A Match Made in Devon

by Cathy Bramley

‘Naturally.’ I sipped my milk. Ellis had been right about that too; it was the perfect combo.

  Our cake took up our attention for the next couple of minutes or so until finally I collected the last few crumbs with my fingertip.

  ‘So. Archie. What do you think? He likes you,’ I said.

  ‘He’s been pretty clear about that,’ she said wryly. ‘But I can’t make him out.’

  ‘He’s lovely,’ I said defensively.

  ‘He’s pretty obsessed with money.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘How much his car cost, how much his house cost, the profit he’s going to make by selling his sports car … He judges his own happiness by his bank balance. I haven’t got a bean, but I look at that little boy in there and I feel as rich as Croesus. Money doesn’t impress me. I want a man who’ll listen to me, who understands what I need, who’ll spend time with me and Ellis. A kind man.’ She gave herself a shake. ‘What am I even saying? I don’t want a man full stop. Moving on. Over to you. Jude Trevone: discuss.’

  She folded her arms.

  ‘Wait.’ I held her gaze. ‘Archie wasn’t kind?’

  Archie was the kindest, most generous man I knew. Either she wasn’t giving him a chance or he’d been too nervous to show himself in his best light.

  ‘Not exactly.’ She huffed and puffed, clearly struggling to find the right words. ‘When he brought me home to help out with the laundry yesterday he tried to take over.’ She shrugged. ‘I didn’t like it.’

  ‘Oh, Archie.’ I chuckled softly, shaking my head in despair. ‘It’s not that he wants to take over, although I can totally see that that’s how it looks, it’s that he wants to make things right.’

  ‘I don’t need a man to make things right,’ she said crossly.

  ‘Maybe not, but it’s all he knows.’ I looked out into the garden. It was only small: a washing line zigzagged several times across the width of it but beyond that I could see a football goal and an assortment of balls, a sandpit and a swing. It was Ellis’s place to play, to be a child. A privilege Archie had had taken away from him.

  ‘Taking control of women?’ she scoffed. ‘He needs to get a grip.’

  ‘You don’t understand,’ I began. ‘It goes way back.’

  I eyed her for a moment, considering how much to tell her. Molly was a lovely girl: feisty, hard-working, fiercely independent. She’d be good for Archie and he was clearly keen on her, and if a nudge from me could help things on their way … But on the other hand, whereas I kept alive a secret hope that one day our father would come looking for us, Archie didn’t feel the same way and it was that resentment that had fuelled his determination to be a successful businessman. I wasn’t sure how happy he’d be that I’d showed her his Achilles heel.

  Molly, sensing that I was wrestling with something, reached out to touch my arm. ‘Hey, we can change the subject if you like?’

  ‘It’s fine, I’m in the mood to tell someone,’ I admitted. Jude had stirred up memories of my dad yesterday, and he’d been on my mind on and off ever since. ‘Archie became the man of the house when he was eight years old. Or at least in his eyes he did. The day Dad disappeared from the scene, our fortunes changed considerably. Archie changed overnight too. It was as if he’d decided that his childhood had ended and he took on the role of protector and provider.’

  ‘At eight?’ Molly glanced automatically towards the living room. Ellis had the TV on and we could hear his gurgling laughter above the chatter of the cartoon he was watching.

  I swallowed as the heartache of that time came back to me. ‘And I was only five, just a bit older than Ellis.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’ She squeezed my hand. ‘Do you want to talk about it?’

  And so I talked. I told her about the day we’d come home from school to find Mum sitting at the kitchen table, eyes unblinking, lips pursed. There was a man outside fixing a for-sale sign into the ground. She was holding a piece of paper by its edges as if she couldn’t bear to touch it.

  ‘We’ve had a letter from your father,’ she said crisply. She paused, pulling her lips into a grim line. Archie and I exchanged worried looks; Mum was moody at the best of times. ‘He’s moved away, a long way away. We might not see him again for some time.’

  She had a buttoned-up expression, as if she was full to bursting with emotions but didn’t dare let them out. I had leaned against my brother, needing his solid presence for reassurance.

  ‘But he still loves us, doesn’t he?’ I’d asked.

