Page 28 of Kate and Clara's Curious Cornish Craft Shop
‘Perhaps we should compare them?’ Jack suggests. ‘See how similar they actually are – maybe that might give us some clue to why this is happening?’
‘How about I pop over with the embroidery then later on tonight? It’s a bit easier than yours to transport.’ I look at my watch. ‘I really should be getting back to the shop now. Anita will be wondering where I am.’
‘That sounds like a plan,’ Jack says, smiling at me. ‘What time is good for you?’
‘Er …’ I feel suddenly self-conscious, like we’re arranging a date or something. ‘About eight?’ I suggest.
‘Eight is good for me.’ Jack’s eyes lock with mine for a moment, and I’m the first to look away.
‘Eight it is then!’ I say overly brightly. ‘Come along, Barney!’ I call, waking my sleeping dog. ‘Time to go!’
Barney yawns and slowly pulls himself to his feet. Jack smiles at him.
‘He reminds me a lot of the sniffer dog we had in the last unit I was with,’ he says wistfully. ‘A springer spaniel that fella was, but he had a similar temperament to your Barney. Lovely dog, and bloody clever. He sniffed us out of many a dangerous situation. They’re amazing animals, military working dogs. We’re not supposed to get attached to them, but you can’t help it when you’re stationed so far away from home.’
I’m about to ask him more when an elderly couple walk into the shop.
‘I’ll see you later then?’ Jack whispers.
I nod, and he goes over to greet his customers while Barney and I beat a hasty retreat from the shop.
As I stand outside inhaling deep breaths of fresh sea air I wonder whether the need to calm myself comes from discovering that strange things are happening not only in my shop but also here in Jack’s, or whether I’m feeling ever so slightly giddy at the thought of spending more time in his company.
Eleven
‘You’re seeing him again?’ Molly asks me later, when I’m hurriedly gathering our dinner things from the little table we share in the flat.
‘Sort of,’ I call from the kitchen as I load our plates into the sink. There are many, many things I love about our life here in St Felix, but the lack of space in our flat for a dishwasher isn’t one of them.
‘How is it only “sort of”?’ Molly asks, following me with the condiments from the table. ‘You’re either going to his flat or you’re not?’
‘It’s not a date, before you start with that one again. We’ve got some things to discuss, that’s all.’
‘What sort ofthings?’ Molly replies, raising her eyebrows at me as she closes the fridge door. ‘Leave them,’ she says as I squirt washing-up liquid over our plates, ‘I’ll do it while you go glam yourself up!’
‘I don’t need to glam myself up!’ I say, turning to Molly. ‘Like I said it’s not a date. However,’ I add, pulling off my washing-up gloves and handing them to her, ‘I’ll still take you up on your very kind offer!’
Molly takes the gloves from me. ‘Seriously, Mum,’ she says, her pale green eyes blinking earnestly at me. ‘It’ll do you good to have some male company again. It’s been ages since Joel.’
Joel, my last boyfriend, had been one of the main reasons I’d finally taken the plunge to give up my well-paid, secure job in a financial services company and move both Molly and myself down here to Cornwall to begin new lives as far away from him as possible.
He hadn’t done anything that was too wrong – not to begin with anyway. It was his behaviour towards the end of our relationship that had caused the problems. We’d worked together in the same building, which was how we’d first met and why I’d had to leave – to get right away from him when he simply wouldn’t accept that our relationship was over.
One of my friends had thought his behaviour way too controlling when we’d been together, and another had called it harassment when we’d broken up and had told me to get the police involved. Initially, though, I hadn’t wanted to make too much of a fuss because of Molly. Joel wasn’t violent to either Molly or me so contacting the police seemed a little harsh, but in the end it had become necessary as he just wouldn’t leave me alone. As it turned out he did us a favour in forcing us to move away because both Molly and I were happier now than we’d been in a very long time. I’d therefore been surprised to hear her mention Joel’s name, but they had been quite close in the time we were together so maybe it wasn’t that strange.
‘You’re right,’ I tell her, ‘it has been a long time, but that doesn’t mean I’m about to embark on a new relationship simply because I met a man a couple of times for a chat.’
‘No, I know, but I think it would be nice for you, that’s all. You work too hard, Mum. You need to play a little more.’
I reach out to hug Molly, and then I pause and hold her back a little in my arms. ‘Wait, you’re not just talking about me, are you?’ I ask suspiciously. ‘Where is it you want to go, and when and with whom?’
Molly grins. ‘You’re too good, Mum! Actually, there is a little party being held this weekend. One of my school friends’ brother is having an eighteenth birthday party and he’s said she can invite a few of her friends along too.’
‘An eighteenth, Molly? You’ve only just turned fifteen!’
‘Purrlease, Mum? I won’t drink or anything like last time …’
I look at Molly’s expectant face. The last time I’d let her go to a party had been against my better judgement when one of her former classmates had thrown a Halloween party. In my day Halloween meant trick-or-treating, and maybe a bit of innocent apple bobbing. It certainly didn’t involve apples floating in a punch that had been laced with several varieties of alcohol. The end result had seen me spending most of the night at Molly’s bedside while she threw up in a bucket, then scrubbing the hall carpet where she hadn’t quite made it to the bathroom in time.
