Part 15 (1/2)

'What did you turn it round for?'

'The loose edge mustn't rest against the wall. It must hang out into the room.'

'Why?'

'Well, over time, a grease mark will appear on the new paint, from where people's hands have to touch the wall to pull at the roll.'

'Oh, I see,' said Jan, who didn't.

'It's something my mother did; once you know about it, you can't stop doing it.' Elizabeth smiled. 'Sometimes I do it when I'm out. At other people's houses. Or restaurants. Silly, I know, but it makes sense.'

Jan wondered if this woman had done it in her house. She'd have to check the b.l.o.o.d.y thing whenever she came round.

Elizabeth was straightening the towels now. 'Sweet bathroom,' she managed to say, whilst thinking the exact opposite.

Jan looked round with pride at the room she'd lovingly decorated. She couldn't wait for Jesse and Greer to see it. The bath, basin and toilet were in aqua blue and she'd chosen dear little tiles to put around the sink, each with a picture of a penguin at his ablutions. One cleaning his teeth, one having a shave and one her favourite lying in a bubble bath with a shower hat on his head.

'Isn't it?' She smiled with satisfaction. 'I never had an indoor bathroom when we first got married. Outdoor privy and a wash in the old Belfast sink in the kitchen. Used to put the boys in there too when they were babies.'

'That must have been ... difficult.'

'Well, it was fun really. We'd all dry off in front of the fire and Edward would dry my hair by brus.h.i.+ng it till it gleamed.' Jan reached up to her short crop. 'It used to be thick and had a wave but ...'Tis more practical to have it short, isn't it?'

Elizabeth thought of the monthly bill to have her expensively blond hair cut and coloured and said, 'Yes, it must be.'

Jan was on the tiny landing now and peeking into the master bedroom. ''Tis proper cosy. I love the colour. I'd never have thought of mushroom.'

'It's called Drizzle,' said Elizabeth, pus.h.i.+ng past Jan and stepping into the small but light room.

'Drizzle!' Jan laughed. 'How they come up with these names! I'd have done something like blue. Edward says bedrooms need to be blue. Calm, see. And in a marriage you need to stay calm.'

Elizabeth was twitching the duvet and smoothing it straight for the umpteenth time. 'This has a warm feel, don't you think?'

'Oh, definitely.'

Elizabeth checked her slim gold watch. 'They'll be here soon. It's nearly time.'

Jesse and Greer were met at the airport by the same driver who'd dropped them off four weeks before. 'Welcome home, Mr and Mrs Behenna. How was the trip?' he asked as he stowed the suitcases into the large boot.

Greer clutched at Jesse's arm. 'Wonderful, thank you. I can't believe we've been away for such a long time.'

'The sun's come out for you,' he told them, jumping into the front seat and starting the engine. 'The snow has all gone.'

Jesse felt the need to take charge. 'Would you drop us off at my parents' house, please, Fish Lane at the top of Fore Street?'

'Ah, no, sir. I have another address I have been asked to take you to.'

Greer clapped her hands with glee. 'Is it our new home?'

'Can't possibly say, Mrs Behenna,' the driver said, looking at her in his rear-view mirror.

'It is! How exciting.' Greer took Jesse's arm and snuggled in. 'We're going to our new home.'

The yellow of the early February sun lit the moors as they drove west towards Trevay and the sea. Driving down the hill and into the village, past the peeling grandeur of the old Great Western Hotel, the newlyweds wondered whether the driver would turn left or right along the estuary road. He turned left towards the heart of Trevay. Greer clutched one hand to her chest and the other to Jesse's arm. 'I wonder where it is? Will it overlook the harbour, do you think?'

Jesse frowned. The creeping, suffocating certainty that his life was not his own any more was seeping into his psyche. He was in the control of others. He wanted to order the driver to stop the car and let him out so that he could run as fast as he could away from Trevay.

'Dunno,' he muttured.

The car went past Fore Street and followed the harbour road round towards the Golden Hind. The driver indicated left and turned into Cobb Lane. Greer leant forward and pointed saying, 'Look, look!' On the right Jesse saw a house with ribbons and balloons on the gate. Both sets of parents were waving.

Greer was bouncing on the seat with excitement. 'It's Pencil Cottage! I've wanted to live here since I was a little girl! Look, Jesse, isn't it wonderful?'

Jesse looked at the house he'd walked past, and never given a thought to, for almost twenty years. Pencil thin and squeezed between two regular-sized Trevay fishermen's cottages, this was his new home.

The car rolled to a halt and the faces of Elizabeth and Jan peered in through the back windows, grinning. The driver jumped out and opened Greer's door for her. She fell into her parents' arms, where she was showered with hugs and kisses and questions about the honeymoon.

Jesse climbed out and walked to the boot of the Range Rover to help with the bags. 'I'll do that, sir,' said the driver. 'I think you're needed to carry something else over the threshold.'

Jesse looked over his shoulder and saw Greer and both sets of parents waiting expectantly for him.

Standing in the front room, Bryn spoke first. 'Now then, young Jesse, please accept Pencil Cottage as a wedding present. It'll keep you both warm till you can afford your own place. The company has paid for it and it should be a nice little a.s.set for us. When the time comes for you to need a bigger house, the company will sell this and I'll split the profit with you. That way you'll have a tidy deposit for a proper family home.'

Jesse experienced three emotions. One, grat.i.tude that this should be happening to him; two, fury that this man had, in one fell swoop, totally emasculated him, and three, the feeling that his b.a.l.l.s were being squeezed in an ever-tighter vice.

His father stepped towards him wearing a tight smile. 'Welcome home, son. Your mother and I couldn't be more proud of the both of you.'

The house might have been thin on the outside but, inside, it went a long way back and up. The front door opened immediately into the sitting room, which was traditional, warm and inviting. Elizabeth had kept it all white with simple furnis.h.i.+ngs, knowing that her daughter would want to customise the entire house. It led into a smart galley kitchen, which in turn led out to a tiny concreted yard with raised flower beds full of prettily nodding daffodils.

Greer wriggled with joy. 'I bet this is a suntrap. It feels warm right now!'

Back in the house she pointed out the dishwasher, television, the large framed wedding photo on the mantelpiece that Jan had had printed especially, and the view from the front window.

'Wait till you see upstairs,' Jan said, longing for Jesse to see her handiwork in the bathroom.

'Yes, you'll love the bedroom, Greer,' said Elizabeth, leading the way before Jan could get ahead of her.

Jesse's muscles were beginning to tire where he was attempting to smile with genuine pleasure. Greer kissed his nose and galloped up the stairs ahead of him.

'Oh, Mummy!' gasped Greer as she saw the bedroom. 'It's so glamorous!' She called out to the landing: 'Jesse, quick. In here.' Jesse ducked his head under the low latched door and absorbed the pinky-brown walls, frilly bed linen and heavy Austrian blind at the window. Greer gripped his arm with eyes wide. 'Isn't it stylish?'

Jesse nodded slowly, mystified.