by Helen Phifer
She flicked the switch and the room filled with bright light, making her eyes water. Immediately, she felt her shoulders relax and she let out a huge sigh. This was a sign everything was going to be okay; she could cope if she had light up here.
Leaving the light on, she decided to leave the rest of the house to explore until the morning. A loud growl erupted from her stomach and she realised she was starving. She ran back to the staircase, out to her car, and grabbed her overnight bag with her essentials and the laptop case, then went back into the house, dragging them up to her new bedroom.
She made a second trip downstairs to the very dark kitchen, leaving the fridge door wide open to illuminate the room while she made some huge doorstep sandwiches and grabbed a bottle of white wine from the shelf. There were a couple of glasses, plates, and cutlery on the draining board. Placing her sandwich on a plate and tucking the wine under her arm, she took hold of the glass and went out into the hallway.
‘Police! Stop right there.’
Maddy felt the glass slip from her hand as she screamed. It fell to the floor and shattered into pieces as the bright torch beam blinded her.
‘Who are you?’
‘Madeleine Hart, I’m the new caretaker. Christ, I’m shaking, you gave me a heart attack.’
‘We had a report there was a break-in in progress,’ one of the two policemen replied. ‘Have you got any ID on you? And we need to confirm that you should be here.’
Maddy shook her head. ‘Not really. Oh, my driving licence is in my purse. And there’s a letter on the sideboard from the solicitor. Who in their right mind would be in this house at this time of night unless they had to?’
‘You’d be surprised.’
Maddy walked across to the sideboard, putting her food and bottle of wine down. Picking up the letter, she passed it to the nearest officer.
‘Can you get your ID for me, please?’ he asked.
She went out to the car once more, took her purse from the glove compartment, and rushed back inside. The officer was speaking into his radio, asking the control room to contact Gordon Corkill to confirm she was supposed to be there. The much younger officer looked at her and shrugged, mouthing ‘sorry’.
Maddy took her driving licence from her purse and held it out to him. He looked at it then smiled at her.
‘You’re brave. I wouldn’t want to live here on my own.’
‘Why?’
He looked around, a faint blush rising up his cheeks. ‘Well, you know. It’s huge and been empty for years. The lights don’t work either.’
She tried not to roll her eyes at him, not wanting to annoy him. ‘Yes, I know. It’s perfect for me. I needed to get out of London. I’m a writer, so the peace and quiet will be amazing. The upstairs lights seem to work in some of the rooms. Besides, I’m a big girl, I’ll be all right.’
The older officer took the licence and stared at it. ‘Sorry about this. We just need to confirm you’re supposed to be here. I don’t suppose a burglar would be making sandwiches at this time of night, and there isn’t much to burgle, is there?’
‘Not really. How did you even find out there was someone here?’
‘Some keen-eyed villager noticed your torchlight moving around the house and phoned up. It might be a small village, but they don’t miss a trick.’
Maddy didn’t know whether that was a good or a bad thing. He began talking into his radio again.
‘Right,’ he said eventually, ‘well, it seems that Gordon has confirmed that you’re legally entitled to be here. I’m sorry to have bothered you, but you understand we have to check these things out.’
She nodded. ‘Of course, you do. It’s your job.’
‘We’ll let you get on then. Are you sure you’re okay here in the dark? We could take you to the village and see if the pub has any spare rooms until they’ve sorted the electrics out.’
Maddy shook her head. ‘Thank you, but I’m good. I’m not afraid of the dark. The bedroom light works so I’ll be staying up there until the morning. I’m from a council estate in London. There are a lot worse things to be afraid of than open spaces and a few lights that don’t work.’
She couldn’t miss the look the two officers exchanged and wondered what the hell it was supposed to mean. If it wasn’t so absurd it would be funny. She’d never been in trouble with the police, but at least they hadn’t dragged her out of here in handcuffs. Imagine trying to explain that to her gran!
They turned to leave, the younger one shining his torch around for one last look. ‘You want to lock the front door,’ he suggested. ‘We just walked straight in. We could have been anyone.’
