Leaving Shades

by Leaving Shades (epub)

  Thinking about children, watching the local ones and the holidaymakers’ and day trippers’ families, and mothers with new babies, was now making her think what holding a baby of her own would be like. ‘Darn you, Rob Praed,’ she had said aloud. ‘I didn’t want my… my… stirred up.’ Her maternal instinct was what she hadn’t been able to say. But she got round to admitting that a maternal instinct was natural, and hers was growing stronger every day. She understood now why married women longed to have babies.

  Evie let every word of Rob’s hopes and promises sink into her mind. It was exciting and scary to think of going to eat out with him – or do anything at all with him, come to that – but if she went out with him once she didn’t have to go again if she disliked the experience. At least she would have had one outing with a young man and it would still the tongues of Judy and Alison, who kept telling her to stop training herself to be an old maid. They and Mrs Coad said she would miss out on so much and when she had left it too late she would bitterly regret it.

  ‘Rob likes you, really likes you, Evie. You know that,’ Judy pestered her. ‘It’s why he keeps popping round your place when he’s home. He was very attentive to you at Lily’s tea party. Don’t say you didn’t notice, and don’t say you found it altogether unwelcome. If he makes as good a husband as he is a brother you couldn’t do any better. Don’t be shy, snap him up. Don’t lose him to someone else. If you do you’ll find her living next door to you and you might not like that one bit.’

  Evie didn’t know if she’d hate that thought or not care at all – this romance thing was new to her. If she did go out with Rob, what would it be like if he took her hand, if he moved in for a kiss? What should a first kiss be like? A peck on the cheek, on the lips, surely not a full kiss on the first occasion. She pictured Rob in the house last weekend; he’d come round to borrow some gravy browning, saying Alison had forgotten to get any in and both his sisters were too busy to go to the shops.

  ‘Oh, it’s you again,’ her father had muttered at Rob, clearly displeased, but he had allowed Rob to linger and mull over the week’s pilchard hauls, the performance of their boats and sea conditions. Rob had smiled very pleasantly at Evie then eyed the teapot. She had poured a cup for him and her father, drinking her own as she got on with washing the dishes. She had not really minded Rob being there, or when he had enquired about the wandering Smoky and stroked the lazy Fluffy. His sisters had said he didn’t like cats but it seemed he was warming to Evie’s. After Rob left, her father had muttered, ‘Thank goodness he’s gone, jumped up big-head.’ But Davey hadn’t said any more so he didn’t seem to really object to Rob’s presence. And he probably wouldn’t object to Rob taking her out for a meal, particularly a daytime meal.

  Did she want to go out with Rob? To be at some time physically alone with him on a different footing to when he’d rescued Smoky? Rob was handsome and manly. His manliness was enticing, but it also unnerved her. Rob had sworn to be respectful, vowed that she had nothing to fear, so there was nothing really stopping her from taking the plunge. Evie’s emotions were all over the place. She put her hands together. ‘Dear Heavenly Father, tell me what to do.’

  No peace came to her now, as had happened on other occasions. She had to make the decision herself. If only her mother was here to advise her. There was Judy and Alison but they would be biased in Rob’s favour. Beth. It would be good to talk to Beth about this. She could give an impartial opinion. Evie had seen Beth twice this week. Beth had told Evie her friend had gone home.

  ‘You’ll miss her very much,’ Evie had said.

  ‘The house seems so quiet without her and her little dog. But I’m not leaving Portcowl, Evie,’ Beth smiled. ‘I’ve got everything to stay for.’

  ‘I’m so glad, Beth,’ Evie had replied with meaning.

  ‘I’m going to work at it so we can see each other when and wherever we like. Do you want that too, Evie? I think we have the right to be officially known as sisters, don’t you?’

  ‘Very much so, I think my mum would approve if she’d met you. But it still means winning my father over.’ Evie had been a little worried.

  ‘We can work on that together. Evie, there is one place where we could meet that’s quiet nearly all the time, the churchyard. I’ll take flowers for my brother and you could bring some for your mother. I’ll have a picnic with me, enough for two. I’m sure you know some nice secluded places where we can chat in peace. What do you say?’

  Evie was delighted with the notion, although it went against the grain to make plans so furtively while knowing her father would disapprove. They were to meet next Tuesday afternoon.

