They had moved Rose’s clothes and other personal belongings next door to Frank’s house after lunch, but agreed that they would move Beth’s things in stages during the week. Avery had to be back in Meribel on Monday for a day or two but he would return later with some of his own things, and he and Beth could get themselves settled in.
This time, unlike on New Year’s Eve, as they had all quaffed champagne and celebrated, Kate was beginning to understand how different her own life would become.
And now, two weeks later on the Friday evening before Valentine’s Day, and the start of half term at the school where Kate and Beth both taught, Kate was standing in the pouring rain, alone.
Well, not entirely alone. Frank’s black labrador, Rufus, stood beside her, sheltered beneath her umbrella, as they both staredat the rear lights of the stretch limousine that Avery had hired to take him and Beth, and Rose and Frank to Heathrow airport.
Beth and Avery were flying off to France to spend a romantic week at Avery’s home in Meribel, surrounded by snow.
Rose and Frank were jetting off to Barbados to spend, a no doubt equally romantic, two-week cruise in the Caribbean sunshine.
Kate and Rufus would soon be getting into Kate’s Ford Puma and heading down to Bluewater Bay to spend a week with Granny Viv, more than likely in the wind and rain.
Their suitcases and Rufus’s favourite bed were already in the car, parked on Frank’s drive, where it had been for the last hour as Beth and Avery, and Rose and Frank, and Kate and Rufus had all said their goodbyes in their own ways, and the humans had all wished each other – and Rufus – happy holidays.
‘Well, handsome,’ Kate said to Rufus, once the limo had disappeared from view. ‘I don’t envy them, do you?’
Rufus gave a low, soft, muffled bark and met Kate’s look.
Kate laughed. ‘Yeah. You’re right. We need to get out of this rain and be on our way.’
Kate wasn’t complaining. Before they had booked their trips, both couples had invited her to join them but Kate had declined. Being a gooseberry at home was bad enough; being one on holiday was bonkers. Not that Kate had said so. She had merely suggested that, rather than place Rufus in a dog hotel slash kennel, he could stay with her and they could both spend the half term week with Granny Viv.
Frank had been relieved. As much as he had wanted to go away with Rose, the prospect of leaving Rufus, even in a dog hotel owned by a friend, wasn’t something he was overjoyed about.
‘Are you sure?’ he had queried.
‘Absolutely,’ Kate had confirmed. ‘It will be a wonderful break for me and Rufus.’
That wasn’t a lie. The tiny seaside village was her happy place, her second home, her sanctuary, her escape. Chelmsford was a lovely place to live and work, but being by the sea, in Bluewater Bay, had always breathed new life into her somehow. Perhaps a part of that was due to Granny Viv. She might be one hundred, but she didn’t act her age.
And Kate loved Rufus. Even more so since spending Christmas and New Year with him. She was looking forward to long walks on the beach with Rufus, and rooting around in Prince’s Wood. She was also eagerly anticipating leisurely lunches and lazy afternoons. Chats, and card games in the evenings with Granny Viv; and having the time and space to make some decisions about her future now that Beth and Rose had made such monumental decisions about their own.
Unlike Beth and Rose, Kate and Granny Viv wouldn’t be celebrating Valentine’s Day tomorrow, because they had no one to celebrate it with.
Kate didn’t particularly want a man in her life. The last one hadn’t been that great. Although she did have her beloved daughter, thanks to him. But a man would only be yet another complication and she had enough of those right now.
Having said that, Kate had to admit that Beth had been nothing less than euphoric since Avery had declared he loved her. And Kate couldn’t deny that Rose had an almost constant air of exhilaration about her since coupling up with Frank.
Rose had always loved life and made the most of every opportunity, never once showing any signs of slowing down despite being seventy-eight. And she had never looked her age. Yet she now seemed to have even more vim and vigour than before.
The trick was clearly to have therightman in your life.
Perhaps, one day, such a man might appear for Kate.
But she wouldn’t hold her breath.
Two
The journey down to Bluewater Bay had taken longer than usual and Kate was exhausted by the time she turned into the driveway of Granny Viv’s elegant, five-storey, Georgian home, the middle of a row of five almost identical homes in Prince Regent Terrace.
Each of the five homes had driveways, front gardens, and wide steps leading to painted oak front doors with a fanlight window above. Each had a large, polished brass lantern with clear bevelled glass panels, hanging beneath an arched portico. All had spacious rooms, high ceilings and ornate plasterwork, and many had original fireplaces. Each had a rather grand main staircase. They all had extensive rear gardens with a gate leading from the garden into Prince’s Wood.
The wood was common land and a popular place for villagers and visitors to walk, forage, exercise their dogs or themselves, or do anything else that might come to mind.
Bluewater Bay actually consisted of three separate hills; the main village being situated on the central hill. The mouth of the bay began between the central hill and the hill farther west, and this was where the beach car park could be found. There was alsoa rental shop with boats for hire for an hour, a day, or longer, along with surf boards and body boards, and various other sports and leisure equipment used on sand or in and on the sea.
Prince Regent Terrace was on the hill farthest East, known as High Hill, but oddly enough, the smaller of the three.
