A Seaside Affair (16 page)

Brooke still couldn’t believe she’d made the move from London to Cornwall. It had all happened so quickly and she was close to tears at her welcoming present. ‘I’m just about to make it up with duvets I brought down from the flat. It looks OK.’

‘Here, I’ll help you. Have you unpacked everything yet?’

‘No, I …’

‘Come on, let’s get you settled.’

By the time Penny and Simon came over, an hour later, with a bottle of champagne and a ‘Welcome to Your New Home’ card, everything was shipshape. Helen was just giving Brooke some tips on how to light the open fire and filling her in on her own life story, and how she came to be living at Gull’s Cry.

‘Don’t get her onto that shit of an ex-husband of hers. Bloody useless, like all men,’ declared Penny, immediately turning to kiss Simon’s cheek. ‘Except you, my darling. You are the exception.’ She turned back to Helen and Brooke, gave them a wink and said, ‘I think I got away with it.’ Laughing her raucous laugh she instructed Simon to open the champagne.

‘I don’t know if I have champagne glasses …’ Brooke went to the kitchen and started banging cupboard doors. ‘Will wine glasses do?’

‘Jam jars will do if we’re thirsty enough.’ Penny took the open bottle from Simon and started pouring.

Simon raised his glass. ‘Brooke, you are most welcome to Pendruggan. Thank you for your help and friendship. God bless you and Granny’s Nook. May you be very happy here.’

‘Amen to that.’ Penny chinked glass on glass with Brooke. ‘To friends old and new.’

G
etting the part of Moira in
Horse Laugh
had done Jess the world of good. She’d taken up running and watching her weight in readiness for filming. This was her big break and she was determined to make the most of it.

She was almost pleased that Ryan was off to LA, knowing it would allow her to focus entirely on her new role.

From a dark corner table in Café Au Lait’s Heathrow branch, she watched Ryan at the counter, causing a stir among the three young female baristas serving behind the counter. Having ordered their drinks – two lattes, soya milk, decaf – he handed over a ten-pound note and told the girls to keep the change. One of them whipped a phone out of her trouser pocket and took a photo of him. He laughed and then pointed to the corner where Jess was waiting. The girl clamped her hand over her mouth then fluttered it over her face in excitement. Ryan waved at Jess and mouthed, ‘They’re big fans!’ Jess smiled and waved back, praying that they didn’t come over to join them. They didn’t.

‘Nice girls,’ beamed Ryan. ‘They saw your interview in
Weekend
magazine. They promise they’ll be watching
Horse Laugh
.’

Jess smiled and looked across at the girls. All three of them were staring at her. They giggled.

‘You gotta get used to it, babe. The recognition embarrasses the hell out of me,’ he said unembarassedly, ‘but you just gotta go with the flow.’ He sipped his coffee and gazed at her with his deep brown eyes. ‘And I gotta get used to being with my famous girlfriend.’

She leaned over and kissed him. ‘I’m sure you’ll cope.’ Apart from adopting a slight transatlantic accent (all those gottas and babes) he had been a sweetheart to her since she got the part of Moira. He’d patiently listened to her endless anxieties, telling her that she was more than capable of stealing the show. Gradually, her self-esteem had begun to return. Not only had she told her agent to ask for a bit more money – and got it – she’d persuaded the producer to allow Elsie and Ethel to play Moira’s dogs, thus allaying any outlay on kennel fees.

‘I’m sorry I’ve got to leave you, babe, but you know how it is. While
Venini
is hot I’ve gotta do the casting thing in LA. The series is going down a storm in the States. Wouldn’t it be great if I got a movie?’

‘It sure would. Then I’d have to get used to being with my film-star boyfriend.’ She stroked his familiar cheek and had a sudden pang of emptiness.

‘I really will miss you, Jess.’ He took her hand and, uncurling her fingers, kissed her palm. ‘I love you.’

‘Yes?’

‘Yes.’

‘You won’t run off with some young starlet?’

‘Several.’

She punched him playfully and he put a strong arm round her shoulder. ‘Never. I couldn’t lose you. You’re everything to me.’

At the departures gate he kissed her deeply for several moments. A couple of people took photos and one academic-looking woman in her fifties walked by and murmured to Jess, ‘Kissed by Venini – lucky you!’

