‘Oh, just put them down in the living room for now,’ Bella replied. She’d packed in a characteristically haphazard way, despite her initial plans to employ some logic, and wouldn’t be sure, until she opened each box, what she’d actually put inside them. However, Mollie had given her the day off tomorrow, so she’d be able to sort through them at her leisure before Monty was due to arrive on Sunday afternoon.
Heading through to the small living room, Bella was unsurprised to see that the footprint of this room was very much like Marieke’s cottage. A window at the front, that looked out onto a rambling front garden, and a neat fireplace, regrettably gas-fired rather than open, ran up the party wall. Bella supposed that, in the later years of his life, the elderly and increasingly frail Jack wouldn’t have been up to dragging in logs and coal and cleaning out the ashes of an open fire.I’d open that fireplace back up, though, if it wasreallymy house!
Two high-backed Ercol armchairs sat in the small space – again, a concession to the advanced age of its former resident. Bella could imagine Jack, with Monty perched on his knee, watching the small television of an evening, resting a glass of whisky on the occasional table that sat by the chair that looked out of the window. She also imagined Noah joining his grandfather on the occasions he’d visited, both of them setting the world to rights over a dram or two. She allowed herself a moment to visualise the conversation in full flow – perhaps the two would have opposing opinions on things, perhaps they wouldn’t – but the chat would last long into the night.
The sense of loss in this room felt palpable; Jack’s presence was everywhere. Bella could understand why Noah and his brothers wanted to sell and move on. All the same, even to her untrained eye, the fact that the house had been so unchanged since Jack’s death might, in its current state, deter prospective buyers. Those of a similar age might be put off by the prospect of having to redecorate, and younger buyers might not want to take on such an extensive project – not to mention the fact that a terraced cottage with two tiny bedrooms wasn’t exactly ideal for anyone wanting to start or expand their family.
Heading back to the hallway, she helped Gerard to get the last of her stuff, and then, rummaging in the large tote bag she’d brought in first, she handed him a bottle of Cava. ‘I’m afraid I can’t quite run to champagne,’ she said as she handed it over to him, ‘but I know this is Marieke’s favourite brand, if you wanted to share it with her, to say thank you.’
‘Thanks, Bels,’ Gerard replied. ‘You didn’t have to do that – it wasn’t much stuff in the end. You certainly travel light!’
Bella felt a stab of something she couldn’t quite identify as he said that. She’d always prided herself on being able to move on at a moment’s notice, but even now, when she’d been in Lower Brambleton for a while, to anyone else her possessions obviously seemed pretty paltry.
‘Well, you know,’ she forced a smile, ‘no point in hanging onto stuff I don’t need, is there?’
‘I’m sure if you’ve left anything, Marieke or I can drop it round.’ With a final, friendly glance, Gerard said his goodbyes and closed the front door behind him, leaving Bella alone in the latest place she was going to call home.
30
Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long for Bella to sort out the boxes. Noah had told her that he didn’t mind which bedroom she took, although she noticed a few of Noah’s possessions in the smaller single bedroom, so she decided the bedroom overlooking the front garden would be best. Jack, having lived on his own for the past twenty years since his wife had passed away, had a single bed, which was pushed up against the party wall, and there was a small, dark chest of drawers under the window. The bed was stripped: Noah had told her there was bedlinen in the cupboard in the hallway, if she needed it, but she preferred to use her own. The first box she opened yielded a cheerful light blue flowered duvet cover and crisp white sheets, as well as her mattress protector, so she swiftly put these onto the bed. She was perturbed by the contrast to the more neutral colours of the room but shrugged away the feeling of being an interloper in Jack’s house. Jack wasn’t coming back, and she was the tenant now.
It took her a couple of hours to get everything sorted out, and by the end of it, she felt slightly more as if she was permitted to stay in the house. Although this was an ad hoc arrangement, Noah had assured her that it would be at least a few months before he and his brothers put the house on the market, so she tried to relax.
