Coming Home to Cuckoo Cottage Read online

  ‘Yes,’ I said, feeling confused by her reaction. ‘You are married, aren’t you?’

  ‘Er, no,’ said Liam, grinning sheepishly. ‘Not married.’

  ‘But you are a couple?’ I questioned.

  To my mind there could be no doubting that they were ‘together’ in some sense. You only had to look at their body language to see that they were joined at the hip. However, thinking back, Mags had never actually mentioned she had a man about the house.

  ‘Absolutely not,’ she croaked, finally regaining her composure.

  ‘We were once,’ blushed Liam.

  ‘On my eighteenth birthday,’ Mags giggled, ‘for about ten minutes.’

  ‘Hey!’ protested Liam.

  ‘Oh, all right,’ said Mags, rolling her eyes. ‘Twenty minutes then.’

  ‘Thank you,’ smiled Liam, sounding soothed. ‘That’s more like it.’

  ‘But I don’t understand,’ I rushed on, my face feeling flushed more from embarrassment than from the heat of the fire pit. ‘I thought you must at least live together. You seem so, so comfortable together.’

  ‘Well, we’ve been friends since kindergarten,’ explained Liam. ‘So we have known each other forever.’

  ‘And on my eighteenth birthday,’ Mags sighed, ‘we decided, thanks to one too many cheap lagers, that it would be a good idea to take our friendship further.’

  ‘And Ed was the result,’ put in Liam. ‘So you see, we’ve always been friends, but we’ve never been more than that since that one night.’

  ‘Oh,’ I said, ‘right, I see.’

  But I didn’t really. This pair looked absolutely made for each other, so it made no sense to me at all that they were anything other than a couple. I was about to say as much, but then remembered how I had put my foot in it with Angela in the Cherry Tree. Not to mention how mortified I had been when Chris had insisted he was going to find me a fella the day I arrived in town.

  ‘Here you go,’ said Matt, passing me a plate loaded with succulent hog roast and apple sauce. ‘Budge up.’

  Mags looked at me and shrugged her shoulders.

  ‘And in case you were wondering,’ she whispered, ‘we wouldn’t change a thing.’

  Everyone gathered around the fire pit to enjoy the delicious food, which was further enhanced by frequent refills of Skylark Scrumpy, and before I knew it, I had chatted to practically everyone and it was pitch-black. I could just make out the very top of the full moon as it rose, golden and heavy, over the roof of the farmhouse and added its own magical light to the little party playing out beneath it.

  ‘So,’ said Jake, as he came round with the cider jug again. ‘Everyone keeps telling me you’re on the lookout for a vehicle, Lottie.’

  ‘Oh jeez,’ I groaned loudly, my confidence much enriched by the alcohol. ‘Is there anyone here who hasn’t heard this?’

  ‘No,’ the group chorused as one and then began to laugh.

  I shook my head in disbelief and Ben began to strum quietly on a guitar.

  ‘I am thinking about it,’ I told Jake.

  It really was the last thing I expected to hear myself admitting, but I was. Everyone had been on at me about it since the moment I arrived, but actually it was Mags’s words about getting stuck in a rut and not tapping in to my creativity which had really struck a chord. As much as I hated the idea, it was time to face my fears and spread my wings a bit.

  ‘Right,’ he said, ‘great. I’m asking, you see, because Amber and I are planning to get rid of the truck soon and I wondered . . . ’

  So much for saving the potentially life-changing conversation until he dropped the hens off in the morning.

  ‘What, that enormous thing?’ I choked, pointing back towards where everyone had parked. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me?’

  ‘No,’ he shrugged. ‘What’s wrong with the truck?’

  ‘Well, it’s mahoosive for a start,’ I began.

  ‘What’s mahoosive?’ frowned Mags, who had only just arrived back after going with Amber to check on Honey and Annie who were now up at the house.

  ‘My truck,’ said Jake. ‘Apparently.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘Well, we’re getting rid of it,’ Jake explained again. ‘So I thought I’d offer Lottie here first refusal.’

  ‘But I don’t need something that size,’ I said firmly.

  ‘Of course you don’t,’ tutted Mags, ‘but I do.’

  ‘You do?’ questioned Jake.

