Page 12 of Fred and Breakfast

Bloody hell, my watch cost me eighty quid, and I thought that was expensive. I pick up Fred’s watch and I’m immediately surprised by how heavy it is. I slip it onto my wrist and I have to admit, although it’s much larger than my current watch, it looks good. I close the clasp on the bracelet but, of course, it’s way too big and slips off.

‘There is a watchmaker on the high street who will size it to fit you, if you want. He will also be able to advise you on where to sell it, if you go down that route. The final thing is Frederick’s car. It’s nothing flashy, but it’s less than a year old, so it still has significant value. It’s a Nissan Micra, and it’s parked in his dedicated spot behind the café. The chef has been looking after it, starting the engine every so often and keeping the tyres pumped up. It has a similar value to the watch, around eight and a half thousand pounds. The chef has the keys, and I’m sure he’ll be delighted to hand over the responsibility of it. I have the documents here.’ Another envelope crosses the desk. Jonathan beams at me. ‘I think that’s everything. There are items of furniture and so on in Frederick’s flat, but they weren’t deemed to have significant value. You can either keep them or get a house clearance company in to remove them for you. Do you have any further questions?’

‘I don’t think so. This has all been a bit of a shock.’

‘I’m sure. If you do have any more questions at any point, feel free to give me a ring. In the meantime, I’ll get the trust fund set up for Katie, arrange for the cash transfer into your account, and process the documents relating to the café.’ He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a card. ‘This is the financial adviser I told you about. By no means feel compelled to use her, but she’s done good work for a number of our clients who have found themselves in similar circumstances.’

‘Thank you.’ I take the card and slip it into one of the envelopes now in my possession. I carefully take everything and place it into my bag. Jonathan stands up, and I follow suit.

‘If there’s nothing else I can do for you, allow me to say what a pleasure it has been to meet you.’ He holds out his hand and I shake it. I’m surprised by how soft it is. ‘If there’s anything else you need, at any point, I’d be delighted to help you. If I may give you one final piece of advice, once you’ve decided what to do with everything, you might want to think about making a will, if you haven’t already.’

I feel dizzy as I step back out into the heat of the sun. It’s still the same warm summer afternoon that it was an hour or so ago, but the meeting I’ve just had with Jonathan has changed everything for Katie and me. I reach for my phone to ring her, but realise that this is something I’ll have to explain to her face to face. I also need time alone to digest it first, as I think I’m in shock.

7

My legs feel like jelly as I set off towards the car park, and I realise I’m in no fit state to drive. I need to calm down and regain at least some of my equilibrium before I get behind the wheel, otherwise I may end up having an accident. I decide to find somewhere where I can sit down and have a cup of coffee and a piece of cake. As I wander around the town, I encounter all the usual mainstream vendors, but they always seem a bit corporate and soulless to me. When I’m at work, I go to a lovely little coffee shop near the office, run by an Italian family, and I decide to see if I can find something similar here. After a brief search, I come across a place in a side street just down from Lloyds Bank. The sign above the door features a daisy made from coffee beans, which makes me smile. It looks inviting, and there are some free tables on the pavement outside. I order a latte and a slice of carrot cake and settle myself at one of them.

I tilt my face towards the sun, close my eyes, and try to make a list in my head. I need to talk to Katie, obviously, but there’s no doubt that we need to do something about the café fairly urgently. I open my eyes, reach into my bag, and pull out a pen. I don’t have any paper in there, so I slip the Rolex out of its envelope so I can write on that. I find making lists helps me to get my thoughts in order, and I definitely need to bring some sort of order to the current chaos in my head. I take a sip of my coffee and write:

Café – what to do?

After that, my mind goes blank and, try as I might, I can’t think of any logical sequence. The café has to go, obviously, but I have no idea how best to dispose of it. It sounds like it and the flats could provide Katie and me with quite a healthy income, but what if I can’t find anyone who wants to rent them? If I sell them outright, that will net us a huge amount of money in the short term, but is that the most sensible option? I wonder if the financial adviser Jonathan recommended would have any opinions on this. It’s too big a decision for me at the moment. I pick up the pen again and add another entry to the list:

ADVICE????

