Page 42 of The Perfect Gift

‘That’s the first I’ve heard of it. Is it serious, do you know?’ Ed had a real soft spot for Mrs J and it would be awful if anything happened to her.

‘I’m not sure. I didn’t like to pry.’ Matt sighed. ‘Losing the cottage was a real blow and I kind of went into my shell a bit afterwards. The work at the production company came up so I just threw myself into that and kept my head down.’

Ed’s guilty conscience tweaked again. Matt was probably right and it was doubtful if he’d have been able to do anything to prevent what had happened, but Ed was damned if he wasn’t going to do his best to fix things now. ‘You know Frankie tried to take over the lease on the cottage, right?’

Matt’s eyes widened in shock. ‘No! When was that?’

‘Just the other day. She’s changed her mind though, now she knows the truth about Charlie kicking you out, and she’s going to be leaving straight after the new year when the current rental agreement expires. No doubt Charlie will be sniffing around for another opportunity to rent it, so if you want to get it back, you’d better get onto it quick.’

‘There’s no way he’s going to rent it back to me, even if I was willing to ask him – which I’m not. I don’t trust him an inch, even with a proper rental agreement I wouldn’t put it past him to do me over if he got a better offer.’ Matt was slow to anger but there was real heat and hurt behind his words.

Ed nodded. ‘That’s why I think we need to try and speak to Mrs Jenkins.’ He held up a hand when Matt opened his mouth to protest. ‘We’ll do it gently. Get her some chocs and a nice card and pop up to Blue Horizons for a visit. We can see how she is and if she’s really not well then we might have to leave it, but if she’s okay then I reckon we lay our cards on the table and tell her the truth.’

Matt thought about it for a long moment then conceded with a nod. ‘Okay, but we take it really slow and if there’s even a hint of her not being up to it then we just have a nice visit with her and get the hell out of there.’

‘Deal.’ Ed held out a hand and they shook on it. ‘Right, let’s get cracking before Rick tells me off for distracting you.’

Matt laughed. ‘We can’t have that! Come and give me a hand with these boards.’ As they each picked up an end of the pile of planks, Matt hesitated. ‘There is one thing that hasn’t occurred to us, you know. Maybe we’ve got him all wrong and Charlie’s just looking out for Mrs J’s best interests.’

It was a touching thought and typical of Matt and his big, generous heart. ‘Let’s go and see her on Monday and find out and if you’re right, I’ll be the first in line to shake his hand and apologise.’ Ed didn’t believe it would be true for one second, but he would be more than happy to be proved wrong. Everyone deserved to have someone looking out for them, especially in their old age.

By the time the sun set, the seafront had been transformed. Matt and Ed had done everything they could to help get all the stalls set up and covered in protective sheeting ready to be stocked bright and early the following morning. Pitches had been marked out with spray paint on the opposite side of the road for the mobile food vendors to park when they arrived and most of the signage had been attached to railings and lamp posts with cable ties.

They left Rick muttering over his notebook as he checked off a few last-minute jobs and headed back to Matt’s flat. As Ed had hoped, his belongings were packed away in boxes in Matt’s spare room and he had a quick rummage through for what he needed. ‘I’ll get all of this out of your way before I leave,’ Ed promised him. Hopefully his parents would have space in their loft, but he’d figure something out one way or the other. ‘Ah-ha, there it is!’ He lifted his wetsuit out of the top of one of the boxes, and was delighted to see his waterproof robe folded neatly underneath it. ‘Come to me, my precious.’ He hugged the thick, fleece-lined hooded coat to his chest for a moment. ‘I’m going to need these tomorrow.’

Matt laughed. ‘Rick signed you up for the splash-for-cash too, I take it?’

‘You didn’t think he was going to let me get away with not doing it, did you?’ Ed glanced around the room. ‘Hey, what did you do with our surfboards?’

‘They’re safe and sound in one of my dad’s spare sheds,’ Matt assured him. ‘And don’t worry about moving your stuff. It’s fine here for the time being.’

‘Cheers, mate, but I need to sort it out. I should’ve done it in the first place before I left.’ The person he’d been then hadn’t thought much beyond the immediate moment, but Ed was determined everything would be straight before he headed off again.

‘To be fair, you had no reason to do anything with it, as you assumed you’d have a home to come back to.’ Matt’s expression was so pained it made Ed even more determined to get the cottage back for him.

Though he was keen to head over to Frankie’s, Ed called in at Harry’s to drop off the spare clothing he’d collected from Matt’s and to take a shower. He’d just changed into a nice pair of black jeans and a matching black crew-neck jumper when he heard the front door opening. He picked up his coat and left his room to greet Harry and Kat. ‘On your way out again?’ Harry asked in surprise. ‘It feels like we’ve hardly seen you since you got back.’

‘I’m going to Frankie’s for dinner,’ Ed replied. ‘Sorry, bro, I know I’ve been treating the place like a hotel but I’ll be around all day tomorrow, I promise.’

‘We’ll all be busy with the fayre tomorrow,’ Harry pointed out.

‘Sunday, then,’ Ed suggested. ‘If the weather’s nice we can go for a hike along the cliffs.’

‘Sounds good to me,’ his twin said with a bright smile.

‘And good to me too,’ Kat added. ‘I haven’t so much as thought about my book in weeks so a few hours of peace and quiet will be perfect writing time.’

‘You fed up with me?’ Harry teased her.

‘Sick of the bloody sight of you,’ Kat replied, reaching up to pat his cheek. The sweet smile on her face said she was anything but. Kat dropped her hand and turned her attention to Ed. ‘You look like you’re planning a heist, but I suppose that’s apt given your penchant for breaking and entering.’

‘I had a key!’ Ed exclaimed in mock-exasperation. ‘Anyway, I can assure you that Frankie is expecting me this time. We’re having supper together while I help her put up her Christmas tree.’

‘You’re spending a lot of time together.’

Ed could hear the caution in Kat’s tone but he chose to ignore it. ‘I know. It’s great, isn’t it? We’ve decided that as we’re both at a loose end we’re going to hang out a bit until the new year.’

‘Hang out?’ Harry laughed. ‘Is that what the young kids are calling it these days?’