  ‘Not enough, clearly.’ She dipped her head and her eyes blazed and for a moment I thought she was going to erupt with fury. ‘He’s chosen to live a different life.’

  ‘Is that why we’re selling the house?’ Archie asked.

  ‘We can’t afford this house any longer,’ Mum confirmed. ‘And we need a fresh start. Somewhere smaller and cheaper.’ Adding under her breath, ‘With no wagging tongues.’

  Leaving our home had doubled our sadness. Our new house was only twenty miles away but it might as well have been on another planet. It was small and identical to its neighbours and its walls were so thin that I could hear Mum muttering angrily in her sleep. But the money from the sale of the house meant that she didn’t have to go out to work, which was good because I don’t think she really liked other people.

  She never married again. She rarely smiled again either.

  ‘I feel so sorry for you all,’ said Molly, shaking her head. ‘I moan like hell about Steve, but at least I know where he is.’

  ‘And at least he hasn’t forgotten about Ellis, even if he doesn’t get to see him much. My heart broke in two when Dad left.’ I stared into the bottom of my glass, remembering his laugh, his jokes and the stories he used to make up at bedtime. ‘He was the chocolate sprinkles in my life. Dad made things special, made me feel special. When he vanished the fun seeped out from our home. Mum systematically rubbed out every trace of him. We even stopped seeing our gran, Dad’s mum …’ I paused, trying to recall the face of the old lady who had Dad’s kind eyes. Tricky when Mum had destroyed every photograph documenting her marriage.

  ‘Have you ever tried to find him?’ Molly slipped from her stool, scooped up crumbs, switched the kettle on and stacked our plates in the sink.

  I let out a breath. ‘Almost impossible. I know nothing about him. Mum shut me down every time I tried to bring up the subject and she passed away when I was nineteen, so it’s too late to ask now. I’ve googled Graeme Penhaligon a hundred times but nothing has ever come up. Our parents were older when they got together. He’d be in his seventies now, assuming he’s still alive. I would have tried harder to get in touch but Archie has always been so adamant that he wanted nothing to do with him.’

  ‘Your mum sounds like she took it hard,’ Molly said, spooning coffee into mugs.

  I smiled ruefully. ‘She certainly kept her maternal instincts on a tight leash. Looking back, I wonder if she only had children because it was something she felt she ought to do. She was nearly forty when she had Archie. We each had our own ways of getting her attention. For me it was putting on shows, acting and reciting silly poems. Archie wanted to help financially from day one. He did everything to help the family budget from snipping out discount coupons from the newspaper, to sweeping leaves, delivering newspapers, wheeling and dealing in the playground. And all of it went to Mum, he didn’t spend anything on himself. To this day he’s still looking out for me; he’s set me up a fund for my old age because I haven’t got round to it.’

  She set two mugs on the worktop, offered me milk and settled back on her stool. ‘Okay, you win; the man’s a saint.’

  ‘So you’ll give him a second chance?’

  Before she could answer the laptop screen lit up in front of us. An army of butterflies began to march in my stomach.

  Kate was on the line.

  Chapter 26

  Molly nudged me out of the way so fast that I almost flew off my stool.

  ‘Stand clear of the screen and I’ll announce your presence,’
she muttered without moving her lips, ‘as soon as it’s safe.’

  I nodded and scooted to the side where I could still see Kate on the screen.

  She looked pretty much the same as the last time I saw her on her wedding day, only with a better tan. She was bursting with wholesome goodness: glossy chestnut-brown hair tied back off her face, dark-rimmed glasses that magnified her eyes and her trademark bright lipstick. A few more crinkles around the eyes, a line or two across her forehead, but then five tough years had gone by since I’d last seen her.

  She was in an internet café by the look of it: other people were on laptops behind her, there was some sort of tinny trumpet music in the background, and she had a tall frothy iced drink in front of her.

  ‘Look at you, all tan-tastic!’ said Molly brightly. ‘How are you doing, love?’

  ‘Oh Mols, I asked Theo for a divorce!’ Kate’s face loomed close to the screen. ‘It was a knee-jerk reaction; exactly what my therapist said not to do. I’m supposed to pause, take a breath, think it through. And THEN speak.’

