rides had admitted full responsibility and paid out millions of pounds in damages to all concerned within weeks of the accident.
‘Yes, her whole body was completely crushed. Well, I suppose that might be worth a seven-figure sum.’
Tears immediately filled Freya’s eyes. How awful for Rome. No wonder the grief had hit him so badly that he’d never wanted to move on from it.
‘Bet that has messed him up spectacularly,’ Petal went on. ‘Still, our readers will love him even more for that. A widower. Damaged, rich and looking for love. What could be better?’
This was disgusting and Freya suddenly wanted no part of it.
‘He’s not single,’ Freya snapped. ‘He’s engaged again.’
Rome’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.
‘Well that’s interesting too. Not quite as interesting as the broken widower angle, but still interesting nonetheless. Who’s the gold digger?’
‘Listen here, you disgusting, vile woman. He has been through hell and you have no right to judge him or to try to exploit this for your gains. We don’t want to be part of this article any more. You can find someone else,’ Freya said.
‘Oh, it’s you,’ Petal laughed. ‘You’re the gold digger.’
Freya slammed the phone down.
Rome was immediately there in front of her, his hands on her shoulders. ‘Hey, what’s wrong? I know these journalists can be a pain in the arse, but I’ve never seen you react like this before.’
She quickly dashed the tears from her eyes. ‘Nothing, they’re just arseholes.’
‘Tell me what’s upset you so badly.’
‘God, she was so horrible. They just wanted to talk about Paige and the money that you got. And then she was talking about the accident and how awful it was and how the readers would love to read about it, as if this was some soap opera and not your life.’
Rome’s face softened with realisation. ‘Don’t cry for me honey, that’s the last thing I want.’
Tears filled her eyes again. ‘I had no idea it was so horrible.’
Rome cupped her face in his strong hands and gently wiped the tears away, his touch making her breath catch in her throat. The gesture was so unexpected and she could see that Rome was surprised too. They didn’t really have a tactile relationship, a hand on the shoulder was pretty much as far as it had gone. Sleeping together in the same bed had been
a huge step in their relationship and this suddenly felt like another big step. Clearly realising how inappropriate it was, Rome let his hands fall back to her shoulders, a gesture which suddenly didn’t seem as harmless as it did before. After a moment he stepped back.
‘I never saw her body. They wouldn’t let me and in many ways I’m so glad for that but it also made it harder too. As horrible as it sounds, I never got to properly say goodbye. In some ways I needed that closure. I’d seen her the weekend before and we’d made plans for the following weekend when she was coming home for her birthday. But she never did. I didn’t find out she’d died until a few days after the accident. Her parents were both dead, no siblings. She had work colleagues there but they didn’t have my number. I kept ringing and ringing her phone. Eventually it was the police that answered, having found her phone after the accident. I knew then. I’d seen the accident on the news and knew no one could survive that. The police confirmed that she had died and shortly after the manager of the park rang to offer his condolences and to say how sorry he was. It was the weirdest thing to be told she had died. I kept thinking it must have been a mistake, that she’d walk through the door at any minute, laughing and joking over the whole silly affair. Of course, I never saw her again.’
‘How on earth do you move on from that?’
‘I’m working on it.’ He looked at her then with such affection and adoration that it took her breath away. ‘I think the key is finding someone special enough that it’s worth taking the risk.’
His words hung in the air between them before he looked away.
‘In truth, I think it will always be with me.’
He looked so sad all of a sudden and Freya wanted to step forward and hug him.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Freya said, wishing that she had lied about what had upset her.
‘Don’t be sorry for someone else’s behaviour. I appreciate you trying to protect me.’
‘She kept going on about the money, as if you were wrong for taking it. I wasn’t going to stand for that. She said a lot of women would be interested in you because of that money, as if that was a quality to be admired.’
Rome sighed. ‘A lot of women were interested in me because of the money, nothing stays secret on this island and it wasn’t long before word got out. They were disappointed to find it’s all gone.’
He sat down on a stool and picked up a piece of red fused glass that was smooth all over. ‘It never even occurred to me to take anyone to court for Paige’s death. It was an accident. I was still in a state of shock when the cheque arrived a few weeks after her death. Two and half million pounds. It didn’t seem enough. I would have paid a hundred times that to have her back. But at the same time it seemed an obscene amount of money and I knew that others involved in the accident didn’t get anywhere near that. I didn’t know what to do with it. I thought something good should come out of her death. I paid off my parents’ mortgage so they could retire, I bought Eden’s shop and fitted it out with everything she needed to start her own business, I paid off all of Bella’s student debts from the tuition fees and course costs at university and I gave over half of it to an amputees’ charity that was helping the other victims of the crash. Several children lost limbs and in many ways that seems harder to deal with than death. Death is final, you have to live with a severed limb for the rest of your life. The practicalities of rehabilitation or refitting your house to cope with a wheelchair or the cost of prosthetic limbs are very expensive and while they all received good sums from Phantom Rides, the cost will always be ongoing. I wanted to do something to help. And spending the money on myself seemed wrong somehow, but after I had helped everyone that I could I started thinking about my own future.’
