A Summer Wedding For the Cornish Midwife Read online

  Her mother had died from pancreatic cancer which had swept through her body like a forest fire, taking her from her beloved family less than six months after the diagnosis. Her father had been completely devastated and, when he’d died of a heart attack three weeks later, Anna was convinced it was because his heart had been broken by her mother’s death. The only comfort was that both her parents were no longer suffering. As an only child, losing them both had left her rootless, but her work had got her through. The first few years were a blur of taking as many shifts as she could, but accepting a job in Port Agnes – her dream job, heading up the new midwifery unit – had turned out to be the start of slowly piecing her life back together. Now she was engaged to a man she adored and who she was certain her parents would have loved, if they’d only got the chance to meet him. She’d never be able to replace her mum and dad, but having children of her own and recreating some of the memories and traditions that had made her childhood so wonderful, might just lessen the ache. She wouldn’t be alone in the world any more then either; there’d be people who shared her DNA, and that of her parents. Family meant the world to Anna, more than ever since she’d lost hers, and she desperately wanted to have one again.

  ‘Oh my God!’ Ella jumped as a crack of lightning lit up the shop, followed a split second later by a rumble of thunder. A storm wasn’t just coming, it was right overhead and it had come out of nowhere.

  ‘I hope that’s not an omen.’ Anna wasn’t normally superstitious, unlike her mother, who had looked for signs in everything that happened. But with the rain already coming down so hard that it was bouncing back off the pavements, and the sky such a dark shade of grey that it looked almost black in between the flashes of lightning, it was hard not to feel a sense of foreboding.

  ‘My dad always says a thunderstorm is a fresh start; a way to clear the air and wash away your problems. So I’d take it as a good omen.’ Ella suddenly shivered despite her words. ‘I just hope the boys got the boat back into the harbour before it started.’

  ‘Surely they’d have seen the storm coming from across the water, long before we did?’ Anna jumped as a gust of wind rattled the shop door, making it sound as if someone was desperately trying to get in. ‘I don’t know why Brae’s got this crazy idea into his head about catching the fish for the wedding breakfast anyway.’

  ‘Because he’s an old romantic.’ Ella laughed at the look that must have crossed Anna’s face. Most people wouldn’t put fish and romance together, but Brae was different. He’d spent years in the Navy before taking over his parents’ fish and chip shop in Port Agnes when they’d retired to Spain. So, one way or another, the sea was in his blood. With Ella’s boyfriend, Dan, acting as Brae’s best man, he’d also been roped into a series of fishing expeditions to catch the sea bass that Brae had persuaded the head chef at the Red Cliff Hotel to serve for the fish course. They’d started early so that they’d stand a good chance of catching enough and storing it until the big day in a freezer he’d bought and put in the garage especially. Anna just wished they’d settled for something from the hotel’s usual supplier, or even some fish fingers; anything as long as Brae and Dan weren’t out at sea in a storm like this.

  ‘I’ll just give him a call to make sure they’re okay.’ Anna picked up her phone. The call went straight to voicemail, but she told herself that didn’t mean anything was wrong; even if she’d much rather have heard Brae’s reassuring voice instead of an automated one at the other end of the line. However difficult a day had been, just speaking to him could always make it better.

  ‘No luck?’ Ella didn’t look worried and Anna swallowed down the panic that she knew would rise in her chest if she let it. She had to stop thinking that things could go wrong at any minute. Just because her whole world had collapsed before, it didn’t mean it was going to happen again. And if she spent all her time worrying that it would, she was going to miss out on so much.

  ‘It’s fine. You know Port Agnes is filled with places where it’s almost impossible to get a mobile signal. I’ll try again later, if we don’t hear from them first.’

  ‘How are you getting on, girls?’ Susie stepped back as she caught sight of Anna. ‘Oh that’s the one. Please tell me you’ve chosen that?’

  ‘I have.’ Anna had almost forgotten she was wearing the wedding dress. The street outside the shop was already looking more like a river than a road, and another crack of lightning lit up the shop, making the lights flicker.

