Page 25 of New Beginnings At Pencarrow Bay
‘So what are these plans?’ Ted was asking.
Felix sucked his teeth. ‘Ooh, don’t want to say just yet, Ted. But it’s looking good.’
‘You’ll stay in the village?’
‘Not sure. Probably more likely set up in Truro till Ada finishes school.’
It all sounded quite reasonable to Peggy.Hesounded quite reasonable. She wasn’t getting even a whiff of anything suspicious or sinister going on when he spoke about his mother-in-law. If he was lying about his relationship with Lindy, he was doing a very good job.
‘Lindy’s an incredible woman,’ Ted said, in a musing sort of voice, as if the thought had just occurred to him. ‘I mean, she’s nearly seventy, and she’s still rushing around organizing events, playing tennis, ruling the parish council, raising loads of money.’
Felix nodded. ‘I know. Awesome. Wish I had her energy.’ He spoke easily, genuinely. There seemed no evasion in his voice.Nothing to see here.
‘And me,’ Peggy agreed, with a laugh, once again a little shamed at her current inactivity by comparison.
Ted’s gaze was still on Felix, as if he were trying to drill down into his soul. ‘You know, if you ever need advice about something… you can talk to me,’ he said unexpectedly, his tone earnest.
‘Advice?’ Felix queried, clearly puzzled.
‘Umm, with these plans of yours… or your mother-in-law, for example,’ Ted added awkwardly, making Peggy cringe. ‘We all know how tricky they can be.’ He gave a hearty laugh, which sounded slightly nuts.
Felix looked baffled, but he had obviously been well brought up. ‘Thank you, Ted. Good to know.’
‘Right, time to be off, I think.’ Ted downed the last mouthful of tea and shot to his feet as if he couldn’t wait to get out of there.
They said goodbye and hurried up the hill in silence. It was only when they got round the bend that Peggy collapsed laughing, clutching his arm for support. ‘What the hell? That was hilarious.’ She glanced up at him, to see an offended expression on his handsome face.
Ted maintained the affront for another second. Then his frown dissolved and he began to laugh too. ‘God, I know. Sorry. I was trying to smoke him out.’
‘You sounded like a fifties headmaster!’
She was still laughing, but Ted’s face fell. ‘I don’t know what to make of him, Pegs. Do you? He seems like a really nice fellow. But we all know domestic abusers are famously charming to everyone except their victim. Even to them they’re often charming, of course.’
‘Yes. He could be hiding all sorts. He appears a bit soft, a bit bumbling, to me, rather than intimidating… Not the case with Lindy, though, evidently.’
‘And this scheme of his that he didn’t want to talk about,’ Ted added. ‘If he needs a lot of money for it…’
They fell silent as they walked, hand in hand. She loved his warm hand round hers and now she revelled in his closeness, which recently she’d been beginning to doubt.
‘She’s been so welcoming to Kim and the family, turning her life upside down to take them in– not sure I’d be so gracious if we had to live with our kids again!’ Ted observed as Peggy retrieved the key from her back pocket and let them into the house. ‘Getting tutoring for Ada, for instance, and doing brilliant things like organizing today’s show. Financially supporting them. Gordon isn’t even dead two years, but she bravely soldiers on. That’s why it’s so unforgivable, what he’s doing to her.’
Peggy nodded as she slipped off her shoes and wandered into the kitchen. ‘She really has been brilliant,’ she agreed wholeheartedly– although the awe in Ted’s voice struck an off-note, making her feel uncomfortable.
Ted glanced up at the kitchen clock, and hurried towards the stairs. ‘Oh, God, is that the time? Sorry, forgot to say, but I’ve arranged to meet a couple of guys who stopped by the van today. They’re staying in that new-build down past the castle, the one with the wooden dolphin outside. They wanted to go kayaking this evening and asked me to join them– I think because they haven’t a clue what they’re doing. Kaz is organizing boats for us all. Should be fun. It’s a perfect evening.’ Kaz was the woman who ran the kayak-hire business on the quay. In her fifties, she was tall, wiry and weather-beaten, narrow as a drainpipe and a bit flinty in her manner, but an expert sailor and angler, who had rescued more than a few fledgling kayakers and paddleboarders, carried away by enthusiasm and a strong wind across the bay.
Peggy was disappointed and her face must have shown it because Ted said, ‘You don’t mind, do you, sweetheart? I shouldn’t be late, but don’t wait supper for me.’ He was bounding up the stairs before she could answer, coming down five minutes later dressed in cycling shorts, T-shirt and his turquoise sleeveless fleece. He came over and dropped a quick kiss on her head as she sat at the kitchen table. He turned away, then spun back. ‘Are you all right?’
‘I’m fine. Have fun,’ she said.
With a final pat on her shoulder, Ted called goodbye and was gone.
For no reason Peggy could understand– she didn’t reallymind that he was going kayaking– she felt like crying as she sat alone in the quiet house. Something had subtly changed between her and Ted. Where before there had been a continuum– they were always, effortlessly, on the same page– now it felt as if there were only pockets of togetherness, such as his hand around hers as they walked up the hill earlier. And these were interspersed not just with physical absences but also moments of tension– such as at lunch– and insecurity that had not existed… before Lindy.
One lovely memory from a happier time popped into Peggy’s mind now– before they’d sold up in London, before they’d retired, before they’d changed what worked and moved to Cornwall… Before Henri hove over the Bordeaux horizon. It was a simple moment, no grand holiday or swanky dinner: a glorious summer day, just Peggy and Ted on the Heath with a picnic, cross-legged on a tatty old tartan rug that had belonged to her grandmother. They’d known each other a couple of years at this point, but were still living separately.
‘What will be the things that annoy you, if we move in together?’ Ted asked lazily, as he munched one of the egg and cress sandwiches they’d picked up on the way, with a bottle of chilled rosé, two paper cups and some strawberries.
‘If?’ she teased, and they’d grinned.
