Josephine Cox Mother’s Day 3-Book Collection: Live the Dream, Lovers and Liars, The Beachcomber. Josephine Cox

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СКАЧАТЬ Thursday 25 September. Meanwhile take care of yourself. Love to you both, Jasper.

      Closing the letter into an envelope, he sealed it with the tip of his tongue. Then he copied down the address she’d given him, and laid it on the table beside the train ticket and travel instructions.

      ‘I’m sorry, lass,’ he muttered, ‘but you’ll happen not be so glad to see me as you think.’ Imparting the sad news to that lovely lady was not something he looked forward to.

      That night, over a drink in the privacy of the cottage garden, Jasper confided in Tom. ‘I’m going away,’ he explained. ‘There’s summat I have to do.’

      Tom had seen how the old man had been unusually quiet, and was concerned. ‘Is it serious?’ he asked now. ‘I mean … you’re not ill, are you, Jasper?’ That would be a shocking blow, for he had come to love the old man like a father. In fact, he seemed more of a father than his own had been, since he had deserted him and Dougie when they were small. When they lost their mother soon after, Tom put it down to a broken heart. After that they were shifted from relative to relative. It had been a harsh and unsettled upbringing.

      Jasper put his mind at rest. ‘No, lad, I’m not ill. But I’ve a terrible duty to perform, and it’s playing on my mind.’

      ‘Would it help to talk about it?’ Tom could see how it was worrying the old man.

      It took a moment for Jasper to answer, but when he did it was with a deep-down sigh. ‘Happen it would,’ he agreed. ‘Aye, happen it would.’

      Before commencing, he took a fortifying sip of his tea, and there in that pretty garden on that pleasant autumn evening, he told Tom the whole sorry, beautiful tale of Kathy’s father, Robert, and the woman he loved.

      ‘Liz and her husband Gordon lived here in this very cottage for many years,’ he began. ‘He had a thriving ironmongery business in Bridport and another in Dorchester, so they weren’t short of brass. But “brass” doesn’t always make for contentment, and they were far from content. From what Liz told me, it wasn’t an ideal match. He was a bit of a bully and she, being the gentle, compassionate soul she is, suffered his temper tantrums with dignity.’

      He gave a tender smile. ‘She was trained as a nurse, so I expect she was used to handling every situation, but, because of Gordon’s nasty ways, over the years he lost her respect, and in the end he lost her love.’

      He described how it all ended. ‘Gordon took to womanising. One dark night just before the war he’d been into Bridport … seeing this woman he’d taken a fancy to. It turned out later that the pair of them had drunk enough booze to sink a battleship. Anyway, he’d missed the last bus, so he decided to walk back to West Bay. Coming across the junction he must have stumbled; he was run down by a lorry … the driver said he just seemed to come out of nowhere. A car driver coming the other way witnessed it, too. He said the lorry driver couldn’t have done a thing to stop what happened.’

      The old man threw out his hands in a gesture of helplessness. ‘Gordon were killed instantly, and Liz was left on her own, though after a time she came out of her shell and seemed a far happier person than she’d been with him. But she was that lonely. Sometimes you’d see her walking the beach, deep in thought, and other times she’d call me in for a cup of tea and she’d tell me about when she were a girl and how she’d allus longed for a brother or sister. Then, like now, she felt terrible lonely.’

      Tom nodded. He knew how that felt. ‘She’s fortunate to have you for a friend. We both are.’

      The old man thanked him for the compliment, and added, ‘She were a lovely-looking lady, still young …’ He chuckled. ‘I can never tell a woman’s age.’

      Tom was curious. ‘Did she ever marry again? Is that why she moved away from here?’

      ‘No. It weren’t like that. Y’see, one day in early spring some nine years ago, a man came to stay in West Bay.’ His memories took him back, and made him smile. ‘Oh, but he did love this place. He once told me how he left all his troubles behind when he stayed here.’

      He explained how Liz and Robert became good friends, and then how friendship blossomed into love. ‘I introduced them,’ he said proudly. ‘Liz and I were collecting shells for her garden, when we bumped into him. I asked if he’d like to join us for a drink at the café, and before yer knew it, he and Liz were like old buddies.’

      Leaning back in his chair, he went on, ‘They saw each other most every day; when he went away, she watched at the window for him to come back. By! I’ve never seen two people so much in love … it were a pleasure to watch. It weren’t long afore Barden House was on the market, and he bought it. He were a businessman … worked hard and travelled far in his work. He bought the house, and spent time here, whenever his work allowed. They lived there together, and then they had a son.’

      He took a moment before going on, in a quiet, reverent voice. ‘Folks round here turned a blind eye to them not being married … we all reckoned Liz deserved same happiness. Then, one day last year, he went away and never came back. Poor Liz were broken-hearted. She spent weeks watching and waiting, but he never did return. Soon after that, she closed up Barden House, put this cottage up for rent, and left. She said she were headed for Scotland or Ireland or somewhere. Me and the agent were given joint responsibility for the cottage, and I’ve done my best by her. Yet, it’s a strange thing, working for someone you can’t contact.’

      Tom wondered aloud, ‘Why would he do that … just leave and never come back? Especially if he was so happy with her.’

      The old man explained how Robert had discovered he was very ill. ‘He didn’t want her to know; he were trying to protect her,’ he said. ‘But I wonder if that was the right thing to do? It caused her so much pain … mebbe even more pain than if he’d let her know the reason for his going.’

      ‘It does seem harsh.’ Tom thought it was the saddest, most noble thing he had ever heard. ‘I suppose he thought he was doing the right thing for her. But he was making a tremendous sacrifice, when he must have wanted her close, more than anything in the world.’

      ‘She certainly suffered, I can tell yer,’ Jasper told him. ‘And, like you say, I’m sure it was a hard thing for him to do, poor devil!’ Jasper had thought long and hard about it since Kathy told him. ‘While Liz was thinking he’d left because he didn’t want her or the child any more, the poor man was fighting for his life; probably aching to let her know, but not wanting to hurt her.’

      He now revealed what Tom had begun to suspect. ‘He were wed, d’yer see? Got children from his marriage an’ all. It couldn’t have been easy either way.’

      Finally, he told Tom of Liz’s letter and of how she wanted him to go and see her. ‘So there yer ’ave it, son. I’ve a sorry duty to perform, but she has to know. It would be wicked not to tell her the truth.’

      Tom was intrigued. ‘If he went away and just never came back, how did you find out what happened? Did he write and ask you not to tell her?’

      ‘No. It were a lass who told me.’ He gave a little secret smile. ‘A lass that you know very well.’ While Tom searched his mind, Jasper revealed, ‘It were Kathy as told me.’

      Now Tom was confused. ‘But … how would she know?’

      ‘Because the man Liz fell in love with were Kathy’s own father.’

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