Page 15 of The Little Cottage by the Cornish Sea

‘Sophie! Guess what?’ It was Emmie on the phone, breathless.

‘You sound happy. Did you win the lottery?’

‘Better! A friend of mine who runs a food company is looking for a PA! I told him about you and he seems very interested. He said to send in your resume!’

‘Oh my God, Emmie, what did you tell him?’

‘That you are sweet and smart and trustworthy and organised as hell. He seemed impressed.’

‘Thank you, thank you!’

‘No worries! And the pay is excellent. In cash!’

‘In cash? But how—’

‘Isn’t that what you were hoping?’

It was, but the fact that someone would be willing to oblige such an awkward demand sounded a little too shifty. Before I could question it, Emmie beat me to it.

‘I know it sounds odd, but he’s a good man. You do the work and he pays you. Trust me on this one, Soph!’

If someone had said that a few weeks ago, I would have balked.

But ever since I’d arrived in Starry Cove, I’d been met with nothing but honesty and kindness.

Perhaps I’d been wrong to be so wary. Being with Will for so long had skewed my ideas about love, about trust. Not everyone was out to get me and it had taken me some to time to realise that.

So could I trust Emmie? Of course I could.

‘Absolutely! Thank you!’

‘Ok, then! Write down his email. Have you got a pen?’

‘Hang on,’ I said, lunging for the biro on the sea chest as she dictated it to me.

‘How the hell am I going to thank you for this, Emmie?’

‘Ah, no worries! I’m just so happy I thought of it!’ Just then, a shrill cry resounded in the background. ‘Gotta run, Felicity’s wanting her feeding.’

‘Ok! I owe you one!’

‘And keep an eye on your spam box!’

‘Got it!’ I grinned and put down the phone. A job! As a PA, my own territory! How funny was life? Just this morning, I was feeling a bit gloomy thanks to Sheila Armitage and now, look at me! Things were definitely looking up!

But oh. There was just one thing. If he hired me, I owed it to him to be upfront about the baby, if not about my real name.

My pregnancy wouldn’t stop me from working of course, but once the baby was born, things would change, much to his detriment.

Maybe I could go part-time? But what good was a part-time PA?

Very good, if you knew what you were doing .

Listen to me, already dictating terms, and I hadn’t even got the job yet.

As far as references were concerned, I’d already had so many odd jobs around the village that I’m sure Dr Armitage or Nina provide them for me.

Worse case scenario, I could always ask Tamsin to cover my arse.

So I sat down to write a cover letter. But how do you address someone who hasn’t even given you a name? I texted Emmie for the info.

She texted back immediately.

Oh, sorry about that! His name is Piers Henshaw. Good luck and keep me posted! Exxx

I stared at my screen for a moment, then started to type.

Dear Mr Henshaw,

Further to your conversation with Emily Moon please find attached my resume for the position of PA. I appreciate the time for an interview with you.

I am reliable, organised and fluent in IT. I am very good at multi-tasking and always welcome a challenge.

My weak points are

I stopped. Where to start? My weak points are that I am a fugitive from the police. Which is why I cannot provide you with my real ID or National Insurance Number. And did I mention that I’m pregnant?

Scratch that immediately.

My weak points are that I take my work home with me and that I must learn about work and life balance.

This was absolutely true.

I fleshed out my letter, explaining how I could be an asset to his company, blah, blah, blah, attached my partially-true resume minus my last job for obvious reasons and signed off as professionally as I could, when instead I wanted to draw smiley faces with coloured pens.

I didn’t want to get my hopes up too high, but I had a good feeling!

For now, I decided to take one day at a time and not worry myself sick with all the tomorrows.

A new life in Starry Cove, where one tomorrow at a time was good enough.

But most of all, I wasn’t willing to jeopardize my baby’s life and wellbeing.

I didn’t want my child to turn around one day and accuse me of lying to her.

I wanted something that I had never had for many years: a life without fear.