‘Thanks, I will. Am I likely to get any more visitors tonight, do you think? Are the locals going to turn up with burning torches to chase me out of the house?’
He let out a laugh so loud that it echoed around the entrance. ‘I hope not, or we’ll have to come back and rescue you. These bendy roads are terrible when you’re driving at high speeds. I still feel queasy.’
Maddy laughed.
‘We’ll let whoever called it in know that the place isn’t being ransacked and that you’re supposed to be here. He can pass the word around the village so that we don’t get any repeats of tonight. If you need any help or are worried about anything, you can always phone 101.’
‘Thank you, I’m fine. I would hate to waste your time.’
They stepped outside and she closed the door behind them, this time taking their advice and locking it. She could hear their feet crunching along the gravel to get to their police car, and for a fleeting moment felt an overwhelming urge to run after them and ask them about the look they’d had exchanged. What did it mean?
Deciding ignorance might be bliss, she picked up her food and wine. Remembering the broken glass, she skirted around it to go and get the other one from the kitchen. She better not drop this one, or she’d be drinking straight from the bottle.
The mess could wait until the morning. She wasn’t going to start looking for a dustpan and brush now.
Chapter Twelve
S tella opened her eyes. Connor’s face filled her mind, which made her immediately feel guilty and she wondered how Maddy was. She’d not heard from her friend, which was unusual but not entirely unexpected. After all, she’d driven across the country to start a new life without her.
She grabbed her phone and tried to ring Maddy; it went straight to voicemail.
‘Hey, let me know you made it there and didn’t crash into some mountain, or drove into a lake and drowned. Missing you already.’
This sudden obsession with Connor was not what Stella wanted or needed. She knew he was a jerk, especially the way he’d treated Maddy. Then why was she feeling like some teenager with a new crush?
She got out of bed and forced herself to have a cold shower. If this carried on, she’d need to go to church and confess her sins. Maddy would go crazy if she thought she was even considering doing anything with Connor. Stella knew she’d flip out if it was the other way around. She needed to snap out of whatever it was that had hold of her. Your hormones are what’s got hold of you, Stella, she told herself. That and the fact that you need a man in your life to give you a little excitement.
By the time she’d eaten breakfast and gone down to open the shop, she’d managed to push Connor’s visit to the back of her mind. She had arranged for a local author who’d published a new book of poetry to give a reading this afternoon, which was great. Unfortunately, though, she’d so far not managed to give away a single ticket, so she needed to drum up a keen audience.
Aden rushed into the shop, late as usual. It didn’t bother her now; it used to until she realised how much of a lifesaver he was. He’d helped her out of so many difficult situations these past twelve months that him being ten minutes late each morning was a small price to pay. Not to mention that he baked the best cupcakes she’d ever tasted. On more than one occasion she’d threatened to apply to The Great British Bake Off on his behalf. He’d
told her if she did, he’d never bake again, so she’d resisted the temptation.
‘Sorry I’m late.’
‘It’s fine. Have you brought me anything tasty to eat?’ She was looking at the large bag he was holding in his right hand.
‘Yes and no. Well, I thought I’d bake some salted caramel brownies for the poetry reading this afternoon. So don’t go eating them this morning.’
‘Pft, the cheek of it! As if I would. You could let me try one, though. It’s not as if we have an audience yet for the poetry reading.’
He placed his bag on the counter, folded his arms, and stared at her. ‘Tell me you’ve been and mustered the troops for this one and that you didn’t forget.’
She grimaced. ‘Well, Maddy going away kind of threw me a little. I forgot all about it.’
‘It’s your bloody fault she’s gone, you and your bright ideas. She was always good for dragging a few people down here for an event. Well, that’s it, you’re going to have to go and call in a few favours from the other shopkeepers. What about onion guy? You could ask him and some of his mates from the burger shop.’
