The Cosy Teashop in the Castle Read online

  ‘Yes, of course you can. Any time. And make sure you bring Ellie too. We could go out for supper or something. Me and Marge have found a lovely little Italian place down on the quayside.’

  There were goodbye hugs and kisses. Sue stood waving from the step, with a big smile. ‘Lovely to meet you, Ellie. Bye, Joey love. By-ye.’

  Soon they were drawing up outside Ellie’s terrace in Heaton.

  The Hall Welcoming Committee were there, grinning on the front step at Fifth Avenue.

  Dad was first to welcome Ellie with a big bear hug, and then virtually took Joe out with an over-effusive pat on the back worthy of a grizzly bear, which nearly floored him. Mum flourished kisses all round, and Jason honoured them with his presence at the door, appearing miraculously without the addition of headphones or phone. ‘Hi.’

  ‘Hello, pet, journey okay? Did you say you were going to see Joe’s mum first?’

  ‘Yes, Mum. She was really nice.’ Joe and Ellie smiled across at each other. They really were playing happy families and it felt good. It was great to be welcomed home and with Joe with her too. It made it feel all the more special.

  ‘Well, I’ve made your favourite dinner, mince and dumplings, and plenty of it.’ Sarah’s tone had a competitive edge to it. As though she were out to impress and indulge, for Joe in particular.

  Ellie’s stomach protested. They were still pretty full from all the cake and flapjack. But Ellie knew that they’d have to make a good go of it.

  ‘Now then.’ Sarah turned to Joe, ‘I’ve made a camp bed up in Ellie’s room for you. I hope that’s okay. Or you could always have the sofa, if you prefer.’

  ‘The camp bed sounds fine, Mrs Hall.’

  ‘Just call me Sarah – none of that Mrs Hall formality.’ Wow, Ellie noticed that she was actually fluttering her eyelashes. Jeez. Thank God she hadn’t told them of his lineage. The camp bed would never have done. Her mother would have been all of a flurry. Jason would have been hoisted out of his room and the silver service would be out at supper.

  They dropped their overnight bags in Ellie’s room. It seemed tiny after the high ceilings and expanses of the castle rooms.

  Ten minutes later, they were sitting down to mega-portions of mince and dumplings, potatoes and vege-tables, to be followed by apple crumble and custard. Joe had had to accept second helpings. Sarah was having none of it when he said that he’d had plenty, commenting that he was very slim, needed looking after, and needed more meat on those bones. Parents could be so embarrassing sometimes. Joe just laughed it off. Ellie thought, in his defence, but didn’t like to say aloud for fear of giving her mother palpitations, that underneath the clothes there was actually plenty of taut meat on those bones. He was pretty tall and gave the impression of being slim, that was all.

  Mum had even stretched to a bottle of red wine – thought Joe might like it. They rarely drank alcohol themselves in the house. Dad might push the boundaries with a bottle of lager in the summer months after work, though he did like the occasional pint down the pub with his mates the odd Friday night. And there was always a bottle of Baileys at Christmas.

  They ate, chatted, Mum asking about life at the castle, Dad saying that his plumbing business was keeping him fairly busy. The noise levels rose and life was pretty much as normal in the Hall household. Ellie made a choffee cake that evening, wanting to leave some for her family and she also had a plan up her sleeve for the next morning. A visit she felt she had to make.

  They lay side by side, Joe virtually at floor level – the camp bed was extremely low, and pretty damned precarious. If you sat at one end the other flew up in the air – like something off Total Wipe-out. In the half-light, Ellie could see his bare feet sticking out the end. They had started out trying to share the single bed, managed a quick kiss and a cuddle, anything more was out of the question with Jason on one side of the wall, and her parents the other. The creaking of her childhood bed from the sneaky kiss would have given them away for sure as it was. It was weird but wonderful having Joe here in her little room with her. In the bed where she used to daydream about Gavin. How life had changed. But she didn’t miss Gavin at all. Felt so relieved she hadn’t walked down that aisle with him.

  ‘Joe …’ Her whispers sought him out in the grey light. ‘Your mam was lovely.’

  ‘Thanks. I’m glad you got on well.’

  She sensed that had been really important to him.

