Slowly, Scarlett stood up, the card trembling in her fingers.
She read the message she’d seen once before, but had convinced herself she’d misremembered.
Anna,
Thanks for a night to remember,
All my love,
H xx
She took the book and card into the kitchen and laid it on the worktop. There was no doubt. This was the book she’d seen when they were sorting out Auntie Joan’s stuff. The book that Jude had denied having. She recognised the faded biro on the card too, with its tiny triangle of bent corner.
She hadn’t imagined it, then. It was real – but what was it doing in Jude’s cottage, why hadn’t he mentioned it, and why had he hidden it away?
Standing in the middle of Jude’s sitting room, Scarlett read the card again, unable to stop her hands from shaking.
All the pieces of the jigsaw were slotting into place but until now she’d been too afraid to look at the bigger picture – or had dismissed it. Now everything added up and it made her feel sick. Hayden’s comments to her mother and her misgivings about Jude … the beach photo with Auntie Joan and now the postcard …
She’d begun to think she’d misremembered the message, or even seeing the card at all. Now it was in front of her eyes in black and white. She could no longer fool herself. ‘H’ – Hayden – had had an affair with her mother. Why else would he sign the card with ‘All my love’? Only lovers signed a card like that. Even Rafa hadn’t used such an emotive sign-off in his emails and cards to her.
The only thing that gave her hope was that if her mother suspected her father was Hayden Penberth, surely she would have come out and warned her? That part didn’t add up … It looked like her night of passion with Hayden wasn’t a one-off either, but part of a full-blown affair while she was staying in Cornwall in the summer after Marcus’s birth.
She thought of her dad, and how devastated he’d be when – or if – he found out. She clapped her hand over her mouth. Oh God, did she have a duty to share her fears with her dad?
Immediately, she dismissed the idea. This most definitely was not her secret to tell, and yet the knowledge was going to weigh her down like a gigantic stone. She had to tell her mother.
But first, she had to go back to the festival and face Jude. And his parents. She had to steady herself with a hand on the chair. The shock was almost as bad as the one on Christmas Day, but this time, she was determined not to freak out. She took a few calming breaths, replaced the book and card and picked up the bags.
Chapter Twenty-Three
While Ellie was clearing away the rubbish, she spotted Aaron making a beeline for the Marisco. Her colleague made a jokey remark about him, telling her she should take a break. Everyone in Porthmellow probably knew they were seeing each other by now.
Aaron strode on board, all smiles. Ellie took him to the water side of the boat, behind a roped-off section.
He gave her peck on the lips. ‘Hi there. How’s it going?’
Ellie mustered all her composure even though she was reeling from her encounter with Julian. She supposed there had always been a slim chance she might see him again, as he was from the area, but it had been so long, she’d let her guard down.
She would not let Mallory ruin her evening, especially an evening that included Aaron.
‘Good. In fact, we ran out of food.’
‘I’m not surprised. The smell is incredible. Shame I’m on duty, but maybe we can share a hot toddy later.’
‘Yes. Maybe.’
Aaron’s smile faded a little at her lack of enthusiasm. ‘Only if you want to. It must be hard work being a galley slave. Bet Drew cracks the whip?’
‘He tries, but I don’t take any notice.’ Ellie made sure her reaction was keener but Aaron was no fool and must have guessed something wasn’t right with her. ‘It’s been a hectic few days. If I never see another turkey pasty, it’ll be too soon.’ Better that he thought she was only knackered.
He arched an eyebrow. ‘I could rustle up a little something while you put your feet up.’
‘You must be tired too, after being on security duty all day.’
‘Not really. It’s been a very quiet night. No dramas, for a change.’
‘No.’ She laughed weakly. Realising she was still wearing a tricorn, she took it off, which only drew attention to it.
‘I love the outfit, by the way,’ he said.
Ellie winked. ‘You should have seen me with the eye patch.’
‘I like it.’ He waggled his eyebrows.
‘Thanks.’ She brushed his lips with hers, thinking how different he was to Julian. She’d begun to believe he might be a keeper.
‘You know,’ he said, a little more hesitantly, ‘this is probably the worst time but maybe you’d consider not going back to the manor at all one day … after Christmas, possibly?’
