Chapter 39

THIRTY-NINE

As soon as Florrie arrived back at Samphire Cottage after visiting Maggie, she knew something was different. The usually still and silent air that met her whenever she returned home had been disturbed. Her heart started ricocheting around her chest. There was someone in her house.

Swallowing nervously, her thoughts went to Dodgy Dick and his nephew Dillon. She froze, her breathing becoming short. Where was Gerty? She usually hurtled down the hall to greet her even if she'd only been out for ten minutes. Florrie took a couple of tentative steps forward when the Labrador in question came bounding giddily towards her, her tail wagging so hard it was making her bottom wiggle. Relief rushed through Florrie – if there was anyone unsavoury in the house, Gerty wouldn't be behaving like this. It was probably her mum or her dad. They had a key after all, and her mum regularly dropped a casserole off for them. She bent to give Gerty a pat. ‘Hello there, flower. What've you been up to?' Before she had a chance to straighten herself, a shadow fell over the hall carpet.

Florrie glanced up, her pulse racing, her mind swirling. ‘Ed!' She was bombarded by myriad emotions: anger, relief, happiness, frustration. She didn't know which one to give vent to first, though she had a feeling anger would come out on top. She bit down on the tears that threatened.

‘Hiya, Florrie.' He gave her a sheepish smile. ‘Sorry I had to dash off the way I did, but I didn't have much choice and didn't have time to explain. Forgot my phone, too.'

‘And you didn't think to call from a phone box or wherever it was you were staying?' She jolly well wasn't going to make this easy for him. She pulled off her hat and unwound her scarf, hanging them on the coat peg by the door. She could hardly bear to look at him.

‘I tried actually – not your mobile number, I couldn't remember that – but I found the bookshop's number and rang that. Couldn't get through properly, though.'

What Leah had said filtered into her mind. Maybe the strange calls she'd told her about had been Ed.

‘That aside, I just can't make any sense of why you took off the way you did, with no warning at all. What was I supposed to think?' Anger was making her breathing short.

Ed's face fell as he appeared to realise what she meant. ‘Oh, no… you didn't think I'd gone?' He took a step forward but the stony look she shot him stopped him in his tracks. ‘I didn't… I mean, I thought you knew how I felt.'

Was he for real ? She threw her arms up in disbelief, her chest heaving. ‘What the heck else was I supposed to think? You took off with no prior warning, just like last time.' She felt her bottom lip quiver, hurt rushing in, pushing anger out of the way.

He clasped his hand to his forehead. ‘Florrie, I'm so sorry. How stupid of me, I should've thought. Is that why you've been crying? I was so wrapped up in what I needed to do, I didn't think how it might look. But I promise you, it's not what you're thinking.' His expression was so earnest, his eyes so pleading, she felt sure he must be telling the truth. At least, she hoped he was.

Before she'd had a chance to formulate an answer, he was standing in front of her, his hands on her shoulders, his eyes seeking hers.

‘Come into the kitchen, let me explain. I'll make us a pot of tea. I've got something interesting to tell you. Well, a couple of things actually.'

When she didn't reply straight away, he said, ‘Please, Florrie, you'll understand when you hear it. And I'm so sorry I've made you cry.'

Sitting opposite him at the kitchen table, Florrie listened quietly, her mug of tea growing cold before her, as Ed launched into his explanation. She noted he spoke slowly and carefully, being sure to choose the right words, anticipation reverberating through her.

He told her how her gentle suggestion that it might be better if he found out the reason behind his father's angry call had taken root in his mind, growing and gathering momentum until he could no longer ignore it. Overwhelmed by the urge to get it over and done with, he used the excuse of taking the car back to Samphire Cottage, where he could call his father and speak to him in private, without the risk of anyone overhearing.

What he hadn't expected was for his dad to tell him he'd just checked into a hotel in London, with the intention of calling his son to arrange a meeting. Ed's father was eager to speak to him face to face but didn't want to travel up to North Yorkshire, declaring there was someone he'd rather not run into.

‘He must've been pretty desperate to speak to you for him to travel all this way,' Florrie said, panic setting in. She braced herself for what she was about to hear.

‘Which is why I was in such a rush to leave as he was only there until the following day – yesterday – and I didn't want to risk the trains being cancelled.'

‘And was he okay with you?' Florrie hoped Ed hadn't been met with his father's usual rage and hot-headed style of communication.

‘He got pretty het up at times, but he managed to punctuate it with some moments of calm, which meant he could explain what had been bothering him.'

She nodded, relieved to hear father and son appeared to have made progress.

But what Ed had gone on to tell her had stunned her and given her a different perspective on a situation. One she'd held Peter Harte in contempt for, for so many years.

