wondering whether she should’ve stood up to their lowlife dad to help pave their way to a better future.’
Lucy had often wondered what this was like for Carol, whether it was a good thing Daniel was back or not. ‘The poor woman.’
‘She doesn’t deserve any of it; neither do they. But they’re both too pig-headed to see it.’
Lucy smiled. ‘It seems that way, doesn’t it?’
‘Carol held it together over the years, pretending she was fine with the way things are, but that’s hard to do with Daniel back in the village. The other day, I was having coffee and cake with her and she could barely disguise the tremble in her voice when she spoke about them both. And when Harvey refused to go to the opening of the Little Waffle Shack, any smile she gave or phrase laced with pride couldn’t disguise how much it hurt her. If Harvey and Daniel carry on like this, never dealing with what’s between them, then they’ll regret it. Carol knows it too and her biggest fear is that one day she won’t be around and she’ll have died with a broken heart.’
‘It must be really hard for her. But, Melissa, I still don’t understand why I’m here. Is Harvey coming home? Does he want to ask me to talk to Daniel? Because that might be a problem.’
‘No, I don’t think those two need a go-between,’ said Melissa as they sat at the dining table with Winnie contentedly snuggled at Melissa’s feet. ‘But they do need to be in the same place at the same time and they need to listen. I didn’t want to have them forced together but it’s the only way I can see it ever working. I thought long and hard about where to do this – the pub is too noisy and crowded, The Street is too public and easy to escape from, the cove itself poses the danger of either one of them drowning the other in the sea – and this way, they’ll both be going to a place where they don’t expect to see the other.
‘I decided that because all of this stems from their childhood, the best place to bring things to a head was right here,’ she said, looking around the kitchen, over at the butler’s sink that added an olde-worlde touch and was positioned so you could look out at the fields beyond whenever it was light, up at the stars if it was dark.
Lucy knew Harvey must have decorated this place along the way but so many features spoke of the family home it might once have been, or perhaps the home they’d hoped it would be without the trouble their dad had brought their way. A pots-and-pans rack hung above the island and blended in with the house’s personality and Lucy suspected Melissa was right to bring the boys here. The trouble had started within these walls and it could end here in whatever way they both decided.
‘I almost told Carol I was doing this,’ said Melissa, ‘but if it doesn’t go well, I don’t want to break her heart any more than it’s broken already.’
‘I’ll help in any way I can, but I still don’t understand why I’m here.’
‘Harvey will come home soon. He’s driving back from Cambridge after going to talk through plans with a new client for a loft conversion, so that part’s easy, but Daniel coming here after closing the Little Waffle Shack for the night is pretty hard to achieve. He won’t come if I ask…’
‘And you’re thinking he will if I do?’
‘It’s a case of desperate measures. This place might trigger something in the both of them that makes them talk or listen, hopefully both. After that, I’ve done all that I can. I’ve been over this with Barney too.’
‘What were his thoughts?’ Ever-wise Barney, a village favourite, was always on hand with advice when you needed it. He’d had Lucy over for afternoon tea when she first arrived in Heritage Cove and had given her the low-down on the village and its residents whether she wanted it or not. She suspected he could see she’d come to the Cove not in trouble, particularly, but still looking for a place to belong.
‘He’s worried it’ll fire up the anger in both of them. He knows Harvey well, remember. But it’s almost Christmas and I know how much this would mean to Carol if there could be a sense of peace for the season. I’m not