‘That’s frustrating.’
‘It is. I feel so helpless but what can I do? On a different note, I’ve had an idea for how I can help someone else or hopefully several people. I was thinking about what Anastasia said about struggling to make friends when you move to a new place where you don’t have any family or friendship connections already. It’s something I can relate to myself and there must be loads of people in the same boat living here. Add in those who are from the area but, for whatever reason, don’t have friendships and that’s a lot of lonely people out there. I’d been toying with running craft classes but I’ve realised that what I love doing the most is anything that benefits the community so, if I’m going to work extra hours, I’d like them to be meaningful. What if I set up a friendship club for people like Anastasia? It’d run on a weekly basis and each week would have a different focus like books, crafts, cooking, art…’
She gave me a meaningful look on that last example and I laughed. ‘The art tuition provided by me, I presume?’
‘Only if you’d like to be involved.’
‘I’d love to be involved and it sounds like a brilliant idea.’
She smiled at me and linked her arm with mine. ‘We’d need to get the wording right on the adverts to make it clear that it’s not about coming along with a friend or partner – it’s about coming on your own and meeting other likeminded people and hopefully forging friendships and alleviating some loneliness.’
‘I love it. The addition of the activities should give it a broad appeal and draw a good mix of attendees. Someone might not be interested in cooking but could be all over the book chat.’ I turned to her with a smile as something clicked. ‘Zoe loves books. Are you thinking you can involve her?’
Tara rubbed my arm. ‘You already know me too well. I’ve had no luck in tempting her with paid shifts at the café but maybesome voluntary work around one of her passions will entice her. Who knows? Also, I have another ulterior motive. Although the aim would be to forge friendships and ease loneliness, I’m hoping that it might lead to a spot of romance too. I’ve already got somebody in mind for Anastasia.’
She told me about Colin and I couldn’t help agreeing that he did sound like someone whose company Anastasia would enjoy.
‘Even if they just end up as friends, it’s a win,’ Tara said, ‘but I have a feeling about those two so I’m willing for something more. I’ll be subtle, though. I’m so glad you like the idea of the club. In my head, it sounded good but I needed another perspective.’
‘Big thumbs up from me. I’ll help in whatever way I can. I can run art sessions, obviously, but I’m happy to help with the cooking side too, and with the general running of the evenings.’
She slipped her arms round my waist and kissed me. ‘You’re the best. Thank you.’
‘You’re the best, Tara, and you have two awards to prove it.’
She laughed and rolled her eyes at me.
‘I often think about how upset you were after winning the Outstanding Contribution to the Community Award. You believed you were a fraud and that you didn’t deserve it but you absolutely did. Helping others seems to come as naturally to you as breathing.’
‘I was in a tricky headspace then but I can see what others see now and that’s thanks to you. You reminded me of the magic I’d forgotten was there.’
I held her tightly and kissed the top of her head, loving that she believed in herself again and that she could see her own magic. When I first said I loved her, I’d told her about a picture I’d seen in a shop window with a quote which captivated me: ‘To see a person – toreallysee them – is to noticeall of their magic. To love a person – toreallylove them – is to remind them of their magic when they’ve forgotten it’s there.’ I’d seen it shortly after I found out about Aaron not being my biological son and I’d realised that Ingrid had no magic in her and wasn’t somebody I wanted to fight for, but I’d found in Tara somebody who encapsulated it and I’d promised to keep reminding her that her magic was there.
Doris kept nudging into us, evidently wanting attention, so I reluctantly released Tara and we walked back to my parents’ house. When I’d returned to Whitsborough Bay, finding love hadn’t crossed my mind. All I’d been focused on was getting Erin and Lucy settled, making up for lost time with my parents and setting up the gallery. But love had found me and I could barely remember my life without Tara in it.
I loved the routine we were establishing. We went to Pilates every Tuesday evening and spent Sundays together. I’d been invited to join Bay Trade – the business club Tara attended monthly. They only allowed one member from each type of business and I was flattered to be the first gallery owner. A lot of the Castle Street traders attended but I was conscious that many of them were close friends of Tara’s and it would be good to make a few friends of my own. Much as I loved spending time with Tara and would happily spend every hour of every day with her, I could probably do with forging some friendships of my own. I’d reconnected with some old friends when I returned in the summer and, while it had been a one-off uncomfortable experience with a few of them, others had been a good catch-up. We’d said we’d stay in touch and meet up again but we hadn’t. People were busy with their own lives and I understood that. I had my family and Tara so, even without any close friends of my own, I wasn’t lonely but there were plenty of people who weren’t sofortunate and it was amazing that Tara recognised that and had a brilliant idea to do something about it. If we could make a difference to just a few people, the time invested in planning and running the club would be more than worth it.
22
TARA
‘Are you nervous?’ Carly asked Jed as the three of us walked up to Minty’s – a bar at the top of town where Bay Trade met on the second Monday of each month.
‘A little bit, which is weird because I’m usually really confident meeting new people through the gallery.’
‘You met a lot of them at the Christmas lights switch-on,’ I said, ‘and everyone’s friendly.’
We got drinks from the bar then headed upstairs to the function room. Nick, Skye and Stuart, who’d set up Bay Trade nearly a decade ago, made a beeline for us and welcomed Jed. I’d told Jed that, although Skye’s main business was making jewellery, she was also an artist, so he asked her about her paintings and I left them chatting and joined Carly, Jemma and Ginny.
‘How are the wedding plans going?’ Jemma asked Carly.
‘Good, I think. It’s amazing what you can achieve when there’s a tight deadline looming. The dresses, invitations and favours are all on order, I’ve had a chat to Sarah about flowers, Liam’s chosen the suits, and I’ve narrowed down the cake to threedesigns which is pretty amazing considering I had eighteen at one point.’
‘I assume you’re making the cake yourself,’ Jemma said.
‘Yes, so part of the narrowing down was ruling out designs which need too much last-minute work when I’ll have other priorities. So it’s cake from me, dresses from Ginny, flowers from Sarah, part of the favours from Charlee and hopefully a bride and groom bear made by you or your mum. I dropped Liam enough hints.’
‘I couldn’t possibly comment,’ Jemma said, but the twinkle in her eyes suggested that Liam had picked up those hints. Jemma ran Bear With Me, a gorgeous shop specialising in teddy bears. Jemma made miniature collectible bears and her mum made large ones. Whenever I passed the shop, I always paused to look at the cute faces in the window.