  Her father and Rob would be home shortly from Newlyn and the moment Davey was in the door Evie would show him Rob’s letter. Only regarding Beth would she hold anything back from him. Davey would quite likely say it was up to her if she wanted to accept Rob’s invitation, but he would also make it plain he’d prefer it if she gave Rob a firm no. Mixed feelings and longings caused chaos in her mind. Why shouldn’t she step out with a young man? She would keep it innocent. Then again, why couldn’t Rob have kept on virtually ignoring her? She had felt safe not having to consider romance and its furtherance. Yet Rob had numerous points of attraction, and as Judy had pointed out, it would be ideal if Evie only had to move in next door, from where she could still look after Davey, if things grew serious with him. Evie did not want in the slightest to end up like Muriel Oakley. And now she had been urged to think about it, she did not want to miss out on having children. Her mother had said a thousand times that she would never have missed out on having Evie, and that her child was a blessing to her. Evie wanted to know what that blessing was like. For the first time she saw Davey as being over-possessive with her. And she thought him a little selfish to want to deny her own sister.

  * * *

  After several days at sea during which the pilchard fleets had experienced mixed fortunes, Rob walked close beside Davey, whistling cheerfully as they made their way towards their respective back doors. The men wore smarter clothes for the journey to Newlyn and home again. Although Davey was speeding along trying to shake Rob off, he was no match for Rob’s longer legs. ‘I’ll be dropping in later, Davey,’ Rob drawled.

  ‘Better if you just dropped dead!’ And Davey used foul language for the first time in his life, elbowing the brash younger man aside as he bulldozed through his back gate and went into his home.

  Rob chuckled, halting to peer through the open top of the Vages’ stable door. He saw Evie on her feet, facing her father with a pale blue envelope in her hand. Rob smirked at Davey’s back and smiled over Evie’s intention. It was Rob’s letter she held and she was about to show it to Davey. Rob was confident that if she had wanted to shun him she would have destroyed the letter without ever intending to speak about it.

  * * *

  ‘Another cup of tea, Dad?’ Evie asked, on edge. Ten minutes had passed since he had read Rob’s letter and he had not spoken a word.

  ‘Yes please, my handsome, and I’ll have another slice of cake.’

  He had replied so quietly and as if dreadfully hurt. Evie eyed him while getting the drink and food, wishing with all her heart she had burnt that wretched letter.

  Davey spooned sugar into his tea and stirred it slowly. ‘Sit down, Evie.’

  Evie did so, full of guilt and wanting to blurt out that she was sorry and would forget Rob and other men for the rest of her life. She owed Davey too much to make him miserable.

  ‘Do you want to go for this meal, Evie? Don’t be afraid to tell me the truth.’ Davey looked straight at her, his expression neutral.

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she murmured forlornly, admonishing herself for sounding so self-pitying. That hadn’t been her intention. ‘I’ll tell him not to come round any more.’

  ‘You don’t have to do that. You’re a grown woman, twenty-five years old. If you want to walk out with someone that’s natural and you have my blessing. I won’t pretend I like Praed
. I see him as a selfish so-and-so and I don’t believe he’d stay faithful to a wife. He thinks he’s the cat’s whiskers. S’pose he’s got one or two things going for him. Go out for this meal if you want to, Evie, but I implore you to be careful of him. Don’t say nothing for now, I can see your chin wobbling. You’re upset and unsettled. There’s no need to be, I’ll always be here to protect you. Now come and give your old dad a hug.’

  Evie flung her arms round his neck and Davey kissed her. ‘There’s a good girl. Show me what you’ve been stitching this week, then I’ll tell you what I’ve been up to. We having pasties for tea, eh? Can’t wait. Oh, I got you a little present, my handsome. With all them painters around about Newlyn I took a look at some woman’s work where she’d set up an easel, after all the boats were in and fish market was over. She does watercolours. She had Morenwyn in nicely and there’s a white cat strolling along the quay. I thought ’twas done well but she said she was disappointed with it. Anyway I knew you’d really like it, so I asked her if I could buy it and she let me have it for… well, never mind that.’

  Evie loved the painting. Davey found a hook and hung it up on the picture rail. ‘There,’ he said proudly. ‘You can think of me every day on the boat when I’m not here. Want to go a stroll round? I’ll buy us some ice cream.’