  ‘Ooh, I haven’t seen a storm like this in years!’ Susie didn’t seem remotely concerned, even when the lights flickered again before going out altogether. But then the person she loved most in the world probably wasn’t out at sea in a ridiculously small fishing boat in the middle of it all. ‘It’s so dark I can’t even double-check the price. But, whatever it is, I’ll be taking seventy-five per cent off.’

  ‘That’s way too generous, you said fifty per cent for one that’s been used as a sample, but this is in pristine condition.’ Anna tried to look at Susie, but her eyes kept being drawn back to the sky outside, which had grown even darker. An old-fashioned street light mounted on the wall of the shop opposite, suddenly came away from the brickwork and smashed down into the road. ‘Did you see that? The storm’s getting worse!’

  ‘It’ll pass soon and, don’t worry, I’ll call Adele, who owns the shop opposite, and ask if she needs a hand clearing up the glass.’ Susie’s voice had a sing-song tone as she brushed off Anna’s concerns. ‘As for the discount, fifty per cent is the reduction for the sample and the other twenty-five per cent is because you delivered Maisie. Jennie said she couldn’t have got through it without you and that little girl is the light of my life.’ The older woman smiled as Anna finally turned to look at her. She’d overseen the delivery of Susie’s granddaughter six months earlier. It had been an unexpectedly rocky delivery for a home birth, but thankfully everything had turned out okay in the end.

  ‘I’m really more than happy to pay what you charge everyone else.’

  ‘I won’t hear of it.’ Susie crossed her arms. ‘And the same goes for Ella’s bridesmaid’s dress.’

  ‘And they say the only reward of midwifery is the job itself. Who knew we could get all this discounted stuff? We’ve been missing a trick!’ Ella laughed and Anna felt her shoulders relax. No one else seemed concerned about Brae and Dan. It was coming up to the anniversary of losing her mum so maybe she was just being silly, letting the time of year get to her the way it always did. The least she could do was be gracious about Susie’s offer.

  ‘If you’re really sure, thank you so much.’ Anna stepped forward, as Susie enveloped her in a hug and a cloud of Chanel N°5. It was the same perfume her mother had worn and it seemed like another good sign, even to someone with as few superstitions as Anna.

  Before Susie could reply, the door of the shop was flung open by a woman who looked like she was in her late fifties, letting in a gust of wind that lifted up the skirt of the wedding dress, like Marilyn Monroe standing over that infamous subway grate.

  ‘I’m sorry, Susie, I know I’m more likely to sprout wings and loop the loop above the Sisters of Agnes Island than get wed again, but I’ve got to come in before I get blown straight back down the high street and into the harbour. I thought I was never going to make it up the hill as it was.’

  ‘Don’t be daft, Janis! Come in and shut that blessed door. You don’t want to be out in this. I’ll light one of the gas rings out back and boil some water to make us all a cuppa. We can all wait it out here until the worst of the weather passes.’

  ‘Now you’re talking.’ Janis took off her coat and shook herself like a wet dog might have done and with the same complete lack of self-consciousness. ‘If you can muster up some biscuits to go with that tea, I promise that if I do ever find husband number four, you’ll be top of my list to buy a frock from for the big day.’

  ‘I’ll see what I can do. As long as you promise not to scare Anna off with tales of your divorces. She�
��s just about to embark on her one and only wedding, God willing, and the last thing she wants to hear is that all men are useless.’

  ‘I think both you girls would be better off assuming that, then anything else would be a bonus. All this hearts and flowers stuff Susie peddles is just setting you up for a lifetime of disappointment in my opinion.’ Janis made eye contact with Anna and dropped a perfect wink. ‘Although whoever he is, he’s a lucky fella.’

  ‘She’s marrying Brae, from the chippy.’ Susie imparted the information and Janis shrieked in response.

  ‘Ooh, I love him! He batters the best fish in Cornwall, and he always gives me a few chips to get started on while I’m waiting for my order. You’ll make a handsome pair and your kids are bound to have red hair too, I’ll bet, with both of you being ginger. They won’t have to ask anyone to reach up and get them an item from the top shelf either, will they?’

