A Regimental Affair (39 page)

Chris pushed open a heavy panelled door and allowed Ginny to pass through. The bar was small and cosy, with a log fire opposite the bar itself and two big French windows opposite the door, which opened on to a terrace and a spectacular view across the harbour.

‘This is lovely,’ said Ginny.

‘Nice isn’t it? You should see it on a sunny day. It’s wonderful to sit outside with a glass of cold beer and watch the boats come and go.’

Ginny could imagine it so. She wondered why Netta had never suggested that she should come and visit this bar on her previous visits to the island. It would have been delightful to sit here on a summer’s evening.

Chris flipped up the counter and went behind the bar. ‘What’s your poison?’ he asked.

‘I’ll have a glass of red wine,’ she answered.

Chris poured her one and then drew a pint of beer for himself.

‘So how come I’ve never met you before?’ said Ginny, staring at Chris over the rim of her glass. ‘I mean, you being such a friend of Petroc’s, and all that.’

‘I don’t know.’ Chris took a pull of his drink. ‘Do you come to the islands often?’

‘About once a year.’

‘In the summer?’

‘Usually.’

‘Well then, that explains it. Have you any idea how busy I am in the summer?’

‘Ah.’

‘Ah, indeed. From June to September I barely come up for air. I work eighteen-hour days, I have no time for socialising whatsoever and Petroc and Netta know this. And besides which, Netta tends to avoid the town when it’s chock full of grockles.’

‘That’s true,’ agreed Ginny. ‘We spend a lot of the time taking the kids for picnics around the farm and fossicking around on the beaches the visitors don’t seem to get to.’

‘Precisely. The islands are wonderful out of season but you have to grit your teeth a bit in the summer.’

‘Better that than the alternative.’

‘Sorry?’

‘Well, you’d have a pretty miserable existence if the tourists didn’t turn up.’

Chris laughed. ‘Point taken.’ He had another sip of beer. ‘So, what made a nice girl like you join the army?’

Ginny shrugged. ‘Travel, sport, my total lack of any domestic skills, that sort of thing.’

‘Fair enough. But doing admin doesn’t seem very exciting.’

‘No, but it’s very satisfying.’

Chris made a snorting sound.

‘You don’t agree?’

‘Nope. I love this business, I love the guests we have, I love providing a service, I love the thought that I’m giving people a good time, but I hate the bloody paperwork.’

‘Hence the state of your office.’

Chris nodded. ‘I keep meaning to get my act together but I just hate that sort of thing so much. I do the bare minimum to keep the place going relatively efficiently but VAT and taxes nearly cause me breakdowns.’

Ginny toyed with the stem of her glass. ‘Don’t you have an accountant?’

‘No.’

Ginny raised her eyebrows. ‘But surely …?’

‘There’s only one on the island. We fell out.’

Ginny’s eyebrows went higher.

‘He complained about the state of my paperwork. He said that unless I got my accounts sorted out so they were legible before I presented them, he’d have to charge me twice as much. I told him to stuff it, that I paid him enough as it was.’

Ginny suppressed a smile. She could easily imagine the exchange. ‘So where’s the next nearest accountant?’

‘Penzance.’

‘It’s not so far.’ Chris stared at her but didn’t say anything. Ginny studied him for a second. ‘He told you the same, didn’t he?’

Chris nodded. ‘Except it was a she, not a he, but yes.’

Ginny made a sympathetic moue. Then she said, ‘I don’t want to seem interfering, but would you like me to see if I can sort things out for you? Get things ready for the accountant and sort out your filing?’

‘I couldn’t allow you to do that.’

‘I wouldn’t offer if I felt it was going to be such a terrible task.’

‘I can’t afford to pay you much.’

‘Did I mention money?’

‘No, but …’

‘Listen. Money really isn’t part of the equation. I’m suspended from the army on full pay. I don’t need to be paid twice. Feed me while I’m with you if I need sustenance, let me have an intravenous supply of decent coffee, allow me a free rein to get it organised properly …’

‘Hey. How much of a “free rein”?’

‘I didn’t get a chance just now to have a proper look at how things are in the office but you don’t seem to have much of a filing system for a start.’

‘Well, there is a sort of one.’