Not going back to the manor at all. Wow. Was he asking her to move in with him? Ellie struggled to reply. She’d thought about it herself, but he’d blindsided her.
‘Too soon. I knew it was too bloody soon. I always jump the gun—’
‘No. No.’ She took his hand. ‘It’s a very tempting offer. Extremely tempting, and we should definitely talk about it very soon. Let me get through Christmas first.’ She smiled so he knew she wasn’t rejecting his offer. ‘It’s been a turbulent year and the next couple of weeks will be difficult for the family. In the new year, ask me again. I mean it.’
He nodded. ‘Sure.’ He kissed her again, full on the lips and obviously not caring who saw them.
Julian had reminded her of how easily you could be mistaken about someone, and how agonising the fall to earth was when you’d put all your trust in one person. However, Julian was her past. Aaron was the present and very possibly her future, and she should focus on that.
Buoyed by a hope she hadn’t experienced for years, she walked with Aaron onto the quayside, exchanging smiles with familiar faces among the traders. The festival was winding down. The fishermen’s choir were finishing their pints around the brazier outside the Tinners’ along with a few hardy visitors. Stallholders were getting rid of the last of their wares or packing up.
‘Hello there.’
Aaron’s parents hailed them from outside the Fisherman’s Institute, which had been used as a base for the festival. No one could help warming to lively, funny Evie or Troy.
‘Looked like you were doing a roaring trade on the Marisco,’ Evie said.
‘I hope you weren’t overloading that vessel. I am a harbour official, you know,’ Troy muttered, but the glint in his eye told Ellie he was joking.
Evie batted him on the arm. ‘Ignore him, he’s having you on. The festival’s done well, considering it’s the first Christmas one.’
‘No trouble to deal with, son?’ Troy asked.
‘Nothing to bother us, Dad.’
‘No one would dare cause any problems with Aaron in charge.’ Evie squeezed her son’s arm. ‘Who’d go up against him?’ She half-addressed this to Ellie.
‘Mum …’ Aaron winced.
‘Well, look at you. You’re a professional. No wonder there was no trouble.’
Ellie had to smile at Evie’s pride in her son and his obvious embarrassment. She was enjoying it too much.
Troy let out a cackle. ‘You’ve embarrassed the lad in front of his lady.’
Evie glared at him. ‘Now who’s embarrassed them both! I am sorry, Ellie, my husband’s speciality is putting his foot in it.’
‘Shouldn’t you two be getting home? It’s cold,’ Aaron said.
Troy spluttered. ‘We’re not decrepit, my lad. Not yet.’
Evie tugged at Troy’s arm. ‘I think they want us to leave them alone and I don’t blame them.’
Troy smirked. ‘Aye. I bet they do.’
‘It’s been lovely to chat to you,’ Ellie said, sensing Aaron cringing even more.
‘You too,’ Evie said, ‘and you should come up to our place for a meal, Ellie. Any
time you like. I’ll make my shrimp creole. It’s a family recipe.’
Ellie glowed with pleasure at the invitation and hoped Aaron would be happy about it too. ‘That sounds delicious.’
‘No one makes it better than my Evie. Got it from her father.’ Troy’s voice was bursting with pride.
‘In fact, why don’t you come over on Boxing Day after the swim? We always have a bit of a family get together. Gemma and her kids will be there and a couple of neighbours. I know Aaron would love it, wouldn’t you?’ She turned to Aaron, beaming.
Ellie held her breath slightly, in case Aaron wasn’t as keen as his mum.
‘Course he would, maid.’ Troy chuckled.
Aaron broke into a grin. ‘Dad’s right. I’d love it if you could be there, as long as you’re not busy.’
‘I’ve no real plans apart from the swim,’ she said, hoping Scarlett and her mum would spare her. ‘If you’re sure, then, yes, I’d love to come.’
‘Great. I’ll get extra food in.’
‘There’s a feast planned anyway. The fridge won’t take it.’ Aaron laughed.
Ellie felt his fingers alight briefly on her wrist, obviously signalling he wanted to be off. After all the drama, she was ready to drop.
