Page 40 of The Little Cottage by the Cornish Sea

As November melted into December and the first heavy snows came, I used the weather as an excuse to hunker down in Tulip Cottage with Trixie constantly by my side, bless her sweet little soul.

Really I was hiding away, dreading every sound that was unfamiliar whilst the girls brought me groceries and news on the happenings of the village.

The final few stragglers hanging on for Piers had finally disappeared.

The girls tried to get me out of the house several times, regaling me with tales of the Christmas lights all around the village.

Christmas: I’d been looking forward to it all year.

I had envisaged myself all settled in and happy by the time Christmas had come around.

I had even bought a tiny Christmas tree for Baby because I didn’t want her to come into this world in a house that lacked festive cheer.

I wanted only good things for her. But I was struggling with the cheer part.

It just wasn’t in me. Losing Piers had taken the joy out of my life.

My mobile rang, showing Faith’s number.

‘Hey, Kate,’ she said. ‘Fancy a tour of the vintage markets in Little Kettering to cheer you up? I have to go for a client’s house I’m doing up.’

I debated. It was cold outside and I was miserable. All I wanted was to wallow away here on my own. But then I thought, Do it for Baby.

‘Is that up the coast?’ I asked.

‘It’s the next village down, where the Old Bell Inn is.’

‘Is your client a vintage lover, then?’

‘Yes. She’s got great taste. Understated but not monochromatic, as so many people tend towards.’

‘What’s life without a bit of colour?’ I agreed.

‘So you’ll come out? It’s cold but it’s sunny at least.’

‘I’ll come out, Faith. Thank you.’

‘Yay! Be there in ten!’

And she was.

‘Look at you, all pretty!’ she chimed, stepping in to hug me as soon as the door opened.

‘You’re the pretty one. You look lovely. You always do,’ was all I could say.

She took my arm. ‘Off we go, then! We’d normally walk it, but I’m picking up stuff today – and I don’t want to make you trek all that way in your condition!’

‘I really appreciate that.’

‘So how are you feeling?’ she asked as we drove down Meadow Lane across the bridge that was drowned in fairy lights for the season. My, Starry Cove really had pulled out all the stops! I had never seen it at Christmas, and I regretted visiting during the winter. It was truly a winter wonderland.

I shrugged. ‘I guess I’ve got good days and less good days.’

She nodded. ‘Yeah, tell me about it. Luckily, the good ones become more and more with time.’

‘Yeah?’ I asked, grateful for her positivity.

‘Absolutely! And we’re all here to pick you up on the less good days, no matter the reason for them.’

It was comforting to have someone who, for better or worse, had your back. Will had never had my back. If anything, he would be the first to attack me. And as far as Piers was concerned, the entire infrastructure of our love had completely collapsed in an instant.

As we neared what seemed like the gates to an open market, we parked off to the side and Faith put her arm through mine in a natural, amicable gesture that filled me with warmth.

‘Just look at this,’ she sighed happily. ‘This is one of the many reasons I live here. There is a joy for life that I haven’t found anywhere else, you know?’

I could see it on her face, a joy that she had embraced whole-heartedly.

Body and soul. Yes, it was partially because of her love for Henry, and his for her, but there was obviously more to it.

Faith had endeavoured to be happy. She had desperately sought happiness, and when she’d caught it by the tail, she hadn’t ever let it go.

I wanted to be like her. I wanted to be happy.

‘Thank you for thinking of me today,’ I said through a tight throat.

‘Of course, Kate! Come on, let’s get stuck into the local wares,’ she said. ‘I can just feel we’ll unearth a few gems today!’

And so we began to weave our way through stalls that were brightly lit with Christmas lights, while Christmas carols rang out over the vast flurry of sellers and buyers.

‘Actually, this is nice,’ I offered, admiring a beautiful wool rug. It was huge, with several shades of blues and greens that called to mind the sea and sky.

‘Hey, you’re right!’ Faith agreed, running her hands over it. ‘This is pure wool too. It kind of looks like that place where the sea meets the sky.’

‘That’s just what I was thinking.’

