Page 53 of Where We Belong

He looked from Barnie to Ed to Cassie who were all grinning and nodding. ‘We’re sure,’ Barnie said.

‘In the diary, baron thirteen refers to his plans to take window arches and other stones from the abbey ruins to build it.’

‘An abbey, though?’ Cam couldn’t quite let himself believe it. ‘Bloody hell, I never dreamed it’d be anything as grand as that.’

‘Oh, it gets better!’ Cassie said, clapping her hands together. ‘We’re not only looking at uncovering the ruins of a site of significance, but it comes with a curse to boot!’

‘A curse? I’m not sure I like the sound of that.’

Cassie laughed. ‘Oh, it’s obviously a load of superstitious old nonsense but it’ll be a great yarn to spin to visitors.’

‘You’d better tell me all about it.’ Cam had just lifted the remains of his pint when his phone buzzed. ‘Hang on.’ He quickly scanned the message from Hope. ‘Hold that thought. Hope and Rhys are on their way and they’re bringing Amelia.’

‘The woman who’s been cleaning the cabins for us?’ Ed asked.

Cam nodded. ‘She’s a good friend of the family and she’s been having a tough time of things. I don’t want to go into details because it’s not really any of my business, but let’s keep any personal enquiries to a minimum, yeah?’

‘Of course,’ Cassie said. ‘Shall we go and meet them in the bar and get some more drinks in? They’ve got a nice sharing platter on the starters as well, so I’ll order a couple of those and that’ll keep us going until we decide what to do about dinner.’

Barnie patted his shirt pocket, stood to check his back pockets then bent to glance around under the table. ‘Damn. Has anyone seen my phone?’

Cam checked the ground beneath his side of the table. ‘Can’t see it. Are you sure you brought it with you?’

‘I always have it on me. Meena was going to text me later.’

‘I’m sure she’ll forgive you,’ Cam assured his friend, but Barnie still looked a little downcast.

‘He seems to really like her,’ Cassie said as they headed back inside. ‘Looks like you’re not the only one who’s found love here at Juniper Meadows.’

‘I…’ Cam didn’t know what he might have said if they hadn’t got caught up trying to squeeze past a family coming the other way. By the time he reached the bar, Cassie was already ordering the drinks and seemed to have forgotten, so he was happy to let the subject drop. There was plenty of time to think about all that later, for now he was happy to enjoy Hope’s company and see how things played out.

Iain had just poured the last pint when a cheerful voice called out. ‘Another of those please! And a bottle of your finest pinot grigio, good sir!’

Cam turned with a smile to see Rhys filling the doorway with his broad frame. He ducked the beams without having to think about it and came over to shake Cam’s hand. ‘Thanks for the invite, much appreciated.’

‘It’s the least we can do when you’ve given us such a warm welcome. Oh, that reminds me, did your mum manage to find her rings? Hope mentioned earlier that she’d misplaced them.’

Rhys shook his head. ‘There’s been no sign of them anywhere and we’ve turned the entire farmhouse upside down. She and Stevie have searched through the hotel as well, trying to retrace everywhere Mum went this morning. She’s absolutely beside herself about it. Dad’s suggested he commission some new ones for her from the jeweller who has a workshop at The Old Stable Yard, but she can’t accept they’re gone for good.’ He sighed. ‘They were heirlooms, you see, and she feels so guilty about it as she wanted to be able to pass them down one day.’ Rhys laughed. ‘I’m not sure who she thinks she’s going to pass them down to because I haven’t got time to find a girlfriend, never mind think about having kids of my own one day!’ He reached for the pint Iain held out to him and took a long draught. ‘God, I needed that.’

Cam wondered what was keeping Hope, and turned to see she was still trying to encourage a reluctant-looking Amelia through the door. In contrast to Hope’s shiny dark hair, Amelia’s blonde bob hung limp and lank. He caught Hope’s eye and they exchanged a quick smile while she continued to whisper to her friend. He turned back to Rhys, not wanting Amelia to feel like she was being watched. ‘We weren’t sure what everyone wanted to do about eating so we’ve ordered a couple of sharing platters for now.’

‘Good plan because I’m starving.’

Cassie laughed and said to Iain. ‘Better make that three platters and maybe a couple of bowls of chips?’

‘No problem.’

‘Oh, and can I cancel my gin? If the others are having wine, I’ll have a glass with them.’ She looked over her shoulder and, spotting Hope and Amelia, she made an immediate beeline for them.

‘Everything all right with Amelia?’ Cam asked Rhys in a low voice so no one else would overhear.

Rhys scrunched up his face in a scowl. ‘Not really. Keith made a right stink about going into rehab last week. He only agreed to it in the end when Daisy threatened to leave him, apparently.’ He shook his head. ‘I think she should do that, anyway, but I’ve already been told what I can do with my opinions on the matter so I’m keeping well out of it.’ He sent a worried look towards the three women. ‘Amelia called the clinic today for an update and they wouldn’t tell her anything. Said it was in the interests of patient confidentiality, which I think is a load of bullshit. The amount Ziggy is shelling out on that place, they should be calling with hourly bloody updates if you ask me.’

‘At least Keith’s going to get the help he needs,’ Cam offered, trying to look on the positive side of things.

‘We can only hope so.’ Rhys didn’t sound the least bit convinced.

Deciding he’d poked his nose in more than enough, Cam shifted the topic of conversation. ‘Well, hopefully we can distract Amelia with some news about the dig,’ Cam murmured as the women approached. In a louder voice, he said to Hope, ‘Barnie and the others have uncovered some interesting stuff in the archives and were just about to tell me when you texted.’

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