‘Thanks again, both of you,’ Ellie said to Evie and Troy.
‘See you, son. We’re off to talk to Sam and the rest of the committee before we turn in. Some of us have work to do.’
The Carmans went inside the Institute, leaving Ellie and Aaron on the steps.
Ellie shivered as he kissed her, full on the lips but briefly. She didn’t care … Then the rogue thought slipped into her mind that Julian Mallory might have seen them. She hoped he had, but by now, he’d be long gone to take his granddaughter back to bed.
Thinking of the little girl, the ghost of ‘what might have been’ came rapping at the window momentarily but she refused to let it in. It wasn’t too late for her. Aaron’s parents and grandparents showed two couples devoted to each other and prepared to risk almost anything to be together. It touched Ellie deeply, and reminded her again that a long, happy marriage or lifelong relationship was more than possible – and that Aaron could be the man for her.
‘Ellie?’ Aaron slipped his arm around her. ‘You seemed miles away for a moment.’
‘I’m fine, just a little tired, that’s all.’
‘Not too tired for a “nightcap” at mine after we’ve both finished up here?’
The way he made a nightcap sound absolutely filthy thrilled Ellie from her head to the tip of her boots. ‘Oh, I think I can manage that.’
His eyes lit up and he kissed her again. ‘Great. Take care on the way home, sweetheart. I won’t be long.’
‘I will.’ Ellie wandered back to her car, her weary body at odds with a mind still reeling over the night’s contrasting emotions. Her encounter with Julian was shocking but had been blown out of the water by Aaron’s invitation to move in with him. Tonight was a loud and clear message that she had to put the past to bed and embrace new opportunities.
Chapter Twenty-Four
With a stomach tied into knots, Scarlett loaded the books into a jute bag and the booze into another and let herself out of the cottage. Her fingers fumbled with the keys as she locked the door and she forced herself to trudge back to the stall, bottles clanking in the bag. Her arms and shoulders were soon burning with the weight of her burden, even on the short distance to their pitch.
Families swarmed around her, laughing, shouting and doing ‘normal’ things and living normal lives like she had before she opened that stupid bloody DNA test. Now she felt like a bottle adrift in the sea, bobbing along at the mercy of the waves, with no idea where she was going to end up.
Earlier in the evening, she’d found the jaunty music of the silver band and folk groups fun, but now they seemed to jar and make her head throb. The smell of smoke, incense and street foods mingled, making her feel queasy. She longed to run right back to her car and drive home, but her rational side told her to stay calm and not make a scene. One dramatic entrance in Porthmellow was quite enough for one year.
She’d never felt so torn. No one in the Latham family had made her feel excluded, but she was horrified by the fact that she partly ‘belonged’ to another family – and the possibility that it might be Jude’s family made her want to throw up.
When she reached the stall, she saw that her mother had arrived and was chatting to some of the people in the queue who were waiting for Jude to sign their books. The sight of them together made her stomach turn over again. Forcing herself to walk over with a semblance of a cheery expression, she lifted up the bag of bottles and put them behind the stall. Jude smiled a cheerful greeting. ‘You found everything OK, then?’
‘Yes. Everything was exactly where you said.’
‘Great.’ His eyes shone with gratitude. ‘I don’t know what I’d have done without you tonight. Since Gabe finished his demo, it’s manic again.’
‘I can see that. I had trouble getting through the crowds with the stuff.’
He took the book bag from her. ‘Wow. This is heavy. I should have gone myself.’
‘I was fine.’ Scarlett was like an automaton.
Her mother finished chatting and came behind the stall. ‘Hello, you look busy. I wanted to see how it’s going.’
‘Good. We’ve done well. Business has picked up a lot since Jude did his demo.’ Scarlett took the bottles from the bag.
‘I can see that. Can I give you a hand?’
‘Thanks. There are some more little cups in that box under the table.’
While Scarlett uncorked the bottles, her mother laid more sample cups on the table. Scarlett’s hands shook as she decanted the brandy into the tiny pots.
‘Cold fingers?’ her mum asked.