*

Back at the car park ticket machine, Jess, preoccupied with thoughts of Ryan and her new job, barely noticed the young man who had managed to drop a handful of change on the floor and was chasing after a runaway one-pound coin. It stopped at the toe of her boot. The young man bent to pick it up. He looked familiar. She smiled at him … He smiled back. ‘I’ve just seen my girlfriend off to New York. She gave me all these coins to lighten her purse. But I still don’t think I’ve got enough.’ She smiled at him and held out her hand. ‘Count them into here.’

It took a few minutes, but eventually he managed to feed the correct money into the machine and took out his ticket in triumph.

‘Thanks for your help.’ He hesitated a moment then said. ‘You’re Jess Tate, aren’t you?’

‘Yeah, I am,’ she replied, frowning. ‘I feel I know you too.’

‘Ollie Pinkerton.’

‘Of course! You’ve just finished a great season at the RSC, haven’t you?’

‘Well, you know … it was fun, but I’m one of the unemployed at the moment.’

‘Your girlfriend is Red, isn’t she?’

‘Yeah. She’s off to play Madison Square Gardens.’

‘And you’re not going with her?’

‘Can’t afford it.’

‘Oh.’ Jess didn’t know what else to say. ‘Really nice to meet you, Ollie – good luck with everything.’

‘Thanks. And good luck with your new show!’

As Ollie walked away to his car he thought how attractive Jess was, for an older woman.

And as Jess fed the ticket machine with an inordinate number of pound coins she couldn’t help thinking how charming Ollie was … for a boy of his age.

*

As soon as filming got under way, Jess knew that
Horse Laugh
was something special. The script, the cast, the crew – everything gelled. She couldn’t put her finger on anything specific. Maybe the stars were aligned in a portentous way, or the angels had decreed the production to be blessed, or maybe it was just good old-fashioned talent and hard work. The star of the piece, a young woman who’d come from a small but meaty role in
Coronation Street
, was super good and without any discernible ego. She and Jess got on famously and their scenes were so funny and so moving that the writer made more of their relationship and added new scenes. It was clear that Jess was not just a supporting actress, she was the show’s co-star.

Ethel and Elsie were in their element. They had their own bed in Jess’s Winnebago and enjoyed warming up in there when the weather got too cold. Filming in November, in Suffolk, was a chilly affair. The main location was a stables on the coast near Dunwich, and Elsie and Ethel strutted their stuff like two short-legged queen bees round the yard and through the horses’ legs. The horses were all local, apart from three stunt horses who were rather beautiful and exceptionally well behaved. Two, Kinkaid and Columbine, had been in
Downton
, the third, Delia, had been in
War Horse
. All the horses loved Ethel and Elsie, but the two dachshunds loved Delia best. She would bend down and tickle their ears with her moustache. They never failed to roll on their backs for more.

At the start, Jess and Ryan would skype and Elsie and Ethel would woof in recognition of Ryan’s voice, but the time difference became a bore for them both. LA was eight hours behind and it was difficult to synchronise the best moment to call. Most days they emailed each other instead. Jess would send an account of her day just before she went to bed and Ryan would read it as he got up. By the time Jess woke up there was always an answer waiting for her. However, as time went on, the less either of them had to say to each other. Ryan was doing the rounds of meeting producers for castings, and two or three times a week had to go to some film studio reception, or a premiere, or a dinner. Jess was tired of hearing about it. Her world had shrunk to the size of a filming day and the unit around her. As for Ryan, he knew how close a film unit got and how intensely Jess was working, so he let the emails drift to four then three times a week. Jess hardly noticed.

She filmed solidly through November and the schedule had her working right through December too. Over Christmas the set would only close for a few days. Ryan invited Jess to spend the holidays with him – a promise of an audition for a huge role in the newest Bond film meant he couldn’t fly to the UK – but Jess was too tired to fly there and back and mess up her body clock with jet lag.

‘Would you mind very much if I didn’t come over?’ She was lying in bed with a face pack on and conditioner soaking into her hair.

‘Yes I mind, but I understand, babe.’

‘Thanks, darling. How’s it gone today?’

Ryan began a long story about an actor he’d met who he’d known years ago in rep.

Jess felt her eyelids drooping and allowed them to fall while she listened to him. The script for tomorrow was lying next to her. She had a great comedy scene to play and she really needed to learn it. Ryan’s voice carried on in her ear and she hoped she was making the responses he required.