  With her father talking more than she had ever known him to and not intending to sit in his armchair and read the newspaper as he usually did when he arrived home from Newlyn, Evie knew he was trying to take her mind off Rob.

  Suddenly Rob was there. He knocked briskly on the back door and came straight in. Evie saw her father’s expression darken like thunderclouds. ‘Hello, Evie.’ Rob smiled deeply at her. ‘Hello again, Davey.’

  Evie was watching Davey and missed Rob mouthing something to him.

  ‘There’s someone on the way here.’ Rob jerked his dark head towards the quay. ‘Jack Mitchell’s on his way here with your baccy, Davey.’

  Evie was shocked at how ugly Davey’s weathered features turned. Then he rearranged his cast. ‘He is? I’ll nip and get it. Let him in I’ll never get rid of him, he’s such a gasbag.’ Davey was straight out the front door.

  Evie thought her father had acted strangely, yet it seemed he had deliberately left her alone with Rob.

  * * *

  Beth had her head up, but was not really looking at anything as she rehearsed her lines to Davey Vage. It was hard to know what to say at first for she didn’t know who would open the front door to her. She thought the fisherman would take affront at her going round to the back of the cottage; that was for closer acquaintances. Then, with trepidation, she saw a short man tearing along the quay front, dodging past meandering holidaymakers and giving a mere grunt in response to a neighbour. Her heart sank, for this had to be Davey Vage, alerted somehow to her approach, and he was bearing down on her like a demon out of hell.

  * * *

  Rob had never felt so smug or amused. Thanks to Elizabeth Tresaile he could play Davey and Evie like a golden fiddle. Evie’s darling little face was as red as a raspberry now she had been suddenly left alone with him. Now he would play his master card. ‘Evie,’ he said softly, his voice all concern. ‘You may want to know this. I also saw Elizabeth Tresaile, and she was obviously on her way here. Davey’s made it plain he doesn’t want the two of you to mix. There might be some unpleasantness.’

  ‘Beth’s coming here now?’ Evie wrung her hands. ‘I’d better go out there.’

  Round the quay, Ken Tresaile was watering the pub’s window boxes. The flurry of Davey’s charge made him look in that direction. Beth was heading the other way towards Davey, gradually faltering in her steps for she was aware of a coming clash. Now Evie was out of the cottage and running after Davey, with Rob Praed a step behind her. News had filtered round the cove that Rob had designs on Evie. Evie was Ken’s niece and he thought all in all that Rob would make her a good husband, but he knew Rob would have to get past Davey first. It went without saying that Davey would hate Evie becoming involved with Beth. Now everyone was about to be embroiled in a fierce wrangle. Davey rarely lost his temper but when he felt pushed to the limit he came down on others like a raging storm. Dropping the watering can, Ken hastened to join what would soon be an overwrought assemblage.

  Most of the passers-by had gone on their way, but some were still lingering about the area, and Beth found herself for the first time facing Davey Vage full on. Even if she had met him before, she would hardly have recognized him thanks to the twisted, gargoyle-like expression on his face. Beth quaked with a flash of disquiet. There was something more than just hostility in the fisherman. ‘You must be Mr Vage,’ she said. ‘You obviously know who I am.’

  She thought he would interrupt or hurl harsh words at her but he remained silent, his hands taut at his sides while he glared at her. His expression was more malicious than a barrage of fury. He was making her plead and she resented it. ‘I’m no threat to you, Mr Vage. I only want to see Evie once or twice a week. I won’t enter your home. I won’t encroach on your time with Evie at all.’

  Evie, and the tall, ruggedly good-looking man she knew to be Rob Praed from the photograph of him on Posy Praed’s mantelpiece, had reached them. Evie was gazing at her father appealingly. Now their Uncle Ken was there, with a no-nonsense look on his face. Beth continued, firmly now, ‘When Evie and I met we immediately connected, we’re sisters and nothing can change that. Please, can’t we put the past in the past?’

  ‘Is this what you want, Evie?’ Davey stared directly at his adopted daughter. His expression softened but there was accusation in his tone. ‘Do you wish to see this woman?’

  Mortified, Evie glanced at Beth. Beth was sorry that Evie, so reserved and private, had to endure this public confrontation.

