Phoebe stood barefoot on the beach, relishing the damp sand under her feet. It was so cold it was becoming painful but she wanted to make the most of the sensation of the sand between her toes before putting her stockings and shoes back onto her feet. So she stayed where she was, staring out across the rolling waves, and took a long, slow, deep breath. Her stay with Jocasta had been relaxing so far and far more enjoyable than she had anticipated.
Phoebe was sad she would have to leave Cornwall soon. She was enjoying her time in the coastal village and wasn’t looking forward to it ending, though Jocasta had invited her to return whenever she wanted.
She felt a drop of water land on her nose and held out her hand to see if it was starting to rain, or if maybe she had been splashed by one of the waves.
‘Blast it,’ she grumbled, realising that it was indeed raining, or soon would be. Phoebe turned her head to look at the sky behind her and saw that where earlier there had been bright-blue skies, now they were almost hidden from view by a bank of steel-grey cloud. She needed to return to Jocasta’s house if she wasn’t to be caught out in a deluge.
She hastily brushed away the worst of the sand from her right foot and decided to leave her stockings in her coat pocket and put on her shoes without her legs being covered. No one else was on the beach and she doubted that anyone she came across on her way back to the house would notice her bare legs. As soon as her second shoe was on she began running towards the lane. The soft sand made it hard going but she was soon on firmer ground.
Looking ahead up the hill that she was going to have to cover before reaching the edge of the village and Jocasta’s home, she groaned. She was already slightly out of breath and this was going to finish her off, but the rain started to come down heavier then, giving her the impetus to get going again.
By the time Jocasta’s house was in sight, Phoebe was desperate to stop and catch her breath but knew she needed to keep going. Alerted by a sudden movement ahead, she looked up and saw Jocasta waving frantically at her. She was pink-cheeked and as Phoebe drew up to the house, Jocasta rushed out to the gate, stepping from one foot to the other. Phoebe’s heart raced. Something had happened, she knew it.
‘Is something the matter?’
‘Oh, bless you. No, nothing’s wrong,’ Jocasta said, fluttering her hands at Phoebe while glancing over her shoulder into the open doorway.
Relieved, Phoebe smiled. ‘Then maybe we shouldn’t be loitering outside in the cold.’
‘Yes, but first I had to tell you…’
Phoebe waited for her to finish her sentence. ‘Tell me what?’ she asked, when Jocasta seemed to forget what she was about to say. ‘Jocasta, my feet are freezing.’ She indicated her bare legs. ‘I’ve been walking on the wet sand. I need to go and wash my feet and warm up a bit.’
‘Gosh, I’m so sorry.’ She still didn’t move though, Phoebe noticed. Instead Jocasta leaned forward and whispered in Phoebe’s ear, ‘You were far longer than I expected.’
Phoebe tried to work out what her friend was trying to tell her. ‘You have a visitor. A very handsome one.’
Phoebe stared at her friend in confusion. ‘Who?’
Phoebe noticed for the first time that her friend’s face was pink from excitement rather than upset. ‘Jocasta, tell me.’
‘You’ll have to see for yourself,’ Jocasta whispered. ‘In there.’
Could it be Archie?
She glanced at Jocasta, wondering why she hadn’t told her friend about her and Archie, but it couldn’t be him, surely. He was in Sussex. And no one apart from Geoffrey knew she was staying here. But who else could it be? She gasped. ‘Archie’s here?’
Jocasta nodded. ‘How long has he been waiting for me?’
‘He’s only been here for about half an hour.’ She gave Phoebe a conspiratorial smile. ‘I’ve been happily questioning him.’
‘I need to see him!’ said Phoebe, desperate to get inside the house.
‘Not until you’ve gone upstairs and put on some stockings. You can’t see him in that state and I won’t be responsible for you catching pneumonia. What would my brother say if I did that?’ Jocasta stepped back and pulled Phoebe into the hall, closing the door behind them.
Frustrated, Phoebe unbuttoned her coat and took off her hat, staring at the living-room door. Archie’s in that room! her brain screamed. ‘Please, take these,’ she said, handing her things to Jocasta to hang on a hook by the door, aware that she wouldn’t worry about stockings if she was in her own home.
‘Please tell him I’ll only be a minute,’ she said, running up the stairs to her room without waiting for an answer.