‘I could, although I can’t see this being their sort of thing. Still, it’s a great idea. I’ll take some tickets and bribe them all with the offer of free coffee and cake, that should work a treat.’
Aden shook his head. ‘You’ll be the death of me, Stella. You promised you’d do your best.’
She grabbed the stack of tickets off the counter by the till and shrugged on her jacket. ‘Leave it with me. I’ll have an attentive audience all ready for three o’clock.’
‘You better had.’
She waved at him and began the walk down to the burger shop, but the door was locked. She frowned. Shouldn’t it be open at this time, serving up breakfast? Pressing her face against the glass, she lifted her knuckles and rapped on the door. A voice behind her made her jump.
‘Can I help you?’
She turned around to see onion guy and smiled. ‘I thought you’d be open by now.’
‘We don’t do breakfasts. This is more of a lunch onwards restaurant.’
‘Oh, I didn’t realise. Are you busy this afternoon at three?’
‘Not normally. There’s a bit of a lull between three and four.’
‘Perfect.’ She handed him a stack of tickets. ‘Can you come to the shop and bring as many of your workmates with you for half an hour? There’s free coffee and cake in it for you all.’
He looked down at the lilac coloured card. ‘I’m not really into poetry, and I don’t know if any of my colleagues are either. Sorry.’
Stella let out a huge sigh. ‘That’s okay, it’s a bit last minute. I’ve kind of fucked up a bit…well, not a bit. More like a lot. I was supposed to be telling all my customers about it and I totally forgot. Then Maddy moved away, and she’d normally come with a few friends, so I don’t have anyone to bail me out.’
‘I’ll come, and I’ll do my best to bring a couple of people with me. There’s definitely cake?’
She grinned at him. ‘Yes, you’ve never tasted cake like it. Aden is an amazing baker. I just want to eat everything he brings in. You’ll love it. And I’ll owe you one.’
He laughed. ‘Really?’
‘Yes, anything you want help with or need, I’ll do it.’
He tucked the tickets into his pocket. ‘That’s great to know. I’ll see you at three.’
‘Thank you so much.’
She turned and rushed off towards the deli where she bought her daily sandwich. The owner, Mr Patel, owed her big time for all her loyalty. She’d blackmail him into coming along with his wife and her extended family. Hopefully it would be enough to satisfy Aden and make the very nice lady who had written the book of poems about her new-found sexual freedom feel good about her work. Judging by the book, she’d already learnt how to satisfy her other needs.
Chapter Thirteen
S eth was leaning on the bar reading the paper, but not really digesting it. He had received a message on his phone from one of the Cumbria Constabulary control room operators at Penrith, explaining that Lake House hadn’t been broken into. The person was the new caretaker, and everything was all in order, he was assured. He frowned. Who was this new caretaker at Lake House, and how come he hadn’t heard anything about it?
‘Penny for them, son?’
He jumped. His dad had crept downstairs without any of his usual banging and shuffling around on the floor above.
‘Christ! You gave me a heart attack.’
His dad chuckled. ‘Good to know I’ve still got it. Is everything okay?’
‘Yes, and yes, you do still have it. You can go back upstairs. There isn’t much happening in here today. I’ll hold the fort.’
Hi dad shook his head. ‘You can go and do whatever you want. I like it when there’s only me here. It gives me time to think. On you go, son. I’m okay. I won’t croak it while you’re out for a couple of hours. and if I did…well, it would probably be a blessing, because it would take us all by surprise. Get yourself out, it’s a glorious day.’
Seth nodded. ‘You sure?’
His dad stuck his thumb up at him, poured himself a half of Guinness and lifted the paper.
‘I might go for a walk,’ Seth told him. ‘Go check and see if Alfie is still alive. Glenys was pretty angry with him yesterday, and then she got pretty drunk on cider.’
‘Yep, whatever you want. She’s a strange one, isn’t she?’
‘A bit. She’s okay, though. I think she’s a bit misunderstood, and pretty stubborn to stay put here when no one makes her feel like part of the family.’