  ‘Yes,’ said Mags, thankfully letting me off the hook. ‘I’ve been thinking about upsizing for ages. There’s no way I can get all of Ed’s kilter in the minivan, along with the plants I ferry about for Harriet and Rachel now. It just isn’t practical any more,’ she added sadly.

  It was a shame really. I’d grown rather fond of the sight of her little custard yellow van parked on the cottage drive.

  ‘So you’ll buy the truck,’ said Jake slowly, as if he was puzzling out some great conundrum. ‘And Lottie will buy your van.’

  ‘Oh well . . . ’ I began.

  ‘What a brilliant idea!’ agreed Mags, slapping me on the back and inducing a coughing fit. ‘That’s perfect.’

  ‘I can’t buy your van,’ I spluttered. ‘I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to afford it, and besides, I haven’t driven a van before, not even a small one.’

  ‘I can take you out in it, if you like,’ said Will, butting into the conversation. ‘I’m only up the road, so it would be no bother. Just think of it as my way of saying sorry for my own bad driving and helping to get you off two wheels and onto four.’

  ‘What’s all this?’ asked Matt, sitting back down with yet another packed plate.

  ‘Lottie’s going to buy my van,’ said Mags.

  ‘And Will’s going to drive about with her until she’s got used to it,’ added Jake.

  I opened my mouth to protest, but didn’t get the chance.

  ‘You won’t find a better teacher,’ said George, while everyone agreed and Ben set his guitar aside as it was obvious no one was ready for a singsong when they could be organising my life for a few more minutes. ‘He’s a soldier, Lottie, used to driving anything and everything,’ George carried proudly on. ‘And a highly decorated soldier at that.’

  ‘Ex-soldier,’ Matt quickly added. ‘And you know, I could take you out.’

  ‘He’s driven all over the world, in all sorts of terrain,’ George continued, despite the fact that Will was waving a hand and remonstrating silently for him to stop. ‘You won’t find a better man to get you going again than our Will.’

  A few cheers went up as he said that, but I got the distinct impression no one was thinking about his driving skills.

  ‘What do you think?’ asked Mags.

  She sounded ridiculously hopeful and I knew she was pinning her hopes on me saying yes so she could take the truck off Amber and Jake’s hands, and of course she had already become such a kind and helpful friend that I pretty much felt indebted.

  ‘Oh, go on then,’ I said nervously, my hands shaking at the thought. ‘But if I can’t do it, I’m giving you the keys straight back.’

  ‘I’m sorry if I’ve annoyed your boyfriend,’ said Will when we found ourselves side by side as we sneaked a little more crackling from the tasty hog roast. ‘But I meant what I said about getting you back on the road.’

  ‘Thank you,’ I said, wondering just how those confidence-building lessons were going to pan out.

  Not very well if I kept reminding myself that he had seen me naked, and certainly not very well if he was going to bark at me like an impatient sergeant major every time I stalled the engine or crunched the gears. I had to admit my interest in him was rather piqued now I knew a little more of his history and I was dying to ask how a former soldier came to be living in a barn conversion in practically the middle of nowhere and working as a Wynbridge vet.

  ‘So were you a vet in the army, then?’ I asked.

  ‘I was,’ he nodded.

  ‘And ha
ve you really driven in terrain all over the world?’

  ‘Yes,’ he sighed. ‘I have.’

  I could tell he didn’t want to talk about it and I swallowed hard, thinking of some of the sights he had probably seen, along with some of the horrid things he had probably had to do. I could imagine him kitted out in fatigues, the strong, tall hero brandishing the union flag and offering a safe haven from further harm.

  ‘About your boyfriend,’ he said again.

  Instantly it felt as if he had put a pin in the romantic little fantasy balloon I had just begun to inflate around him and I reminded myself that right up until a few minutes ago I wasn’t actually all too keen on this chap.

  ‘He’s not my boyfriend,’ I said quickly. ‘He’s my builder.’

  ‘Your builder?’

  ‘Yes,’ I huffed. ‘My builder.’

  ‘And what exactly is it that you’re having built?’

  ‘Nothing,’ I said, tearing into the salty crackling with my teeth. ‘He’s going to do some remedial work at the cottage, should I agree to give him the contract, of course.’

  I didn’t want Will thinking I was a complete pushover.

  ‘What remedial work?’ he frowned, sounding suspicious.

