Bulbury Knap (12 page)

A
blaze of lightning sheeted across the sky followed by an explosion of thunder and lashing hailstones. Head down, she turned and ran for Michael's cottage.

The path was awash and she stumbled through the water to hammer on the door. He opened it immediately.

She almost fell inside as a deafening crack split the heavens in two, followed by a crash of smashing branches beyond the garden gate.

‘A tree's down,' Michael said, slamming the door shut behind her. ‘You could have been killed. What d'you think you're doing out in this?' His anger was palpable in the stormy air.

She stood gasping, water streaming from her hair and her clothes. ‘I'll go, I'll get back to the house …'

‘You most certainly won't,' he said, his voice stern. And she didn't wonder, faced with a desperate apparition dripping water over the flagstones of his hallway.

‘Wait there,' he ordered and was back immediately with a huge bath sheet. ‘Get the worst wiped off with this. Come on, it won't bite.'

She wiped her face, scrubbed at her hair and then held the towel round her body to soak some of the moisture from her sweatshirt and jeans, kicking off her shoes. She looked, disbelieving, though the living-room doorway. Where were the cushions, the photographs, the carpet … the scent of furniture polish that
had
enchanted her on her last visit? Now the room was bare of ornaments and on the floorboards stood three large boxes, one of them overflowing with folded curtains.

Outside the rain lashed the window and the sky was black but the thunder had faded away to a low rumble.

‘The boys …' she whispered.

‘At Mrs Pearce's for the night while I do a bit of packing,' he said with a calmness that alarmed her.

‘You're going then?' All at once it was too much … Jane's decision for her parents, the storm, Michael leaving … lost to her for ever though he was lost to her already … Bulbury Knap …

‘I must go,' she said in desperation. ‘I've no business here.'

‘I'm ahead of myself,' he said. ‘There's plenty of time to move out. I just seized the opportunity with the boys away for the night.'

‘Where will you go?'

He looked surprised. ‘You don't know?'

How could she know? How could she know anything more? She turned to leave, in her haste forgetting the towel wrapped round her. She tripped and would have fallen if Michael hadn't grabbed her.

‘I'm all right,' she whispered, pulling free.

‘No way. You're staying here and getting into something warm. The bathroom's at the back and there's hot water for a shower. I'll
find
something for you to wear.'

In the shower she held her face up to the water, letting it mingle with weak tears. The clothes he had given her were some of Tom's he had yet to grow into and she was grateful for their comfort.

She pulled the polo neck of the Aran jersey high up her neck and rolled the cuffs back. Then, still barefooted, she gathered up her own wet clothes and joined him in the kitchen.

‘That's better,' he said with approval. ‘I've phoned the house to say where you are. I'll get the car out later and run you back. First though, I'll get the kettle on.'

He soon had it organised. Her face glowed though she was frozen inside from knowing this was the end. When Michael finished his tea and shrugged himself into his thick jacket she watched numbly. A blast of wind almost took the door out of his hand. ‘It's stopped raining,' he said.

He was back almost immediately, shrugging off his jacket. ‘No go,' he said. ‘The lane's blocked with the fallen tree. Nothing doing till the morning. My bed's been changed and I'll doss down in the boy's room.'

‘No, no. I'll walk. I'll climb over the tree. I'll …' she was on her feet now staring at him wildly. ‘I … I can't.'

‘I'll get the fire going in the other room. Come on.'

There was a pile of grey blankets in one
corner
and he spread them on the bare boards in front of the glowing flames.

She sank down and held her cold hands to the warmth, wanting to go and yet wanting to be here near him too.

‘Remember fitting out Zillah's cottage before she moved in?' he said, sinking down beside her.

‘Zillah,' she whispered.

‘An asset to the place if ever there was one. Just shows how bad things can change to good, for Bulbury Knap and the for the boys and me.'

She nodded, unable to speak for the pain that tore at her. Instead she caught hold of the edge of a blanket and twisted the edge.

‘And I have you to thank, Kathryn, for the way things have slotted into place,' he said.

‘Me?'

‘Zillah came to Bulbury Knap because of you.'

Kathryn was silent, aware she had done Michael a great service. She loved him. She should be proud of the part she had played in his future happiness. She had already seen that his packing up to leave the cottage was not the catastrophe she had imagined because he had found Zillah.

He reached forward to throw another log on the fire. The flames hissed a little, died down and then flamed up again. ‘And it was your efforts, Kathryn, on behalf of Zillah that
inspired
me to suggest that Bulbury Knap becomes a residential centre for the arts.'

Kathryn clutched at the edge of the blanket and then let it go. ‘But Andrew … ?'

He smiled, his eyes warm. ‘Andrew doesn't come into it any more. He and Jane had the bust up to end all bust ups. She could see the way things were going and didn't fall for his scheming to buy the place at a knockdown price. She's got a head on her shoulders, that one. She liked the idea of the art centre at once and did a bit of research yesterday and today, enough to know that it's viable.

‘Zillah was central to this, of course. You might have noticed that I've been seeing a lot of Zillah lately. That's why. Jane made me keep it under wraps until she got back from Taunton today. It's a wonder Zillah suspected nothing. A great girl but a touch naive. Now you, Kathryn, would have caught on at once.'

Kate stared at him uncomprehendingly. ‘But I don't understand.'

‘It was all a necessary part of the procedure,' he said. ‘I had to make sure Zillah would be willing to tutor art classes as well as hold her own exhibitions here. And she can. Sir Edwin wants to arrange for your friend to be a tutor too.'

‘My friend?'

‘The Jurassic coast man. Could you ask him? Accommodation will be provided for him, of course, in the cottage next to Zillah.'

‘And
you?'

‘Garden design,' he said proudly. ‘Week-long courses for about ten students at a time. This is something I've long wanted to do. We can still take the garden club visits every summer. Sir Edwin is pleased about that.'

‘So he and Lady Hewson can still live in the house?'

Michael shook his head. ‘Can you imagine it with the place bustling with enthusiastic students? No, this cottage will be converted into a home for them with your mother looking after them as well as overseeing the house. Accommodation will be provided for her there.'

Relief flooded over her. ‘You mean, my mother will still have her job here?'

‘Of course. She'll be needed now more than ever.'

‘That's wonderful,' said Kathryn, still hardly able to believe it. ‘And me?' she added. ‘What use will I be?'

For answer Michael leaned towards her and pulled her close. ‘You are pivotal to the whole scheme as the manager,' he said gently. ‘And especially pivotal to me.'

She trembled in his arms as he kissed her, leaning into his warmth. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion and at the same time swiftly as the wind.

‘I want you by my side for the rest of our lives,' he said, his voice husky. ‘It's my dearest
wish
, Kathryn, my love.'

She couldn't speak because he kissed her again. This time there could be no doubt in his mind that it was her dearest wish, too.