Two minutes later, her feet washed, hair brushed and a fresh pair of stockings on, Phoebe ran back down the stairs and went straight into the living room. He was alone and she was grateful to her friend for giving them some privacy.
Phoebe stopped at the living-room doorway and stared. There he was. Her Archie.
‘I hoped you wouldn’t mind me pitching up here uninvited,’ he said, looking a little unsure of himself as he stood in front of the roaring fire, leaning on his walking stick.
‘Archie,’ she said, breathless from the shock of seeing him again and surprised that her heart didn’t explode with love for him. ‘You came to see me!’
Archie’s mouth broke into a smile and, placing his cap under his arm on the side that was resting on the walking stick, he sighed. ‘I would have been here sooner if I could,’ he said, his voice husky.
She ran into his arms, nearly knocking him over. ‘Sorry,’ she said, wrapping her arms around his waist and kissing him hard on the mouth. ‘I’ve missed you so much, Archie.’
His arm went around her back and held her tightly to him as he kissed her back. ‘I’ve missed you too, my angel,’ he whispered. ‘So very much.’
They kissed again for a few minutes and Phoebe knew that she would have done anything he asked of her. She heard a gentle knock on the living-room door and felt him loosen his hold on her. She lowered her arms, hating to let go of him.
‘We’d better take a seat,’ Phoebe said, indicating for Archie to sit next to her on the small sofa.
He sat with a little difficulty, she noticed, and then, sliding his walking stick under his feet, took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. ‘You look beautiful,’ he whispered quickly. ‘The sea air has done you good, I can tell.’
The door opened a crack. ‘Do you mind if I join you?’ Jocasta asked timidly.
‘Not at all,’ Phoebe said, wishing she could be left alone with Archie but knowing how few visitors Jocasta had and how exciting Archie’s arrival must be for her. ‘Please, come in.’
‘I’ve brought us all some tea and a slice of carrot cake.’ She carried in a tray and Archie went to stand. ‘No. No, you stay where you are,’ Jocasta said. ‘I can manage this perfectly well.’ She placed the tray on the table in front of one of the armchairs and sat. ‘I’ve got used to carrying far more since having my baby,’ she explained. ‘Sometimes you can’t leave a little one when you need to go into the next room to fetch something. Do we all want tea and cake?’
Phoebe smiled and nodded and looked at Archie to see if he was in agreement.
‘Yes, please,’ he said, then looked at Phoebe. ‘I was saying to Mrs Chambers what a pretty home she has here.’
‘Please do call me Jocasta.’ She poured the cups of tea and served the thin slices of cake and handed out forks. ‘It’s jolly exciting having someone to entertain,’ Jocasta said. ‘It’s been wonderful having Phoebe staying here with me.’
Phoebe smiled at her. ‘You’ve thoroughly spoilt me,’ she said. ‘I’ve no idea how I’m going to cope, being back in France at the hospital with their food and those beds.’ She laughed.
‘I’m rather envious of you staying here,’ Archie said. ‘I’ve booked myself a room for two nights upstairs at a pub in the village.’ He frowned. ‘I must say, I found it rather confusing. There are two public houses but in one building.’
Jocasta and Phoebe laughed and Phoebe explained about the two estranged brothers.
‘I see,’ he said, still looking rather confused, Phoebe thought.
She realised what he had said about booking in to one of them and clutched his arm tightly with excitement. ‘You’re staying in the village? For two nights, did you say?’
He grinned at her. ‘That’s right. I’ve missed you so much and knew you were to return to Étaples on the third, so I thought I would come and see you.’
‘You’ve been discharged from the hospital?’ she asked, surprised. ‘I had imagined you would be there for a couple of months.’ She glanced at his bad leg, then back at him.
‘Ah, not quite.’
Concerned about what he might have done, Phoebe’s smile disappeared. ‘Then you discharged yourself?’
‘Pretty much. I told them I had a great-aunt who was expecting me to go and stay with her for a few days.’
Jocasta giggled and covered her mouth with one hand. ‘Well done, you.’
Phoebe wasn’t so sure. She hated the thought of him getting into trouble on her account. ‘And the hospital was all right about you leaving?’
Archie gave Phoebe a gentle smile. ‘They will be fine. Nothing is more important to me than spending time with you while I can. Who knows when we’ll see each other again once you return to France? This leg is healing well now and I’ve a feeling I’ve not been damaged enough to remain in good old Blighty, so I’ll probably be sent back to the Front at some point this year.’
