Page 64 of Forever Ink

“It’s not that, though now you said it I could go for some hot chips.”

“No fish and chips for you if you won’t tell me the surprise.”

I curled my bottom lip and gave my best pout. Rhys wasn’t the only one who had a killer sad face at his disposal.

“No pouting, Daddy. Last time you pulled that face we nearly ended up with a public indecency charge, and poor Donald was mentally scarred for a month.”

I gave a barking laugh, remembering poor Don’s face. Nobody was supposed to be near the pier at that time of night, and how was I to know Don was doing his nightly patrols? It was a heck of a lot of fun, even though Rhys had groused about sand in the wrong places when we got home.

It didn’t take us long to get to the other side of Tewsbury, the trees that lined the lane breaking occasionally to give a view of the bay and town below. Rhys sat straight, looking excited. “You know, in the months I’ve lived in town, I’ve never been up this far?”

“Well, we will have to change that. I’ve always loved it up here. My gran’s old place is not far away. We used to spend summers up here when Dad and Mum didn’t need us at the farm, got into a lot of mischief.”

Rhys giggled. “I can imagine that. But Mouse would have been too little to join in, right?”

“Yeah, it was mostly me and Callum. Sometimes my cousin Jakob would spend time with us, and we’d raid the orchards and veggie patches and sneak up to the top of the hill to eat our weight in pilfered food.”

Rhys let out a soft laugh, shaking his head. “That sounds strangely wholesome.”

“Believe me, most of the time it wasn’t, especially when the three of us got together. You’ll get to meet Jakob soon. He’s going to spend a few months working at the shop, with business picking up and me wanting to scale back my hours a bit.”

Rhys gave a hum of acknowledgement, but I could see his eye had been caught by the postcard looking cottages that dotted the hill. “As a kid I remember seeing houses like these and wishing I could live somewhere like that.” Rhys glanced back at me and gave a soft laugh. “I suppose being your height a cottage is not going to work.”

I shrugged, trying not to give the game away. “Some places are a nightmare. Cal’s place isn’t too bad, he had the kitchen remodelled and the living room has a higher-than-normal ceiling, but I still take out that damn pendant light each time we go there.”

Thankfully Tulip Cottage had taller than usual ceilings. Dot had said it was because the original owner, Captain Hughes, had been a larger than average man. The old papers and sales records of Tulip had shown the cottage’s wealth of history. Rhys would fucking flip over all the stuff Dot had been able to dig up.

The car rounded the last bend, and the giant yew hedge came into view. The house wasn’t properly visible from this side, the hedge blocking it from street view, but the slight rise the cottage itself sat on meant it had an unobstructed view of the cove from the living room windows, and I knew from watching Rhys at home in our small flat that he loved to watch the ocean.

“What are we doing here?” Rhys reached around and unbuckled his belt, then scooted forward in his seat as if trying to peer through the hedge.

“You’ll see,” was the only answer I gave, hopping out of the car. Rhys waited for me to come around his side and open his door. He shot me an amused smile.

“You’re acting like a kid with a big old secret, Simon Johannsen.”

I grabbed Rhys’s hand and led him through the gate.

“Oh, it’s just like a secret garden! Holy shit, look at all those flower beds!” Rhys let go of my hand and sprinted across the sloping lawn to where the flower beds were laid out, all dressed for winter.

“Dot has the tulip bulbs in the potting shed. She plants them just before spring, I think. You’d have to ask her though. There are rose bushes over there, and an orchard at the back of the house, with cider apples and eating ones.” Rhys looked up from the plant beds towards the cottage, his eyes going wide “Whose place is this?”

I took his hand and led him along the gravel path to the back door. Bending down, I found the key right where Dot said it would be. “It was Mrs Cowan’s. This was the place Cal and I used to steal the apples from. She was great friends with my Nan and Dad.”

Opening the split door, I led Rhys through to the kitchen and tried to imagine it through his eyes.

“This is like your dad’s place.” Rhys smiled, peeking around the door into the snug.

“There’s a couple of sitting rooms downstairs, plus this kitchen is large enough for a table and chairs, could fit a few of us in here.” I started to ramble, hoping Rhys would see the cottage as I did.

He didn’t seem to hear me, so entranced by the room. “Where does this door lead?”

“That’s the back stairs. Open the door, you’ll see.” Rhys pulled the door open to find a narrow set of stairs leading up. “A secret staircase!” He squealed clapping his hands “Holy shit!”

“They’re not safe. Need some work before they can be used. For now we have to settle with using the staircase at the front of the house.”

Rhys grabbed my hand and dragged me through to the front hall. “Can we go upstairs? The owner won’t mind?”

“I’m pretty sure they will be cool with it, baby bear.” I had to school my face, and I was honestly doing a shit job. Rhys’s reaction to the place was everything I’d hoped for.

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