‘Sold!’ she said, calling the stall keeper over to haggle.

Faith clicked on her keys to open the car boot so that it could be loaded by two burly men whom she seemed to know very well. ‘Give my love to Alf, will you?’ she called over her shoulder as she linked her arm through mine again and we continued on our way.

‘Now, curtains,’ she said. ‘For their living room. Which ones?’

‘You’re the designer,’ I pointed out before I spotted a beautiful set of thick cream-coloured linen curtains with faint blue stripes.

She noticed them too and her eyes widened. ‘Now these are gorgeous!’ she whistled, then waved the stall owner over. ‘They’ll match the rug perfectly. Please, Angie, have you got any more of these?’ she asked.

The petite woman with a very long neck nodded. ‘Just two more, I’m afraid,’ she replied. ‘The other one got lost.’

‘I’ll take all three, then,’ Faith said, bobbing from side to side with glee. ‘They’re going to love these! Have you got a bed quilt, and some throws? Anything blue or green?’

The woman nodded and beckoned to her to a pile of patchwork quilts and Faith went straight for the prettiest one.

It had a flowery border with blue, patchwork tulips and a purple and green clump of irises in the centre.

That alone would have made the bedroom gorgeous, but then she added a maple bench for the foot of the bed and two side tables complete with linen-covered lamps.

‘I need a beautiful kitchen table and a grass rug and weaved chairs!’ she called, beside herself with joy, half to herself and half to the owner.

It was quite heart-warming to see someone so enthusiastic about the simple things in life.

Will wouldn’t have been caught dead in a vintage market.

His furniture was all exclusively stuff imported from Italy.

Well, my own home was going to be the farthest possible from the house we shared.

Mine was going to be, if nothing else, full of love for Baby.

It probably wouldn’t be very fancy, but it would be ours.

For now, I was happy to be safe and warm. The rest would come in time.

I fingered a linen tablecloth. It had an exquisite texture and had crocheted edgings to make a border. Other than that, it was very simple but stunning.

‘Ooh, that’s nice!’ Faith said. ‘They’d love this.’

‘Sold!’ I laughed.

There were many more objects to follow, such as cushions for bay windows, frames, armchairs, mirrors, garden pots, a Welsh dresser, tablecloths, lamp shades, glass vases, copper vases, ceramic vases, seagrass rugs, alpaca throws, etc.

Of course it wouldn’t all fit in Faith’s car, but it became clear that she had relationships with all the sellers here: some of the pieces she would come back to collect another time, and some of the sellers were more than happy to deliver to her.

And then I found it. A delightful, tiny Delft ceramic soap dish, no bigger than the palm of my hand. It was perfect for my bathroom. ‘How much is this, please?’ I asked the stall-keeper.

‘Eight quid,’ was the answer. Eight quid was two days’ worth of groceries for me. Piers had paid me well, and his severance package had been very generous, but I will still scrimping and saving as I geared for Baby. Pretty soon, I’d have to start buying her things. Which reminded me.

‘Faith? Do you know of any second-hand shop for baby stuff? I need to get cracking.’

‘Sure!’ she said. ‘I know a great place! How about I take you tomorrow? I have to get this stuff back to my client now or I’ll never hear the end of it.’

‘Of course, that’s great. Thanks so much. If there’s ever anything I can do in return for you, just let me know.’ I turned my back on her to pay for the soap dish; a little Christmas present to myself.

At that moment, her phone rang. ‘Hello, Nina? Yeah, she’s still here with me. Hang on. Kate, Nina wants to know if you’ll do an emergency transcription by tonight. She says it’s only about a couple of hours. Are you up for it? She’ll pay you double.’

In truth, I was exhausted. All I wanted was to get home and kick my boots off. But if Nina needed me, I was there for her. ‘Of course. Tell her I’ll go now.’

‘Nina? I’ll drive her to you now on the way to my client. See you soon, love you, bye!’ To me, she said, ‘You are a gem. I can see you’re tired. Do you want me to call her back and say you can’t tonight? She’ll understand.’

‘No, that’s okay, it sounded pretty urgent.’