‘Don’t say that,’ she whispered, unable to bear the thought of Archie being back in the trenches once again. ‘I like to think of you over here, where you’re safe.’
‘I’ll be here for some time yet. There’s no need to worry about me unnecessarily.’
‘I’m glad.’ She realised they hadn’t drunk their tea or eaten any cake yet. ‘Let’s make the most of this lovely treat.’ As they ate and drank Jocasta began explaining how she had initially thought that Archie was her brother when he’d knocked. ‘I gather you met him too,’ she said to Archie.
‘I did. He’s a good doctor and I was grateful to him when he suggested that Phoebe come here for a bit of a break.’ Phoebe saw him watch Jocasta as she cut a piece of her cake with the side of her fork and popped the piece into her mouth. ‘I’m sorry that I wasn’t your brother,’ he said. ‘You must have been very disappointed.’
‘A little, but I’m intrigued to meet a friend of Phoebe’s,’ Jocasta said. ‘She’s only ever spoken about her sister Celia, and even then said very little.’
Archie smiled and looked at Phoebe. ‘You never spoke about me. Not once?’
She could see he was surprised but, thankfully, amused by Phoebe’s omission.
‘The, um, subject never came up.’ Phoebe cringed inwardly at her clumsiness. She didn’t want to offend Archie but was also desperately determined not to upset her friend, as the truth was that she had never spoken about him to Jocasta because she didn’t want to speak about the man she was in love with, when Jocasta had lost the love of her life. She forced a jovial expression on her face. ‘We mostly speak about baby Bryony, don’t we, Jocasta?’ Phoebe focused on eating her cake. ‘This is delicious, by the way. Thank you.’
‘It’s fine, Phoebe,’ Jocasta said, giving her a reassuring smile before looking at Archie. ‘I lost my husband just before Christmas 1915.’
Archie looked stricken. ‘I’m so very sorry, I hadn’t realised.’ He glanced to his side at the photos on the table. ‘I saw the photo of you two, but it never occurred to me that he … that…’
‘Please don’t concern yourself,’ Jocasta said. ‘I think one of the worst things about being a widow is that people never quite know what to say.’ She looked at Phoebe. ‘I presume you never mentioned the captain because you didn’t want to upset me and remind me that Ronnie was no longer here with me.’
Phoebe nodded.
‘You mustn’t worry. If anything, seeing you so happy in this lovely man’s company fills me with joy.’
‘It does?’ Phoebe was surprised and didn’t understand how that could be.
‘Yes.’ Jocasta nodded. ‘It reminds me that there is still happiness and romance in this terribly dark world and that one day my daughter will be grown and hopefully have a young man of her own. It gives me hope for the future, Phoebe.’ She reached out and took Phoebe’s hand in hers and gave it a squeeze before letting go.
Phoebe had to concentrate on not crying. ‘I’m so relieved.’
Jocasta narrowed her eyes. ‘I had suspected you had a young man,’ she said, then smiling, added, ‘but I had hoped, despite your protestations when you first arrived, that it might be Geoffrey.’
‘I hope you’re not too disappointed?’
Jocasta shrugged. ‘A little. Then again, we’ve still become friends and hopefully you’ll come back here to stay with me again at some point.’
‘I’ll make a point of doing so,’ Phoebe promised.
Jocasta placed her plate onto the tray. ‘I think I can hear my baby whimpering. She’ll be hungry. I’ll leave you two here to catch up.’
‘Thank you,’ Phoebe said. ‘We’ll tidy up these things and maybe if the rain stops we can go for a walk.’ She smiled at Archie. ‘Not too far. You mustn’t put any strain on your leg, but we could go to the cliffs over there.’ She pointed in the general direction.
‘I’d like that,’ he said. ‘I know I’m intruding on you both. I hope you don’t mind too much.’
Jocasta turned at the doorway. ‘How can I mind? I’ve had the pleasure of Phoebe’s company since she arrived. I think it’s your turn now. So please don’t worry about me.’
‘Thanks, Jocasta,’ Phoebe said.
‘Yes, thank you for looking after my sweetheart so well.’
‘It was my pleasure,’ she said, leaving the room.
‘We’re alone again.’ He smiled. ‘Now I need to ask you something.’