‘“Sort of one” isn’t good enough. You really need files for bookings, invoices, contracts with local businesses, catering suppliers, bills paid, bills unpaid, and a zillion other categories I should imagine. Plus a proper system of cross-referencing. I mean, how do you manage? How come you know where anything is in that place?’

‘I know. I keep meaning to do something about it but …’

‘Well, I’m the answer to your prayers. I’ll come down for a few hours each day. I’ll walk Flossie, Barnaby and Jack to school then give you a hand until it’s time for Jack to finish nursery. I’ll have to leave at twelve to pick him up. Depending on how I get on I’ll see whether I’ll need to work afternoons too.’

‘And you’re sure about this?’

Ginny nodded and drained her glass. ‘You can show your gratitude by offering me another drink.’

‘I’m so grateful, you deserve a cellar full of wine, not just a glass.’

‘Don’t make rash promises. I might take you up on them.’

Netta was in the kitchen feeding the baby when Ginny got back. When Ginny told her about her plan to use her enforced holiday to help out Chris, she was delighted.

‘It’s an ill wind and all that stuff, isn’t it? It’s exactly what he needs. He and Carole are hopeless at that side of the business. I sometimes wonder how on earth they know who they have coming to stay and for how long. And if you decide you can get him sorted out working half a day, you can help me get the cottages ready for the summer season.’ The cottages were two little holiday homes made out of a converted stable block. Netta and Petroc, like most island residents, relied on the summer visitors to supplement their family income. The cottages could each accommodate a family of four and they were basic but comfortable. Each had a kitchen because Netta was quite happy to have people staying on the farm but there was no way she had the time to run around after them. If the families didn’t want to cook for themselves, Netta had a list of hotels and pubs on the island more than willing to do it for them.

‘No rest for the wicked, then.’

Netta shook her head. ‘And when I consider how wicked you have been …’

Ginny didn’t want to be reminded. ‘What needs doing?’ she asked swiftly.

‘A bit of painting. Some of the gloss needs doing and the walls all need a roller taken over them. I want to take all the curtains down and wash and iron them. And the cookers need a thorough clean.’

Ginny grimaced. ‘Ugh, cleaning cookers. Horrid job. One of the reasons I joined the army was to spare myself that sort of thing.’

‘Tough. You’re in the real world now, where “that sort of thing” happens.’

Alice was having second thoughts about going round to Sarah’s house, when the phone rang. The notion of meeting a host of people, all of whom – however noble their outward intentions – were bound to view her as an object of curiosity, was more daunting than she felt able to cope with.

‘I’m making sure you’re not going to chicken out,’ said Sarah, when Alice picked up the receiver.

‘Oh, um …’

‘Absolutely not,’ said Sarah with feeling. ‘Honestly, I’m sure it’ll do you so much good if you come along.’

‘I don’t think so,’ said Alice. ‘I’m sorry, but I don’t feel ready to meet a crowd of people at the moment.’

‘It’s not a crowd. It’s just Debbie and Lou and a few of the other wives. Only half a dozen really.’

‘I can’t …’

‘Yes, you can,’ interrupted Sarah. ‘You don’t have to stay long and I promise that if you hate it you can make a bolt for the door any time you want.’

‘Sarah, I really don’t want …’

‘And what are you going to do instead? Sit at home and worry about the future?’

‘No …’

‘Yes, you will. I know you. You have nothing else to do, unless you get out and about. Come on. It won’t be so bad, you’ll see.’

Sarah was right. What would she do? The house was spotless, she had no one to prepare a meal for apart from herself and the last thing she felt like doing was eating. And the other wives might laugh at her predicament behind her back but they wouldn’t do it to her face. Getting out for a while might not be total hell. ‘OK. I’ll show my face for ten minutes. I’ll be along in a few moments.’

Alice replaced the receiver and made her way upstairs to check her hair and make-up. And to spend a short time composing herself. If she was going to face the other wives, she was not going to demean herself by letting her most private feelings escape. She was going to be certain that she didn’t let herself down.

When she felt ready, she walked slowly down the wide, sweeping stairs to her front door. As she did so, she remembered the first time she had descended these stairs and how grand she had felt, how it had seemed to epitomise the culmination of all her ambitions. Well, she had got what she wanted. She had got the grand house, the position, the status and with it had come the scandal and the exposure in the press. If she had known the consequences of her dreams, might she have wished for different things? Alice didn’t know, but all she could do now was to make the best of the situation. She opened the front door and stepped outside.
Right
, she told herself,
head up, shoulders back
. Then she headed for Sarah’s house.

