Moving On (A Polvellan Cornish Mystery Book 6) Page 8

  Viv nudged Mor. ‘We got a little something for you.’

  ‘What? You haven’t. You didn’t need to do that. I never –’

  ‘Dear life, she’s off again,’ Annie sighed.

  ‘We know we didn’t have to,’ Gill said. ‘But we wanted to give you a keepsake, something to remember us by. Not that we’re going anywhere, nor are you. You know what I mean.’

  Viv took Mor’s glass as Jess handed her the small white box tied with a bow of fine silver-blue gauze ribbon then raised her phone again to catch Mor’s reaction.

  ‘Isn’t that pretty?’ Mor beamed.

  ‘It is,’ Annie said. ‘But that’s just the box, Mor. The present’s inside.’

  ‘Stop ragging her,’ Viv scolded.

  ‘I’m not. If you really want to know, I can’t wait to see her face when she opens it.’

  ‘You old softie.’

  ‘Less of your cheek.’

  Morwenna undid the bow and as she lifted off the lid her breath caught on a gasp.

  ‘Do you like it?’ Viv demanded.

  ‘Like it? I love it.’ She raised shining eyes and looked round at them. ‘I can’t b’lieve – First my beautiful engagement ring from Ben, now this.’

  ‘Put it on then,’ Viv urged. ‘Here, give me the box.’

  ‘I can’t – I’m all thumbs.’

  ‘Hold your hand up, Mor, so I can see the clasp,’ Claire directed. ‘I must get my eyes tested. That’s it. We all chipped in for the bracelet.’

  ‘Then each of us bought a bead to put on it to get your collection started,’ Jess added.

  ‘You can celebrate each special occasion with a new bead,’ Gill said.

  ‘Mine’s the little elephant,’ Annie announced. ‘He’s supposed to bring prosperity and good fortune.’

  ‘Oh, the dear of him.’ Mor fingered each charm then looked at Viv, her smile wide. ‘Yours is the turquoise parrot.’

  ‘How did you know that?’

  ‘You are joking,’ Annie said as the others laughed.

  ‘Who else would choose something so unique?’ said Jess with a fond smile.

  ‘It’s so – you,’ Claire reached across and patted Viv’s knee.

  ‘Yes, but do you like it?’ Viv asked Mor.

  ‘I love it.’

  ‘I chose the shimmery blue glass bead,’ Gill explained, ‘That colour looks lovely on you.’

  ‘Mine is the pale pink dahlia pendant,’ Jess said.

  ‘And mine is the silver bead with the four-leaf clovers,’ said Claire. ‘You can never have too much luck.’

  ‘It’s just beautiful,’ Mor whispered, turning her wrist and gazing at the charms. ‘Every time I wear it I’ll think of you.’ She looked up. Tears sparkled on her lashes then spilled down her flushed cheeks. ‘I don’t know what I done to have such lovely friends.’

  Jess bit the inside of her lip, saw the others struggling and put down her mobile.

  Annie rasped, ‘Dear life, Jess, put the kettle on. This here wine is very nice, but it leave you dry as an old boot.’

  ‘Helen all right again is she?’ Mor asked Jess.

  ‘She’s fine.’

  ‘Didn’t I tell you she would be?’ Viv demanded.

  ‘You did, and you were right.’

  ‘Here, Jess.’ Reaching into the canvas bag she had placed beside her chair, Gill lifted out a tissue-paper wrapped package and offered it. ‘Normally it’s best not to iron linen until you’re ready to use it. But I wanted you to see what it should look like. What do you think?’

  Jess opened the tissue and gazed at the gleaming monogrammed linen. ‘Gill, that’s amazing. I never thought you’d get it looking as good as this.’ Standing up, she allowed the folded fabric to fall open, and supported it over one arm.

  ‘It looks like a bedsheet,’ Claire said.

  ‘That’s because it is,’ Viv replied.

  Annie caught one edge and rubbed it lightly between her fingers. ‘If you closed your eyes you’d think it was heavy silk. My grandmother had a couple of sheets she inherited from her mother. But they didn’t have raised embroidery like this. I’ve never seen anything like it.’

  ‘It’s over two hundred years old,’ Jess said.

  ‘Where did you find it?’ Claire asked Gill.

  ‘It was wrapped around a portrait in the attic up Chywoon, old Mrs Carveth’s place? Captain Carveth brought it to Jess to see if she could find out who the young woman was.’

