‘Ten? That’s incredible. I’d no idea you’d been doing this since you were ten.’
She laughed. ‘Not for money. I didn’t start taking commissions until I was at art school and needed the work, but the first real time I shared a design was here.’
She still recalled her father’s face, full of amazement and pride. ‘I’d no idea …’ he’d kept saying. ‘You have real talent, love. Real talent …’
‘After that, I started practising designs in a small way inquiet coves and out of season, but it was my dad who gave me the confidence to share my work on a “bigger stage”, as he put it, and to take on my first commissions. The money was welcome, too, while I was a student.’
‘Imagine how proud he’d be about you working at OceanFest,’ he said.
Tammy had a lump in her throat. ‘Yeah. I – wish he could be here to see it. It’s nerve-racking though. I was nervous that first time, too, because I hadn’t shown anyone my work and I didn’t know how Dad would react.’
‘Tell me about it,’ Ruan said encouragingly.
‘I was twitching with excitement, but my stomach was churning too. Dad brought me in his beat-up Transit.’ She laughed. ‘Battered old vans run in the family, you see. My dad was a marine mechanic when he could get some work … and the Transit always stank of fish and diesel but I never cared. That morning, I was just desperate to get to the sea and try out the design.’
‘What did you draw?’ Ruan said.
Tammy gazed over at the island castle rising up out of the bay like something from a fairy tale. ‘It was a giant’s heart inspired by the legend of St Michael’s Mount. Do you know it?’
‘Vaguely …’
‘The giant was called Cormoran and he lived on the Mount and terrorised the locals, throwing boulders and stealing their livestock. Then along came a brave young lad known as Jack.’
‘Jack. Of course he would be a Jack,’ he said solemnly.
‘Of course. Well, Jack volunteered to rid the villagers of Cormoran and he dug a huge pit that the giant fell into.’
‘A cunning plan.’
She laughed. ‘It worked though. All that was left of him was his heart and that had turned to stone. You can see the heart-shaped rock among the cobbles when you walk up to the castle. Though I must admit, I was really disappointed when I finally spotted it. It was so small, as small as a human heart, not the gigantic one I expected. Good job you learn to moderate your expectations as you get older.’
Ruan looked at her. ‘Is it? Or is it a bit sad that we learn not to expect so much of life?’
‘That way you don’t get hurt,’ she said, looking away from Ruan and out to the sea.
‘So youhavebeen hurt?’ Ruan pressed her.
‘Haveyou?’ she shot back.
‘Who hasn’t?’ he said, batting the question back. ‘Go on, you first.’
‘Mmm.’ She definitely felt more comfortable talking about imaginary broken hearts. ‘I’ve been out with a few men, mostly from around Porthmellow. I guess three were what you might call longer term and one of them …’
Ruan waited, looking at her intently.
‘That was “serious”,’ she said.
‘On his part or yours?’
‘His. I’d known him a long time and we had fun and we were together for almost a year before things came to a head. He wanted to get really serious. Like, engaged serious. I wasn’t ready for that, but once the subject had been broughtup, and I hadn’t been wild about the idea, it couldn’t be unsaid, so I thought it best to end it. I guess we just had different expectations and it – ended.’ There was no way Tammy was going to give details or name names. It wasn’t fair on Sean and she felt she’d said more than enough.
‘And now it’s your turn,’ she said. ‘Is there anything behind you coming down here from Bristol apart from the temptations of Penzance?’
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Ruan had to tread carefully. He didn’t want to boast about his good fortune in inheriting a big house like Seaspray. At the same time, he also felt he should be as honest as he could be about his circumstances.
‘It was partly to do with what happened in my previous job and partly about whatdidn’thappen. I was offered a partnership with the firm last year. I turned it down.’