  ‘I’d have done the same,’ Molly admitted. ‘Steve has just bought Ellis twenty of the latest Disney DVDs because he’s Disney mad at the moment. I went crazy. Again. Said he should entertain Ellis himself, not park him in front of the telly.’

  Another peal of laughter reached the kitchen from the living room. I raised my eyebrows.

  ‘That’s the CBeebies bedtime story,’ she said haughtily. ‘Totally different.’

  ‘What?’ said Kate, looking confused. ‘Who are you talking to?’

  Molly froze. ‘Nina,’ she blurted out.

  ‘Molly Asher!’ Kate choked on her drink. ‘You … you Judas!’

  She reached towards her laptop as if she was going to close it.

  ‘No wait,’ Molly yelped. She dragged me in front of the screen so Kate could see me. ‘Pause, remember, like the therapist said, and breathe!’

  Kate blew out a whistly breath, her eyes not leaving mine for a second. ‘I’m pausing,’ she said through gritted teeth.

  ‘Good girl,’ said Molly with relief. She nodded to me. ‘Over to you.’

  This was it. This was my chance. I almost cocked up their wedding day with my stupid crush on Theo, now was my opportunity to make amends and reunite two people who had simply lost their way through no fault of their own.

  I reminded myself of Kate’s ultimatum to Theo: get his life back on track and set up Brightside Holidays or else. There was no way ‘or else’ was going to happen, not while I had anything to do with it.

  ‘Kate,’ I began tentatively, ‘Theo says he misses you.’

  ‘Yeah right,’ she scoffed. ‘That’s why the profile picture on the Coastal Cottages website shows you two gazing at each other.’

  ‘That was taken out of context, but I can see why you think that,’ I said quickly.

  ‘And what was the context?’ Kate demanded. ‘Or shouldn’t I ask?’

  ‘When Nigel Rees arrived to do his inspection there were two naked artists in the garden using their body parts to paint.’

  Beside me, Molly snorted.

  ‘Yes, very funny,’ I said wryly, ‘except it was when we were trying to make a good impression for Coastal Cottages. We thought we’d blown our chances. Luckily, Nigel from the booking agency has a good sense of humour. Theo and I hugged with relief when he said the cottages had passed muster just as Nigel took the picture.’

  ‘And Theo has sent them a new one, Kate,’ Molly put in. ‘One of you and him when you first moved in. If you look at the website again, you’ll see.’

  Kate grunted and sipped her drink. ‘Still not exactly the picture of a tortured man missing his wife, is it?’

  I soldiered on. ‘He says he misses your warmth in the morning. You’re always toasty, apparently.’

  ‘Even warmer in Brazil,’ she said, fanning her face, trying hard not to look pleased. ‘What else does he say about me?’

  ‘He misses the smell of your skin; he says you smell of flowers and sunshine.’

  Beside me, Molly made a tiny ‘aww’ noise. I had Kate’s attention now.

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘He misses the way you drip a teabag all the way to the bin.’

  Kate shook her head fondly, a smile twitching at the corners of her lips. ‘He always used to tell me off about that.’

  ‘He misses your night-time routine.’

  Her eyes widened. ‘What did he say about that?’

  My heart thumped; from the expectant look on Kate’s face, I knew I had to get this right.

  ‘You check your alarm.’

  ‘Yes?’ She nodded.

  ‘You rub oil into every cuticle.’

  ‘Correct.’ Her face crumpled. ‘I do.’

  ‘And then you kiss Ivy’s photograph and say—’

  ‘Sweet dreams, angel.’ Kate pressed a hand to her mouth as tears sprang to her eyes.

  I felt my own voice catch. ‘And now he says that too, every night.’

  ‘Oh Kate,’ said Molly, swallowing hard. ‘You poor lambs.’

  From the other room, Ellis shouted for his mum and Molly squeezed my arm as she went through to see to him. I sat down on the stool and pulled the laptop closer.

  ‘Does he really say that?’ Kate whispered.

  I nodded. ‘Kate, he hasn’t done the things you think he has, but he has done the things you asked him to.’

  She rummaged around in her bag, found a tissue and blew her nose.

  ‘The cottages are gorgeous,’ I continued, ‘we’ve got some bookings and Theo has even started on the garden.’

  ‘Does he really miss me?’ she sobbed, wiping her eyes.