  ‘If it was in his mother’s attic, she must be family,’ Annie said. ‘You have to wonder what she did to be hidden away like that.’

  ‘Why put her up there at all?’ Claire mused. ‘Why not simply sell the portrait or destroy it?’

  ‘Show it to them, Jess,’ Viv urged.

  ‘It’s still here?’ Mor asked.

  ‘Bring it out then,’ Annie urged.

  ‘I’d dearly love to see it,’ Mor added.

  Jess slid the cotton-shrouded canvas from the space between the dresser and the wall. Propping it against the front of the dresser, she lifted off the covering. ‘It needs cleaning. It would have been a lot brighter when it was first painted.’

  ‘She’s beautiful,’ Mor whispered.

  ‘You’d need a heart of stone to destroy that,’ Claire said.

  ‘She can’t be more than twenty or twenty-one,’ Annie said.

  ‘There’s something about her expression.’ Claire frowned. ‘At first glance you think she’s smiling but –’

  ‘That’s exactly what I said soon as I saw it,’ Viv broke in. ‘Didn’t I, Jess?’

  ‘You did. Shelley noticed it too.’

  ‘Who’s Shelley?’ Annie demanded.

  ‘My granddaughter’s nanny,’ Jess told her.

  ‘She think the world of that dear baby,’ Viv put in. ‘Stayed with her day and night in the hospital she did.’

  ‘Where was her mother?’

  ‘Away on a course.’

  ‘Like her do you, this nanny?’

  ‘Very much.’

  Annie nodded. ‘That’s all right then.’

  Gill called over, ‘Who painted it, Jess?’

  ‘We haven’t found a signature.’ She covered the canvas again and slid it carefully back into the gap.

  ‘So,’ Viv demanded, ‘have handsome Harry Carveth been down to see you again?’

  ‘Handsome –?’ Claire’s brows shot up.

  ‘Well, he is. I seen him when he brought the picture down.’

  Jess stifled a sigh. Viv meant no harm. But this had been a stressful week, she was tired and she still hadn’t decided what to do about Tom. This reminder of her unsettling response to Harry Carveth brought a sharp retort to the tip of her tongue. She clenched her teeth to hold it back.

  ‘I’ll put the kettle on.’ Mor started to get up. Jess and Viv exchanged an apologetic glance. Mor had spent her life tiptoeing round her bitter and bullying mother. Of all of them she was the one most sharply attuned to undercurrents. This was her hen night and nothing could be allowed to spoil it.

  ‘You’ll do no such thing,’ Viv said, pressing her down with a hand on her shoulder. ‘You’re forever looking after other people. Tonight is your turn to be waited on.’

  ‘Gill, tell them about the deal you’ve agreed about the sheet,’ Jess urged.

  ‘Even though there’s some damage,’ Gill showed them the brown marks, ‘embroidery like this is rare and might be valuable. Jess told the captain about my quilting. He don’t want the sheet, so we agreed that I could have half and I’ll use the embroidery on the other half to make a white-work quilt for his first grandchild.’

  ‘He’s getting a bargain,’ Annie said.

  ‘Thank you, Annie.’

  ‘No need to thank me. I’ve seen your work. That quilt will be treasured then handed down through the family.’

  ‘What a lovely thought,’ Claire said.

  ‘Like a – what d’you call it, Jess?’ Viv demanded as Jess poured water into the teapot.
‘Not a legacy, a –’ she frowned. ‘Got a head like a sieve I have.’

  ‘An heirloom?’

  ‘That’s the one.’

  ‘How’s Percy, Mor?’ Jess reached into the fridge for milk.

  ‘Just skin and bone he is. But he’s cheerful enough, dear of him, and forever asking questions about the wedding. Have Ben remembered this or that.’

  ‘He wants everything right for you both, Mor,’ Viv said, taking filled mugs from the tray Jess held and setting them on the coffee table.

  ‘Lord knows you went through enough to get here,’ Gill added, carefully rolling the linen.

  ‘Everything is going to be perfect,’ Claire stated. ‘Trust me, I’m a vicar’s wife.’ She took the plates of food Jess passed across.

  Gill looked up from the bag. ‘Seeing we’re all here I might as well tell you, because you’re my friends and we all look out for each other. But I want you to promise that you won’t say a word outside this room.’

  Jess and Claire exchanged a glance then made space on the table for plates of sliced quiche and sausage rolls, a raspberry pavlova and homemade chocolate roulade.

