‘Never apologise. We’re all in different situations, I was lucky in other ways. Mum and Dad gave me the best childhood I could wish for, that doesn’t happen for everyone.’ She knew they were both thinking of Harvey’s upbringing, a dad who dominated the family and gave very little love in the process.
Melissa relaxed with the lemonade and shut her eyes. The sun was behind her now and it warmed the back of her sundress, kissed her pale skin that was protected by sunscreen so she wouldn’t burn. ‘I made it down to the cove the other day.’
‘Finally. And…?’
‘It was as beautiful as I remembered. Dipping my toes in the water after all this time, well, it felt like coming home. Is that weird when my home is no longer here?’
‘Your home will always be here. You spent decades living in the Cove, that isn’t something that disappears just like that.’
‘I suppose you’re right. And Winnie certainly loves it down there, she chased up and down the sands for a stick, had me working hard.’
‘Winnie?’ She made a face. ‘Yes, I know who Winnie is, what I’m asking really is how come you were at the cove with Harvey?’
‘We were talking about Barney.’
‘Of course.’
‘Don’t read anything else into it, Tracy.’
‘I won’t.’ Her look suggested otherwise. ‘Have you been to the cemetery yet?’
‘Not yet.’ Melissa turned away as someone else came out into the gardens and settled at a table on the other side of the grass to read the newspaper. ‘I’m a terrible daughter, aren’t I?’
‘No, you’re not. I could go with you, if you need me to. You may even find it helps. I know I feel closer to my mum when I visit.’
Melissa would’ve preferred to scatter both her parents’ ashes into the cove, let the water take them away, but each of their wills had instructed they were to be buried at the cemetery. People were always going on about how nice it was to have somewhere to visit, so perhaps that had been their thinking all along, maybe they’d done it for her. Not that she thought it helped at all. She hadn’t been to the cemetery since the day her parents were laid to rest. With no siblings by her side and despite Harvey and Barney being there for her, she’d been unable to make sense of the world and her part in it without someone else who knew the exact pain she was going through.
Tracy brought the conversation back round to what they’d been talking about before. ‘Do you remember your first Wedding Dress Ball?’
‘I do. I found a white debutante dress from a second-hand shop in Norwich.’
‘That’s right, and you were so pleased with it, you wore it year after year. Harvey couldn’t take his eyes off you.’
She remembered. And the feeling had been mutual.
Tracy waved over at Sandy who’d come outside to cut a few extra pale pink roses like those Melissa had seen in the little vases on the tables in the restaurant area. ‘You know, I was jealous when you left. I knew that I’d already settled down, my time for travel and fun had well and truly gone.’
‘You’ve found other things in your life.’
‘That I have…and I couldn’t leave the Cove. I could go away for a holiday, but not for good. It’s the kind of place that grabs hold of you and refuses to let you go.’
Home had always been a feeling rather than a place for Melissa. After her parents died she’d found being here painful, little reminders waiting to jump out at her at any moment. But it was only now she realised that after some time away and with her focus on Barney and getting him back to normal, since arriving here she hadn’t been faced with quite the confronting reminders she’d once dreaded. Instead, there were smaller moments, pangs of nostalgia, and not all of them bad. She had one right now, sitting here in the pretty little garden, remembering Sunday lunch with her parents on Father’s Day one year. Her mum had been nagging her dad to get out of the sun so he wouldn’t burn, he’d argued back that it was the first sunny day they’d had in weeks after severe storms had bashed the east coast and he was going to make the most of it.
Before she fled Heritage Cove a memory like that would’ve had Melissa sobbing, returning to the cottage that had once been her parents’ and hiding out under the duvet as she tried to sleep the hurt away. But, now, here she was, still listening to Tracy chat away about the Cove, and she hadn’t fallen apart.
‘How’s Barney going with those exercises you said he has to do?’ Tracy swatted a fly away from the rim of her lemonade glass.
‘As far as I know, he’s not doing any of them. He has a rehabilitation program and the stubborn old goat won’t comply. It’s frustrating.’
‘It’s a shame, I miss bumping into him on The Street or him coming in here for a chat.’
‘What worries me is that he can’t see it himself, he can’t see that with a little bit of effort he can go back to exactly what he was doing before. You’d think he’d want to get better but it’s as though he’s given up. And I’m happy to help with the Wedding Dress Ball, but what I dread is…I worry that it won’t be long before…’ Her voice caught and she couldn’t finish.
‘Steady on, love.’ Tracy’s hand reached out and covered hers. ‘None of us is immortal but Barney’s got years in him yet. We keep an eye out for each other around here too, nobody will let him suffer in silence, and he still has Harvey locally.’
‘I’m glad Harvey’s here for him.’ It gave her some comfort to know that they were both still close and when she left here Barney would have someone keeping a watchful eye on him.
‘That man would move heaven and earth for Barney. He’d likely move those things for someone else I know.’
