A Fresh Start on Crumcarey (Crumcarey Island #5)

Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

MAGGIE

T he meal was unexpectedly delicious, especially considering she’d rather winged the sauce. It was a bit like a cross between stir-fry and soup… but the rice did a lovely job of soaking up all the juice. In fact, Maggie might even go so far as to say that she was enjoying it more than her much-anticipated curry… though she had a feeling that might have more to do with the sparkling company than anything else.

So far, their conversation had flowed easily – which was a bit of a wonder, considering she’d only met the man that morning. Whenever the topic strayed a bit close to something that made her fidget, Luke promptly headed it off in another direction without so much as a pause.

It didn’t take long before Maggie felt completely relaxed… a miracle considering she’d appeared on his doorstep looking like a drowned rat less than an hour ago.

‘So… what brought you to the island?’ said Maggie, mopping up the last of her sauce with a crust of bread. ‘Were you brought up here?’

Luke shook his head, sitting back in his chair and shooting a mournful glance at his empty bowl. ‘No, I wasn’t born here, but I do feel a bit like an honorary member of the community. I love Crumcarey… always have. It feels like coming home. The beginning of the summer was my favourite time of year when I was a kid. I’d travel up to stay with Uncle Harris… and I never wanted to go back down south at the end of the holidays.’

‘I can imagine,’ said Maggie with a smile. ‘This place must be magical when you’re little.’

‘Lots of freedom,’ said Luke with a nod. ‘Everyone looks out for the bairns up here.’

‘I like that,’ said Maggie. ‘And as an adult…?’

‘I still love visiting Uncle Harris,’ he laughed. ‘Sometimes for longer, sometimes for shorter. I crewed the ferry one summer when I was in my twenties. Another year, I worked with Mr McCluskey on his fishing boat.’

‘Anna’s dad?’ said Maggie. ‘Who lives with Ray?’

‘That’s the one,’ said Luke. ‘You know… his boat was called Maggie too!’

Maggie grinned. She wasn’t sure what to say to that. ‘So, is this a longer visit or one of the shorter ones?’

‘Not sure yet,’ said Luke with an easy smile. ‘My uncle’s not getting any younger though, and I want to spend some time with him before I head off. I’m not sure what I’ll do when the winter sets in… but I guess I’ll figure that out when it gets here!’

Maggie nodded, doing her best to ignore the tiny squirm of discomfort at the idea of her new friend leaving the island so soon. How ridiculous could she get? After all… she’d only met him that morning!

Doing her best to shrug off the strange, mournful feeling, Maggie sat back in her chair and let out a sigh. The room was warm and cosy, and even though the rain was still beating on the roof and windows, the wind had eased off a tiny bit. She was full and snuggly, and her tiredness felt like it was draped around her shoulders like a blanket.

‘Your turn,’ said Luke. ‘What brought you to Crumcarey?’

‘You mean why am I living at the edge of the world in little more than a chicken shed?’ she said with a yawn.

‘You said it, not me!’ he chuckled.

Maybe it was the warmth or the wine or the fact that she didn’t really know Luke… but there didn’t seem any point in not telling him the truth. She’d not really told anyone the full story before - mainly because she hadn’t wanted to be judged by the locals. Stupid, really, considering they probably knew all the sordid details anyway. Nothing much escaped the Crumcarey gossip mill.

Maggie sighed again. She’d been silent for long enough. It was time to get it off her chest… she just hoped she could do it without sounding too bitter and twisted about the whole thing. After all, it wasn’t Russell’s fault. Not entirely, anyway!

‘Well… we bought the cottage without viewing it first,’ she said. It was hard to know where to start, but that was probably the most obvious place. Plus, it was the detail she was most worried about being judged for.

‘Wow – that was brave!’ said Luke, raising an eyebrow.

‘Or stupid,’ said Maggie.

‘Brave,’ repeated Luke, shaking his head. ‘Had you been to Crumcarey before?’

It was Maggie’s turn to shake her head.

‘A real adventure then!’

Maggie smiled at him as the knot in her chest eased a little. Sure, things had gone sour after the move, but it had been an adventure at the time!

‘I moved here originally with Russell – my boyfriend,’ she said. ‘My ex, I guess I should say.’

‘Your ex?’

‘Yeah,’ she sighed. ‘He left after about six months to take a job back on the mainland. We never officially split up, but…’

‘Does he visit?’ said Luke.

‘Nope,’ said Maggie, shaking her head. ‘I mean, it’s definitely over. I’ve not seen him or spoken to him for over a year, so…’

‘Definitely over,’ agreed Luke in a steady voice. ‘And… does he own Pear Tree Cottage with you.’

‘Actually, no!’ said Maggie. ‘I sold my flat down south and bought it outright with the proceeds. There was enough left over to live on while we worked on the place.’

Until recently, of course, but Luke didn’t need to know the ins and outs of her slightly sorry finances!

‘Well, at least that’s something,’ said Luke.

‘Yeah,’ she said, a little laugh slipping out as she said it. ‘A little heap of something.’

‘Don’t count your slipped slates before the morning,’ said Luke gently. ‘It might have sounded worse than it actually was.’

‘Tell that to my poor car!’ said Maggie.

‘Okay… yeah. Anyway – we’ll sort it out one way or another, don’t worry.’

‘Thanks,’ said Maggie, smiling at him gratefully. How could she not? The guy was single-handedly making her feel less alone than she had since Russell had left. Hell – since before Russell had left. Not that she couldn’t deal with it on her own… it was just that for once, it was nice to feel like she might have the backup of another human being standing by her side.

‘So you both made the move and started doing the place up?’ prompted Luke.

Maggie couldn’t help but pull a face. Luke had already told her that he’d clocked the state of the cottage on his way past, and she was pretty sure Olive and Mr Harris would have filled him in on the rest.

‘Russell wasn’t very… handy,’ she said, doing her best to be diplomatic.

‘Ah,’ said Luke.

‘Uh huh,’ agreed Maggie.

‘I bought lots of materials… and tools…’ she continued. ‘And I did my best to learn as much as I could as we went along. I learned even more after he left. We just… I just never seem to get very far with it.’

‘Do you regret it?’ said Luke. ‘Moving here, I mean? Buying the cottage.’

Maggie shook her head. ‘Nope. Not for a second. It was a risky decision – but I was up for the adventure. Russell might have turned out to be an arse, but I’m grateful to him for his mad plan… because it brought me here.’

‘I like your attitude,’ said Luke with a grin.

‘I’ve had time to work on it,’ she said with a wry smile. ‘Either way, I could have sold up after Russell disappeared… but this is home now. Crumcarey is, I mean. I’m not so sure about Pear Tree Cottage. I do like it there… but it’s going to take a lot of work.’ She paused, feeling the blanket of weariness settle even heavier on her shoulders. ‘If I’m honest, I’m not sure I’ve got the energy left. I’ve been working so hard just to stop the place from falling down… and now it kind of… has.’

‘I get it,’ said Luke. ‘But everything will look better in the daylight. You’ll see.’

‘Everything looked better the minute you opened your door,’ she said.

Luke smiled at her, shifting slightly in his seat.

‘Erm… sorry!’ she laughed. ‘I’ve not had wine in a very long time.’

‘Well then,’ said Luke, lifting the bottle and tilting it towards her in an invitation. ‘We’d better make up for that!’