Sam did, but he wasn’t convinced Mac would have any more success than he’d had. His dad had refused to see Mac on many occasions previously and had simply shrugged when Sam had passed on Mac’s invitation to visit Watersmeet any time he wanted.
‘What would be the point?’ he’d asked. ‘Nothing much to say, is there?’
When Mac finally came downstairs, carrying two mugs of tea, Sam raised an eyebrow, more in hope than expectation.
‘You were quite a while,’ he said. ‘Does that mean he spoke to you?’
‘He did,’ Mac agreed. ‘Grudgingly at first but I wouldn’t let him get away with that. I’m fed up of all this tiptoeing around him. It’s not doing him any good. I asked him, straight out, if he was sure about selling up.’
‘You did? What did he say to that?’
‘Well, he was a bit shocked that you’d told me, to be honest. He didn’t see why I should know about it, but I said that, as I was staff now, I had every right, and so did the rest of them, and that if he was really going to sell up then he had better call a staff meeting and break the news to them all.’
‘Blimey! How did he react?’
Mac grinned. ‘Went a bit pale at the thought, actually. Doesn’t like facing up to things does he, your dad? Anyway, he said he’d get round to it before the estate agent arrived, so I’m going to hold him to that, and you should too.’
‘But he still seems intent on going through with it?’
Mac sighed. ‘It would appear that way. He didn’t seem particularly happy about it, but then again, he didn’t seem too upset either. I think he’s just going with whatever. It’s like he has no real wants or needs of his own.’
‘Apart from sitting in his armchair watching the soaps,’ Sam said bitterly.
‘Well there’s that,’ Mac agreed. ‘Families, eh? Always something to worry about.’ He hesitated. ‘Alison’s a bit worried about Jenna, as it goes,’ he said finally.
‘Jenna?’
‘Yeah.’ Mac looked awkward, as if he wasn’t sure how much he should tell Sam. ‘She’s not herself. Look, I don’t really know her that well to be honest, but Alison’s convinced there’s something going on with her, and I have to agree that her behaviour’s been a bit strange. I mean, just turning up out of the blue for the entire summer holidays without any warning or discussion. It’s a bit weird, isn’t it? Especially without the husband.’
‘You don’t like having them at Watersmeet?’ Sam asked.
‘Oh, God, no! It’s not that at all! She’s a nice kid, and the twins are smashing. I have no problem with them being there. It’s just – odd. And why doesn’t that Joel bloke ever come to see her? He doesn’t even call her, as far as I know. The twins have never mentioned speaking to him on the phone. I don’t know. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but Alison seems to be fretting about her, and you’ve got to admit, Jenna looks a bit peaky.’
‘She does,’ Sam agreed. ‘I thought, that very first night when she turned up at the pub, that she looked so… so fragile and sad. Something’s wrong, somewhere. Poor Jenna.’
Mac eyed him for a moment then nodded. ‘You’ll go easy on her then?’ He held up his hands and added, ‘Sorry, Sam, but I promised Alison that I’d ask you to do that. I know you will anyway, but a promise is a promise, after all.’
‘I know, and don’t worry, I will.’ Sam rolled his eyes. ‘Like you said, families. Always something to worry about, eh? Who’d have them?’
Mac gave him a sad smile, and Sam could have kicked himself. Everyone knew that Mac was estranged from his own two children, and although his daughter had written to him a couple of times there’d been no contact from his son, and no sign of either of them visiting Watersmeet.
Sam had got it from Briar, who’d got it from her mum, who’d got it from her neighbour, who’d heard it from Rosie – never the most discreet of people, even though her heart was in the right place and she’d probably only been expressing sympathy for Mac’s plight.
That was how things worked in Kelsea Sands. God only knows what they said about the goings-on at The North Star. He wondered suddenly if rumours had already started circulating about the pub’s future. It would only take one careless comment by the estate agent to someone who knew someone in Kelsea Sands…
He sighed. This village was a nightmare if you wanted to keep a secret. But even so, he knew that, when the time came to leave, he would miss it desperately.
12
Jenna settled into a routine quite easily. She was surprised by how quickly she remembered what working in a pub was like and was also astonished to discover that she really enjoyed the job.
It was lovely to go to work in such a pretty, cosy building and get to chat to so many different people. She also enjoyed the fact that there was nothing to think about when she went home. No marking to do. No lesson planning. No responsibility.
She loved working with Sam, who was kind and funny and patient. The rest of the staff were friendly enough, too. She’d had a few doubts about Kenny at first, but Sam had tipped her off that flattery was the way to his heart, so Jenna told the chef how she remembered visiting the pub with her family one St Patrick’s Day a couple of years ago, and how she’d eaten some of his Guinness chocolate cake, which she still believed was one of the most delicious cakes she’d ever tasted in her life – actually true.
That seemed to do the trick, and he’d thawed quickly after that. Now they got on very well, which amused her no end.
Still, she couldn’t help worrying that her mum resented taking on the twins every evening. Since Mac had started working at The North Star during the days and with Jenna there in the evenings, she hoped Mum wouldn’t feel that she’d been abandoned by them both. Although, it had to be said that she showed no signs of it and was always full of welcoming smiles when Jenna arrived home at the end of her shift, so maybe she was overthinking it. Not surprising, given how things had been between them not so many months ago.
