I join her and add. ‘Great for inner peace and unwinding.’
Nemmie nods. ‘Perfect for anyone who’s had a total bad-news week.’
I’m flicking the kettle on, reaching for a mug and searching for a way to move this on.
‘Okay, people under twelve, who would like to cut up some courgettes?’
And thirty seconds later they’re all arguing about allotments and whether manure needs to be fully organic.
11
Brides by the Sea, St Aidan, Cornwall
Small but perfectly formed
Thursday
It’s Thursday afternoon, and having withstood the aftershocks of Salvador’s news breaking around the village on Tuesday, Tia and I are in the office at the shop, using the lull before this weekend’s influx of brides to catch our breath and talk things over.
‘So, Mum remortgaged her bit of the house months ago without mentioning a thing to any of us then passed the money straight on to Sav because he convinced her it would get him back on track, and he promised he’d pay her back within the year. She won’t be seeing any of it again, but it could have been worse. He’d originally asked her to put up the whole house as security for a larger loan, which would have been way more devastating.’
Tia winces. ‘Poor Sav. He always stretched to the max.’
It’s generous of her to be sympathetic. ‘He always kept his margins narrow. Then bank rates went up and materials prices soared… It’s dog-eat-dog in the property world.’
Tia’s shaking her head. ‘How about your mum? Will she have to sell the house?’
I blow out a breath. ‘Not if we all club together and help with the repayments. At least this explains her obsession with nomad blogs.’ I let out a sigh. ‘She’d spent twenty-five years building up that equity and now she’s back to zero.’
Tia sighs too. ‘She’s not the only one who’s going to have to readjust.’
My heart is bleeding for everyone, but especially for Tia. ‘You were this close to the wedding of your dreams. How can you be so calm?’
‘I’ve got to suck it up like everyone else.’
‘How’s Thom taking it?’
Tia shrugs. ‘The only way he can. Being relieved we’re not hit as badly as some people. Comforting himself with the thought that if it ever happened again, he’d recognise the signs, and pull out sooner.’
I hesitate to say the words. ‘And the wedding?’
She sighs. ‘We were mainly desperate for that so we could move on and try for a baby. It wouldn’t feel right splashing out on a wedding now, even if we did have the money.’ She looks at me slowly. ‘Are you okay? I presume Sav robbed the Bank of Maeve, too?’
I nod. ‘I had less to take, but he stung me anyway. At least this way I feel slightly less like I need to crawl into a hole and never come out.’ I pull a face. ‘This puts my work at the shop in a whole new light. I’m so grateful I’ve got it. I’d be in serious trouble without it.’
She hesitates. ‘There is some good news…’
‘What’s that?’
Tia smiles. ‘Jess is delighted with the photos you sent through from Tuesday. She had me make up a montage for the website, and she’s already had some of the pictures blown up to hang in the shop.’ She opens up her laptop and brings up the photos. ‘They look great on a bigger screen.’
‘We were lucky with the light.’ I lean in for a better view. ‘We look very three-dimensional and alive outside.’
The tap of loafers on the bleached wood floorboards tells us Jess is joining us. She comes in, pushes back her linen jacket, rests a hand on each hip and nods at the screen.
‘Hopefully these awesome pictures will go some way to compensating for the disaster your brother has wrought on the entire community and your family, Maeve.’
As I sink into a gilded Louis Quatorze chair, Tia squeezes my arm. ‘Don’t mind Jess, she likes to tell it how it is.’
