The temperature had plummeted from earlier and the cold air stabbed at me, taking my breath away, freezing my nose, cheeks and fingers. I wished I’d grabbed my coat but it had never entered my head in my haste to escape. I paced up and down at the side of the pub, clenching and unclenching my fists, a scream welling up inside me. I often thought about Noah in the present day – how old he’d be and what he might be doing with his life – but none of those thoughts had been so strong, so vivid as the vision I’d had just now. I’d clearly pictured him sitting beside Jessie, hands entwined, happy together – the future he should have had.
I slumped against the wall, swiping away a couple of escapee tears as I tried to pull myself together. I’d barely shed any tears for years and this wasn’t the time to release the floodgates. Tonight was my sister’s birthday and she deserved to enjoy it without any drama from me. But I wasn’t feeling strong enough to go inside yet.Just a couple more minutes.
8
‘Are you all right?’ Georgia whispered when I returned to the group. The concern in her eyes suggested I might look a wreck. Quick thinking was needed.
‘Choked on my own breath,’ I said. ‘My eyes were streaming. Has my mascara run?’
‘A bit.’ She rubbed at my cheek with her fingers. ‘Sorted. Although your eyes are a bit red.’
‘My nose probably is too. There’s a heavy frost out there now.’
I was saved from any further conversation by Arnie asking another question. I didn’t hear it so I sat back, heart still pounding, as Clarke and Keira debated the answer.
‘We’re halfway through,’ Arnie announced. ‘Connie will come round to collect your answers and give you a new sheet for the second half. We’ll start again in twenty minutes.’
‘There’s some people I want you to meet,’ Georgia said, standing up. ‘Bring a business card with you. You’re going to love this.’
Intrigued, I removed a card from my purse and followed her to the other side of the pub where we joined a table of three men and three women I didn’t know, all of whom looked younger than us. They were evidently quiz regulars but not very good at it judging from their team name – The Numpties – and the banter exchanged with Georgia.
‘This is my sister, Mel,’ Georgia said. ‘This is Maya and her fiancé Jonah. Maya is Kelly and Aled’s daughter.’
I knew Mum and Dad’s next-door neighbours had a son who still lived with them, but I hadn’t realised they also had a daughter.
‘This is Maya’s cousin Dane who’s in Mountain Rescue with Mark, and his partner Autumn,’ Georgia continued, moving round the table. ‘You remember Beatrice Eccles? They own her house.’
‘Cotton-tail’s Cottage? Aw, I love that place. I remember going inside once when I was younger and it was like a shrine to Beatrix Potter.’
Autumn and Dane both nodded, smiling.
‘We rented it from her daughter, Trudy, for a while before we bought it but one of the conditions of renting it out was to clear out all the memorabilia.’
‘You might remember me mentioning it,’ Georgia said. ‘Darrowby’s handled the sale of some of it about a year ago.’
‘I do remember,’ I said, nodding. ‘Weren’t there some books in it?’
‘Several first editions and rare copies. Gosh, what an honour that was.’ Georgia’s eyes were shining and she’d clearly drifted off into happy memories.
‘Sorry,’ she said, evidently realising we were all staring at her. ‘I haven’t finished the introductions. This is Rosie and her partner Oliver Cranleigh.’
She hadn’t given anyone else’s surname and, from the way she was grinning at me, I knew she’d done it deliberately with Oliver.
‘Cranleigh,’ I repeated, wondering how I knew that name. ‘Oh! As in the Cranleighs who own Willowdale Hall?’
Oliver nodded. ‘Good to meet you, Mel.’
‘And you but, oh, my God! Willowdale Hall? I’ve been obsessed with that place since I was a little. I used to drag Georgia out on our bikes and we’d stop by the gates and stare into the grounds.’ I started laughing. ‘That makes me sound really creepy. It was the building. I promise I wasn’t stalking your family. Old buildings are my deepest passion.’
‘Georgia told us,’ Rosie said. ‘She says you’re a conservation architect and you work on projects in this area.’
‘That’s right.’ I knitted my eyebrows at Georgia, confused as to why she’d been talking about me.
‘She hasn’t joined the dots yet,’ Georgia said, placing her arm round my shoulder. ‘Mel, you’ll be interested to hear that Oliver and Rosie are starting a major redevelopment programme at Willowdale Hall and they need a conservation architect to help them turn the hall into part home, part holiday accommodation without losing the character and history. So I thought the three of you might like to get together for a chat.’
I clapped a shaking hand across my mouth, eyes wide, hardly able to believe I was hearing this. A true business professional would have been calm and collected but I was completely incapable. This was the project of my dreams.
‘I think she’s in shock,’ Georgia told them. ‘Happy shock, though.’
