Page 58 of New Beginnings At Pencarrow Bay
Laughing, Peggy replied reluctantly, ‘I used to play the clarinet.’
He straightened, interest sparking in his eyes. ‘Used to? Really? Any good?’
She pulled a face. ‘Haven’t played in decades. But they told me I was good, back then.’ Even her mother had said so. High praise from a perfectionist musician.
‘Okay… So why did you give it up?’
Peggy plonked herself down again. ‘Long story short, my mother was a violinist. She walked out when I was thirteen.’
He looked puzzled. ‘And you…’
‘Gave up a few years later. A combo of sad memories and petty revenge,’ Peggy finished for him. ‘Mum loved me playing.’
Paul sucked his teeth. ‘Shame. Have you still got theinstrument? I just ask, because I’m trying to get together a sort of trad-jazz band, trio… something. Cian from the deli plays the fiddle, and I can do sax or piano, sing, not sing. A clarinet would be awesome.’
‘Oh, my God!’ Peggy squawked. ‘I have still got it in the attic. But I wouldn’t know where to start. Mozart and Brahms with the occasional Copland was my best shot… and that was aeons ago.’
‘I offer the riding-a-bike analogy,’ Paul joked, then added more seriously, ‘I really miss my band.’ She could hear the yearning in his voice. ‘You liked playing, did you?’
She stared at him for a second. ‘I loved it,’ she said quietly, realizing in that moment just how much she had.
His eyes were full of recognition: one musician to another. ‘If you could play Mozart, you can play jazz.’
She shook her head frantically. ‘I couldn’t.’
‘Couldn’t or won’t?’ he asked, with a teasing grin.
‘Both,’ she said firmly. ‘Listen, I should go,’ she added. ‘Thanks so much for breakfast. I really enjoyed it.’
He gave her a lazy, almost flirtatious smile. ‘Oh, any time.’ He rose as she did. ‘I’m not giving up,’ he said, and mimed playing the clarinet.
Waving away his persistence, Peggy turned to go.
‘Some Like It Hottomorrow, don’t forget,’ she heard him call behind her. ‘I got my wicked way.’
Peggy laughed. ‘I’ll be there.’
As she strolled towards home, she found she was not thinking about the drive-in movie. Instead, she was assailed by memories from the distant past. They were of an important fundraising school recital. Peggy– aged about sixteen– was playing the final piece: the second movementof a Brahms sonata, her friend Malcolm on the piano. It was a very big deal, Peggy remembered. And she’d done well, got a standing ovation, in fact. She could still recall the flood of elation at the realization she’d succeeded in front of all those important people.
Her mother had not been present, she couldn’t recall why not– perhaps because Celia had been playing elsewhere. Or maybe the second trombone had taken precedence, as usual. She only knew she’d been pleased in a furious, martyrish, agonized way that her mum had missed the performance of her daughter’s life– like everything else. The sense of self-righteous hurt was painfully enjoyable to the teenage Peggy. She wallowed in it. It had been after that night that she decided to put away her clarinet– basically cutting off her nose to spite her face.
Now, the notion of playing with Paul and Cian was unthinkable… but also oddly thrilling to think about.
26
Peggy arrived home, hoping Ted had gone out. But Bolt’s bark of welcome as she put her key in the door told her otherwise. Ted was sitting at the table with a mug of coffee, gazing at his phone. He looked up as she came in and gave her a sheepish smile. ‘Hi, Pegs.’
‘Hi,’ she said, warily.
‘Where have you been? I thought we could go out for breakfast for a change. Give Terry’s bacon sandwiches a whirl?’ Ted rarely, for obvious reasons, visited Clove Hitch or any of the other cafés in the village, but Peggy knew he was still competitive with them, liked to check them out occasionally.
She pulled a face. ‘That would have been lovely, but I’ve just had breakfast,’ she told him, enjoying the childish feeling of payback. ‘Paul gave me a croissant and coffee.’
‘Paul?’ Ted frowned. ‘Are they open this early?’
‘No. He was sitting on the bench outside and offered as I came up from the beach.’
‘Oh.’ Ted didn’t look as if he liked the sound of this much.
