‘How so?’
‘I don’t want to talk about him behind his back, but trust me, there’s more to this than we realise.’
‘Does Harvey know you’re thinking that way?’
‘We talked, yes. And get that look off your face, it doesn’t mean anything.’
‘Sure it doesn’t. You two looked pretty tight when I got down here a minute ago.’ Tracy threw the ball even further when Mischief dropped it at her feet again. She’d always been a solid cricket player at school, much to the boys’ chagrin when she could throw the ball much further than any of them managed.
‘We’re friends again, I suppose.’
Tracy let it go. ‘If you have a hunch about Barney – and I won’t pry – then why not ask him about it?’
‘Barney isn’t the easiest person to get information out of.’
‘I can well imagine.’
‘He has shared things with us. He’s talked about being a young boy, his school days, the pranks he and his buddies used to play. He’s talked about when he first arrived in the Cove and moved into his house, the barn that was part of the attraction. But there’s a great big gap between him being young and living elsewhere and his coming here that he never talks about. There’s a sadness somewhere and I think that’s what’s got into his head since the fall, the things he’s lost or missed out on. He keeps warning me not to do the same, not to have regrets. I can’t help thinking that if we can get to the bottom of it, have him deal with whatever happened, then he might let it go once and for all and be back to himself.’
‘We would all love that in the Cove. I was only saying to Etna this morning that I miss seeing him wandering up The Street, she misses talking with him over a cup of tea and a scone.’ Tracy grimaced at the amount of slobber on the ball when Mischief brought it to her this time but threw it again and rinsed her hand off in the sea. ‘Let’s face it, if anyone knows Barney well, it’s you and Harvey. You both do what you think is best. If you want to know more, why not do some investigating. Barney obviously isn’t going to give you anything if he’s refused so far.’
Melissa smiled. ‘I’ll bet you’re a great mum, you sound so wise.’
‘I doubt my kids would agree.’ She laughed and scolded Mischief, who’d lost interest in the ball and instead run into the water before coming up close and shaking her coat all over the both of them. ‘Did she get you?’
‘A little, but I don’t mind. So you don’t think we’re being nosy and prying into Barney’s private affairs?’
‘He’s not leaving you any choice. And you’re doing it because you care. That makes it all right in my book.’
The only problem was, Melissa had no idea where to start.
Chapter Ten
Two days after he saw Melissa down by the water’s edge, it was breakthrough day at the house Harvey and the rest of the crew were working on. The family had cleared out for the day to let the team get on with the task of cutting through the ceiling and installing the new stairs. This was the most exciting part for the owners, because rather than disruption and banging all day every day, they got to finally envisage what the finished result would be. Harvey remembered this stage at Tumbleweed House, it had been the mark of a new beginning, a fresh start to rid the place of tormenting memories.
Harvey and workmate Bruce went outside to the garden and between them carried the new main stair length up to the first floor. The corner steps had already been fixed in position and with a little manipulation and a couple of swear words from Bruce when he almost trapped his fingers – he seemed to do all his cursing when he was away from his kids – the stairs were a perfect fit. Harvey took the drill and fixed the screws in at the very top before wiping the back of his hand across his brow.
‘I need a beer tonight after all this,’ said Bruce after one more swear word for good measure when he knocked his funny bone on the edge of a wall.
‘I’m with you there, mate,’ said Harvey, fixing a screw lower down on the staircase. He set down the drill when one of the lads passed him a mug of tea. ‘Cheers.’ After a couple of thirsty gulps he stood back to admire their work. ‘Looks good, even though I do say so myself.’
‘Always the best part,’ Bruce confirmed. ‘And one of the hardest.’
‘I don’t know, I’d take lifting that staircase over getting those steel supports into place.’ The tea went down very well, gave him the impetus to carry on. ‘You got your tickets for the ball yet?’ As well as flyer coverage, he always mentioned it at work to make sure everyone knew about the event of the year and was reminded that it wasn’t all that far away.
‘You mean ticket, singular,’ Bruce grinned. He set down his own cup and began to prepare to finish the plasterboarding now the stairs were in place. He found the adhesive they’d use to paste onto the wooden frames.
‘Not got anyone to take?’
‘Working on it,’ Bruce laughed.He’d had few dates since he and his wife split up, although he’d smartened up his image and worked out at a gym as well as doing a physical job. He’d told Harvey it was a good place to meet women, but so far he hadn’t proven his point. ‘How about you? You and Melissa picking up where you left off?’
‘Hardly.’
‘Who’s getting lunch today?’ Tim called out from wherever he was working on the floor above.
‘That’ll be me,’ Harvey called back. ‘I’ll go after I’ve helped lift the plasterboards into place.’ And just like that Bruce’s quizzing about Melissa had been avoided as they both concentrated on lifting an end of the board each and put it against the adhesive.
Harvey made notes on his phone of the orders from the others and left the semi-detached residence on the outskirts of Heritage Cove to drive the short distance into the village and to the bakery. There was a chain bakery in the next village, but Celeste and Jade did the best sandwiches around. And besides, in Heritage Cove they supported each other and that included the small businesses that operated there. If they didn’t, the village would lose its character and personality. It wasn’t that any of them liked living in the past or were blinkered to changes, it was just the way it had always been.
