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Chapter 7
Abigail got up from the sofa to start the grand tour. She downed her cup of tea and headed for a door at the end of the room, on the right. ‘You’ve seen the kitchen’ she said. She glanced through the open doorway at the shiny white kitchen units offset with warm oak worktops and a grey stone flagged floor.
The white goods were all still there – the fridge, washing machine and dishwasher, along with the Aga. The little potted plants on the windowsill that she remembered from her last visit were still there too. The clean tea towels folded on the side made it appear as though the holiday rental agency had just prepared for their arrival, as though it were just another holiday. She wondered when or even if it would ever sink in that she actually had the deeds to this cottage and owned it.
Abigail picked up her rucksack and led the way through the door into a small vestibule with hooks for coats and a boot rack. Lili followed her, carrying the suitcase. They climbed the stairs and popped their heads into the single bedroom at the top of the stairs. The dormer window looked out over fields. Along the small landing was the family bathroom, tastefully modernised at some point. At the end of the landing was the main bedroom, which had a cottage window and window seat overlooking the front garden, the single-track road and the grassy bank that led to the clifftop and the sea beyond.
Abigail heard Lili draw breath when she saw the view. There was a fishing boat bobbing on the water, probably moored up after returning home with the catch of the day to sell in one of those little fishing huts on the pebble beach at Aldeburgh.It made her realise that time was getting on, and she knew Lili still had a good thirty-minute journey back to her home in Aldeburgh. She was about to say something as she turned from the window, but as she did so she caught sight of the double bed. She and Toby had spent many a morning have a well-earned lie-in there, with Toby bringing her breakfast in bed and then enjoying reading the morning newspaper he’d had delivered from the local shop, half an eye on the views of the sea he so loved.
Lili caught her staring at the bed. She put Abigail’s suitcase down. ‘Well, I’d better let you get settled in.’
Abigail reached for her suitcase. ‘I think I’m going to sleep in the back bedroom tonight.’
Lili nodded, not surprised. ‘I’ll take it.’ She picked up the case and returned along the hall to the small bedroom. Abigail followed her and deposited her rucksack on the bed. ‘Well, I think that’s the tour over.’
They both trooped down the stairs. Abigail knew she should offer Lili another drink or offer to make her something to eat, but she suddenly felt so, so tired.
Lili took her empty cup into the kitchen. When she returned, she gave Abigail a hug. ‘Will you be okay here? I can phone Nate and let him know I’m staying over.’
Abigail was already shaking her head. ‘No, Lili, you go home. You’ve done more than enough,’ she said. ‘And I mean that in a nice way,’ she quickly added. She didn’t want to appear ungrateful, but she needed some time on her own.
‘Well, I’ll be off then.’ Lili leaned forward and gave Abigail a hug. ‘You’ve got my number. Just call me any time of the day or night. I’ll come straight over if you need anything, anything at all, even if you just want to talk.’
They were standing on the doorstep.
‘Okay, I will.’
‘Good.’
Lili didn’t make a move to leave.
‘I will be fine – I promise.’ Abigail tried to keep her expression neutral. She was saying it for her friend’s benefit.
‘I’m worried about you being here all on your own. You haven’t got a car.’
‘I was on my own in the flat. Besides, it’s only a fifteen-minute walk along the clifftop into the town.’
Lili brightened. ‘Yes, it is, isn’t it? Also, I’m working on the landscaping project at Somerville Hall. It’s not far from here so I can pop round to see if you need anything.’
Abigail hoped she wouldn’t. ‘Look, I’m not completely alone here.’ Standing at the door, Abigail glanced at the redundant lighthouse next door. She frowned.
Lili followed her gaze. ‘You mean someone lives there?’
‘Oh, yes.’ Abigail remembered her neighbour well from holidays past. Each time they’d arrived, she had hoped he wasn’t still there. When Toby had first showed her pictures of the cottage he’d found through a local letting agent in Southwold, he hadn’t been able to believe his luck that it was available. It had turned out that it was available most of the time for a reason – the neighbour in the lighthouse. Anyone who had thought they would have a peaceful vacation could think again. He wasn’t noisy and disruptive all the time, but he was a nuisance enough times during a week’s holiday that most people would think twice about returning – and not think twice about leaving a negative review to put everyone else off. Abigail guessed the owner must have lost a lot of business over the years as a result.
Lili caught her frowning. ‘You’ve met him before.’
‘Yep – he’s not someone you forget in a hurry.’ As if on cue, the door opened at the top of the metal flight of stairs, about three storeys up, and a man stepped out on to the small platform in front of the stairs.
Lili held a hand in front of her face, shielding the sun from her eyes as she stared upwards. ‘Is he topless?’
‘Oh, yeah.’ Abigail rolled her eyes, thinking about how some things never changed. She didn’t bother looking up. She knew he often stood up there first thing in the morning with a cup of tea in his hand, probably watching the sunrise. ‘It’s lucky the cottage windows face towards the sea and not the side of the lighthouse. That’s not something you want to see first thing in the morning.’
‘Oh, I don’t know about that.’
Abigail looked at her. ‘You are joking.’
‘Well, no. He’s quite fit. Is that a surfboard?’ She asked, glancing at the side of the lighthouse.