  ‘Bleddy hell – sorry, Claire – what’s wrong, my bird?’ Viv demanded.

  Gill looked startled. ‘Nothing. Oh, you thought – No, it isn’t – I’m not ill.’

  ‘I’m really glad of that,’ Annie began.

  ‘We all are,’ Claire put in.

  ‘But you shouldn’t go scaring people.’ Annie glared at her. ‘I haven’t got many friends, not proper close ones. So I don’t want none of them dropping off.’

  Gill looked stricken. ‘I’m sorry – I didn’t mean –’

  ‘Of course you didn’t, though Annie speaks for us all. So if you’re all right, what’s the secret?’

  Gill held the bag of linen to her chest. She swallowed then lifted her chin. ‘Don’t you laugh, but I joined one of these dating agencies.’

  Chapter Eight

  Annie nodded at the bag Gill was still clutching like a life-saver. ‘Put that down else you’ll never get the creases out. Now tell us what brought this on.’

  ‘George and me had a good life. Though we lost our Mark and I couldn’t have more children, we got through. It wasn’t easy. I won’t pretend it was. Losing a child – well a lot of marriages can’t survive that. We were lucky. When I was having a bad day George always knew, dear of him. He never said much but he’d look after me. He’d cook a meal or bring me a cup of tea in bed. He’d come home from town with a book he thought I’d like, or some nice hand cream.’

  That told Jess how much George Eathorne had loved his wife. Flowers would have been the easy option.

  ‘I always knew when he was hurting because he’d just go quiet. He was never one for talking about feelings. But his heart was soft as butter.’ Gill held her flowered mug between hands that trembled. ‘When he felt bad he wanted hugs. He was a dear man.’ Her smile was tender. ‘Ten years he’s been gone.’ She looked at Jess. ‘You know what it’s like. You keep going because you have to. Like I say, I’ve been lucky. I’ve got my home, a bit of money in the bank, a job I enjoy and –’ she looked at each of them, ‘good friends.’

  ‘But it’s not enough?’ Claire asked.

  ‘P’rhaps I’m being a silly old woman –’

  ‘Nothing to do with age,’ Viv said.

  ‘What? Being silly?’ Gill’s smile was sad and self-mocking.

  ‘Being lonely, you daft besom.’

  ‘That’s true.’ Mor nodded.

  Gill went on, ‘Viv and Claire have got husbands, Jess and Tom are back together after all this time, Mor’s marrying Ben next week.’ She glanced in Annie’s direction.

  ‘Don’t look at me. I’ve got my cats, my books and my TV. My life is just how I like it.’

  ‘You’re sensible going through an agency,’ Claire said.

  ‘That’s what I thought, but it was a disaster.’

  ‘Why?’ Viv demanded.

  ‘I saw their ad in the local paper and rang the number. The woman sounded really nice. She sent me this long form asking about my interests and what I was looking for. I filled it in and sent it back with a recent photo like they asked. A week later they sent me photos of three men who wanted to meet me and an invitation to a social evening at one of the hotels on the sea front.’

  ‘What was it like?’ Mor wanted to know.

  ‘The hotel was nice. But when I got to the room there were twice as many women as men. One I was supposed to be meeting turned up wearing baggy old jeans and a pullover. Maybe he was nervous. I know I was. But he reeked of drink. He expected me to recognise him and took it bad when I didn’t. But in his photo he was twenty years younger and five stone lighter.’

  ‘What about the other two?’ Jess asked.

  Gill shrugged. ‘I didn’t hang around to find out. I got my coat and left.’

  ‘You should have demanded a refund,’ Annie said.

  ‘I tried. But because I walked out I broke the contract. That’s what the woman told me.’

  ‘Oh, Gill.’ Jess squeezed her shoulder.

  ‘I felt such a fool.’

  ‘The papers and telly are always on about rich widows being conned out of their life savings,’ Viv said.

  ‘Gill would never fall for that,’ Mor argued. ‘She isn’t stupid.’

  ‘I aren’t rich either, Mor. By time I got home I didn’t know whether to laugh, cry or kick myself. It’s not that easy to meet someone. Yes, I talk to men when they come in the post office. But that’s business and most of them are married.’

  ‘There’s always a few looking for a bit on the side,’ Viv warned. ‘Mind you steer clear of they.’

  ‘I’ll bet there are men who feel exactly like Gill,’ Claire said. ‘They want to meet someone but don’t know how. Several radio stations have dating sites,’ she added.