I take a big bite of the carrot cake, which is rich and moreish. Nan and I finally bonded in the kitchen, and I like to think of myself as quite an accomplished baker, but this tastes better than any carrot cake I’ve ever made. I suspect it’s probably because my body is craving sugar to help it cope with the shock, and it seems to be working. As I eat and drink, I feel the strength beginning to come back into my legs. I glance down and notice the Rolex glinting in my bag. At least I can do something about that, I think. I finish the coffee and cake, add another exorbitantly expensive hour to the parking using the app, and set off in search of the watchmaker that Jonathan mentioned.

The shop, when I find it, is small and unassuming. A large selection of watches and other jewellery is displayed on cushions in the window, and I can see little price tags attached to everything with string, but they’re all face down so I can’t read them. There’s an old-fashioned bell over the door that rings as I open it. It takes my eyes a moment to adjust to the comparative darkness inside but, when they do, I see a long glass counter cabinet with even more watches displayed inside. The labels on some of these ones are visible, and the prices are high enough to make me shake my head in disbelief. Who spends thousands of pounds on something which basically just tells the time?

‘Good afternoon, how may I help you?’ The man behind the counter is thin, with thick-lensed glasses that lend him a slightly owlish appearance. I reach into my bag and place the Rolex on the counter and, as I do, I notice that it’s telling completely the wrong time and the second hand isn’t moving.

‘I’ve just inherited this,’ I tell him, ‘and I was told you might be able to help with sizing the bracelet so it will fit me. Also, I’ve just noticed that it’s not running, so it probably needs a new battery.’

The man picks up the Rolex and studies it, almost reverentially. ‘That is a lovely piece, miss. Your benefactor had great taste. I can certainly help you with both those things. Let’s deal with the second one first. This is a mechanical watch, so it doesn’t take a battery.’

He carefully unscrews the crown and starts to wind the watch. After a few winds, he checks and shows it to me. I can see the second hand is now gliding smoothly round the dial. He waits until it reaches the twelve o’clock position, then pulls out the crown and sets the time using a clock on the wall behind him as a guide.

‘There you are. These are extremely accurate timepieces, so I’ve taken the trouble of setting it exactly for you. It’s also waterproof, so you need to remember to screw the crown back into the case after setting the time or winding it.’ He shows me how to do it.

‘I didn’t know anyone still had wind-up watches,’ I tell him. ‘Do I have to wind it every day?’ I’m fast coming to the conclusion that this watch may be more hassle to live with than it’s worth, and I’m tempted to ask if he’ll buy it off me.

‘There are lots of people still making mechanical watches, although Rolex is by far the best known. People love them because they’re magnificent pieces of craftsmanship as well as handsome timepieces.’ He strokes the case lovingly with his thumb as he speaks. ‘It’s almost like a living thing with a tiny mechanical heart. A quartz watch will tell you the time, sure, but a mechanical watch has soul in a way that a quartz never can.’

I raise my eyebrows and he obviously realises that nothing he’s just said is making any sense to me, as he swiftly changes tack.

‘To answer your question, it has an automatic winding mechanism based on the movement of your wrist so, as long as you’re wearing it and moving about normally, it should keep itself fully wound. It will stop if you don’t wear it for a few days, but then it only needs a quick wind and reset, like I’ve just done. Now, let’s have a look at this bracelet.’

He places the watch on my wrist and fastens the clasp. After a bit of humming and hawing, he disappears into the back of the shop. While I’m waiting for him, I consider what I’m going to do with it. On one hand, it sounds like a liability, with its little beating heart and all the other nonsense he spouted, but on the other it obviously meant a lot to Great-Uncle Fred, and it’s much less of a liability than the café, so maybe I ought to keep it as a token of gratitude to him.

‘Here we are. Try this.’ Once again, he places the watch carefully on my wrist and fastens the clasp. This time, it fits much better, and I move my wrist back and forth, trying to get used to the heft of it. He hands me a tiny envelope.

‘What’s this?’ I ask.

‘Those are the links I removed from the bracelet. You should keep them somewhere safe. Rolex bracelets are notoriously expensive, so having the spare links will be important if you ever want to sell it.’

‘Thank you. What do I owe you?’

‘Oh, nothing at all. It was a pleasure to be able to help. I hope you have many years of enjoyment from it. It truly is a lovely thing. One suggestion, if I may?’

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