  ‘There’s loads of stuff,’ I said, sucking at my fingers before wiping them on a napkin.

  ‘There can’t be,’ he said, now sounding bemused.

  ‘Are you saying that in your capacity as an ex-army vet,’ I asked, ‘or as a builder?’

  ‘But Gwen looked after the place,’ he insisted. ‘It was her pride and joy.’

  ‘Well, that’s as maybe . . . ’ I began, the words dying in my throat as Matt called my name.

  ‘Are you coming?’ he shouted. ‘Some of the others are leaving and they want to say goodbye.’

  I started to walk away, but Will caught my wrist. I stared up at him and he let go.

  ‘Just be careful,’ he warned. ‘I know for a fact that Gwen kept on top of jobs that needed doing at the cottage. She might have come across as scatterbrained when it came to some things, but as far as Minnie was concerned, and Cuckoo Cottage, she left nothing to chance.’

  Chapter 15

  I knew the second I tried to prise my eyes open that it was going to be one of those rare Sundays where I would vow that I would never, ever touch another drop of alcohol again, only this time I thought, given the way my brain was thumping in time with every heartbeat, I probably had a fair crack at seeing the resolution through. I had never been much of a drinker and now I was being reminded why.

  I lay crossways on the bed beneath the sheets and buried my head in the pillows to shut out the light whilst trying to remember the finer details (beyond passing round the cider jug) of what had happened and been said at the party. Yet another disagreement with Will, a trio of hens and something about Mags’s van, more specifically me buying Mags’s van, swam around my head in a sickening whirl.

  On the good side, however, I also remembered that, for the most part, I’d had a great time and made lots of new friends who hadn’t treated me like the newest novelty in town or the cuckoo in the cottage nest, but it would have been nice if I could have remembered a little more of what I’d talked to them about.

  Gingerly I rolled over and contemplated the possibility of sitting up without falling back down when I heard someone coming up the stairs.

  ‘I had a feeling you’d be awake,’ Matt grinned around the door frame. ‘And I thought you might be in need of this.’

  On the tray he carried in front of him was a mug of tea, a pint glass of water and a couple of painkillers. He carefully set it down on the end of the bed and handed me the tablets and water.

  ‘Back in a sec,’ he said, disappearing again. ‘I’m just buttering you some toast.’

  Without thinking, I swallowed the tablets, set down the glass, reached for the tea and sank back against the pillows again. I could feel my legs were bare under the sheet and I was wearing the tiny T-shirt I had taken to sleeping in because the nights were so hot, but I had no idea how I had got into this state of undress. Surely I would have remembered if . . .

  ‘Where’s Minnie?’ I croaked, amazed that my voice could still function, as Matt reappeared with some hot, but not too buttered, toast.

  ‘In the greenhouse, of course,’ he shrugged, passing me the plate. ‘Not really,’ he laughed, when he saw my stricken expression. ‘I’m only winding you up. You put her in the dining room when we got back last night. Don’t you remember?’

  ‘No,’ I said, wracking my brains despite the pain. ‘I don’t.’

  ‘Well, I’m not surprised,’ he smirked as I took a tentative bite of the toast. ‘You were pretty tipsy.’

  I sat and chewed in quiet contemplation, desperate to ask what had happened after I had banished Minnie to the dining room, but not sure I could really cope with the details in my delicate condition.

  ‘I’m just pleased you made it up to bed all right,’ Matt sighed. ‘And you even managed to get into your PJs,’ he added, pointing at my skimpy T-shirt. ‘Ten out of ten for effort.’

  ‘You didn’t help me into my PJs then?’ I asked tentatively.

  ‘Nope,’ Matt grinned, clearly enjoying watching me squirm as he realised I had absolutely no recollection as to what had happened. ‘You must have managed that all by yourself.’

  ‘So we didn’t . . . ’

  Matt began to laugh and I gently massaged the side of my skull which objected most.

  ‘Absolutely not,’ he tutted. ‘Lottie Foster, what do you take me for? I would never have taken advantage of you in that state.’

  ‘Of course not,’ I said, clearing my throat. ‘I didn’t mean . . . ’

  ‘I know you didn’t,’ he teased. ‘I’m only winding you up.’

