‘Yes I can definitely see a similarity,’ Cat said, transferring her gaze from the photo to Luke and back again. ‘You have his colouring and build. And I’m guessing Tony’s the second on the left?’
‘Yes, head and shoulders above everyone else. Hard to miss, isn’t he?’
‘What happened to Scott?’ she asked, handing him back the phone.
‘Tony said he simply handed in his notice and left. It was all very sudden.’
‘Running out on his responsibilities?’
‘No, it was late September; at that time my mother probably wouldn’t have known she was pregnant.’
‘Did he say whether she was upset when he left?’
‘Apparently not, but then I don’t think any of my mother’s relationships, if you could ever call them that, were long term.’
‘Your grandparents must have been furious.’
‘Absolutely, but she did try to limit the damage; you know, organising a marriage of convenience to Ross before breaking the news about me.’ Cat caught a touch of mockery in his remark. ‘Unfortunately keeping a secret in Carrenporth is not the easiest thing. It wasn’t long before someone accidentally revealed the identity of my real father. My grandmother was an almighty snob. You can imagine having a mechanic as the father of her grandson and a fisherman for a son-in-law was a bit of a double whammy really.’ His eyes glittered with amusement. ‘Sadly, in all the time they were together, I never ever saw my mother show any real affection towards Ross. He was a means to an end. I think it took his death for her to realise exactly what she had lost. He was a good man and a great father; I had a lot of respect for him. And afterwards, of course, Gareth kept an eye on us. By that time my grandparents were no longer on the scene but Evie proved a great successor to Grandmother Mary. She stirred up a lot of trouble for us in the village.’
‘But surely things are different now? After all, this is the twenty-first century.’
‘Oh, Cat, sorry, but I can’t believe you are so naïve. Evie still hates me with a passion and for most people I’ll always be Selina Carrack’s illegitimate son.’
‘Such archaic attitudes don’t have any place in modern society,’ she said angrily, pouncing on his words, hating the way he perceived himself.
‘Whatever makes you think Carrenporth reflects modern society?’ He sat back, his fingers laced around his wine glass andsmiled, clearly amused at the differences in their assessment of the small community they lived in.
‘Of course you’re right,’ she conceded. ‘I mean what would Carrenporth be without the likes of Rosalind Myers to stir everything up?’
‘Look,’ he leaned towards her, ‘I don’t like it but I can live with it. I’ve had the tag for a long time and my shoulders are broad. Thanks to Gareth I’ve had a good education. Currently I’m working with the service team but no doubt a job offer is in the pipeline. Now enough about me …’ his grey eyes examined her curiously ‘… I know absolutely nothing about you, so come on, spill the beans.’
‘I’m not sure there are any worth spilling.’ She hesitated wondering how to glamorise what, compared to his experiences, was a rather ordinary existence. ‘Unlike yours, my life has been rather routine and boring. A terrible confession but true, nevertheless. As you probably know, our mother died when we were five.’ She indicated the portrait over the fireplace.
‘She’s very beautiful,’ he replied, looking at the picture thoughtfully. ‘I wondered where Nathan got his dark hair from, you know, with Trevelyans all being blond. I guess even after all this time your father must still miss her.’
‘Oh, he does. Every single day. Theirs was a very special relationship. She was slightly older than him, you know, but age didn’t mean a thing; he fell in love with her the moment they met. Anyway,’ she moved on with a sigh, ‘it was left to my grandmother to raise us. After leaving school, Nathan and I both went to uni and then came straight into the business. There you are,’ she laughed, ‘all done and dusted in a few sentences.’
‘What? That’s it?’ His grey eyes sparkled with amusement. ‘No travelling? Nometime?’
‘No. I spent some time in France earlier in the year but that definitely didn’t qualify as me time, I’m afraid. It was aworking holiday. My grandparents have opened up a small hotel in Provence. I went over to help out for a while.’
‘You Trevelyans are a very committed lot.’
‘The family have been in the hotel trade for almost seventy years,’ she informed him proudly. ‘Each new generation is automatically groomed to eventually take over. But I’m the first female who has ever been part of the management team.’
‘Events Manager?’
‘Executive Functions Coordinator, if you want my full fancy-pants title.’ She rolled her eyes and laughed.
‘Ah, I was right after all. A woman in a man’s world. That’s why you’re so assertive, argumentative, challenging …’
His comment made her laugh, remembering the day he’d dropped her off from taking Gulliver to the vets. At the time that same assessment had sparked anger in her. Now she simply found it harmless and amusing. ‘Oh yes,’ she nodded, returning his smile, ‘all three of those and more. I knew there were people who thought I’d simply been handed the job because of who I was. They were keen to prove I couldn’t hack it. That I hadn’t a clue. So I had to prove I could, and I have.’
‘But you know what they say about all work and no play, don’t you?’
‘Of course. And believe it or not, we do find time for fun. Nate and I are regular surfers …’
‘Ah.’ He raised his eyebrows and smiled. ‘So we do have one thing in common. My board is back at the cottage. It hasn’t been used for a good while, as you can imagine. I confess I’ve not had much spare time since I returned. In Bali I hired a board and hung out with a load of surfers; guys from different countries and backgrounds. We spent most days at the beach trying to catch that perfect wave.’
