AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘You have to cross a road to get there.’
‘And?’
‘You look both ways?’
‘Of course I do.’
Merryn grinned. ‘See. Doing a safe chance.’
The other women laughed.
‘Think she may have scored on the logic there,’ Verity said. ‘More cocoa anyone?’ Everyone said yes so she and Merryn got up to make some more.
Avril flashed a tearful glance at Lucie. ‘I agree with every word of what you said earlier. But,’ at this her voice quavered, ‘it’s not easy, is it?’
Lucie reached out and the two women clutched hands.
‘I’m sorry I was sharp,’ Avril apologised.
Lucie shook her head. ‘You weren’t and, if you were it’s understandable. Me and my big mouth. Going where angels fear to tread and all that.’
‘Idiom,’ Honor supplied before Merryn could ask. ‘Avril, when Jago told me what happened to your family and then explained he’d volunteered, I asked him why he’d done it when he knew the anguish it would cause you.’ She took the woman’s other hand.
‘What did he say?’ Avril’s eyes were bright with unshed tears.
‘He said he wanted to honour his father. He wanted to do something his father would be proud of.’
Avril squeezed their hands. ‘And he would be,’ she whispered, tears spilling from her eyes, a sob shuddering through her body. ‘He would be.’
Verity came to stand behind them and put her hands on Avril’s shoulders. The women stayed linked for a while, unspeaking, hands and bodies joined in mutual support and comfort.
CHAPTER35
‘LONELY THIS CHRISTMAS’ – MUD
As the women emerged from the front door of the vicarage, a gust of wind knifing up the street nearly knocked them off their feet. It was still raining, but not as hard.
‘Come on, I managed to find a parking spot earlier, before the church service,’ Honor said. ‘I’ll drive you round to Christmas Tree Cottage. It’ll save you getting wet.’ They trooped into the side street where Honor had squeezed her little car in between two others in a feat of parking of which she’d been ridiculously proud. Now the car stood lonely and abandoned on an empty street lit by an amber streetlight. As Avril got in the passenger seat, Lucie and Merryn piled in the back, having to shift various boxes and bags out of the way.
‘Sorry, guys,’ Honor said, as she switched on the engine. ‘Blame my mum. She donated her entire Christmas food-buying frenzy to me.’
It was a short but unpleasant drive along the front to the Pengethley’s house. Honor inched along, peering out for debris on the road and thinking she should have gone the back way. Even though the radio blasted out Greg Lake’s ‘I Believe in Father Christmas’, they could still hear the sea raging and crashing onto the shore. The wind pounded at her car and once she had to stop as a high wave drenched it. The evening had a vaguely apocalyptic feel and, unsurprisingly, there was no one else in sight. Honor’s heart thudded in hollow fear that somewhere, out at sea, Jago was in a tiny lifeboat tackling the elements.
Avril told her to park slightly up the hill on next door’s driveway, explaining the Pengethleys only had a small parking space and their neighbours were away for Christmas. Honor let her passengers out and they dashed in out of the storm. Making sure her car was in gear so there was no chance of it rolling down the steep hill, she followed. Illogically, as Lucie had told them Jamie would text to let them know when the lifeboat was back, she hoped Jago would be at the house waiting for them all. Looking impatient. Wondering where they’d all been.
He wasn’t.
A volley of barking sounded from the depths of the house. Merryn dragged Lucie into the sitting room demanding she help untangle the Christmas tree lights and Honor stood, feeling useless, in the hall.
‘Here.’ Avril thrust their coats at her. ‘Can you hang them up? I’ll let Ivy out into the garden and then put the kettle on.’
Honor had driven past the house often and had walked past it most days on her commute from school. It stood nearly at the bottom of Harbour Hill, sideways on. God-Almighty Hill was a good nickname for the steep climb. It killed the thighs if you had to walk uphill. She’d often had to stop to catch her breath and rest her legs and had taken the chance to admire what she could see through the un-curtained windows, but she’d never been inside.
Its name was a misnomer. It wasn’t really a cottage at all any more, but a large square Victorian house. From the central hallway which led off the porch with its jumble of coats and boots, a snug sitting room was on her right, from where she could hear Merryn and Lucie unboxing lights. She turned left into a family room come kitchen diner which had a conservatory leading off, beyond which there seemed to be some kind of boot room. A door at the back was open and the wet salty air blowing through told her it led to the garden. It was a modern room and not in keeping with the outside, but it was light and bright and welcoming.
Avril wiped the dog’s paws down and then let her through where she greeted Honor briefly and then scampered off to find Merryn. ‘Just stopped raining, thank goodness, although still windy. You’ll have to forgive us, we’re still not properly unpacked.’
‘It’s lovely.’ It was. With its white-painted walls, high ceilings, and doors leading to the conservatory it managed to be both stylish and cosy. Hung against the conservatory windows were examples of Jago’s glass art. They’d be stunning in daylight with the sun streaming through.
