He’d lose himself for hours in here and forget about the rest of the world.
‘I know you miss her, son. And I also know you feel guilty for not being with her when she died. It’s time you let that go.’
Nate’s eyes filled with tears. ‘It’s hard, Dad.’
‘But you know I’m right.’
‘I can’t get it out of my head that I was in here, enjoying myself, when she needed me.’
Trevor was at his son’s side. ‘We can’t be with each other every minute of every day. And this place…’ He looked around. ‘Do you know how much pleasure this workshop brought your mother? She’d watch you sometimes through the back window here, your brow creased in concentration. She’d stand back and to the side so you couldn’t see her.’ Trevor pointed to the window which would have a view of the inside and could keep your anonymity if you stood at the right angle outside. ‘She didn’t want to interrupt you and she loved to watch you when you didn’t know, she said your true passion came out then when you thought you were alone.’
Trevor pulled his son, who was a good foot taller than him, into a hug. ‘I love you, son.’
Nate almost cried. They rarely said those words. They both knew they felt that way but it wasn’t a phrase batted around often or certainly not in a while.
‘Love you too, Dad.’
‘It’s time you stopped blaming yourself now.’ With another squeeze around his shoulders, his dad suggested, ‘Why don’t you pick out what you’re taking to the markets tomorrow? And then, if you like, there’s an event at the Bookshop Café I wouldn’t mind going to. It’s an author talk.’
Nate smiled. ‘I’m up for that. Unless Jeremy is driving.’
‘Don’t worry, you’re safe; we’ll walk as I could do with the exercise. Unless you need an early night before the markets?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous; I can handle a late night and an early morning. And it’ll be good to get out and about in the village.’ He liked to see his dad’s life, what Trevor had here, whether he was being overprotective by worrying or whether he was right to do so.
‘Then that’s settled. You unload your pick-up and put everything in the dining room for now so you can fit this lot – or whatever you’re going to take – in. I’ve made a chicken and broccoli bake for our dinner.’
Nate raised his eyebrows. ‘I didn’t see that in the kitchen.’
‘Hidden in the fridge. I made it before you even got here.’
‘Thought I’d smelt something, assumed it was the soup you’d heated up for lunch. Dad, I’m impressed.’
‘You haven’t tasted it yet,’ Trevor laughed.
They went through what he could take and piled it all together. Nate removed his plumbing gear from his truck, stacked it all neatly in the dining room and then reloaded his car with all his creations, ready for the markets. It would be an early start so all he’d have to do in the morning was drive around to Snowdrop Lane and make a start.
Before they had dinner and headed off to the Bookshop Café, Nate took Branston for a well-deserved walk, taking the long way around the village, past the church again and back along the high street. He ended up on the humpback bridge and despite the sun showing no signs of fading away yet, it was deserted. He lingered at the top, Branston looking up at him as if to ask why they weren’t moving along.
‘Come on then,’ he said when the dog looked at him one time too many. And when he saw a stick in their path, he couldn’t deny he’d been hoping he might see Morgan again. The girl with the glossy, mahogany-brown hair that flicked up teasingly at the ends and the heart-shaped face and deep, dark eyes. Branston would be pretty happy to see her too; she’d won his heart already that night in this very spot.
And with a whistle to the dog after he picked up the stick in his mouth and looked as though he expected Nate to throw it, they headed for home, hoping he’d see Morgan again soon. Because he knew what she was going through and although he didn’t know her, he felt as though he wanted to be there for her if she needed someone who simply got it.
He should be so lucky. She was gorgeous. And she was taken.
7
As Morgan came downstairs in Forget-Me-Not Cottage, she welcomed the sound of the cat flap in the kitchen flipping shut and Marley trotting towards her.
She scooped him up and settled him on her lap. ‘Where have you been all day? Enjoying the summer weather?’ His fur, the light grey of a bird’s feather, was soft beneath her fingers. She’d never really been a cat person but having him here since her mum died had stopped her feeling quite so lonely. And she’d missed him today as she juggled her freelance writing commitments after getting two commissions close together.
She switched to rubbing the cat’s chin as he lapped up the attention. She wondered whether he missed Elaina too. Did he wonder whether she was ever coming back? Or had he accepted that things had changed?
‘I’d better get on, Marley.’ Although the purring and the dribbling suggested her needs came way down the agenda compared to his. ‘I should ask Nel to come fuss over you again; you’d like that, wouldn’t you?’ When Morgan had taken off to Edinburgh to see Ronan, Nel, who ran the pizza place on the high street with her husband André, had come in to feed Marley. According to André, she was dropping hints left, right and centre about getting a cat of their own, but so far he’d put her off, given their dedication to the pizzeria.
Marley eventually trotted into the kitchen and over to his bowl of cat biscuits and with his crunch-crunch sounds in the background, she went to carry on with the sorting out, only stopping once to do a FaceTime call with Ronan. The boxes in the background showed she was hard at work and he told her all about the restaurant he’d been to the night before with some colleagues. He couldn’t wait to take her there when she got to Edinburgh, and she’d tried to show enthusiasm, despite the huge decision weighing on her mind.
She checked the time, conscious that she needed to get a move on with sorting through the stock to take to the markets tomorrow if she was to make the author talk at the Bookshop Café tonight. Sebastian had a guest author visiting, a man who’d written a series of travel books including one about Scotland, so Morgan was definitely interested.
