Page 48 of Kate and Clara's Curious Cornish Craft Shop
‘It couldn’t beJoel, could it?’
I stare at Molly for a moment.Why hadn’t I thought of Joel?
‘No,’ I say, shaking my head. ‘Why would Joel be sending me flowers now? I haven’t seen or heard from him in nearly two years.’
‘Maybe he’s going to be passing and he wants to pop in to see you?’ Molly suggests, sounding almost hopeful. ‘He might be trying to say sorry?’
Although it had affected us both, I’d never told Molly the full story about Joel. Naturally I’d wanted to protect her, so I’d kept her out of it as much as possible, which is why I hadn’t ever mentioned the sewing machine’s rather curious behaviour either. I didn’t want Molly to spend her time worrying about me – I wanted her to concentrate on herself and, most importantly right now, her studies.
‘No one passes through St Felix,’ I say lightly. ‘You have to make a purposeful trip here. It’s completely out of anyone’s way otherwise.’
‘Maybe he’s holidaying nearby then?’
‘It’s not Joel,’ I insist.
‘How do you know?’ Molly demands. She’d always liked Joel, and I think she had secretly hoped he might become the father figure in her life she’d always lacked and that I’d always felt guilty about not providing. ‘This person obviously knows you and wants to see you again, Mum.’
‘But why would he send me flowers?’ I say, desperately trying to make her understand without telling her the truth. ‘Why not simply get in touch over the phone?’
I’d had to change my number after Joel and I had split up, and when we’d moved here to St Felix I’d only given my new number to a select few people so the chance of him being able to contact us in that way was in reality pretty slim.
Molly shrugs. ‘Maybe he’s trying to be romantic?’
‘After all this time? I hope not.’
Molly’s keen expression drops.
‘I’m sorry to interrupt, dears,’ Anita says quietly, ‘but who is this Joel you’re talking about?’
‘My ex,’ I explain. ‘We were together before we moved here. It didn’t work out.’ I give Anita a meaningful glance and I see in her eyes she understands immediately.
‘It happens,’ she says knowingly. ‘Right then, Molly, dear, since you’re home early from school tostudy, perhaps you’d like one of my fresh fruit scones to help you along. There should be some jam and clotted cream in your mum’s fridge to go with them.’
‘That sounds sick, Anita!’
Anita looks perplexed by her comment.
‘“Sick” means good in her language,’ I explain.
‘Oh …’ Anita says, looking relieved. ‘It meant something else when I was young.’
Molly hungrily heads upstairs to the flat.
‘I sense there’s something more to your story with Joel,’ Anita asks quietly, when we can hear Molly moving around in the kitchen. ‘It’s none of my business, of course, if you’d rather not talk about it.’
‘It’s fine, Anita. I don’t mind telling you anything. I like to think by now we’re friends, aren’t we? Not simply colleagues.’
‘Of course, dear,’ Anita says warmly. ‘I feel exactly the same way about you.’
I return her smile with just as much affection. ‘I’ll try to keep this as simple as I can,’ I say in a low voice. ‘Joel is my ex. We were together for over a year, but he became …demanding.’
‘How so?’ Anita asks.
‘It started with small things … like we didn’t even live together but he always wanted to know where I was and what I was doing. I didn’t think anything of it at first – it just seemed like he was taking an interest in my life – but then if I wasn’t at home when he popped round or he phoned, or I was out late on a night out with friends he’d get …funny.’
‘Funny?’ Anita repeats.
‘Annoyed. Really sulky and difficult. When he started calling my friends to find out where I was and attempting to check up on my diary at work, it all got a bit too much. The final straw was when he started following me around –stalkingmy friends said it was – so I had to finish it. It was then the real problems began.’
