‘I, er, thought it was a chap who owned the cottage now.’
There was an uncomfortable silence. Abigail didn’t want to have this conversation.
He looked from Lili to Abigail. ‘Well – isn’t someone going to answer my question?’
Abigail gave him a cold, hard stare, turned on her heel, and stormed back inside. Before she shut the door, she heard the old man say, ‘What’s got into her?’ and a door slamming, presumably the front door to the lighthouse when he stormed back inside.
She slammed her door shut, breathing heavily, her heart racing. This was not what she’d come away to this cottage for, to be harangued by an old man who appeared to have a chip on his shoulder. She turned around and stepped to her right. With her hands palm down on the deep windowsill, she peered through one of the panes of glass in the cottage window. Lili was still standing on the gravel drive, talking to Joss. Abigail imagined she was telling him that she’d lost her husband – that she was a widow.
She saw Joss nodding gravely. He looked over Lili’s shoulder at the cottage. Abigail stepped back, away from the window, and retreated to the kitchen to put the kettle on. She’d just got two mugs out of the cupboard when she realised she’d done it on auto-pilot, as if she were making Toby a cup too. She stared at the second mug, thinking what a bad idea it had been going there.
A knock at the cottage door interrupted her moment of wallowing in self-pity. ‘What now?’ she muttered. She hoped it wasn’t Joss, come to offer his condolences. It certainly wouldn’t be his uncle. Abigail rolled her eyes, shook her head, and headed for the front door. Through the little rectangular glass window inset in the door, she saw who it was.
She opened the door. ‘You didn’t have to knock, Lili. What is it?’ Abigail looked at the box in her hands. ‘Oh.’
‘Yeah – I was just getting in the van when I realised I’d nearly driven off with them. Where do you want them?’
Abigail didn’t want the box or reels anywhere. Lili wasn’t the only one who had forgotten all about them. She wished Lili hadn’t talked her into bringing them. Along with the projector, they’d just clutter up the cottage. ‘Oh, just put them over there.’ Abigail pointed at the rug in front of the fireplace.
Lili walked in and put the large box of movie reels on the rug. She went back to the van and returned with the projector, placing it down beside the box. Lili stepped back and brushed her hands.
Abigail sneezed. The box and the projector were full of dust. Since Toby’s work patterns had changed, with increased late shifts to earn more money in order to save for a house deposit, his hobby had taken a back seat. Abigail frowned at the box. The camera had been packed away, along with the reels, and left untouched at the back of the cupboard. Abigail now wished that was where they had stayed. She didn’t want them in the cottage. They were going straight in a cupboard upstairs; she wasn’t intending to spend her time threading those movie reels and watching her past. Besides, she wasn’t even sure that the projector still worked or that she could even remember how to set it up to watch them.
Lili broke the silence. ‘Well, I’d better get going.’ She didn’t make a move. ‘Look, I told Joss—’
‘I know. Thanks.’ Abigail meant it. She imagined she’d run into them again, and if Lili hadn’t told him, another awkward conversation would ensue. Perhaps now they knew, they’d leave her alone. Death wasn’t a conversation most people wanted to have, especially with someone’s widow.
‘Apparently, he has been living with his uncle the past couple of months – says he’s in between places.’
‘You mean crashing at his uncle’s because he’s homeless,’ Abigail scoffed at the euphemism.
‘I wouldn’t put it like that. He’s thinking of moving to the Suffolk Coast. Loves the sea.’
Abigail sighed, thinking,doesn’t everybody, although her ears pricked up at the mention of him moving to the Suffolk Coast; perhaps he was another potential buyer? Now, she wished she hadn’t stormed off in a huff when the subject of Toby had come up. Glancing at Lili, she wondered what her friend would say if she knew she was thinking of selling the cottage. Toby had spent his early years living in the cottage. The place had meant a lot to him. But what did it mean without him?
‘So, do you know what this Joss does for a living?’ Abigail was interested to know whether he’d be able to afford a cottage on the Suffolk Coast in an area like this.
‘Nah, I sort of asked in a round-a-bout way, saying there are not a lot of jobs in the area unless you’re willing to commute into London for work. I did ask if that’s what he’s intending to do.’
‘What did he say?’
‘He said he’s in between jobs too.’
‘He’s unemployed?’Damn, Abigail thought,there goes my plan to sell him the cottage. That would have been perfect with his uncle living next door. Abigail wasn’t all that surprised. With his shoulder-length sun-bleached blonde hair, toned physique and sun-kissed tan, he looked as though he’d given up the rat-race and spent time looking after himself, probably travelling somewhere like the Far East.
‘It was weird, though – he said he didn’t have to work.’
‘He didn’t have to work. What does that mean?’ Who doesn’t have to work unless they’ve inherited …’ Abigail knew that even if she moved into the cottage permanently, with a cash roof over her head – the majority of people’s holy grail – she’d still have to do some work to support herself.
Lili shrugged. ‘Unfortunately, his uncle shouted at him to come inside. Apparently, he was waiting for dinner.
‘I wonder how long he’s going to put up with that?’
‘He did say he’s been here a couple of weeks.’
‘Not long then.’
Lili shook her head. ‘No, by the sounds of it. He seems nice, though. Joss, I mean.’