Page 38 of Coming Home to Roseford Villas
A little while later, Leo mooched off to bed. He’d had a couple of glasses of wine, which he was sure was making him sentimental, but he couldn’t help wondering what it would be like to really be in charge of Roseford Villas. The house felt different to him when he’d been the one making the decisions. At first, he’d been terrified of making mistakes, of getting things wrong and putting his aunt and uncle’s business in jeopardy through his own inexperience. When he’d forgotten Mr and Mrs Cross’s breakfast, he’d panicked that an error like that would mean the end of their good reputation. Now, with a few months’ work under his belt, he felt much more in control of it all. But his aunt and uncle were back now, and they’d be assuming the mantle again from tomorrow. He’d just be a helper again, and in a few more days he’d be off to London. He felt the loss of that independence, illusory as it might be, keenly. If he took onRoseford Villas, he’d be his own boss, responsible to no one. He had some money in the bank from the sale of the house in Melbourne, and his payout from the law firm when he’d had to leave his post through ill health. It was meant to be something to put towards a more substantial base in London, once he’d settled into his position in the firm, but what if he used it as a deposit for Roseford Villas instead?
Leo sighed. He was in no position to start making decisions like this. Roseford Villas had felt like home in the time he’d been here, but it wasn’t. He was committed to London, and while his heart was beginning to feel as though he’d like to stay, his head was telling him it was a daft idea. Better to just get to London and get on with things. That was the sensible thing to do, and sensible was what he needed. He tried to quiet the other, rather insistent voice, that was telling him to face his feelings and follow his heart. That had got him into nothing but trouble recently. Heaving a hefty sigh, he decided that, rather than hang around any longer and brooding, he’d be better off heading up to London sooner rather than later. His accommodation was available whenever he wanted it, so there seemed very little point in hanging around Roseford any longer.
43
For the last couple of weeks of her holiday, Rory continued to keep her distance from Roseford Villas. It was easier than she’d thought it would be: she was spending a lot of time up at Roseford Hall, and when she wasn’t there, she was hot-desking at Halstead House. She hadn’t told Stella what had happened between herself and Leo, but she noticed that Stella was checking in with her regularly, and she was pretty sure it wasn’t just to see how the novel was going.
Added to that, she’d finally decided to take Stella up on her offer and move down to Roseford in the autumn. If Leo wasn’t going to be around at that time, having already started his new job, she wouldn’t have to run the risk of any awkward meetings. She could concentrate fully on finishing her novel, teach on Stella’s course, tutor Gabe and, hopefully, pick up some supply teaching at the local secondary schools if she needed extra funds. There were three within ten miles of Roseford, so she was in no doubt that some work would be forthcoming if she wanted it.
It was probably just as well things had cooled off between them, Rory thought. Leo was already at an intense point in his life, and with her own circumstances changing significantly,perhaps now wasn’t the best time to be starting something new. Better to consign it to the ‘holiday fling’ category, than wait in hope that it could be resolved.
All the same, her heart ached, when she had time to allow it. Knowing Leo was so close, but that he didn’t want to see her, felt as bad as when he was thousands of miles away and she couldn’t see him. Many times, she’d considered just knocking on the door, forcing him to sit down and speak to her, hashing it all out and coming to some kind of conclusion, but she just didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t lied to him when she’d told him what the book was going to be about, and she wasn’t going to change things just because he’d read part of the first draft. Out of context, the section he’d read was pretty embarrassing and intimate, but by the time it was finished, it would be unrecognisable. She thought he was being unreasonable, and he thought she’d abused his trust, and tainted their past, not to mention their possible future. She couldn’t see a way forward for them that didn’t involve some kind of conflict.
If I was writing their ending, what would I write?She asked herself that question a lot, in the ensuing days. But in truth, she was no closer to finding an answer. Better just to press on with the historic element for now and worry about the modern one later. So, pushing all thoughts of Leo to one side, she did just that.
Looking back over the past few weeks, Rory was pleased that she’d made so much progress. After the initially difficult times when she’d first come to Roseford, she had settled into a kind of routine, and even though she didn’t have the excitement of a developing relationship with Leo any more, she still felt content enough that she’d done what she’d intended, and made some headway on the project. So it was that, by the time she was due to go back to York in the last week of August, she had almost two-thirds of the first draft written. It felt time to go back: to getsome distance between herself and Roseford. She didn’t feel sad about leaving at the end of the summer holiday; she’d be back at the end of October, after all. She’d spoken to Alex about it the week before she was due to go back up north. Alex was surprised but pleased that what could have been a tense situation had been sorted out, and they were both now very much looking forward to their fresh start.