His dad frowned. ‘Are you going a bit soft on her? It’s nothing to do with me, but I do think she might be a bit harder work than you’re used to.’
‘No, I just think we sometimes judge newcomers a bit too harshly. I’m just being neighbourly.’
His dad winked at him. ‘Whatever you say, son.’
Seth turned away, shaking his head. He didn’t think that Glenys was attractive in any way, shape or form. He genuinely felt sorry for her and thought that she deserved better than the way the villagers had been treating her.
What he really wanted to do was to go to Lake House and introduce himself to the new caretaker. Whoever had been mad or brave enough to take on that position certainly had his seal of approval. And he wanted to know why the owners, after all this time, had decided that it needed a caretaker. As far as he knew, the council planning department had turned down the plans last year for renovations. He hadn’t heard anything to the contrary that they’d changed their mind.
It would give him an excuse to have a look around as well. He hadn’t been inside for a very long time and he missed the days of going there exploring when he’d been younger. He grabbed his car keys from behind the bar, deciding to call in on Glenys then make his way up to the old house.
After some serious knocking on the flat door, he was about to get back into the car when he heard the old sash window above him groan and creak as it slid up.
‘Bloody hell, I thought it was the bailiffs knocking like that. What’s up? Is the shop on fire? Is the village being evacuated?’
Seth laughed. ‘Sorry, I just wanted to check you were okay. The shop’s shut and it’s almost eleven.’
Glenys, who was glaring at him with one eye open, shook her head. ‘What are you now, my mother? Jesus, in fact you’re worse than her. She didn’t give a shit what I was doing or how long I stayed in bed.’
He held his hands up. ‘I’ll see you later. I was being neighbourly if you must know.’
‘Hang on, don’t go.’
The window slammed shut and he heard thudding footsteps as they ran down the wooden stairs. She opened the door in a pair of brightly coloured pyjamas, her purple hair sticking up all over the place, and black smudges of eyeliner under her eyes.
‘Thank you.’
He stared at her. ‘For what?’
‘For being nice, and for last night. I�
��m horrible in a morning. Alfie drives me mad, he’s so cheerful and happy when he wakes up. I feel as if I’ve been dragged out of my crypt by a vampire hunter and about to have a wooden stake driven through my heart.’
Seth grinned. ‘You know if your shop isn’t doing well you could consider doing stand-up comedy. You’re funny.’
‘Ha, bloody ha. Alfie wanted me to ask if you could come for tea one of the nights. He likes you a lot. I told him that you’re probably far too busy to come and eat burnt chicken nuggets and frozen chips, but he insisted I asked you. At least you’ll know what he’s talking about when he asks if you’re coming. Don’t worry, I don’t expect you to come. And it’s not some kind of come on because, believe me, I’m definitely not looking for a man to keep me warm at night.’
Horrified, Seth stepped back. What was he getting himself into? ‘Erm, that’s very kind of you. I’m glad you’re not after a man. I mean, who wants one of those? I’d love to come for tea one of the nights.’
She narrowed her eyes. ‘Are you being serious?’
He nodded. ‘I suppose I am.’
‘It’s just tea, nothing else. There’s no free leg-over included. Well, nothing apart from Alfie having a bit of male company.’
‘Good. I don’t want anything else. I’m not looking for a woman; they’re too much trouble and I have my dad to look after. I like you and Alfie as friends, no strings attached.’
He climbed into his car before he dug a deeper hole and agreed to anything else he was going to regret. Her door shut, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
Next stop, Lake House. He hoped he didn’t end up agreeing to stuff he shouldn’t when he got there as well, or his life was going to become a mixed-up, crazy mess.
Chapter Fourteen
M addy opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling. It looked so far away it could have been in another galaxy. This wasn’t Connor’s flat, with its low ceilings and spotlights; it definitely wasn’t her gran’s magnolia woodchip-covered ceiling. For a second, she felt as if she had amnesia, then she turned on her side and stared out of the huge French windows onto the most amazing view of the Lakeland fells.
