Page 8 of The Key to the Last House Before the Sea

VALERIE

Rosie had done a good job of turning Driftwood House from a family home into a guesthouse. Valerie had to admit that. Everywhere had a fresh coat of paint and the place smelled of fresh coffee, and cakes in the oven.

But it was still a shame that she had to take in paying guests to make ends meet after her mother died. Though at least she owned the business. Not like Nessa, who’d worked at that cluttered little hardware store in the village, before losing even that job.

The shop had closed down because its owner, Mr Scaglin, had moved closer to his family in Tiverton. But Valerie couldn’t help feeling that Nessa was somehow to blame for her own joblessness.

‘You’re being ridiculous,’ had been Alan’s verdict when she’d told him what she thought. ‘Old Scaglin’s ancient. It’s amazing he kept that shop going for as long as he did.’

But once Valerie took against someone it was hard for her to feel kindly towards them. And she had every reason to have taken against Nessa.

‘Thanks again, for collecting Lily,’ Nessa said. ‘Would you, um… would you like a cup of tea before you go?’

Valerie shook her head but, when Nessa smiled at her, she felt obliged to smile back. She didn’t want to appear unfriendly or wash her dirty linen in public. Certainly not in front of the man, sitting by the window, who was watching them.

He was young, good-looking and, Valerie noted approvingly, wearing a suit – obviously a businessman in the area to seal some deal or other. He reminded her of Alan when she’d first met him, when he was setting up the estate agency that he’d run until taking early retirement last year. Before he’d changed.

Valerie stood waiting until Nessa found her manners and introduced her to the stranger.

‘Oh, this is Mr Gantwich, who’s just arrived at Driftwood House, and this is Valerie, my, um…’

Valerie waited to see how Nessa would introduce her. The mother of the man I chased from Heaven’s Cove, perhaps?

Nessa’s freckled cheeks grew pink. ‘She’s the grandmother of my daughter, Lily.’

Lily, whom Valerie loved with all of her heart. Lily, who shouldn’t be living in this place with guests coming and going.

‘Are you here for business or pleasure, Mr Gantwich?’ she asked, taking in the expensive cut and cloth of his charcoal suit.

‘A little of both. Your… Lily’s mother has agreed to show me around the village tomorrow.’

Valerie bet she had. She tried to maintain her smile as she felt her face collapsing into a sour expression. At least this man looked too sensible to be fooled by Nessa.

Not that her son, Jacob, wasn’t a sensible man. But he was a sensitive and trusting soul, which had made him more open to Nessa’s manipulation. And now Nessa was living in Heaven’s Cove and Jacob wasn’t. Valerie’s smile was definitely slipping.

Manchester wasn’t that far away. Not really. And Jacob seemed to have made a good enough life there. But it was too far away for frequent weekend visits and Valerie felt her son’s absence keenly. Only Lily could warm her heart in the same way.

She suddenly realised she was finding it hard to breathe.

‘I’d best be off,’ she said curtly, running a hand through her greying hair. ‘I’ll see you soon, Lily. Goodbye, Mr Gantwich.’ She ignored Nessa completely.

On her way back down the cliff, Valerie breathed in the smell of the sea and enjoyed the early evening sun on her face.

She regretted fleeing from Driftwood House now. Nessa had given her a strange look when she’d rushed off. But sometimes, recently, Valerie had an overwhelming urge to escape – though what she was escaping from, she wasn’t sure. It was all very strange.

Valerie stopped to pull a stone from her sandal and looked out across the ocean. The water was shimmering orange and gold as the sun slipped closer to the horizon.

It looked so beautiful that tears prickled at the corners of her eyes, but Valerie ignored them and walked on. She’d never been a crier and, if she started now, she’d be late getting Alan’s tea.

She should have brought her car up to Driftwood House, but she’d left it in the lane at the bottom of the cliff because she hadn’t fancied driving up the cliff road.

It was stupid but she felt anxious these days as the car bumped its way higher. As though it might lose traction and plummet back towards the village far below.

She never used to be so nervous about life, but sometimes these days she hardly felt like herself at all. Perhaps it was hitting her mid-fifties and starting to feel the pull of old age. Perhaps that was why she veered between feeling murderous towards Alan and so sad that she could hardly get out of bed some mornings. Thank heavens for Lily, the one bright spot in her life.

Her thoughts turned again towards getting home and cooking for Alan, who was expecting grilled mackerel and roasted vegetables this evening.

She dreamed of the day she’d arrive home to find Alan cooking for her. But he never had in thirty-five years of marriage so was unlikely to start now. Not unless Valerie was struck down with some dreadful disease. Though, if that happened, he’d no doubt plead ignorance in the kitchen and Valerie would have to drag herself from her sick bed.

‘I don’t know where you keep the mixed herbs,’ he’d say, heading back to his newspaper and comfy chair, even though they’d lived in the same house, on the edge of Heaven’s Cove, for the last ten years.

Valerie glanced again across the shining sea and tried to think more positively. Things would be different when Lily moved in. Alan wouldn’t be keen at first but it was the only solution.

Nessa couldn’t keep a five-year-old in a guesthouse full of strangers, or a dingy bedsit somewhere. She’d come round eventually and see that Valerie’s plan was the only way forward.

Valerie smiled and quickened her pace, suddenly feeling more cheerful. Lily would bring joy and chatter and life back into her house. She would make Valerie’s life worth living again.

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