Page 61 of Kate and Clara's Curious Cornish Craft Shop
‘No reason.’ I shrug. ‘Just making conversation. Plus your dad was a famous artist, wasn’t he? I’m sure everyone is interested in him.’
‘Usually that’s all they want to talk about – my father. Never me.’
Oh Lord, now I feel bad.
But that’s why you’re here, Kate, I tell myself.To find out more about Winston James and the painters he might have spent time with …
‘I guess that’s what comes of having a famous father,’ I say sympathetically. ‘It’s always hard on the children.’
Julian looks at me. ‘I think you might be the first person ever to acknowledge that,’ he says quietly, and he puts down his knife and fork. ‘I’ve spent my whole life trying to live up to his name … and usually failing miserably.’
‘I’m sure that can’t be true,’ I say, thrown a little. I hadn’t expected Julian to reply in that way at all. He always seemed so full of himself, and now he seems to be deflating visibly in front of me. ‘You … you seem so successful.’
‘Do I?’ Julian asks. ‘Tell me, Kate. What do I do? I mean for a living – what’s my job?’
‘Er …’ I struggle.
‘You see? You have no idea, do you?’
‘No, it’s not that … We haven’t discussed it, have we? I assumed you promoted your father’s work.’
‘I do. That is it exactly. I work for the business he built. My life is all about his success. I’ve never had a chance to try and build my own.’
‘I’m sure that can’t be true.’
‘It is true, Kate. I’ve done nothing with my life but try to live up to my father’s name, while at the same time living off the fruits of it.’
Now I’m completely confused. I’d come out tonight thinking I knew exactly what sort of person Julian was. I was prepared to bypass all his arrogance and pretension in the hope I could find out more about Winston James and St Felix in the fifties, and now instead I find myself sitting opposite a lost and unhappy man, who instead of annoying me is making me feel incredibly sorry for him.
‘Then why don’t you?’ I ask. ‘Start building your own achievements instead of living off your father’s? We all make our own choices in this world. Why don’t you start by doing what youwantto do?’
‘I’m too old,’ Julian says woefully. ‘I’ve done this for so long I wouldn’t know where to begin.’
‘Nonsense. You’re what … ?’ I look at Julian closely.Don’t get this wrong, Kate.‘… thirty-nine?’ I say, knocking a few years off, in case.
‘You’re very kind. I’m forty-five.’
‘That’s not old – you’re a little stuck in your ways, that’s all. I made a huge change in my life only a couple of years ago. I gave up a good solid job with a financial firm and made the move here to St Felix to open up my own shop – something I’d always wanted to do but had never been brave enough to try.’
‘Really? What changed to make you do it?’ Julian sounds like he’s genuinely interested, and not simply asking to be polite.
‘I was pushed into it, I guess. Let’s just say an ex made it easier for me to take the leap.’
‘Maybe I too need a push? Sadly, I don’t have anyone to give me that shove right now.’ He gives me a wry smile. ‘I don’t suppose … ?’
‘… I’d be your ex?’ I smile too. ‘That would mean we’d need to have a relationship first, and to be honest, Julian, I’m not really looking for that right now.’
‘Shame,’ Julian says. ‘I think you could be just what I need, Kate. Someone who tells me how it is, and who doesn’t pander to me. I think I could do with a bit of straight talking, and you’re very good at that.’
‘Thank you, I think?’ I beam at him. ‘Any time you need someone to give you a shove, you give me a shout. Now, we really need to eat some of this delicious food in front of us or it will get cold!’
But before I’ve a chance to take hold of my knife and fork I feel a hand placed firmly over mine.
‘Thank you, Kate,’ Julian says, looking earnestly at me across the table. ‘Your wise words this evening have really touched me.’
‘Don’t be silly,’ I say, tapping his hand reassuringly, hoping he will remove it if I do. ‘I haven’t done anything except speak the truth. You need to find some new people to hang around with if no one has ever told you that before. Perhaps you should spend less time in all the cosmopolitan places you frequent and more in places like St Felix if it’s new friends you want? The people around here are usually quite sociable. I’ve always found them to be so.’
As I say this I gently remove my hand from under his, and smile with relief that I’ve extracted myself from a tricky situation, but as I glance over his shoulder out into the pub, I realise that I’ve immediately walked slap bang into another. My relieved smile disappears from my face as my gaze falls on to another man, and he’s not looking at me with anything like the affection that Julian is.