On the day she was due to check out, Rory packed up her things and gave the chalet a last clean. She’d taken care of it while she’d been living there, and it had, in the end, been a good space for her to occupy. It might not have had the period charm and quirkiness of Hyacinth Cottage, but the Roseford Villas chalet had felt like a decent alternative.
Casting her eye around the chalet one last time, Rory picked up her bag and locked the door. She’d drop the key off in reception, and then do the ‘check out’ option online for Airbnb. She wondered if Leo would be about, and wasn’t sure if she wanted to see him or not. It might be easier if she just didn’t. He’d made no effort to approach her since their row about the novel, which felt hurtful, but if that was the way he wanted it, then she wasn’t going to argue.
Rory walked up the garden path towards Roseford Villas and, instead of heading through the dining room as she had so often during her stay, she mooched around to the front of the building. The main door was open, so she walked into the hall and put the chalet’s keys down on the reception desk. Just as she was about to turn and leave, a trim-looking woman in her early sixties popped her head out from the back office behind reception.
‘Oh, you’re off now, are you?’ she asked as she saw the keys. ‘I hope you enjoyed your stay.’
Rory smiled. ‘I did. The chalet is lovely, and I’ve really enjoyed being here.’
‘I’m glad.’ The woman smiled. ‘I hope my nephew took good care of you. He’s new to the business, but he assured me we were leaving the place in safe hands.’
Rory twigged: this must be Leo’s Aunt Vi.
‘He did, thank you.’ Well, Rory thought, for most of the time here that had been true, at least. ‘Did you have a good holiday?’
‘Oh, heavenly, thanks.’ Vi smiled. ‘I think we might just have decided where we’re going to spend the rest of our days! Of course, Roseford Villas is a joy to run, but it’s never too late to dream, is it?’
‘Quite,’ Rory replied, smiling back. ‘Is, is Leo around? I’d, er, like to say thanks and goodbye before I head home.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry, love,’ Vi replied. ‘He left for London earlier this morning. His new job starts soon, you see, and he wanted to get himself settled properly in his new digs before it did. Being here was only ever a stop-gap, you know.’
Rory fought disappointment. In spite of the way she and Leo had left things, she’d thought, and hoped, that he might have said goodbye. Clearly even that had been beyond him.
‘Oh, well.’ She forced another smile at Vi. ‘Never mind. If you speak to him, could you say that I said goodbye, and thanks?’
‘Of course,’ Vi said. ‘And if you’d like to leave us some positive feedback on the website, that would be fabulous. Every little helps, you know!’
‘I will,’ Rory replied. She suddenly felt the need to escape Roseford Villas, put a lot of distance between herself and everything that had happened over the summer. ‘And thanks again.’
With Aunt Vi’s cheery farewell echoing in her ears, Rory hurried to her car. She wondered what kind of review she could write that wouldn’t sum up her stay at Roseford Villas. ‘You will love the place, and lose your heart to it,’ seemed rather apt.
44
For Rory, the start of the autumn term usually felt like a new beginning, even more so than the start of an actual calendar year. She looked forward to the scent of immaculate exercise books, and the sight of students beginning to write in them in their neatest handwriting. She redecorated her classroom with fresh posters and backing paper, ready for the colourful examples of students’ work to be put up, and made a lot of new year’s resolutions that by half-term had usually fallen by the wayside.
This time, however, she just couldn’t get into the spirit of things. Knowing she was going to be leaving her classes, and the school, and the home she’d shared with Alex for the past few years, meant that she didn’t feel quite as invested. She still tried her best, and made sure that, when the time came to hand things over to the person who was coming back to school, everything would be in place and easy to pick up, but in her mind, she was already back in Roseford, settling into the gatehouse and starting her combination of new jobs.
She’d been gradually sorting out and packing up her things, and although she was going to miss Alex, the prospect of livingalone was something she was really excited about. The summer in Roseford had made her realise that she was quite happy with her own company, and although she’d spent a lot of time with Leo, she’d fallen equally in love with the solitude. Being mistress of her own domain felt very appealing, even if it would only be temporary, once more. Stella hadn’t indicated how long she could be a tenant in the gatehouse, but she’d also said that she and Chris would be flexible, and as soon as Rory was more financially secure, she was sure they could work something out. After all, the retreat was on a very stable financial footing now, and Stella could afford to be generous.
The weeks flew by, until it was time to pack up her car and head back to Somerset. Alex had agreed to keep hold of some of Rory’s bigger things until she was more settled, but still Rory’s Vauxhall was rammed to the gills with her accumulated possessions. She drove carefully and reached the gatehouse at just gone two o’clock on the first Saturday of the October half-term. At least she’d have a week or so to unpack and catch her breath before her first classes at the Halstead House retreat started the week after that.