  I finished the tea and toast and my stomach began to feel slightly more forgiving.

  ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone get so tiddly on just a couple of pints,’ Matt smiled. ‘Although in your defence that Skylark Scrumpy is a pretty potent brew. I’m sure the stuff Jake keeps at the farm is stronger than they stock in The Mermaid. I’ll have to take you out one night, Lottie, and you can see for yourself.’

  ‘Oh don’t,’ I groaned. ‘I think I’ll be sticking to apple juice in the future. I hardly drink at all and now I don’t think I’ll ever be drinking again!’

  ‘Well, to be fair, cider is apple juice, isn’t it?’

  ‘I suppose,’ I agreed with a small smile. ‘Of sorts.’

  ‘So,’ sighed Matt. ‘You don’t actually remember getting home, then?’

  ‘No,’ I whispered, feeling embarrassed as well as ashamed. ‘I don’t.’

  ‘Well, Harriet and Rachel gave us a lift back here. They waited in their car while I saw you safely inside and then they gave me a lift home. I used the spare set of keys from the dish on the hall table to lock up, and let myself back in this morning,’ he explained, holding aloft the bunch David had given me the day I moved in. ‘And Harriet and Rachel are waiting again now to run me back to the farm so I can collect my van.’ He beamed. ‘And here you are, fighting fit and just raring to go.’

  ‘Crikey,’ I said, rolling my eyes and feeling relieved that I hadn’t made a complete fool of myself as far as falling into bed with him was concerned. ‘I don’t think I’d go quite that far.’

  ‘Well, you need to get going in a minute,’ he said, patting my leg. ‘Isn’t it about time for you to take delivery of those hens you picked out last night?’

  ‘Oh God,’ I said, sinking further back into the pillows. ‘I’d forgotten I’d said I’d take them today.’

  ‘Not to worry,’ grinned Matt. ‘They’ll be a welcome distraction. Anyway, I’d better get off. I have to be in town for lunch in a bit and I don’t want to keep the girls waiting.’

  ‘Of course not,’ I said, my voice still a little husky. ‘Thanks, Matt. Thanks for looking after me.’

  ‘And thank you,’ he said back. ‘I’m really please
d you’ve decided to let me push ahead with the work. I’ll be seeing Simon later so I’ll ask him when he can come and install your shower and replace the fuse box.’

  I looked at him open-mouthed.

  ‘That is, presuming you haven’t changed your mind,’ he frowned.

  ‘No,’ I squeaked. ‘Of course not.’

  ‘Last night,’ he said, when it became obvious that I had no idea what I was agreeing I hadn’t changed my mind about, ‘last night before I left, you said you were happy for me to get cracking with the work on the cottage.’

  ‘Did I?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said, looking worried. ‘You said if Gwen was happy to employ me then you were too. You said you were going to order a new shower this week and that you wanted me to push on with getting everything underway before the weather turned.’

  ‘Of course,’ I said, doing my best to convince him that I could remember.

  Truth was, I had absolutely no recollection of saying any such thing, but then, looking at the puddle of clothes on the floor, I couldn’t remember getting undressed either. If all I’d promised Matt was a bit of DIY work then perhaps, all things considered, I’d got off rather lightly.

  ‘So I’m OK to go ahead then,’ Matt frowned. ‘You want me to carry on getting things sorted?’

  ‘Of course,’ I smiled. ‘You’ll just have to bear with me. My brain isn’t awake yet.’

  ‘Well, you want to give it a prod,’ he said, as he trotted down the stairs. ‘Because I reckon you’ve got about five minutes before Minnie eats her way through the dining-room door.’

  An hour later, wearing the biggest pair of sunglasses I could find and with Minnie somewhat mollified, having been bribed with the choicest morsels of meat I could lay my hands on, I heard a vehicle pull up outside the cottage door. It was quickly followed by another and I painted on my best smile and braced myself to bravely face whatever I had let myself in for.

  It wasn’t until I heard Mags and Ed talking about heading over to Liam’s later in the day that I remembered the embarrassing gaffe I had made and wondered if perhaps I could get away with not answering the door at all. However, listening to Ed’s excited chatter as he helped Jake begin to unload the truck, I knew I was going to have to just get on with it. I would face my friend stone-cold sober, apologise yet again and, hopefully, move on.