He flicked the glass over in his hand and it sparkled in the sun that streamed through the windows. ‘I had spoken with Paige at length about starting a stained glass business and she was really excited about it for me. She said she wanted to help me make my dream come true and she said she would start putting some money aside to help me make it a reality. You were right what you said to the journalist – when someone close to you dies, it makes you realise how short life is, how it can be taken away from you in the blink of an eye and we shouldn’t make plans for the future, but make that future happen now. I realised that she would have wanted me to make this change so I paid off my mortgage, bought this place, the kilns, the tools and started the business. I didn’t actively seek customers back then, I was happy to just distract myself from her death with making different pieces. When I’m working with glass, measuring, cutting, grinding, piecing it all together, it allows me to forget about the world for a while and just focus on that. That’s why, when you started work here, there were hundreds of different pieces for sale. It was a way to cope with my grief. A lot of what was left of the money dwindled away over the next few years as I sat here, every day, making more and more mirrors and lamps. There’s a bit left now, but certainly not the millions that many women think I have. Luckily, thanks to you, this place is now making a huge profit and unfortunately I guess some of that comes from talking to shallow, small-minded journalists, who are hungry for any kind of gossip or juicy story.’
‘I’m not talking to her again.’
Rome smiled. ‘No, you made that very clear.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Don’t be.’
‘She thinks we’re engaged.’
Rome shrugged. ‘Let her think it. Look, we could both do with a pick-me-up. Why don’t you pop along to the cake shop and pick up something gooey and chocolatey and I’ll go and put the kettle on.’
He pulled out a five-pound note and passed it to her and then walked off to the kitchen, leaving the fused glass he had been playing with on the worktable. She looked at it and picked it up. It was a piece from a part of a mirror that had gone wrong in the kiln but it looked like a red heart. Keeping it in her hand, she walked out and headed towards the high street. When she was safely out of sight of the shop, she looked at it again.
Would Rome ever be able to move on and give his heart to someone else? Petal had one thing right. He was damaged. After losing his fiancée in such horrible circumstances, could he ever get over that? Was she completely misreading what the dinner was that night? But then she thought about how he had held her, when she had cried. That was something that was way beyond friendly. The way he had looked at her when he said he was looking for someone special. She felt sure he meant her.
No, he definitely had feelings for her, she refused to believe that all those looks and sweet gestures were purely platonic. Something was going to happen that night, she was sure of it.
Rome carefully wrapped the copper foil ribbon around the outside of a piece of green glass, smoothing it down with his finger as he quickly dealt with the corners until the whole edge had been covered, then he passed it to Freya who was kneeling next to him so she could fold over the side of the foil onto the edge of the face with the fid, a plastic shaping tool, that helped to get rid of any air bubbles in the copper foil. She simultaneously passed him another piece of glass and, when she had finished smoothing out the foil, she placed her piece of glass carefully back in the right place on the paper design. They were like a well-oiled machine, working alongside each other in perfect harmony. They didn’t need to speak, they both knew the process like the back of their hand.
He was so proud of how quickly Freya had picked up the art of working with stained glass. Every step, every method he had taught her she had grasped within a few minutes of watching him and excelled in every way. She’d had no art, craft or design training, coming mainly from an admin background, and that’s all she’d done for him for the first six months she had worked for him, sorting out orders, taking care of the marketing and social media, but she’d been so keen to learn she had been an absolute pleasure to teach. She really listened to his explanations and demonstrations and she was so eager to get it right. The company was hers now as much as it was his.
&
nbsp; He finished another piece and handed it to Freya and she gave him another piece in return. He smiled to himself; they made such a good team. He wondered, and not for the first time, if they would make a good team in other areas of his life too but that prospect scared him. It wasn’t falling in love again that he was scared of, he wanted that in his life again, it was falling in love with Freya. With these other women he had dated, he had nothing to lose. He would go out with them, have some fun and then move on before it ever got serious. With Freya he had everything to lose, she was his best friend and he never wanted to jeopardise that. After he had spent four years waking up with a black cloud hanging over him, she had picked him up. She made him laugh and blew those clouds away. She had changed his life and he owed her so much. He looked over at her, her whisky-brown eyes concentrating on the job in hand. A jolt of desire punched him in the stomach. She was worth the risk.
‘I’m looking forward to dinner tonight,’ Freya said, taking his finished copper foiled piece and replacing it with another piece of glass to be foiled.
‘I am too.’ He really was. This could be the night that changed everything between them. He knew how he was going to start the night, where it led from there he wasn’t sure but he was hopeful it might at least end in a kiss.
Freya sat back on her heels after she’d placed the last green piece on the design. ‘I might even wear a dress for the occasion.’
He smiled and without thinking he reached out to stroke her cheek. ‘If you turned up in a bin bag I wouldn’t mind. You’re beautiful, no matter what you wear.’
Her eyes widened in surprise at his touch, but this time he didn’t pull away. Her eyes darkened and then cast down to his lips and for a glorious moment he thought she was going to kiss him but then the phone rang and the moment between them vanished.
