Page 32 of New Beginnings At Pencarrow Bay

‘Boy, am I glad to be here,’ Liam said, looking relieved as he stepped past Ted, a canvas and leather holdall slung over one shoulder.

Peggy leaped to her feet and went over to hug him.

Her son had sent the odd, rather unsatisfactory, reply to her queries about how he was getting on since the birthday party the weekend before, but had given no indication that he intended to pay them a visit– although Peggy had urged him to.

‘Hi, Mum,’ he said, grinning as he returned her hug.

‘I was worried I’d got the wrong house. There’s no name on the gate and it’s black as pitch out there.

Drove up and down a load of times before I found it. ’

‘This is wonderful, sweetheart. You should have phoned. I’d have helped.’

Dumping his bag on the floor with a groan, Liam noticed the table with the bottle of wine, the remains of the cheese and fruit, the guests, and was immediately apologetic. ‘Oh, no! I’ve interrupted your evening. I’m really sorry.’

Peggy, still clinging to his arm– she was so thrilled to see him– was quick to reassure him. ‘Nonsense. I’m delighted you’re here.’

Liam smiled and went over to Quentin, offering him his hand before Peggy or Ted had had time to introduce him. ‘Liam,’ he said, with a charming smile. Peggy realized her son hadn’t greeted Ted with quite the same enthusiasm– and hoped Ted hadn’t noticed. She pushed the thought away.

‘Peggy’s boy, I presume?’ Quentin said, as he took Liam’s hand, clearly intrigued, his eyes alight at the sudden arrival of this tall, blond, handsome young man with the hooded blue eyes and well-modulated vowels– however ragged Liam’s current appearance.

Ted had been standing by the front door, preoccupied, but now he raised an eyebrow at Peggy. ‘Let me get you a glass, Liam. Wine okay?’

‘After the drive I’ve had, wine is very much okay, thank you. But I feel bad, barging in on your dinner party like this.’ He looked at his mum with a shy smile. ‘I wanted to surprise you.’

Peggy pulled out a chair and bustled about setting a place for him. ‘It’s a lovely surprise, sweetheart. Sit, sit. We’ve got plenty of food, as you can see. Tuck in. There’s even a tiny bit of crab salad left, and a few potatoes,’ she suggested, still stunned to see her son sitting in her house.

‘This looks perfect, thanks, Mum,’ Liam said, indicating the bowl with a few strawberries left, the remains of the Camembert and Cornish Yarg, the selection of oatcakes and crackers Peggy had laid out earlier.

‘We should get home,’ Rory said to Peggy. ‘Don’t want to intrude on a family reunion.’

Quentin, who seemed to be rather enjoying intruding, looked as if he were about to object, but in the end he didn’t argue when Rory went over to help him up.

‘Ah, your buggy in the porch, is it?’ Liam asked Quentin, through a mouthful of Yarg. ‘Worried it was Mum’s,’ he added, with a cheeky grin.

‘Got badly shot up in Bosnia in the nineties, buggered my spine,’ Quentin said, with pained heroism.

‘God, poor you.’ Liam looked genuinely concerned.

Peggy gave Quentin a disapproving frown– she knew he was joking: his painful back was caused by a severe case of spinal stenosis– but her friend just grinned mischievously and gave her a warm hug as he thanked her for supper and said goodbye.

Later, when the bed had been made up and Liam was ensconced in the guest suite they’d built on the side of the house for just this eventuality, Peggy and Ted lay on their backs beside each other in bed.

‘Did you notice?’ Ted asked. ‘He didn’t even say hello to me.’

Peggy sighed. ‘I know. Sorry. I’ll have a word.’

‘No, don’t do that. I don’t want him to think I’m upset or anything.’

‘Well, you are. And I quite understand.’

‘There he was, friendliness itself with Quentin…’

Her gut clenched. The last thing she could cope with was a row about her son’s manners.

Turning, she moved in to Ted’s side. ‘I’m sure he was just exhausted from the trip and didn’t think.

Please, don’t overreact. I’m so glad he’s here.

’ She wanted to add that there were more important things to worry about, but she didn’t want to start another conversation about the dreadful email.

Ted hugged her close. ‘Sorry, sweetheart. I’m just tired and grumpy. It’s been a worrying day… although you did such a lovely supper tonight. Thank you.’

‘It was fun. I enjoyed it too.’ She kissed his cheek. ‘Love you. Sleep well.’

‘You too,’ he replied, before rolling onto his side.

But Peggy was pretty sure she wouldn’t sleep.

The next thing she was aware of was the sound of Ted getting dressed for work.

He’d obviously already been for his run.