The one thing she hadn’t thought about on moving day, though, was food. Kicking herself, she realised she didn’t even have a box of teabags or any milk. Luckily, Saint’s Farm shop was in walking distance, so she decided to pop down there and grab a few essentials for tonight. She and Marieke had split the cost of food, for the most part, and this was the first time she was going to be solely responsible for that in a long while.
A short time later, she was pushing open the door of the farm shop.
‘Hey, Nick,’ she called as she caught sight of Nick Saint, the co-owner, standing behind the counter.
‘All right, Bella? How’s things?’ Nick gave her a welcoming smile which, as always, reached all the way to his friendly blue eyes. The Saints had farmed in Lower Brambleton for generations, and although this latest iteration of the family business was a long way removed from the sprawling family farm of yesteryear, it had undoubtedly been the most profitable. Although they didn’t have as much of the land as they used to, the large market garden, populated now by polytunnels, provided much of the seasonal produce that was sold in the shop, and a good wholesaler, sold to by local suppliers, did the rest. The Saints prided themselves on selling as much local produce as they could, and what wasn’t immediately available from Somerset’s farms was ethically sourced from elsewhere. It was a model that would have been unheard of twenty years ago but worked superbly in these times of greater awareness of food miles.
‘Good, thanks.’ Bella mooched around the shop, putting the essentials into her basket and then adding a couple of extras. She didn’t want to overdo it: Noah hadn’t asked her to pay rent, just that she pay the cost of Monty’s food instead, but pay day for both jobs was a week away. But not even she could resist a punnet of Saint’s own luscious strawberries, so perfectly ripe, red and round that they could have been formed in a confectioner’s mould. They weren’t cheap, but they were worth it, especially with a tub of the local clotted cream.
‘So I hear you’ve moved into Jack Hathaway’s old place, then?’ Nick asked as she walked to the counter.
Bella laughed. ‘I forget how fast news travels in this village.’
‘Paddy was telling Thea the other lunchtime when we popped in,’ Nick elaborated. ‘I thought those grandsons of his were all up for selling the place as soon as possible – getting their hands on their full inheritance.’
‘Noah, the brother who’s been sorting out most of Jack’s estate, had a change of heart,’ Bella said. ‘So Monty and I are sitting tenants for a while.’
‘Monty?’
‘Jack’s old cat. Old being the operative word. I don’t know how long he’s got left, but Noah saw fit to put him back into the cottage to live out his days. He’s my landlord now, I suppose.’
‘Who, Monty?’
‘No, Noah!’
Nick laughed. ‘Well, hopefully Monty will continue to live a long and happy life, so you can stay put for a bit.’
‘Oh, you know me,’ Bella replied, ‘I don’t like staying anywhere for too long. I’m a wanderer, and I’m sure my next adventure’s just around the corner.’
‘The Star and Telescope’s punters will miss you if you do go off into the sunset,’ Nick said. ‘Paddy’s not one for giving compliments, but he told Thea you’re the best bartender he’s ever had. She was a bit put out at that, having done a stint behind the bar when she was in her late teens.’
‘Oops!’ Bella giggled to hide how touched she felt by the compliment. ‘I’d better start dropping a few pint jugs and pouring some long-headed lagers, then! Wouldn’t want to think Paddy had gone soft in his old age.’
Bella paid and ambled out of the shop and along the road back to the cottage. It was true, she thought, she had stayed put in Lower Brambleton longer than she’d intended. Partly because living with Marieke had been great, but also because she genuinely liked being here. She always tried not to get too attached to a place, though, in case she suddenly had to move on. Jobs that ended, tenancies that finished, changes in circumstance had all meant leaving eventually. She’d be lying to herself if she didn’t admit that, when it came to leaving Lower Brambleton, she would miss the village and its people. And the furry inhabitants of Purrfect Paws, of course.
