Felicity could still hear her mum and Drew talking so unlocked the duck-egg coloured door next to the pantry which led into the teashop. She switched on the light and stood and stared.
Drew had been right; this place looked like it hadn’t been in use for a while. Everywhere seemed worn, tired and washed out. Felicity brushed her hand over the counter and a mushroom of dust danced before her eyes. The whole place seemed so lifeless, so colourless. Even the shabby chic coloured bunting that criss-crossed the ceiling looked drab; it had definitely seen better days.
Felicity walked past all the chairs neatly pushed underneath the tables towards the front of the shop. She could visualise her grandmother standing in the front window smoothing down her white pinny before waving madly at her as she walked home from school along Love Heart Lane. Every night, without fail she’d waited in the window at the same time.
Felicity couldn’t help but wonder what had happened here and began to feel guilty and confused. How did she not know the shop had closed? This was her mum’s livelihood.
Through the window Felicity watched Drew climb into his tractor and wave goodbye to Rona as he drove off back home towards Foxglove Farm. The rest of the lane was silent. The line of houses on Love Heart Lane looked like a picturesque snowy Christmas card, with some of the cottages in complete darkness while others were lit up. There was a romantic feel about the place.
Felicity watched Rory, who lived opposite, as he stood in the middle of his living room hugging a mug. She and Rory had grown up together in the village and like everyone else in Heartcross, they had once been good friends. Rory had always known from an early age that he wanted to be a vet. His parents Stuart and Alana Scott ran the veterinary surgery in the village, and Rory was now in partnership with them.
Felicity heard a noise behind her and spun round as Rona appeared by her side. ‘I wondered where you’d got to.’
‘Mum, what’s happened to this place? Why didn’t you tell me the teashop wasn’t up and running?’
The teashop was a place where Felicity had spent most of her free time as a young girl, especially in the school holidays. She’d worked alongside her mum and grandmother helping to bake the scrumptious cakes Bonnie was famously known for, and when she was in her teens she’d waited tables. Early mornings had always been Felicity’s favourite time. The mouth-watering aromas that had drifted from Bonnie’s kitchen were a great start to the day. Before school, Felicity had always helped to arrange the home-baked pastries and cakes in the open counter and on the numerous glass-domed cake stands in exchange for her daily gingerbread man that she took to school without fail.
Most weekends this small teashop would be jam-packed with passing ramblers who’d trek through the mountainous terrain of Heartcross and sample the delicious delights of Bonnie Stewart’s baking. Her grandmother had opened the tearoom on a whim. Her cottage was the last stop on Love Heart Lane before the hikers ventured on the three-hour rocky trek to reach the summit of Heartcross Mountain. It was a great last stop to fuel the body and grab a cuppa and of course use the bathroom facilities.
As Rona pondered the answer to the question a look of pain crossed her face. ‘It’s not been that easy, Felicity.’ Her voice was low and shaky taking Felicity by surprise. Her mum had always been a tower of strength and seeing the look on her mother’s face, she felt numb, an entire stock of emotions running through her body. ‘What do you mean?’ she asked hesitantly.
‘I tried my best,’ said Rona, holding on to the last trace of pride.
Felicity’s heart sank.
‘I couldn’t do everything.’
Feeling wretched, Felicity blinked back the tears that brimmed in her eyes. The business her grandmother had worked so hard for lay in ruins. What had her grandmother thought? The teashop closed, her hopes and dreams dashed. Felicity swallowed hard. She’d never thought in a million years that this place would close. Add in the factor that her mum was clearly struggling, and Felicity felt shaken by it all.
‘I tried to keep things afloat but everything just spiralled out of control. It all got a bit too much for me.’
The comfortingly familiar life and beloved teashop had folded around Rona and Felicity had been none the wiser. She was devastated that she’d been caught up in her own little world and never realised how bad things had got back home. This place had been the heart of the community for decades, and this was a hurdle that they needed to get over. This place couldn’t stay shut. In deep thought, Felicity linked her arm through her mum’s and turned to slowly walk back into the kitchen of the cottage.
‘I’ll make us a hot drink and bring it through. You go and sit down.’
Rona nodded and settled down on the wingback chair in front of the fire. As soon as the drinks were made Felicity slid herself on to the battered old chesterfield.
‘How long has the shop been closed?’
Rona looked up at her daughter. ‘About eight months.’ She let out a breath. ‘Everything seemed to all go wrong at once.’
‘You mean with Grandma being ill.’
Rona nodded. ‘That was the start of it, but not just that, there was this place too. Everything seemed to break at once. The boiler packed up, the tap’s beginning to leak and looking after your grandma full time meant I couldn’t juggle the shop.’ The tone to her voice was sad.
Felicity sat back and digested this information, ‘Did you get any help with Grandma?’
Rona shook her head and took a sip of her drink. ‘No, all those years ago we’d made a pact; when the time came, she never ever wanted to go into a home. I promised I would care for her until the very end and that’s what I did. She dedicated her life to looking after me, looking after us when you were growing up. I couldn’t even afford my own house after your father died, there was no life insurance or any spare cash. We’d always lived here with Mum and after putting a roof over our heads all this time it wasn’t a big ask. I kept my promise.’
A small tear slid down Rona’s face. ‘I miss her so much. And there’s still so much to sort out, her clothes and belongings, but I just can’t face it all at the minute.’
‘I can help with all that while I’m here.’
Rona smiled with appreciation towards her daughter.
‘Mum, I’m so sorry.’ Felicity was heartbroken and surprised to discover how hard things had become for her mum.
‘It’s not your fault, you have your own life, and your grandmother wouldn’t have wanted you to come home just for her.’
Felicity knew her life hadn’t been all that in the past year. She could have come home at any time to help and felt disappointed in herself that she hadn’t supported her mother more.
‘And the boiler, is that fixed? It does seem awfully cold in the cottage.’
Rona regretfully shook her head, ‘Unfortunately, with the teashop being shut I’ve lost my income and just didn’t have the money to get it fixed. Any savings I had, I used them to get by … to live on for the last eight months.’
Felicity stared at her mum. She couldn’t believe for all this time she had been struggling by herself. ‘How are you heating the water?’
‘With the kettle. I’ve been boiling the water on the Aga to have a wash. It’s going to be all right,’ Rona quickly added with a wan smile.
Felicity’s eyes widened; she couldn’t believe her mum was living like this. Twelve months ago, this cottage had been spick and span, everything gleamed, and the teashop had been packed to the brim with customers, and now everything had changed in such a short space of time.
‘Why didn’t you ask for help, surely Drew would have taken a look at the boiler for you?’
‘I don’t like to bother people and anyway he’s got enough on his plate with the new baby