Page 108 of Kate and Clara's Curious Cornish Craft Shop
‘I know, but it’s so easy to make assumptions, isn’t it? Remember when I received those mystery bunches of flowers? I thought at first they were from you, didn’t I? Because the card with them was signed with a J. Then I thought they were from Joel – thank heaven they weren’t. When I eventually discovered they were both from Julian I was shocked. It’s so easy to see what you want to, Jack. No one ever questioned these paintings were by anyone else, because they didn’t need to.’
‘Julian sent you more than one bunch of flowers?’ Jack had asked with a hint of jealousy. ‘You didn’t mention that before.’
Jack and I had also taken another look at the painting and embroidery we had of Freddie’s house – from when Arty visited for the first time – to see if we could get a better glimpse of his paintings inside. We’d wondered if the magic would work for a second time as we’d only ever watched the pictures come to life once each before, but to our joy it had. It was like seeing a repeat of one of your favourite shows on TV – we knew what was going to happen but we were still keen to watch it again, and as is common when you view something twice, we noticed things we hadn’t seen the first time. Sadly, however, it was still incredibly difficult to catch sight of Freddie’s paintings properly, but we had our suspicions as they definitelylookedlike they might be the same as some of those hanging in the Lyle Gallery. If they were though how did we go about proving it?
‘Ididyoua favour?’ Julian asks with a puzzled expression while lifting his coffee. ‘How so?’
‘Let’s just say Jack and I got to know each othera lotbetter that night.’
I bite my bottom lip. I hadn’t meant to reply quite so obviously. It wasn’t nice to taunt Julian even though I was still annoyed with him about the vest incident.
‘Ah, I see,’ Julian says. He nods matter-of-factly and looks down at the table. ‘The best man won in the end, I suppose.’
‘I’m not a prize to be fought over,’ I tell him sternly. ‘I’m afraid, Julian, it was always going to be Jack. Like I tried to tell you, I only want to be your friend.’
‘Still?’ Julian asks, looking up again. ‘I thought I’d ruined that by not telling you about Joel and bringing your undergarment into the pub.’
‘You almost did, but like I said, it’s all worked out for the best and I’m here now, aren’t I?’
‘I’m glad you are, Kate, and I’m sorry again. I’ve behaved like such a fool.’
‘It’s fine, Julian, really. All forgotten now.’
‘No, it’s not fine. I need to learn how to behave like a proper decent adult, not some overprivileged public school boy who always gets what he wants. I’ve been cosseted my whole life, Kate, and the time has come to grow up. You’ve made me realise that, and until the other day I thought I was doing quite well at it. I was trying hard anyway, and then I blew it when I saw you with Jack at the pub. I’m ashamed to say I was jealous, and my immediate reaction was to bite back and try to hurt the two of you, but when I’d actually done the dreadful deed I felt so bad I quickly tried to put things right.’
I nod. ‘I thought it might be something like that, but like I said, it’s forgotten now. Everything has worked out fine.’ I pause. I need to get this conversation back on track. I’m here to try to find out more about Winston James, but now I am here I’m feeling sorry for Julian again. He really isn’t a bad person, just misguided. ‘So why do you think you behave like you do?’ I ask tentatively, hoping this might lead on to talk of his father again.
‘It’s so easy for people to say “blame the parents”,’ Julian says weakly, ‘but the truth is I do blame mine.’
‘Go on,’ I encourage.
‘Even though they sent me away to boarding school, and didn’t bother to make the effort to see me most holidays, they still managed to spoil me as a child, with money and expensive gifts. Then they kept spoiling me in the same way when I finally left education. I went to university first of course, but that was subsidised with a healthy payout each month – from my mother too this time as she had almost as much money as my father when she inherited from my grandparents. I didn’t struggle to make ends meet like some of my fellow students, I had very generous allowances from my rich parents to fritter away.’
‘Some might think you very lucky?’ I suggest.
‘I know I sound like a whiny, pampered child, Kate. Believe me, I can hear it myself, but I’m simply trying to piece together for you and for me why I am the way I am now.’
‘Go on,’ I encourage.
‘After university it was decided I should work in the family business, but I didn’t start at the bottom and work my way up so I could properly learn what went on. Oh no, I went straight in at the top, and I wish I could sit here and say that I behaved with some sense of modesty and decorum in that position, but I’m ashamed to say I didn’t. I’m sure all the staff hated me, and I’m certain most of them still do.’ He lifts his cup again and takes a large gulp of his coffee.
‘Perhaps your parents were simply doing what they thought was the best for you?’ I try to suggest helpfully. ‘Maybe they felt ashamed that they didn’t spend more time with you when you were very young, so they tried to show their love the only way they knew how, by showering you with gifts and subsequently money? Some parents do that, don’t they? They think they can buy their children’s love when all the child really wants is their time and their affection.’
Julian gazes at me across the table. ‘Oh, Kate, how very wise,’ he says softly. ‘I bet you don’t do that with your daughter, do you? I bet she gets all your time and more love than she knows what to do with?’
‘Well,’ I say, ‘I’m sure I could have given her more time in the past – it’s not easy being a single parent and running your own business – but she knows I love her.’
‘I’m certain she does,’ Julian says, nodding. ‘And I bet you don’t spoil her either, do you?’
This was getting us way off track. How had we ended up taking about Molly now? I needed to bring this back to Julian’s father, but the more I listened to Julian the harder I found it to dislike him. Yes, he was sometimes trying and difficult, but was that really his fault when you knew about his upbringing?
‘No, I definitely don’t spoil her,’ I reply, ‘but then I’ve never really had the means to be a single parent. Perhaps your parents wanted to spoil you because they could? You said your mother had an inheritance, but what about your father – did he come from a rich family?’
‘No, not that I’m aware of. It was my mother’s family that had all the wealth, but my paternal grandparents must have supported him in his early days of painting. He didn’t make much money from that to begin with, that I do know. It was only when he went to the States that he began to see some success – they really seemed to get his work there.’
‘Do you know why he went to America? Surely it wasn’t that common in the fifties?’
Julian looks puzzled. ‘How did you know it was then that he went there?’