She smiled at me and hugged me. ‘Come on, then, I’ll drive you up there.’

Nina and Jack’s farmhouse was festooned with all things Christmas inside and out.

They had worked very hard with Chloe and Ben to get the house ready in time for Christmas.

In the front garden lights were fashioned into the shapes of a sleigh, reindeer and Santa, while all the windows were ablaze with candles.

She met us at the door, full of apologies as she let us into the hall dominated by a huge Christmas tree. ‘Kate, I’m so sorry to do this to you; are you okay with it? I can always tell them to sling their hook until tomorrow.’ There she went, always so protective.

‘It’s fine,’ I assured her, my eyes searching for a chair.

‘I’d love to stay, but my client is waiting for me,’ Faith said, giving me a hug. ‘See you guys soon!’ And with that, she dashed back to her car to deliver her purchases.

Nina put her arm around me and a mug of hot cocoa into my freezing hands. ‘I’m so sorry to bother you, but Ben is having trouble with his homework and my PA is AWOL. It seems we’re depending on you so much lately. I’ll make it up to you, I promise!’

‘Don’t be silly, it’s the least I can do after everything you’ve done for me,’ I said as I plonked my bag down, suddenly remembering I had my soap dish in there. I pulled it out to check it. It had broken into three.

‘Oh…!’ I moaned.

‘Oh, it was so pretty! Jack,’ Nina called. ‘Get the glue, quick.’

Jack padded into the kitchen in his bare socks, lightly touching my shoulder with a ‘Hey,’ just to remind me that we were okay.

‘This is an easy fix,’ he said, disappearing and coming back with a small bottle. He sat on the island and went to work as Nina and I went into her office. ‘I really appreciate you doing this,’ she said. ‘Like I said, I’ll pay you double time…’

‘Nina, if anyone owes anyone, it’s me. So please. It’s on the house.’

’We’ll see about that!’ she exclaimed. ‘Can I get you a slice of Jack’s apple crumble before I see to Ben?

‘I’d love one,’ I answered, setting myself up for work. I opened a new Word document on her laptop and pushed Play on her Dictaphone. Just a couple of hours more and I’d be home in my PJs.

When I was done, Nina was so happy with my willingness to work that she asked if I wanted a full time job; her PA was becoming increasingly unreliable. Would I accept it? Of course, and thank you very, very much! I promised I wouldn’t disappoint her.

When I was done, Jack drove me home. Because the roads were icy, he drove slowly, which gave us time to chat.

‘You okay then, after all that internet stuff?’ he said, casting me a glance.

‘I am, and very grateful to all of you for forgiving me,’ I said coyly.

‘Kate, any one of us would have done what you did,’ he assured me. ‘You have nothing to apologise for.’

‘What is it about this place?’ I asked him. ‘What makes everyone so nice?’

He laughed. ‘Trust me, we can be pretty unforgiving at times, as you’ve found with old Hardhead up the hill.’

Piers . It hurt to even think about him. ‘Well, he’s right.’

‘Nonsense. He’ll come round and forgive you. Just give him time.’

I didn’t want him to just forgive me. I wanted him to love me.

‘I don’t know, Jack. It’s pretty much over, it seems,’ I said as he pulled up before Tulip Cottage. ‘Well, thanks for the ride. See you guys soon?’

‘Sure,’ he said, helping me down to the ground. He was such a gent. ‘Night, Kate!’

‘Night, Jack, and thank you!’

Knackered but at the same time elated, I walked to the front door. It felt good to reciprocate people’s kindnesses. And it made me see how sad my own little cottage was, all dark and lonely. Except…?

I stopped in my tracks.

‘What’s wrong?’ Jack called from his Jeep.

‘There were no lights on when I left…’

Jack came to the door with me, sensing my hesitation.

I put my key into the lock but the door was unlocked. I stiffened. Someone had broken in. Oh dear God! Had Will found me? Was he hiding inside, or was he sitting on the settee waiting for me with a glass of wine in his hand, as cool and deadly as the last time I saw him?

Jack put his hand on the door as I took a deep breath to calm my pounding heart. He pushed the door open wide and I let out a scream.