It transpired that the reason for Peter's original fallout with his parents all those years ago hadn't purely been about money – though there was no getting away from the fact it had gone some way towards it. It was Ed's mother who had been reluctant to get involved in the bookshop, not that Peter had taken much persuading, with Dawn being the driving force behind their nomadic lifestyle. Peter had become angry with his parents when he overheard them talking about their involvement with Jean and her unborn baby. It horrified him that they'd orchestrated an illegal adoption. He'd accused them of being deceitful, of taking the law into their own hands. Who did they think they were? he'd asked, accusing them of being no better than criminals. He'd been so blinded by his outrage, he couldn't see the situation from their perspective: how they'd helped two lots of people and saved a whole load of heartache. If she'd kept her baby, Jean, as an unmarried mother at a time when it was frowned upon, would have been cast out by her family, while the family her baby went to would have more than likely ended up childless. In Bernard and Dinah Harte's eyes, that the infant had grown up in a loving family meant they'd done good, not harm. But Peter hadn't seen it that way and had washed his hands of his parents.

‘From what I can gather, there was no way either of them would back down, and by the time the rot had set in, there was no going back. My father wanted nothing more to do with my grandparents and the animosity just deepened and festered over the years.'

‘Goodness, I don't really know what to say.' It didn't come as a surprise to her that Mr and Mrs H hadn't mentioned the reason for the fallout with their son, since she hadn't known about the secret adoption until Mr H had passed away. And in fairness to them, they'd never bad-mouthed their son and daughter-in-law. All they'd done was express their sadness at not being in contact with them, and as a consequence Ed.

‘I appreciate it's a lot to take in.'

Florrie nodded. ‘But to go for so long and not make any attempt at moving forward seems a bit of a drastic reaction.'

‘I agree, but I think it's got a fair bit to do with my mother not wanting to be tied to the bookshop – my dad said she always thought my grandparents were being controlling by hoping they'd take over the business. She's always been the one who's been keen to explore the world, has a spirit of adventure. But in fairness, my dad hardly dug his heels in and protested. I know he's no saint.'

You're telling me he's not.

The look Ed shot her made Florrie wonder if he could read her mind. ‘And there's no getting away from the fact they were both crappy parents. He can't ever excuse that. Seeing how Jasmine is with Zak and Chloe, and how your parents are with you, just highlights how shocking they were.'

Not knowing how to answer that without sounding like she was being rude about his parents, Florrie gave him a small smile.

‘I told him about what's been happening with the bookshop and Dodgy Dick, and he said the creep isn't acting under their instruction.'

‘What?' She wasn't so sure she could believe that.

‘Apparently Dodgy Dick contacted them, saying he had a client who was interested in the bookshop and he wanted to buy it on their behalf, wouldn't listen when they told him they were no longer pursuing it.'

‘Oh, yeah.' Florrie couldn't hide the cynicism from her voice.

‘I know, that's what I thought.' Ed went on to say how Dodgy Dick had started to get more intimidating with every phone call, until he finally got the message they weren't interested. That seemed to tie in with when things started to happen at the shop: Dodgy Dick and Wendy's visit, the Christmas tree, the snow globe, and the power cut. ‘My dad says he knew the slimeball would do all he could to get the property for peanuts and use his bullying tactics to do so.'

Florrie inhaled slowly. This, together with what Ed had told her about the reason behind the fallout between his father and grandfather, was a lot to take on board. ‘I wonder if the "client" Dodgy Dick mentioned to your dad was Wendy. She seemed pretty keen for it to become a beauty parlour.'

Ed nodded. ‘I suspect she was.'

Their eyes met. The sorrow she saw lingering in Ed's caused an ache in her heart. This couldn't have been easy for him, facing his dad, hearing about the life-long fallout that could so easily have been resolved instead of simmering and growing increasingly toxic as the years went by.

Ed sat back in his seat and released a long sigh. ‘And there's more.'

‘ More ?'

Ed nodded. ‘It's the real reason my father flew halfway around the world to speak to me. Somehow – my dad wouldn't say how, didn't want to cause ructions for his contact who'd told him in confidence – he found out about Jack's proposed autobiography, and that's what's sent him into such a tailspin.'

‘Okay.' Florrie took a moment to process Ed's words. She wasn't sure how word of Jack's autobiography could have spread so quickly. From her understanding the author was only in early talks with his agent and publishers. But then again, she reasoned, things did have a habit of sneaking out, in no small way thanks to social media.

‘He's worried my grandparents' involvement with Jack's illegal adoption is going to cause a "worldwide scandal". He and my mother aren't just annoyed about it, they're deeply embarrassed about it, too. They're worried the Harte name will be "irreparably tarnished", as he said, and that they're going to be tarred with the same brush, be vilified and chased out of their village. It's why he called, full of hell, in the early hours – he'd just found out.'