Sarah opened the door almost instantly. Alice could hear a hubbub of voices coming from the sitting room.

‘Am I the last to arrive?’ asked Alice. She hoped her voice didn’t give away how nervous she felt.

Sarah nodded. ‘Come on in. I’ve just made a fresh pot of coffee.’ She led Alice into her main room. The conversation faltered for a moment as the other wives noticed her entrance, but it picked up so quickly again that Alice almost wondered if she had imagined it. Sarah disappeared over to a table to get her a cup of coffee, leaving Alice momentarily on her own. Alice stopped to take stock of who was present and to wonder how to proceed. She wasn’t used to feeling unsure of herself. She’d spent years making sure she knew exactly how to behave in any given situation and suddenly she felt like a small kid at a new school; gauche and alone. But, before she lost her small stock of courage and fled, she was rescued by Debbie.

‘Alice,’ said Debbie. ‘How are you? No, don’t answer that. What a crass question that is. You’ll be feeling horrible, I’ve no doubt. How could it be anything else with all that you’ve gone through recently?’ There was a murmur of sympathy from the other wives. Alice felt a glow of warmth that they really did, genuinely, seem to care.

Alice rewarded them with a wan smile. ‘Well, you just have to get on with life, don’t you? There’s no point in curling up in a corner, is there?’

Lou approached Alice and gave her a hug. ‘You’re such a trouper,’ she said. ‘If anything awful ever happens to me, I shall try to behave with as much dignity as you have.’

‘Hear, hear,’ said the other wives.

Alice was stunned. She hadn’t expected anything like that. ‘I-I don’t know what to say,’ she stammered shyly.

Sarah came over with a cup of hot coffee. ‘Just accept the compliment as heartfelt. A lot of people would have ranted and raved, but you’ve been amazing. Now then.’ She saw that Alice was getting embarrassed by their kind words and deliberately changed the subject. ‘Did Megan get back to school OK?’

‘After a fashion. She didn’t want to go. She was worried about gossip.’

‘I’m not surprised,’ said Debbie. ‘Kids can be horrid to each other, can’t they?’

Alice nodded. ‘I remember when I was little …’ she began. Then she stopped herself. What on earth was she thinking? She was about to recount a story of how horrid some of the officers’ kids had been to her when she had lived on the senior NCOs’ patch.

‘Go on,’ said Sarah.

Then Alice thought,
what the heck
? As revelations went, this was such a minor one. It certainly didn’t even begin to compare with what had come out in the press in the previous few days. And anyway, these women were her friends now, weren’t they?

‘Well,’ she said. ‘When my father was a sergeant …’ She looked around, expecting to see mouths agape, jaws dropped, but there was no reaction at all. It was almost as if she’d said nothing more banal than ‘When my father was younger’. She brought herself back to her story.

‘I longed to join in the games the officers’ children played. They always seemed to have so much fun. Their games always seemed so much more imaginative than the ones the kids played on the other ranks’ patch. But they would run away from me and hide whenever they saw me. One day I chased them. I was wearing a Laura Ashley dress. I was so proud of it, but one of the boys had rigged up a trip wire. I didn’t see it and went headlong. I ripped the dress. The officers’ children fell around laughing.’ She fell silent and looked around, wondering what the reaction would be to her disclosure. The room was quiet. The other wives were all listening to her but no one looked the least bit deprecating.

‘If Danny ever behaves like that when she’s older, she’ll have to answer to me,’ said Debbie with feeling. ‘The little bastards.’

‘They were kids,’ said Alice.

‘They knew what they were doing and they knew they were being mean and spiteful,’ said Sarah. ‘Don’t tell me they didn’t.’

Alice was surprised that the comments were all about the behaviour of the children. It was almost as though no one had noticed her confession to being the daughter of another rank. Perhaps Sarah had been right, perhaps no one cared about those things nowadays. Perhaps Alice herself was the only person to whom it mattered. And now she had told everyone and the reaction had been so non-existent, it didn’t matter to her either. She felt such a sense of relief that she almost laughed. She stopped herself. That would be inappropriate.
Old habits die hard
, she thought, with a private smile.