‘I want you to know, Victoria.’
‘OK.’ Vic put her empty mug down on the small hand-crafted table in front of them.
‘Mum and Dad were minding the house when I went travelling because I had a couple of dogs then, and they really did love it at my place. The grounds were impressive, and they both enjoyed pottering about together in the pretty walled garden. It had an indoor swimming pool, too, so for them, it was like being on holiday themselves.’
‘Sounds idyllic.’ Vic slipped her boots off.
Tears filled Jake’s eyes. ‘There was a fire.’ His voice wobbled. ‘The night before me and Malini were due to travel home. A spark from the huge inglenook fireplace took hold whilst they were sleeping. I lost them all: Mum, Dad and the dogs. Probably a good job they all went, really, because if any of them had survived, those who were left would have been bereft – and that includes the dogs.’
‘Oh, Jake. I am so sorry.’
‘Yes. So am I.’ Jake looked for his tobacco to roll a cigarette.
‘How do you ever get over something like that?’ Vic’s face was full of compassion.
‘You don’t, Vic.’
‘And you and Malini?’
‘She was amazing, a complete rock. Flew back to England with me, helped me with the funerals and sorting out the insurances, et cetera. We lived in a rented place for a while, but it appears that sometimes love doesn’t always win. Because in this instance, grief did.’ Jake’s face contorted in anguish. ‘I became hopelessly lost, and I began to drink heavily. Malini tried – she tried so hard – but I wasn’t a nice person to be around, and I don’t blame her for leaving.’
‘So, how come you are here? What brought you to Windsor?’
‘I studied at Eton many moons ago and I remembered the boats along here, and how I loved living near to this river. I wanted to be a nomad. In my drunken haze I thought that was a good thing to be. No houses to lose, no people to lose. Just me and the boat.’
‘And Malini – did you ever see her again?’
‘I knew the drink or not seeing her again would kill me, so I got myself sober and I tried to find her for years. But there was no internet then and she loved to travel. In the end I paid a private investigator to go to her hometown and see what he could discover.’ His voice tailed off. ‘And he found her.’
Vic put her hand to her heart. ‘That’s amazing.’
‘Not that amazing, because she wasn’t actually there. He found out that she was married, with a little girl, living in Australia. Timings added up that she had waited less than a year to get hitched and have a kid after being with me. He was a doctor.’ Jake shook his head. ‘So at least she married well.’
‘And you didn’t want to speak to her again?’
‘Of course I did. I wrote her a letter, in such a way that if her husband did see it, he wouldn’t have known that we hadbeen lovers – just friends – but included enough information to let her know that I was sober and that I still loved her and would wait for her as long as she was on this planet.’
‘Oh, Jake, that is so romantic. Please tell me she replied.’
‘Nothing. For two years, I checked that PO box every single morning. I was so torn but also so hurt. I figured if she had really loved me, she would have waited for me, or at least replied to the letter. It was a raw love, Vic. One that, if you haven’t already experienced it, I really hope that you do, at least once in life. We said we had found a “diamond love” becauseit sparkled. Our chemistry was effervescent. We even noticed that our eyes shone brighter in each other’s company. Which is why I was so surprised that she moved on so quickly and didn’t reply.’
‘Aww, Jake, that is so sad.’
‘Yes, really sad. But I had to get on, and there’s not been one minute that I have regretted living here. Money is of no interest to me. I like the simple life. I love waking up to birds singing, the water sloshing and all this nature. And Norman’s a great little companion. Nineteen sixty-nine, I arrived. Sober and ready to sail off down the Thames.’ He laughed. ‘And then I met your mother.’ His voice tailed off again and he jumped up. ‘Good gosh, it’s eight o’clock already. Won’t she be wondering where you are?’
Vic leapt up too. ‘Shit, yes. We need to eat, and I need to feed this little man, too.’ She looked down at the sleeping pair by her feet. ‘They’ve been such good boys.’
She put the lead on the snoozing little terrier, who shot up and started running around her feet, barking. Norman joined in, the two of them causing a right old commotion.
‘Send her my good wishes, won’t you?’ Jake squeezed Vic’s shoulder. ‘Your mum, that is, and hope I didn’t bore you too much. I don’t tell many people my pitiful life story, you know.’
‘I’m glad you did.’ Vic squeezed his arm and slipped her boots back on. What a kind and caring man Jake Turner was.Clever, too. She had only known him at a surface level before. Maybe he had been hoping that with his outpouring of truth she would share what was troubling her, as she had quite often used that tactic in the past with friends. Sadly, she felt her truth was so huge that even learning about the trauma of dead parents and dogs and lost loves couldn’t release it. Not yet.
Jake opened up the tiny front door and helped Vic and Chandler onto the deck. ‘It’s been so good to see you, Victoria, and how about instead of worrying about what you can’t control, shift your energy to what you can create, eh? Short of that, just breathe.’
Suddenly feeling a stronger sense of self through Jake’s own resilience over adversity, Vic carried Chandler off the boat and placed him down gently on the river path. Waiting a minute for a pleasure boat blaring out its party music to pass, she looked up at the wise and distinguished white-haired gentleman in front of her and smiled.
He smiled right back. ‘Happy New Year, Victoria.’
