Blue Comes Through

Chapter Eight

I look through the little spy hole and I breathe a huge sigh of relief.

It's Carey. When I open the door, she's standing there, a bottle of prosecco in her hands.

"Do you mind?" She asks. "Matt's watching some boring rugby match and I thought maybe you'd like some company." She smiles sheepishly. "I fancied a nose around the cottage too."

I grin and wave her inside.

"Come in. I'd love some company. Will's in bed and there's nothing on.......except rugby. I need distracting too."

She's dressed all in black, jeans and a thin jumper with a long pale blue coat. She's tall and elegant.

I'm in cropped grey pyjama bottoms and a thin vest top and I've pulled on a long grey jersey cardigan. I am far from elegant.

"Let me go and get dressed."

Carey waves her hand dismissively.

"Don't be silly. You're fine. I was worried because we didn't see you earlier. Are you ok? "

I smile. "We're good. I've just been a bit of a hermit today."

Carey looks at me closely before placing the prosecco on the kitchen table and looking around appreciatively.

"Maddie it's gorgeous."

I nod in agreement and gesture towards the bedroom.

"We've been really lucky. Go and have a look and I'll open this."

I grab a couple of glasses and deftly pop the cork on the wine, going over to sit on the sofa.

She comes back in, just as I've poured the wine, taking off her coat and throwing it over the back of a kitchen chair.

"It's so lovely. Four poster bed and a bath without a tap end; bliss."

She moves to join me on the sofa, curling up at the opposite end. As she takes a sip of the wine, she sits back against the cushions, with a deep sigh.

"God! I needed that. Will looks so cute in there. Daisy had the tantrum of all tantrums earlier. Matt flung her over his shoulder and had to take her out of the Gallery. She kicked lumps out of him. She'll be scaring our customers away."

I smile sympathetically. "She's so bright and funny though. It must be the terrible twos. They'll be over soon."

Carey grimaces. "It's exhausting though. When she was born, I told the midwives, I'd be back within a year for number two." She shakes her head. "I don't know what I was thinking. She's exhausted me since the first night at home." She chinks my glass. "Here's to self medication."

Carey is as talkative and engaging as she was at the Gallery. She tells me more about the reasons for their move to Cornwall.

"It was a lot about Daisy of course. I was working as an accessory buyer at Fortnum & Mason. I loved it, but it was hard once I had a baby. They say women can have it all, but we turn ourselves inside out, trying to achieve it. I loved working there," she tells me, "But I would find these fabulous designers and build relationships with them and then have to screw them on price. I wasn't ruthless enough really. Daisy was in nursery ten hours a day, the commute was horrendous. We were living in a tiny house in Chiswick with a huge mortgage. Matt was having a career crisis."

She shakes her head and shudders. "It was a tough time. We talked about moving for about six months and dithered. Then Matt's brother in law had a heart attack at forty four. It was awful. He was Managing Director at one of the big publishers, a rising star. It happened on a Sunday morning. They live in Barnes. They were getting ready for lunch out with friends and he felt unwell and that was it. They've three little children, who were all under eight at the time. It was just devastating."