A life where I was free to do as I pleased and not what was dictated to me by Will.

All I wanted was to have a healthy baby and stay hidden here in Starry Cove, away from London and the rest of the world.

And maybe one day, make a living off my writing.

I had several articles on my hard drive to present to the local rag.

Or, when I gathered enough courage, maybe one day, I would actually sit down and write the book that had been in my heart since I was a child. Maybe.

But for now, survival was the priority. I was no idiot.

I knew that even my simplest desire was going to be more difficult to attain than for others.

For one thing, because I was completely on my own.

But what I had been through had prepared me for just about anything.

I wasn’t afraid for myself, but for my child.

I wanted it to be safe no matter what. And if one day, Will did manage to find me, I wanted to be in a position where he couldn’t take my child away from me. He literally had no right to it.

No court on earth would grant a man like him any rights, especially once I spilled all the beans on what he’d done to me.

As I was pondering this, I got an email notification. It was Dark Skies! Piers Henshaw! Talk about alacrity!

Dear Ms Graham,

Thank you for your resume. If you would like to come in for an interview tomorrow morning at ten o’clock, that would be most convenient. The position is part-time, preferably in the mornings.

Sincerely,

Piers Henshaw

Rosestones Manor

Starry Cove

An interview! I thought it would take quite a while but here I was, going to my very first Cornish interview! And the job as in the mornings, to boot, so I could easily continue tutoring in the afternoons and doing Nina’s transcripts in the evenings. I couldn’t have asked for more.

I picked up my mobile and dialled Emmie’s number.

‘Is this a bad time?’ I asked, wondering if she was busy with Felicity. I had recently started to think along those lines. Motherhood must be starting to enter my neurons.

‘Of course not, what’s up?’

‘I got an interview with your friend Piers!’

‘Oh, Sophie, that’s fantastic! He’ll positively love you! When is it?’

‘Tomorrow at ten. Can you tell me where Rosestones Manor is?’

‘I can do more than that. I’ll take you up there myself. You don’t want to get there all muddy and stuff. It’s in the countryside.’

‘Oh, Emmie, you don’t have to—’

‘Nonsense, I insist! Have you got an interview outfit?’

‘Um…’ I hadn’t thought to pack anything formal when I’d been ransacking Sophie’s wardrobe. One of those fancy cocktail dresses might have actually come in handy…

‘Okay, don’t fret!’ she cried. ‘Just give me a few minutes. Bye!’

And before I could open my mouth, she hung up.

Ten minutes later, she was at my door with Nat, lugging bags.

‘Hi!’ they chimed like twins. ‘We thought you might need some help!’

‘You look like my size,’ Nat said. ‘Is that okay?’

I let them in, my throat constricting. They must have noticed I’d been rotating the same few jumpers and t-shirts since I’d arrived, and had probably figured that there was not enough time (or money) to go and buy something new.

‘You guys are too kind…’

‘Nah,’ Nat said. ‘My husband is threatening to move out if I don’t get rid of some stuff, and who better to wear it than you?’

They plunked everything down onto the settee as Nat started rifling through the bags.

‘Now, with those eyes of yours, this green dress would look amazing. It has a matching jacket, just to give it that touch of workwear while actually venturing into elegant and classy. What do you think?’

I fingered the dress. It was gorgeous, made of fine wool. ‘It’s perfect,’ I whispered. ‘Thank you. I’ll have it dry-cleaned after the interview.’

‘No, no, you can keep all of this stuff, if you like it, that is,’ she said as Emmie pulled out a navy-blue dress and matching coat. It was even more beautiful than the green one.

‘But I can’t,’ I whispered.

‘Oh, please, Sophie,’ Nat begged. ‘I can’t bear to see anyone else wear this stuff. Please try them on and see what you think, at least?’

‘You guys,’ I said, shaking my head. ‘Thank you so much. I have to tell you, though. I wasn’t planning on saying anything yet, but… I’m pregnant.’