  ‘What about that one on telly?’ Viv suggested. ‘You know, with the camel?’

  Mor looked bewildered. ‘What – ?’

  ‘It’s supposed to show how some companies think liking sun and sand is enough to make a match,’ Claire explained quietly.

  ‘Ah.’ Mor gave her a grateful smile. ‘Thick as two short planks I am.’

  ‘Hey,’ Annie barked, making Mor and Claire jump. ‘You stop running yourself down. You’re no such thing. Think Ben would marry an idiot, do you?’

  ‘No –’

  ‘Exactly. So no more talk like that.’

  ‘Sorry,’ Mor blushed.

  ‘You’re some fierce tonight,’ Viv nudged Annie.

  Jess lifted the teapot. ‘Who wants a refill? We’re not laughing at you, Gill,’ she said as she topped up mugs. ‘We’d never do that.’

  ‘I know. I’m glad I told you.’

  ‘Now you’ve come out and said you’d like a man in your life, I’ll bet anything you like one will come along.’

  ‘You might have to kiss a few frogs before you find your prince,’ Claire warned.

  ‘Or he might be out there right now waiting,’ Mor blurted. ‘I got mine.’

  ‘You certainly have,’ Jess agreed, touched. ‘Isn’t anyone hungry?’

  ‘We was being polite,’ Viv leaned forward and picked up a sausage roll.

  ‘Since when?’ Annie helped herself and conversation turned to the wedding.

  At ten, Mor said she had to go. She hugged them in turn, thanking them again for the beautiful gifts. Annie left with Claire.

  Gill lingered, putting on her coat. ‘Do you think I’m making a mistake?’

  ‘No, I don’t. But the truth is it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks.’ Jess kissed Gill’s powdered cheek. ‘It’s your life. If you’re ready to share it again, I hope you soon find someone you can be happy with. Take no notice of our teasing. We’re all on your side, you know that.’

  Gill gripped her hand. ‘Thanks. We gave Mor a good send-off didn’t we?’

  ‘We certainly did, bless her.’

  ‘’Night, my lo
ver.’ She peered round Jess. ‘’Night, Viv.’

  ‘’Night, Gill. See you again.’ The door closed. ‘Well, that was a surprise,’ Viv said, picking up the tea towel. ‘I thought Gill was happy on her own. I wouldn’t like it meself, being alone. Jimmy do drive me wild leaving stuff lying around. But I’d miss him awful if he wasn’t there.’

  Jess slid the remaining slices of quiche onto a single plate and covered it with clingfilm as she thought about Tom.

  ‘Are you mad at me?’ Viv wiped a plate and put it on the worktop.

  ‘No, why?’

  ‘What I said about Harry Carveth? I didn’t mean nothing by it.’

  ‘I know you didn’t. It’s me. I feel –’ She put the plate in the fridge and shut the door. ‘I don’t know what I feel.’

  ‘About him?’

  ‘And other things.’

  ‘Has he come on to you?’

  ‘No. At least I don’t think so.’

  ‘Dear life, don’t you know?’

  ‘A few times when I looked up I’d catch him watching me. And when we talk on the phone it’s – strange, like we’ve known each other a lot longer than we actually have.’ She wiped the coffee table, gathering the crumbs in her palm then tipping them into the pedal bin. ‘I’m probably making something of nothing. It might just be his way and he’s like that with everyone.’

  ‘Do you want it to mean something?’

  Jess gave a helpless shrug as she rinsed and dried her hands. ‘Viv, I don’t know what I want. Yes, I do. I want everything to stay as it is. But Tom doesn’t.’

  ‘There’s no law says you got to do what Tom wants, nor decide right this minute. Look, you only met Harry because of the picture.’

  ‘True.’

  ‘So put your mind to that and leave the rest go for now. Speaking of Tom, is he back?’

  Jess nodded. ‘He phoned earlier. I haven’t seen him yet. He’ll want an answer, Viv.’

  ‘Like you told Gill, this is your life, bird. If he don’t want to wait, he wasn’t the right man for you and you’re no worse off.’

  Jess gave her a quick, hard hug. ‘You’re a gem.’

  ‘Get on. You’d be saying the same if it was me. Right, I’m gone.’ She lifted her fleece from the peg by the door and slipped her arms into the sleeves. ‘What an evening. ’Andsome it was. Mor’s face when she opened the box …’ Smiling, Viv shook her head. ‘Stay with me always that will. ’Night, Jess.’