The bed was so soft, the pillow so right. She hadn’t felt this comfortable for years.

‘Jess! Are you asleep?’

She jolted awake. ‘No. Carry on. Are you going to see him again?’

‘Who?’

She struggled to gather her fragmented memory. ‘Your friend. The one in rep.’

‘You
were
asleep.’

‘No. Well. Maybe. I’m just a bit relaxed.’

‘Have you decided where you’re spending Christmas? Going back to the flat or staying in Suffolk?’

She yawned. ‘Too exhausting to go back to London. I’m going to stay here. The crew are putting on a Christmas lunch and then I shall just sleep and sleep.’

‘OK, baby. I miss you. Speak tomorrow?’

‘Mmm. Love you. Night night.’

They shot the last scene in mid January and at the wrap party everyone hoped that they’d be back for a second series.

Jess, Ethel and Elsie went back to London and real life. As she let herself and Ethel and Elsie in through the front door a dark shape stepped out from the kitchen.

‘Welcome home!’

She nearly jumped out of her skin before jumping into the arms of a waiting Ryan.

‘What are you doing here? You’re not supposed to be back for another week!’ She hugged him hard.

‘I didn’t want you coming home to an empty apartment.’

‘I love you, Ryan Hearst.’ She hugged him again.

‘I love you, baby. Let me look at you.’ He held her away from him and took in her slender frame and dark circled eyes. ‘You need fattening up.’

‘I need a cup of tea.’

*

‘Gosh, you really have missed me!’ panted Jess as Ryan eased himself off her and flopped onto the pillows.

‘And it seems you’ve missed me too,’ he chuckled.

She snuggled closer to him and stroked her fingers lightly over his tanned and muscled stomach. ‘How amazing life is. Who’d have thought, even two years ago, that you and I would be working like this. Thank you for understanding about me not coming over for Christmas and New Year.’

‘You’ve done it for me,’ he said sleepily. ‘You let me go and make
Venini
and then head out to Hollywood.’

‘It’s not about
letting
you. It’s about supporting you.’

‘And trusting me.’

‘Absolutely.’

‘As I trust you.’

She laughed wryly. ‘Blimey. Nothing to worry about where I’m concerned.’

‘I know, darling, I know.’ He kissed the top of her head then rolled over to catch up with his jet lag.

*

Ryan was home for four weeks before filming started for the new series of
Venini
. He’d be away for almost all of the next six or seven months. Locations included San Francisco, New York, Boston and St Louis. So during his stay in London he spoiled Jess daily. If it wasn’t the cinema or theatre it was cooking her favourite food and making love to her afterwards.

One Wednesday morning he pulled her suitcase out of the spare room and told her to pack for a long weekend in the country. ‘Really? Where are we going?’

‘Magical mystery tour.’

‘When?’

‘As soon as you’re packed.’

‘What about Elsie and Ethel?’

‘They can come too. Stop asking questions.’ He opened her wardrobe doors. ‘Get packing, woman.’

As Jess bumped her case down the steps of their building and on to the pavement, her eye was caught by a young man in a smart suit getting out of a navy-blue Porsche. Both driver and car were jaw droppers.

‘Morning,’ he said in Jess’s direction. She looked around her and saw only Ryan, locking the front door. He turned when he heard the young man’s voice and replied, ‘Morning. Sorry to keep you waiting. My girlfriend didn’t have much notice to pack her case. She’s done pretty well, considering.’

The young man walked forward and took Jess’s case. ‘I’ll pop that in for you.’

Jess looked at Ryan. ‘What the hell’s going on?’

‘I know it’s an extravagance. Don’t be cross with me. I just thought we deserved a little toy.’

‘You’ve
hired
this car?’

‘Ah, no. I bought it.’

Jess was thrilled. Ryan had always said a car in London was a waste of money, so they’d had to rely on the bus or the tube, or cabs when they could afford it. Since
Venini
had taken off in a big way, the production company always sent a limo to ferry him around.

‘Ryan!’ She walked around the gleaming blue beast. ‘It’s gorgeous!’

‘Hop in then, babe. Ethel and Elsie have just about enough room on the back seat.’

Jess sank into the luxury of the leather and inhaled deeply of the unmistakable smell of New Car.