As predicted, she hadn’t slept until nearly dawn, then crashed into a deep, dreamless slumber.

Now she blinked at the brightness of the sunlight slanting across the white duvet, disoriented. ‘What’s the time?’

‘Nearly seven thirty,’ Ted replied. ‘You were out cold.’

For a split second, Peggy thought it was a normal morning, then Liam’s unexpected arrival, quickly followed by the cruel events of the previous day, came crashing back into her consciousness and brought her fully awake.

He came over and sat on the bed, gently stroking her bare arm. ‘Are you going to be all right?’ he asked.

She didn’t need to ask what he was referring to. Pulling herself up against the pillows, she took his hand. ‘I’ll be fine. But please don’t mention the email to Liam.’

He raised an eyebrow, with amused cynicism. ‘Not very likely, eh? Since he seems to think I don’t actually exist.’

She winced at his tone. Having Liam in the house was not going to be easy if he and Ted didn’t start to get on. ‘All right, but please, I don’t want him passing stuff back to Max, who’d just love this.’

‘Would he really?’

Peggy let out a sigh. ‘Oh, I don’t know. Maybe not. But can we just keep it under wraps for the time being?’

Ted shrugged. ‘Think you’re being a bit paranoid, Pegs.’

Even if I am , she thought, someone clearly has it in for me. She wasn’t sure why she didn’t want to tell her son what had happened. Perhaps because she still hadn’t got her head around it herself. And the more people she told, the more real it would become.

There was no sound from Liam’s room come eleven o’clock.

Peggy accepted he must be tired from the drive but was impatient for him to get up: she almost didn’t believe he was really there.

In the end she made coffee– ridiculously, she wasn’t sure what he drank these days: it was milky tea when he was younger– and took it through to the annexe.

Her son was awake and lying half propped against his pillows, scrolling on his phone. He was pale and haggard and Peggy realized that couldn’t just be from the journey.

Glancing up at her, he smiled a little distractedly. ‘Hi, Mum.’

‘I brought you some black coffee,’ she said, handing him the mug.

‘Oh, magic. Thanks.’ He hauled himself into a sitting position. Looking around the room as he took the first sip, he went on, ‘This place is pretty swish.’

Peggy smiled her agreement. She and Ted had spent a lot of time making it so. The space was airy and light, a large glass door letting in the morning sun, en-suite tucked into the corner, a small sofa and built in cupboard, even a wood-burning stove for the winter.

‘Well, we want our guests to be comfortable… and not too close,’ Peggy joked, sitting down on the sofa, which was already covered with her son’s discarded clothes, a laptop and a bundle of wires wrapped round a charger.

‘With you on that,’ he said, grinning. ‘I’m tempted to take up residence.’

She knew he was joking, but she still cringed inwardly, thinking of Ted.

I will say something , despite Ted asking her not to.

It wasn’t right, her son’s casual disregard for her partner.

But she didn’t want to ruin this first proper moment together in so long.

‘Get up and I’ll make you breakfast,’ she offered instead.

Later they sat together on the sunny terrace, Liam hungrily attacking the scrambled eggs and bacon Peggy had cooked for him.

‘What’s been going on, sweetheart?’ she asked. ‘You don’t look at all well.’

He glanced up from his plate, his eyes clouding.

‘It’s basically been a shitshow, Mum.’ He swallowed another mouthful of coffee.

‘Job goes tits up. Girlfriend legs it with a hedge-fund dickhead from Ouagadougou of all places. Dan never has time for me any more because he’s too busy fighting with Dad. ’

‘Fighting with your father? Over what?’ Dan had not implied, when she’d seen or talked to him recently, that there was any problem with Max.

‘I think Dan desperately wants to modernize the business and Dad doesn’t– says it works perfectly well how it is. But the gallery’s website is rubbish and Dad won’t consider installation or video art. Nothing from the last twenty-five years.’

‘I suppose that’s inevitable,’ Peggy replied. ‘Young lion versus old.’

Nodding, Liam said, ‘Maybe. But Dan’s not enjoying work any more. He’s beginning to think it might be better if he left the gallery– he’s very employable now, of course.’

Peggy wasn’t altogether surprised her son was having problems with Max. The surprise was that he’d lasted so long under his father’s benign but quite dictatorial thumb. But she also knew how upset Max would be if Dan did defect– he didn’t take rejection well. ‘It’s a big decision.’

Liam looked worried. ‘Yeah, maybe he and Dad can sort it out.’ He took a bite of toast and chewed it slowly. ‘I hate seeing him like this, Mum. I can’t get through to him. He just snipes at me. And he’s drinking too much.’ He gave a sad smile. ‘Wish he was here with us.’