  ‘Yes. He misses both of you. And he loves you.’

  She smiled through her tears.

  ‘I thought he’d given up on me, on life, it was as if he was in a coma. The house was getting on top of us – we should never have moved there. We got in a mess with money and nothing I tried could bring him out of it. It had always been his dream to travel one day, so as a last resort I suggested we just take off. My parents thought it was a brilliant idea and offered to pay. But at the last minute he refused to leave Brightside Cove and he refused to speak to me about Ivy … I was at my wits’ end.’

  ‘He has spoken to me about her.’ I nibbled my lip, wishing I could reach out and hold her hand. She looked so alone and forlorn, God knows how many thousands of miles away. ‘What the two of you have been through would test any marriage.’

  ‘How did you do it?’ She gazed at me. ‘How did you succeed where I failed?’

  I shrugged. ‘I didn’t. It was just timing. He loves you, Kate, and when he realized he might lose you if he didn’t start living again he knew what he had to do.’

  Okay, so that wasn’t entirely honest. In my opinion Theo simply dealt with his grief differently to Kate. Whereas she wanted action, he wanted time. She needed to talk; he wanted to think. Nobody was in the wrong, it was just hopelessly sad.

  ‘So what do I do?’

  ‘Tell him you’re calling off the d-i-v-o-r-c-e for starters.’ Molly bounced back into the room with Ellis trailing behind her. He’d changed into his pyjamas and had a well-loved teddy tucked under his chin. ‘Because take it from one who knows, that’s no picnic.’

  She poured him some more milk and he wandered out of the room and up the stairs.

  ‘And that you definitely want to give it another shot?’ I suggested.

  Kate took a deep breath. ‘I don’t want Ivy forgotten, Nina. She was part of our lives. I was a mum. I want to be able to speak about her.’

  My heart ached for her.

  ‘You’ll always be Ivy’s mum,’ I promised. Just as I will always be a daughter, even though my parents have gone, I thought to myself. ‘You and Theo are her parents, her family.’

  ‘Family,’ Kate repeated softly.

  ‘Just a thought,’ I said cautiously, ‘but perhaps you and Theo could Skype each other like this? I think he’d love to s
peak to you regularly.’

  Kate frowned. ‘I had thought it was better to have a complete break from each other, but maybe you’re right.’

  ‘So do you finally accept that Nina’s defo not after your man, then?’ Molly grinned hopefully at her friend.

  Kate’s eyes softened. ‘Okay. And I can’t tell you how much having this chat has meant to me. I really wish I could give you both a hug.’

  ‘Me too.’ I held my fingers up to the screen. Thousands of miles away, Kate did the same.

  ‘I really must go,’ she said, brushing a stray tear from her cheek. ‘My internet time is about to run out and I need to email Mum. Bye-bye, both of you.’

  ‘Ooh, before you go,’ Molly said with a gasp, ‘guess who Nina’s got a crush on?’

  I opened my mouth to protest, but Molly clapped a hand over my mouth. ‘Jude Trevone!’

  Kate frowned. ‘Isn’t he the one you fancied—’

  ‘Bye-bye!’ Molly said in a shrill voice cutting her off. ‘Damn, I’d forgotten I’d told her that.’

  I stared at her, arms folded while she powered down her laptop.

  ‘If you’re keen on Jude, just say, because I’m not going to tread on anyone’s toes.’

  Molly met my eye and gave me a sheepish smile. ‘You can keep Jude on one condition.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘You give me Archie’s number.’

  ‘You’re giving him another chance!’ I flung my arms round her. ‘You won’t regret it.’

  ‘I hope not, for your sake,’ she joked.

  At least I hoped she was joking.

  It was dark when I swept back up the drive and parked outside the kitchen window of Driftwood Lodge. I had a huge smile on my face; Theo was going to be thrilled. All was not lost as far as he and Kate were concerned, they just needed to find their way back together again. He loved her, she loved him, and I was more sure than ever that love would bring them home. I darted inside, desperate to tell him all the things she’d said, but there was no Theo, only Mittens was there to greet me. I scooped up the kitten, pressing my lips to his soft fur and went outside. A lantern was lit up the end of the garden.

  ‘Theo?’ I walked towards the light. ‘Is that you?’