Love Heart Lane

‘Is there anything I can get you?’ Isla asked, but before Fergus could answer Drew bounded through the kitchen door, stripping off his own wet coat from his back.

‘How are you?’ Drew placed a hand on his mate’s shoulder.

‘I’m doing okay, the cold was just a bit of a shock.’

‘He looks surprisingly good compared to the way he looked about ten minutes ago,’ Isla added, looking between Drew and Fergus.

‘There was a split second I didn’t think we’d get the pony out of there – or you for that matter.’

‘How is the pony?’ asked Isla placing the biscuit barrel on the table. ‘You need sugar,’ she said to Fergus passing him a biscuit before turning back towards Drew.

‘I’ve dried her off, put the heat lamps on in the barn and buckled on two fleece coats to warm her up, but with her thick coat we shouldn’t have any problems. She’s got plenty of hay. I’ll check on her again after I’ve taken Flick home and picked up Finn.’

‘Or you could stay for tea,’ suggested Isla, looking at Felicity. ‘There’s last night’s leftover curry and Finn would love to meet you.’

Felicity swallowed and shot a quick look over at Fergus, who wasn’t forthcoming with any encouragement – but why would he be? She was probably the last person he wanted to spend any time with.

‘I’d love to, but I’ve only just arrived home and Mum will be expecting me and the logs.’

‘The logs!’ Drew threw his hands up the air. ‘I’ve forgotten the logs with everything. I’ll load them up now and get you home to Rona.’

‘Thanks Drew, I’ll come and help. We’ll do it in half the time.’

‘If you’re sure?’

As Felicity stood to leave, she hovered at the side of Fergus. Her mind was in complete overdrive. She knew there was unfinished business between them, but this wasn’t the right time to bring any of it up.

‘Fergus…’ Felicity took a breath. ‘Can I come and see you?’ Feeling the emotion rise up inside her, she swallowed hard. Fergus didn’t look up but stared into the fire with the blankets still firmly wrapped around his shoulders. His features had suddenly become expressive. Disapproval was etched into every line, but he didn’t respond, leaving Isla and Drew exchanging uncomfortable looks.

Felicity’s lower lip quivered as she followed Isla into the hallway. As soon as they were out of ear shot of Fergus, Isla spoke. ‘He’ll come round, it’s just the shock of seeing you again,’ she said softly, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.

Felicity tried for a smile; the sad thing was that deep down she knew Fergus was still hurting. She was still hurting too. At one time Fergus would have given her the world but now he could barely make eye contact with her. She’d thrown away everything.

‘I hope so Isla, I really hope so.’

Chapter 4 (#u611af9e5-bfbf-5454-8ff9-f925684e032b)

Back at the cottage the fire was nearly out when Drew and Felicity arrived. Fighting against the blizzard outside, Drew kindly loaded all the wood into the log shed and hauled in a huge basket of wood and placed it by the fire.

‘This should keep you going until morning,’ he said, bending down and poking the embers of the fire before throwing a few more logs into the grate. Within no time at all the fire was thankfully roaring once more.

Rona was more than thankful to Drew and offered him a cup of tea and slice of cake which he was grateful for.

‘Meredith has invited everyone over to the pub tonight for chilli. Are you and Isla going?’ asked Rona turning towards Drew.

‘It’s the first I’ve heard of it but if it’s an open invitation I’m not one to pass up on Meredith’s chilli, and I think it will do Isla good to get out for a while.’

‘Yes, it’s an open invitation. I think she thought everyone would have had quite a day of it with the weather and wouldn’t feel much like cooking.’

‘And she is right, we were having leftover curry. God love that woman, always thinking of others. I’ll pick up Finn from his friend’s and we’ll see you over the pub in about an hour,’ he said, finishing his tea and cake before pulling on his coat that had been warming on the armchair in front of the fire.

‘Good, good,’ said Rona, showing Drew to the front door after Felicity thanked him for rescuing her suitcase and bringing her home.

While she could still hear Rona chatting away to Drew, Felicity wandered through to the kitchen and placed the kettle on the hotplate of the Aga. The sound of the constant dripping from the tap caught her attention but however hard she tried she couldn’t get it to stop. Taking a look around the room she noticed that the place not only seemed tired, but the room felt quite chilly too. She placed her hand on the radiator. It was stone cold and she shivered. The only heat was coming from the Aga. She wandered over to the pantry and opened up the door, astonished to find the shelves near enough bare, when they’d always been packed to the brim with baking ingredients for the teashop cakes.

