‘And I didn’t mean to break this,’ I said, showing her the damage and feeling my face flush as I bit my lip. ‘It’s cracked all the way down one side.’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said kindly, shaking her head. ‘I’m sure we’ll be able to glue it back together.’
I set the pot aside, located the key and finally stepped into the cottage. The door opened straight into the bijou sitting room I had seen online. It was even cosier than I had imagined with a squishy sofa and chair, an old pine desk under the sash window and a well-stocked bookcase next to the brick fireplace which housed a log-burning stove. It was definitely tighter for space than I had imagined when I posed for my holiday snap.
You would have been stretched to make it a comfortable holiday spot for two, unless you were in the first flush of romance and happy to live on top of each other. Not an emotion I had felt for a very long time. Relationships were another thing I had sacrificed in my quest to keep focused on my career. Anything beyond half a dozen or so dates – or sooner if things felt even remotely as though they were heading towards serious – were ruled out. I had disappointed a good share of men in recent years and my heart had taken a bit of a battering too. As a result, I was sworn off romance (although not uncomplicated sex with no strings attached), for good.
I baulked at the thought that, if my interpretation of what Mum had written was correct, then I was like my father in that sense. I was certain that he and his lover could have managed to feel right at home with the compromised space in Crow’s Nest Cottage, but then quickly kicked the thought away. I would get around to the further details of Mum’s diaries at some point, but now was not the time. Now I wanted to enjoy getting to know the cottage which, given its dimensions, probably wouldn’t take long.
I heard the woman with the bags follow me inside and breathe a sigh of relief as she put them down. For a moment I had a horrible feeling the cottage had been double-booked but then it dawned on me who she was.
‘You must be Sam,’ I said, confident that I had made the right assumption.
‘No,’ she smiled, quickly closing the door on the rain. ‘Sam’s the cottage owner and landlord of the Smuggler’s next door. I’m Sophie. I’m a friend of his.’
‘Oh,’ I said, glancing around the room again and this time noticing that things weren’t perhaps looking quite as perfect as they should. The sofa cushions definitely needed plumping and the shade on the table lamp was a little askew, ‘I see.’
Sophie followed my gaze.
‘Sam had an unexpected appointment this afternoon,’ she explained, ‘so he asked me to welcome you. It’s just the finishing touches to see to now, but I’m sorry it’s not been done yet. It’s been a bit of a rush for me to get around. Usually Sam would see to everything himself and in plenty of time.’
‘Well, it doesn’t matter,’ I told her. Slightly flat cushions and a wonky lampshade aside, it was still lovely. ‘It looks great to me, even prettier than I imagined it would be.’
Sophie looked relieved.
‘I’m Tess, by the way,’ I added. My excitement to have finally made it over the cottage threshold had momentarily robbed me of my manners and I had failed to introduce myself. ‘Tess Tyler. Though I’m guessing you know that already.’
Just for a moment Sophie’s smile faltered.
‘Tyler?’ She frowned.
‘That’s right.’
‘Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Tess,’ she said. ‘Welcome to Crow’s Nest Cottage.’
‘Thank you. I can’t tell you how pleased I am to be here.’
I was just about to go into how I had dreamed of coming back to Wynmouth for years, but a sudden rumble of thunder made us both jump and Sophie carried on the conversation before I did.
‘Sam was so pleased you could come at such short notice,’ she said as she quickly straightened the shade and flicked on the lamp and then turned on another next to the fire.
The room looked even cosier bathed in a peachy warm glow, but it was chilly. Certainly chilly for May, I realized as I gave an involuntary shudder. I’d only packed a couple of jumpers and one pair of jeans. Everything