Silence, then:

‘I knew it!’ Emmie cried. ‘How far along are you? You’re barely showing, but I could just tell. Mother’s instincts.’

‘About three months.’

‘And everything’s good?’ Nat asked. Trust her to be so discreet.

‘It is.’

‘Anything you need, Sophie, you just call, okay?’

‘Thank you. You girls are true friends, and it feels so good to tell someone. I have a best friend at home, but she’s got a lot on her plate already.’

‘You haven’t told her?’

I shook my head. ‘She’s got enough to worry about.’

‘But if she’s your friend, she’ll want to know.’

‘I’ll tell her when things are better for her; her husband is ill at the moment.’

‘Is there anything we can do to make things better for you?’ Nat asked, reaching out to take my hand.

‘Oh, you already have, infinitely!’ I assured them. ‘I never expected to find such kindness after… well, it’s been tough…’

‘Remember, we’ve all been there,’ Emmie said softly. ‘And it does get better, I promise you.’

‘You girls have made it better. And Mrs Nankivell, and Dr A. He knows about the baby, of course, and he’s been keeping an eye on me.’

‘He’s such a dear, isn’t he?’ Nat said, a twinkle in her eyes.

‘Yes. He’s very kind.’

‘Will you want to know if it’s a boy or a girl?’ Emmie asked. ‘Jago and I knew it in our hearts before any scan.’

I thought about it. Yes, I wanted to know. No more surprises. I mentioned I had an appointment to see Dr Chenoweth in Truro the following week.

‘So I’ll ask.’

‘Oh my God, that’s fantastic!’ Nat cheered. ‘Do you want company?’

‘Oh, no, that’s okay. I kind of need to do this one thing on my own.’

‘Of course. We understand. I didn’t want to tell anyone about being pregnant for months,’ Emmie said. ‘Eventually, I had to!’

We all giggled, but Emmie took my hands in hers, surprising me. ‘Only someone who’s been through stuff can understand you,’ she whispered. ‘And I’ve been through stuff, before I came to Cornwall.’

My eyes met hers. There was kindness and sympathy. But most of all, there was a kind of acknowledgement of… kinship.

‘You’re going to be okay, Sophie. You have us now, and we won’t leave you on your own,’ Nat said.

‘You’ll have to beat us away with a stick!’ Emmie reassured me. ‘Besides, these are all wool; they’ll stretch and see you through years to come. Come on, try them on!’

There were several elegant outfits, all of which I could wear to work until I started showing. Nat and I were the same size, in effect. I might as well wear them while they fit.

‘I’m going to think of a thousand ways to thank you both,’ I said as I pulled off the last dress, a cream-coloured, cashmere wool ensemble. Chic yet simple.

‘Don’t be silly! Just go over there and knock him out! He’s partial to elegance, you know?’

‘He’d have to be, if he lives in a manor! I’m pretty nervous.’

‘That’s good,’ Emmie said. ‘It means you really want the job, and it will show. Piers likes enthusiasm.’

‘How do you know him again?’ I asked.

‘He’s a local. He likes his privacy, but he does a lot for the community. Charity and all that.’

Well, I hoped he had some charity while judging me tomorrow. I was already a wreck and had no idea how I was going to get through this night without falling apart from anxiety. I was very antsy lately. It had to be the riot of hormones raging inside me.

‘Have you guys got any plans for tonight? Would you like to stay for dinner?’ I asked.

‘I’d love to,’ Emmie said. ‘Jago promised me some time with the girls so he’s on Baby Duty tonight.’

‘Shane’s working from home so he’ll be okay to stay home with the kids,’ Nat said.

‘Done!’ I said and went into the kitchen to pour them some wine (that I had bought just in case) and whip up some pasta while they made calls home. I was growing fond of them, and revealed more about myself and my past today than I’d ever planned on. It felt good.

If only I could tell them the whole story…