  Anna couldn’t help laughing and everyone joined in. It was a compliment of sorts and she always loved hearing how well-liked Brae was. Not that she’d ever doubted she was making the right decision, but without the possibility of gaining her family’s approval, it somehow meant a lot.

  ‘I’m definitely hoping we’ll have a family one day.’ Anna had to keep reminding herself that it wasn’t a given and that, if it didn’t work out that way, she was still incredibly lucky to have found Brae. She didn’t need to be a midwife to know that starting a family at almost forty wasn’t what Mother Nature necessarily had in mind, but the fact that she’d been a late baby – and somewhat of a surprise to her own parents – also gave her hope. After years of nothing happening, Anna’s mother had assumed she was going through the menopause before she’d discovered that a baby was finally on the way. Anna had to believe it would happen for her too – that there’d be a little girl she could call Maggie, or a boy who’d just have to put up with the fact that his middle name was Colin, even if it seemed a ridiculous name nowadays to ever assign to a newborn baby. ‘I don’t mind if they’re tall, short or somewhere in between, but I’ve got to admit that I’d love them to have Brae’s red hair. Mine is mostly out of a bottle these days.’

  ‘And his sunny nature, I’ll bet?’ Janis tilted her head. ‘Although I’ve warned him more than once not to keep whistling in the shop when he’s serving. It’s unlucky, and if any of the fisherman hear him, they’ll be blaming him for all sorts. Even this storm.’

  ‘I thought that was just if you were on board the boat?’ Susie pulled a face. ‘It’s all stuff and nonsense anyway.’

  ‘Try telling that to the lads caught out in this weather.’ Janis wagged a finger. ‘My old dad spent his life on the boats and he said whistling encouraged the wind to get stronger. He’d cuff my brother and me around the head if he ever heard us doing it.’

  ‘I think it’s more likely to be down to global warming.’ Ella’s notion was about as unromantic as they came, and Janis sighed.

  ‘I don’t know about all that malarkey, but when I rounded the harbour, a wave came right across the top of one of the boats that was moored there. If anyone had been on deck, that’s the last we’d have seen of them. I just hope there’s no one out there.’

  ‘Brae and his friend, Dan, went out fishing earlier, and we’ve not heard from them yet.’ Anna whispered the words.

  ‘I’ll try and call them again.’ Ella picked up her phone, shaking her head a few seconds later. ‘It’s still going straight to voicemail.’

  ‘They’ll be in the pub, I’m sure of it.’ Anna was trying to convince herself, but the hairs on the back of her neck were standing up all the same.

  ‘Oh your Brae’s a big, strong lad. He’ll be right as rain, you mark my words.’ Janis reached out to squeeze Anna’s arm, and a split second later a mobile phone started to ring. Realising it was hers, Anna rummaged in her bag, silently willing it to be Brae’s number illuminating the caller display. When she finally located the phone, the call was from an unknown number.

  ‘Is that Anna Jones?’ It was impossible to gauge anything from the man’s tone of voice, but that didn’t stop her pulse thudding in her ears.

  ‘Speaking.’

  ‘My name’s Gary Warner, I’m calling from the coastguard. We had a distress call from a boat that’s registered to Brae Penrose, and your name and contact number were listed on the record.’

  ‘Yes, he’s been out fishing in the boat today.’ Anna was struggling to get the words out; she didn’t want to ask any questions she couldn’t handle the answer to.

  ‘We’ve located the boat.’ The man’s tone was still deadpan, but Anna was weak with relief as she shot a smile in Ella’s direction.

  ‘That’s great, and Brae and Dan are okay?’

  ‘That’s just the problem. When we found the boat, there was no one on board.’

  ‘But that can’t be right! They’re both experienced at navigating the waters around here, they wouldn’t just leave the boat. They’d wait until help came.’ Her words were tumbling over one another and, even as Ella reached out to take the phone, it slipped from Anna’s hands. She couldn’t lose another person she loved, and she absolutely couldn’t lose Brae. She loved him so much, she would never survive it.