  ‘You’re very close, aren’t you?’

  ‘Yeah, probably comes from being just the two of us all the time I was growing up.’

  ‘Uh-huh.’

  ‘Your family are great too. Although it’s hard getting a word in edgeways most of the time.’ She could tell he was smiling as he spoke. ‘It’s like who can speak loudest at the dinner table? Reminded me of the Royle family.’ He was laughing now. She chucked a cushion from the bed down at him. ‘It’s great, though. They made me feel really welcome. Mind you, if I ate any more I think I’d burst.’ He’d dutifully finished off the second portion.

  ‘Hah, yes, Mum thinks you need feeding up.’

  ‘Ah-hah, well little does she know that beneath this slim exterior, there lurks a body of steel – sleek and toned.’

  ‘Hmn, I know that, though.’ She reached down for his hand. ‘Can’t wait for tomorrow night,’ she said suggestively. He grasped her hand with a squeeze, anything more and she’d be likely to tumble out down on to the camp bed with him and they’d both be flipped to the ceiling. Maybe her mother had planned it on purpose. Stop any pre-marital antics.

  Hmn, Ellie mused, roll on tomorrow night when she could get intimately re-acquainted with that body of steel – though he’d been joking he wasn’t too far off. He was definitely on the right side of muscled, and she loved exploring every inch – all six foot two of him.

  ‘Thanks for putting up with the camp bed, Joe.’

  ‘My pleasure, m’lady,’ adding, ‘Anything for you.’

  She hoped he wouldn’t mind what she had in store for him in the morning.

  23

  Joe

  ‘Hi, Nanna. I’m Joe.’ He refrained from adding ‘Nice to meet you’, as it wasn’t strictly true. What on earth was he doing speaking to a bloody headstone? But it only seemed polite to join in, seeing as Ellie had been chatting away for the last five minutes, as though Nanna was standing right next to her. He had glowed inside when Ellie had said she’d brought someone special to meet her, and had somehow felt it appropriate to say hello himself.

  ‘Joe, would you mind going to fill up the vase with fresh water? There’s a tap in the stone wall just over there. Oh, and there’s a compost heap just along from it, where you can put these old flowers. Thanks.’

  The last offerings were indeed looking worse for wear: ropey brown stems poked out of the vase. The water was a slimy green. How come he always got the best jobs?

  ‘I’ve bought you some fresh carnations and those freesias you always liked.’ She was off talking to the headstone again. So he thought he’d go and get on as asked, at least it’d give him something practical to do. Ellie had even brought along a picnic: choffee cake and a flask of coffee. He’d never had a picnic in a graveyard before, nor spoken to a grave, come to think of it. This girl was full of firsts and amazing experiences, if sometimes they were a little weird. But hey, just being with her was pretty amazing.

  He still couldn’t quite believe the way things were working out and was still kicking himself that he’d nearly given her up. How had he thought he could just leave it as friends? He’d never felt more comfortable or at ease with a woman, and yet it didn’t feel boring or too settled. Every day she surprised him, like picnics in graveyards, for example, and sleeping on five-foot-long camp beds. And every day he grew to love her body more, the curve of her hips, fantastic breasts, the way she smiled, the sexy sighs she made when they made love. Right, that was enough! Very inappropriate thoughts for a graveyard – sorry, Nanna!

  He headed towards the stone wall,
still musing. Unlike previous girlfriends she didn’t nag on for expensive gifts or trips out. He enjoyed their walks together on the beach and in the countryside, even though it wasn’t particularly her thing – though lately he’d got a sneaky feeling that she was starting to enjoy them too. She’d even mentioned buying a pair of walking boots. He found the compost heap, poured out the sludgy water and refreshed the vase at the tap.

  Walking back towards Ellie, he could see her lit by sunlight, her hair golden, loose around her shoulders. She looked happy, simply chatting away to thin air. She was alive and vivid against this backdrop of death, and yet somehow it didn’t seem morbid here.

  ‘Here you go.’ He handed her the vase.

  ‘Thank you.’ She filled it with the new flowers, putting away the cellophane wrap in her shoulder bag. Then she sat down, pouring out coffee and putting slices of choffee onto paper napkins.

