‘Hi!’ Bear waved.
‘Hello.’ Dilly stared at her, her reading book still firmly clenched in her hand, suggesting this was a very unwelcome interruption.
‘Bear and Dilly are starting at your school in September.’ Annalee tried to grease the wheels and Harriet was grateful.
‘Do you want to play Uno or we can go on my Nintendo?’ Bear asked confidently and Harriet was so proud of his manner and attempt to get to know the girl, aware of how much he missed his old mates, his old house, and that he’d probably rather be playing football in his old back garden.
‘Sure.’ Tawrie replied with so little enthusiasm, it didn’t bode well for the playing of Uno or any other activity.
‘We can play in my room.’ Dilly pointed upstairs and the three trooped up.
‘She’s quite shy,’ Annalee explained.
‘She’ll be fine. Bear and Dilly will fight and she probably won’t get a word in, or Dilly will read a book and Bear will bore her to death with his Pokémon card collection. Would you like a tea or coffee?’
‘Oh, tea would be lovely.’ Annalee was smiley and Harriet warmed to her.
‘I’d offer you something stronger but it’s probably a bit early. Plus, I don’t want you to tell Miss Knox that I encouraged you to hit the bottle at three in the afternoon!’ She spoke half in jest.
‘I actually don’t drink – well, very rarely. I’m not too good at it. One glass and it’s a headache all the next day.’ Annalee blushed as she shook her head. ‘I can’t be doing with that.’
‘Sounds like you need more practice!’ she joked, liking the woman’s honesty.
‘Dan, my husband, always says I’m a very cheap date!’ Annalee joked back, and Harriet liked her instantly. ‘So what brings you to Ilfracombe?’
This was the one question she had been dreading and at the sound of it, she felt a narrowing of her throat, along with the threat of tears. It was as mortifying as it was awkward.
‘Oh my God, Harriet, I didn’t mean to pry. I hope I haven’t upset you! It’s none of my business why you came here. I feel awful! I was just—’
‘No, no.’ She took a minute to catch her breath. ‘It’s nothing you’ve done, Annalee, things are just a bit ... Oh, I’m so embarrassed. I’m not usually like this!’ Grabbing the kitchen roll, she tore off a square and shoved it under her nose and wiped her eyes.
‘Don’t be embarrassed. We all have days like this.’ Annalee placed her hand on Harriet’s back and just this one small act of camaraderie, of kinship, was enough to set those darn tears flowing again.
‘It’s been weeks like this unfortunately.’ She sniffed.
‘Why don’t we sit down?’ Annalee calmly took control as the two sat opposite each other at the kitchen table. Harriet put her elbows on the tabletop and cried for a minute.
‘I’m quite good at keeping it all together, until I’m not and then,blurgh! It just all tumbles out, like someone pulls my plug.’
Annalee smiled at her. ‘You’ll probably feel better after a goodblurgh!’
‘I hope so.’ She smiled at her sweet guest.
‘It really is none of my business, and I’m not prying, but what I will say is that Ilfracombe is a good place to be if you want to get away from the world. It’s small enough to hold you in its embrace, big enough to give you space and there’s not much a walk around the headland in a brisk wind can’t cure.’
‘You walk a lot, don’t you? I’ve seen you and your husband.’
‘Yes, that’s where I recognise you from. I thought you might be holiday renters at first, but you kept popping up. I said to Dan that I thought you might have moved in, and here we are!’
Harriet noted the way her face lit up at the mere mention of her husband.
‘Here we are, with me crying into a soggy bit of kitchen roll!’ She held up the near-shredded evidence and they both laughed.
‘This is the first time I’ve been inside this house.’ Annalee looked around the kitchen. ‘It’s lovely!’
‘Well, it will be when we’re finished.’
Conversation was easy and Harriet could see that Annalee was the kind of woman she could call a friend.