  2

  The fact that news spread like wildfire in Port Agnes could be a blessing or a curse, as Ella knew only too well. The small seaside town was built on a labyrinth of narrow roads which rose up from the harbour and clung to the cliffs, like the limpets in the rock pools on the wide stretch of sandy beach and the hidden coves just beyond it. By the time Ella and Anna had made it back to her parents in the bakery opposite the harbour, they’d already heard the news that Dan and Brae were missing; one of the crewman from the lifeboat station had texted her father.

  Ella couldn’t cry. If she did, it would set Anna off again and one of them had to hold it together. When she’d taken the phone from her best friend, the coastguard had explained that Brae and Dan’s boat had been taking on water when they’d found it. And fast. With the storm still lashing Port Agnes with a terrifying power, it might have seemed crazy for them to abandon the boat, but the coastguard said it was probably the right decision if they had some other means of making it back to the harbour. The trouble was, Ella and Anna knew exactly what they’d had to use as an emergency escape raft: a two-man kayak.

  Dan had already owned a half share in a boat with his brother-in-law when he and Ella met, but when his sister had demanded that her husband spend a bit more time with the family, they’d decided to sell it. At the beginning of the summer, Brae and Dan had bought a small and fairly ancient fishing boat with a view to doing it up, and the four of them had great fun taking it out to the coves around Port Agnes, staying fairly close to the coastline for safety’s sake. They’d drop the kayaks into the water in sheltered spots, to get a closer look at the hidden caves and rocky outcrops that defined the coastline around Port Agnes. It had been blissful in the summer, and Ella had thanked her good fortune time and time again that she got to spend her free time with a man she adored – and the best friends who meant so much to both of them – in such a beautiful place, just a stone’s throw away from where she’d been born, and where her parents still lived.

  She hadn’t ventured out in the boat since October and neither had Anna. The boys had laughed and called them fair-weather sailors, but as far as Ella was concerned it was just sensible. She had no desire to be on board in January whilst the boat plunged through swirling waves that rose and fell, taking your stomach with them. Brae and Dan weren’t as easily put off and now it looked like they might have paid the ultimate price. She wouldn’t believe that, though. It had taken far too long to reconnect with Dan, her childhood sweetheart, and to realise the seaside town where they’d grown up was the only place in the world she wanted to live. Not even a violent storm could take that away from her; she refused to consider it.

  ‘Do you think we should go down to the lifeboat station and wait for news?’ Anna asked the question for the third time i
n as many minutes, as steam filled the room from where Ella’s mother, Ruth, had hung their soaking wet clothes on a wooden clothes horse in front of the fire.

  ‘They told us they’d call as soon as there was news.’ Ella pulled down the sleeves of the fleece her mother had found for her to put on. They could have gone straight back to her and Dan’s place when they’d left the bridal shop, but she’d managed to leave her key behind when she’d left home in a hurry that morning, and she wouldn’t be able to get in again until Dan got home. Assuming he ever did…

  Anna and Brae’s house was on the other side of town and she didn’t have to check with Anna to know that she wouldn’t want to be that far away from the harbour when the lifeboat crew finally called. Instead, she and Anna were wearing a motley collection of old clothes that Ella hadn’t considered worth taking with her when she’d moved out.

  They’d been soaked to the skin, in the true sense of the words, by the time they’d made it to the bakery. It was almost unheard of for her parents’ shop to be empty of customers, but the storm had everyone battening down the hatches and her mother had given them her undivided attention from the moment they’d shown up.

  ‘Are you sure I can’t get you girls something to eat?’ Ruth put another mug of sweet, hot, cure-all tea in front of them both, even though they’d barely touched the first. It was hard enough swallowing a mouthful of tea as the rain continued to lash at the windows and the wind made an eerie wailing noise that barely seemed to let up. The prospect of eating anything was impossible.