  Evie’s pause allowed Ken to speak up. ‘I don’t really understand what objections you could have to letting these two young women meet, Davey. Beth is my niece and so is Evie and I’ve never shunned either of them. They were both innocent victims of my immoral brother, but they’ve had the opportunity to do well in life and that is exactly what they’ve done. They are decent, pleasant, intelligent young women. They want to be part of a family, and if you’re set to deny them that then it’ll be nothing but damned selfish of you.’

  Davey seemed unmoved by Ken’s speech. ‘Evie, I asked you a question.’

  Evie was heartened by her uncle’s support but she did not need it to determine her answer. ‘Yes, Dad, I do want to see Beth, very much. Please say it will be all right with you.’

  Rob pushed his hands into his pockets. He was enjoying this. If Evie got her way it meant Davey was losing his grip on her. Rob had no objection if Evie saw her half-sister, there was no good reason to stop it; family was important, and Beth Tresaile was a tasty piece. If Davey succeeded he would be pleased Rob had put him on to Beth Tresaile’s presence here today. Rob planned to whisper later to Davey, ‘Sorry, Evie was out the door like lightning after you.’

  Davey knew he was in an impossible situation. If he banned Evie from seeing this blasted Tresaile woman it would drive a wedge between him and his daughter, but he wouldn’t accept the Tresaile woman under his roof if he could help it. He was aware of Rob smirking. Davey’s heart was wrapped in loathing. But you, you bastard, there’s no way I’ll let you marry my Evie. You’re not good enough for her. Davey’s determination was growing fiercer. He could never trust Rob not to blab one day about his sexuality in order to separate him from Evie, or just out of spite. He would have to still Rob Praed’s mouth good and proper.

  Davey cleared his throat and all eyes studied him more intently. ‘I wouldn’t dream of saying otherwise, Evie. Slip back inside and get changed. Why not meet Miss Tresaile in The Teashop?’ Davey voiced the words but each one nearly choked him. At least this was a way of getting Evie away from Praed for the moment.

  A variety of thanks were sent Davey’s way. ‘I’ll walk you to The Teashop, Beth,’ Ken said. After exchanging happy smiles
with Beth, Evie was preparing to walk home with her father. Rob was going to follow on, his hands still jauntily in his pockets.

  But Beth had something to say to someone else, the man who was obviously hanging around Evie and obviously for his own ends. Rob Praed had too much of Phil Tresaile’s character in him and Beth wasn’t going to allow him to taint her sister’s life. ‘Mr Praed, I’ve heard a lot about you.’ She pitched her voice at its most superior, ensuring she had an avid audience. ‘You dallied with the feelings of my friend, Miss Copeland, then you cut her off as if she was so much rubbish, humiliating her in front of your family. Not the act of a decent man, don’t you agree?’

  The gasp escaping from Evie’s throat told Rob his campaign was lost with her, good and proper. She wouldn’t consider him now; she was too bloody righteous. Well, it was her loss. ‘I’ve got no more time to waste,’ he snarled in an effort to save face. Shrugging his shoulders as if he didn’t care, but scowling at Beth because he hated being beaten and this would ensure he was on the wrong end of his companions’ mockery for the first time in his life, he made a show at sauntering off.

  ‘Good for you, Beth,’ Ken said. ‘Rob isn’t totally bad really, but he’s not for Evie. I hope you’re not disappointed, Evie.’

  ‘Not at all,’ she said. All Evie cared about right now was establishing true sisterhood with Beth, and she would do everything to ensure her father was comfortable about it.

  ‘Evie will be with you shortly,’ Davey told Beth. Silently cursing Ken Tresaile for his untimely interruption, for Ken had said nothing that could be taken issue with, Davie took Evie away.

  He damned Elizabeth Tresaile all the way to hell but he was grateful to her for getting rid of Praed so efficiently and condescendingly. But if she expected too much from Evie, or upset her in the slightest way, Davey would work on ways to turn Evie against her. He was still worried about Praed though. He had just been made a fool of in public. He would never be able to boast again that he always got what he wanted. He’d brood over the way his scheme to make Evie his wife had been cut off so quickly. He might decide to take revenge by spilling his knowledge about Davey and his lost love.