‘Brr. Yes.’ Scarlett clapped her gloves together. ‘Maybe you could pour the drinks while I dish up the rest of the figgy pudding?’ she asked.
‘No problem.’ Her mother smiled. In fact, she seemed happier than she had for weeks, which made Scarlett feel even more disconnected from the world around her.
She tried to focus on dolloping pudding into the pots, adding a little wooden spoon and handing it over to the crowds milling around the stall. Her mother was filling cups and dishing those out too.
‘Doing well, eh? But people are always up for a freebie.’
Scarlett glanced around to find Hayden at the front of the queue. She couldn’t bear to meet his eye and her hands shook.
‘Cold hands, warm heart.’ He winked at her and grinned. His eyes were hazel rather than startling green. Like Scarlett’s own. She almost passed out.
Jude hadn’t even noticed, he was so busy signing a book for some ‘fans’.
‘Oh, hello, Anna.’
‘Hello, Hayden.’ Her mother flashed him a smile but there was a chip of ice in her tone. Oh God, this was excruciating.
‘You’re looking as lovely as ever. How’s me old mate Roger?’
His old mate? Scarlett cringed but her mum brushed off the comment. ‘He’s fine, thank you,’ she said tightly.
‘Not with you tonight? I thought now he’d retired, he’d have all the time in the world to spend with his lovely family.’
Busy dispensing pudding, Scarlett’s toes curled, but her mother seemed to be handling things.
‘He’s sorting a few things out at home.’
‘I bet he is. Probably down the pub most of the time. While the cat’s away, and all that.’ Hayden’s booming laugh attracted the attention of some of the people in the queue. Scarlett wanted to tell him to shut up. Fiona had said she hadn’t discussed their problems with him but had he worked out that her parents were estranged? It was possible, in a small place like Porthmellow. Rumours must be rife all over the town, particularly now she’d become more involved in village life and with Jude.
However wild their speculation, they would probably never come close to the truth. For once, she could see a major downside t
o moving to a small community.
When he came behind the stall, Scarlett could have sunk through the cobbles. Jude glanced up at them. The smile he’d had on his face while meeting the public vanished when he saw Hayden talking to her mum. He didn’t seem to care that there was a queue of people waiting for samples. All Scarlett could do was grit her teeth and hand out the freebies, while listening to Hayden interrogate her mother. Did Jude guess that his father and her mum had had a fling and hidden the ‘evidence’ – the book and card? He surely couldn’t suspect that their affair had resulted in Scarlett, or he’d have kept his distance from the very start.
‘I suppose good old Roger will be joining you at Seaholly for Christmas?’ Hayden said to Anna.
‘I really don’t know what our plans are yet, Hayden.’
‘Well, if you’re staying, we’ll have to meet up for a drink. With the other halves, of course, if they can make it. Bring your lovely daughters too, if you like, although I expect they’ll have their own plans. I know Jude will.’ He guffawed and Jude shot Scarlett a desperate look.
Scarlett was desperate herself, but for other reasons. Hayden’s comment made it abundantly clear that he had no idea that she might be his daughter … but that meant nothing. Like her mother, he’d probably assumed that she was her dad’s.
Oh Jesus, this whole thing only got worse.
‘Thanks for the offer, but like I say, we haven’t confirmed our plans for Christmas yet.’ Her mum’s smile was forced and her patience obviously wearing paper thin. No wonder, Hayden made Scarlett’s skin crawl and the idea of spending another minute in his company was nauseating.
He rubbed his hands together. ‘Well, can’t stay here gossiping with you ladies. Must get back to our van. Fiona will be doing her nut, I was only supposed to nip off for a slash, but I wanted to see how Jude was getting on. I’ll catch you later. The party’s over, anyway.’
Scarlett let out a huge sigh after Hayden left, although the postcard immediately sprang to the forefront of her mind again, making her relief short-lived. Her mother also left to see some of her friends from art class, so Scarlett went through the motions of serving customers. They sold a few more books and got rid of the rest of the brandy, but Hayden was right about one thing: the party was over. Within half an hour, all the families had gone home and only couples and groups who’d decided to end their evening in the pubs remained.
A Perfect Cornish Christmas Page 21