  ‘You obviously thought, think,’ he re-phrased, ‘The world of your nanna.’ Love didn’t stop after death, did it?

  ‘Yeah, I do. She was the one who gave me the courage to go for my dreams. She was the one who inspired me to try for the teashop.’

  Ellie was looking thoughtful, beautiful to Joe. He nodded, letting her carry on.

  ‘I told you how I used to cook with her. Well, I say cook, it was more licking the mixture off the spoons and the bowl … I remember vividly being on a stool on tiptoes in her kitchen. Mum was often working so I’d go back there for an hour or so after primary school … the gorgeous smell of scones and cake. Heavenly … The choffee recipe – that’s hers.’ Ellie took a bite of cake, ‘That’s her book I keep in the teashop. I know the recipes virtually off by heart now, but I like that it’s in her handwriting. I feel closer to her when I use it, like she’s there with me, supporting me. I know she wouldn’t have wanted me to settle for a boring desk job that I didn’t enjoy.’

  ‘What about your grandad? Was he about?’

  ‘Norman, my granda, I don’t remember him much, sadly. He died when I was about four. It was always just Nanna as I was growing up. She must have adored him, though, was always chatting on about him. And she never looked to remarry.’

  They shared a poignant look. Sometimes that one person was all you wanted, needed.

  ‘What about you, anyhow? I’ve been going on long enough. What are your dreams? Any big plans?’

  ‘Me, well, I’d love to make a real success of the castle. Turn things around for Lord Henry’s sake, and to see the place thrive again. I know it can’t just be a grand country home, not with the way it’s falling apart; it needs an income and I really think the wedding events could do that – give it a future. And I like to think people can enjoy it even as visitors, that they can love the place as much as I do, even if it’s just for a day trip. Or have the best wedding day ever there. It’s such an amazing place.’ He took a sip of coffee from the plastic cup. ‘It has a character all of its own, don’t you think?’

  ‘Yeah, I can see that. It would be awful to let it go to wrack and ruin.’

  ‘It was dreadful when I started there. We had to get the roof sorted; there were pigeons living in the eaves in some of the upstairs bedrooms.’

  ‘Oh, my God! So you’ve done a lot already, then. Turned things around.’

  ‘Well, I try. It sometimes seems like just as I put something right, something else happens, though. The chimney stacks are starting to crack now and there’s a load of repointing to do. I’ve got someone booked to do that in the autumn, once we’re closed.’

  He went quiet then, thoughtful.

  ‘You okay?’ Her tone was gentle.

  He wondered whether to open up or not. He’d kept all this so private for so long. Thought he’d accepted it, but there it was, nagging away.

  ‘I’d always wished,’ he started, ‘That I’d had a dad about. That was one of my dreams … Seeing your dad, your family, and noisy and chaotic as it is, it’s great. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I love Mam to bits, and I admire her so much. She brought me up really well. But I’d see other kids when I was little, and want my own dad to kick a ball with, go off fishing or something …’

  ‘Yeah, I bet that was hard,’ Ellie lay a hand over his.

  He went quiet for a moment, memories flooding back, that sense of being different, being vulnerable. ‘One time … it was at that patch of ground we used to play football on and skinned our knees. I was maybe eight, something like that. Well, they’d put up metal barriers around it, moved in the diggers and started working. It got turned into a housing estate. We would watch the building work going on from the top of a bank of grass across the way. But there was this one guy, one of the builders …’ Joe paused, the image of the sandy-haired, solid-built man fresh even now. ‘He’d always wave. Then one break time, he came out and chatted with us. Showed us some little boat thing he’d carved out of some spare wood. Then he made us one. It was really good. By the end of two weeks we’d got one each – all four of us. Played for hours floating them on puddles … He said he used to make them for his own kids. And I had this rising feeling, full of want and jealousy. I wanted that. Wanted that chatty, clever, working man for my dad, not one that I never saw.’

  Ellie didn’t speak, let Joe continue.