‘Wow! I'd never have guessed that as the reason in a million years.'

‘Me neither.'

‘I can imagine it would generate a lot of interest in the UK, particularly Yorkshire, but a "worldwide scandal" seems a little dramatic.' She felt the prod of a memory. ‘Ah, explains why I heard your father mention Jean Davenport's name in the call.'

Ed nodded. ‘Yeah, he was being unkind about her which is the reason I didn't want to continue the conversation with him. I have no time for nastiness like that.'

Florrie smiled. It warmed her heart that Ed was a thoroughly decent person and refused to get dragged into spiteful gossip.

‘Anyway, the upshot is that my parents want me to speak to Jack, ask if he'd consider not identifying my grandparents as the people who set up his adoption. They're okay with the bookshop being mentioned as some sort of link, though.' He scrunched up his nose. ‘Said he'd sue if his request was ignored, but I'm going to keep quiet about that when I first broach the matter with Jack.'

‘Yikes! Can't say I blame you. But knowing Jack, I can't see that being a problem.'

Ed nodded. ‘That's what I thought.' He tapped his hands against the table, making Gerty jump. ‘Anyroad, this tea's gone cold. How about I make a fresh pot? Then I can tell you the rest of the stuff we spoke about.'

‘Oh, blimey, there's more?'

‘There is, but nothing quite as shocking.' He flashed her a smile.

With fresh tea poured, Ed continued sharing the details of the meeting with his father.

After Peter had got his grievances and concerns off his chest, Ed had told him about Jean and Jack's business proposal. ‘I actually told a white lie, said we'd already accepted it and that the wheels were in motion, just in case he tried to talk me out of it.'

‘Really? You told him? What did he say?' Florrie braced herself to hear that normal hostilities had been resumed.

‘Well, this is what surprised me the most. He didn't put up a fight, just seemed to accept it. Said if that's what we thought was best, then that's what we should do, especially if it got Dodgy Dick off our backs. He seemed genuinely wary of the bloke.'

Florrie was finding it difficult to absorb this latest revelation. Had she heard right? ‘I wonder what his reason could be for such a dramatic about-turn?'

‘I think I know the answer to that.' His face took on a serious expression. ‘He had a health scare. Seems he has a problem with his heart – I couldn't get any further details. I got the impression he didn't like to talk about it.'

Sounds familiar! ‘I'm sorry to hear he's been unwell.' Learning of his father's illness couldn't have been easy for Ed, especially on top of everything else.

‘From what I could gather from the little information he gave me, him getting himself so worked up the way he does hasn't been helping his blood pressure nor his heart condition. It's been quite the wakeup call by all accounts.'

‘I can imagine.' Peter's irate phone calls sprang to mind, his voice screaming down the phone. It was a relief to think Ed wouldn't be on the receiving end of those anymore.

He reached across the table and took Florrie's hands in his. ‘I want you to know, I'm really sorry about leaving the way I did. It was thoughtless of me, I just acted in the heat of the moment. I panicked when I'd heard my dad hadn't been well and booked the next available train to York then London. I'd intended to explain everything when I got there.'

‘I can understand that, because I'd be exactly the same, but maybe if you'd given Leah a few more details, it would've stopped me worrying about why you'd hared off the way you had.' She wasn't going to give him a hard time about that; she'd down everything if she'd had such news about either of her parents, too. Wild horses wouldn't keep her from going to them.

‘Message understood.' The smile he gave was all it took to extinguish any lingering anger she had. ‘Am I forgiven?'

‘Forgiven.' She smiled, the look in his eyes making her soften further. ‘But you've got to promise me you won't go rushing off like that without a proper explanation, leaving me thinking all sorts.'

‘I promise.'

He leant towards her, cupping her head in his hand, and kissed her, sending any residual doubts scattering. ‘I love you, Florrie Appleton.'

Hearing those words sent happiness surging through her. ‘I love you, too, Ed Harte.'

He flopped back, a smile spreading over his face. ‘Why don't we text Jean and Jack, see if they want to meet up at The Cellar tomorrow night? We can tell them we'd love to have them on board at The Happy Hartes Bookshop, seal the deal with a glass of fizz. The sooner we set things in motion, the better. Hopefully they won't change their mind when they hear about my dad's demands.'

‘I'm sure they won't. If you remember, Jack actually asked if we'd be okay with him including us and the bookshop in his autobiography. He's respectful of people's wishes and I'm sure he'll understand.'

‘Yeah, you're right.'

And just like that, her world was back on track.