Felicity could still hear her mum and Drew talking so unlocked the duck-egg coloured door next to the pantry which led into the teashop. She switched on the light and stood and stared.

Drew had been right; this place looked like it hadn’t been in use for a while. Everywhere seemed worn, tired and washed out. Felicity brushed her hand over the counter and a mushroom of dust danced before her eyes. The whole place seemed so lifeless, so colourless. Even the shabby chic coloured bunting that criss-crossed the ceiling looked drab; it had definitely seen better days.

Felicity walked past all the chairs neatly pushed underneath the tables towards the front of the shop. She could visualise her grandmother standing in the front window smoothing down her white pinny before waving madly at her as she walked home from school along Love Heart Lane. Every night, without fail she’d waited in the window at the same time.

Felicity couldn’t help but wonder what had happened here and began to feel guilty and confused. How did she not know the shop had closed? This was her mum’s livelihood.

Through the window Felicity watched Drew climb into his tractor and wave goodbye to Rona as he drove off back home towards Foxglove Farm. The rest of the lane was silent. The line of houses on Love Heart Lane looked like a picturesque snowy Christmas card, with some of the cottages in complete darkness while others were lit up. There was a romantic feel about the place.

Felicity watched Rory, who lived opposite, as he stood in the middle of his living room hugging a mug. She and Rory had grown up together in the village and like everyone else in Heartcross, they had once been good friends. Rory had always known from an early age that he wanted to be a vet. His parents Stuart and Alana Scott ran the veterinary surgery in the village, and Rory was now in partnership with them.

Felicity heard a noise behind her and spun round as Rona appeared by her side. ‘I wondered where you’d got to.’

‘Mum, what’s happened to this place? Why didn’t you tell me the teashop wasn’t up and running?’

The teashop was a place where Felicity had spent most of her free time as a young girl, especially in the school holidays. She’d worked alongside her mum and grandmother helping to bake the scrumptious cakes Bonnie was famously known for, and when she was in her teens she’d waited tables. Early mornings had always been Felicity’s favourite time. The mouth-watering aromas that had drifted from Bonnie’s kitchen were a great start to the day. Before school, Felicity had always helped to arrange the home-baked pastries and cakes in the open counter and on the numerous glass-domed cake stands in exchange for her daily gingerbread man that she took to school without fail.

Most weekends this small teashop would be jam-packed with passing ramblers who’d trek through the mountainous terrain of Heartcross and sample the delicious delights of Bonnie Stewart’s baking. Her grandmother had opened the tearoom on a whim. Her cottage was the last stop on Love Heart Lane before the hikers ventured on the three-hour rocky trek to reach the summit of Heartcross Mountain. It was a great last stop to fuel the body and grab a cuppa and of course use the bathroom facilities.

As Rona pondered the answer to the question a look of pain crossed her face. ‘It’s not been that easy, Felicity.’ Her voice was low and shaky taking Felicity by surprise. Her mum had always been a tower of strength and seeing the look on her mother’s face, she felt numb, an entire stock of emotions running through her body. ‘What do you mean?’ she asked hesitantly.

‘I tried my best,’ said Rona, holding on to the last trace of pride.

Felicity’s heart sank.

‘I couldn’t do everything.’

Feeling wretched, Felicity blinked back the tears that brimmed in her eyes. The business her grandmother had worked so hard for lay in ruins. What had her grandmother thought? The teashop closed, her hopes and dreams dashed. Felicity swallowed hard. She’d never thought in a million years that this place would close. Add in the factor that her mum was clearly struggling, and Felicity felt shaken by it all.

‘I tried to keep things afloat but everything just spiralled out of control. It all got a bit too much for me.’

The comfortingly familiar life and beloved teashop had folded around Rona and Felicity had been none the wiser. She was devastated that she’d been caught up in her own little world and never realised how bad things had got back home. This place had been the heart of the community for decades, and this was a hurdle that they needed to get over. This place couldn’t stay shut. In deep thought, Felicity linked her arm through her mum’s and turned to slowly walk back into the kitchen of the cottage.

‘I’ll make us a hot drink and bring it through. You go and sit down.’

Rona nodded and settled down on the wingback chair in front of the fire. As soon as the drinks were made Felicity slid herself on to the battered old chesterfield.

‘How long has the shop been closed?’

Rona looked up at her daughter. ‘About eight months.’ She let out a breath. ‘Everything seemed to all go wrong at once.’

‘You mean with Grandma being ill.’