  ‘Then one day we heard the ice-cream van’s tinkly music, was no point getting excited, we didn’t have any money, as usual. The guy came out, said it was his last day, told us to go and choose what we liked. Mine was a 99 Flake, should have been yummy, but I could hardly taste it. I just felt so sad. Had this ache right through me. Managed to keep it in in front of my mates. We watched the workers all afternoon till they packed up to go. And then I went home, up to my room, and cried my eyes out. And there was always that sense of missing something, even more after that, cos I’d had a glimpse of what I’d never had.’

  ‘Oh, Joe.’ Her look was tender, her tone understanding.

  It made it easier for Joe to carry on. ‘Then I found him. I found my father. Yes, in the end he gave me a job, supported me in that way, I suppose. But … we just feel miles apart. It’s more like a business relationship. And I’ve always found it hard, thinking how he could have had an affair in the first place. And then he never tried to discover what had happened to her. When I first found out, I wanted to hunt him down and punch him. It’s not the ideal father–son relationship is it? And he’s never told anyone about me, even now, even with his wife dead; only Deana knows at the castle. It’s like he’s ashamed … like I should never have happened.’ Joe went quiet, the words drying up. He’d never shared that with anyone before, not even his mam. Hadn’t wanted to make things any more difficult for her. And, jeez, it was hard to make sense of his feelings, even to himself.

  Ellie’s hand stroked his softly. ‘Maybe he feels embarrassed … by his actions back then. And then the shock of finding out – when you were already grown up. He’d missed out on all that time too. I’m sure he must think an awful lot of you, in his own way.’

  ‘Maybe … But he’s never really shown it.’

  ‘He’s a very private man, I suppose. But yes, as his son, that must be tough. You’d have wanted so much more.’

  ‘One day, when I’m a dad,’ Joe’s voice lifted, ‘I’m going to be there, at sports days and parents’ evenings, and whatever else my kids are into. I’ll support them. I want to be a good dad, Ellie, the best.’

  ‘I think you’ll make a great dad, Joe.’ She smiled. Her hand still warm on his.

  ‘Thanks.’ And he pulled his arms about her in a loving hug. Planted a tender kiss briefly on her cheek; after all, they were in a graveyard.

  ‘Well, Nanna, we’d better get going.’ Ellie was off chatting to thin air again, ‘Said we’d see Mum and Dad before we set off.’

  ‘Bye, Nanna,’ Joe added, feeling slightly easier about talking to a headstone now.

  * * *

  Ellie

  They made their farewells; Sarah was delighted with the bouquet Joe had bought for her, as a thank-yo
u for having him. Kisses and bear hugs all round once more. Ellie noticed that Joe planted his feet firmly before accepting the mammoth pat on the back from her dad. She waved out of the car window all the way along Fifth Avenue, but she didn’t feel sad leaving this time, just happy to be going back to the castle with Joe, which gave her a very warm, lovely glow. Both places felt like home now … Or maybe, home was wherever Joe was from now on. Things had moved on so very fast. She still felt that little niggling fear of something going wrong. Life wasn’t meant to be this good, this happy.

  Back at the castle, at five o’clock, she knew she had to get straight back to work in the kitchen; with being off a couple of days she needed to make a fresh supply of cookies, cakes and quiches.

  They were carrying their overnight bags back up to their prospective rooms.

  ‘Do you really have to work right now? I was just hoping …’ Joe paused at her door.

  ‘Yes,’ she said firmly, then laughed, ‘How can I run a teashop without any cake?’

  ‘But …’ He had a hang-dog look on his face.

  ‘I know, look, I’ll just be a couple of hours. I’ll come and see you as soon as I’m done cooking. Promise.’

  He looked disappointed and damned sexy. ‘If you really have to. Can I not sit and watch you? Chat a bit, while you cook?’

  ‘Ah, I suppose.’ He did look cute. ‘Can you just give me an hour or so to crack on, make some headway with a couple of sponges, and then pop down and we’ll have a cup of tea or something.’

  ‘I like the sound of the “or something”,’ he grinned mischievously.

  ‘I mean a biscuit … nothing else … so don’t go getting any ideas … or you’ll be banned from the kitchen altogether.’ She had to laugh – he really did have a wicked look on his face.

  ‘Argh, you’re torturing me, Ellie.’

  ‘You just need to exercise some self-control, Mr Ward. And anyway, how did you manage until I came along?’