Teresa Morgan - Meet Me at Wisteria Cottage

They’d asked her if she had somewhere to stay or if she would need rented accommodation. However, because of the situation, and the company needing to ensure she wasn’t the one who’d caused the house fire, she was made aware they would have to recover payments from the policyholder – i.e. her – if found negligent for starting the fire or allowing someone else to start it.

The insurance company offered to put her up in Bodmin, and although it wasn’t far away, Maddy thought it too far for her. ‘I think I’m okay, I can stay with a friend, but I’ll call back if I need further assistance,’ she said. Worst case scenario, she could sleep at the gallery. The insurance company had said they paid a daily accommodation rate, so even if she stayed with a friend, she could give them compensation.

Once the insurance company received the police and fire reports, they would be able to send out a Loss Adjuster, and the ball could get rolling in getting her back into her house. But this all depended on the police reports. Clearly, if they believed she’d set fire to her own house, the insurance company wouldn’t pay out.

Harry was still out, so Maddy busied herself with the dishes in his kitchen, clearing away the breakfast things. She was generally a tidy person, and it appeared Harry was meticulous, too – which wasn’t a bad trait in a man – so she liked to keep everything straight, as if she wasn’t even here. She decided to let Sookie out who had been sitting by the front door and meowing noisily. She’d been looking very unimpressed at being stuck in Harry’s house yesterday. Maddy knew she liked to be outside if the sun was shining. She had a favourite place in the garden underneath a rose bush, where she would pretty much sleep all day. With her backdoor firmly sealed, Sookie couldn’t get into Maddy’s house and she would soon find her by the front or back door of her house when it was feeding time.

***

When he returned, Harry found Maddy in her back garden, her strawberry-blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, swishing as her head moved. She stood in the sunshine, an easel before her, with a metal plate in one hand covered with blobs of different shades of blue paints, staring at a canvas.

‘Everything okay?’ he said, standing beside her and admiring her preliminary sketch for a new painting – the ocean and waves crashing against rocks. He recognised the beach as Tinners Bay.

Maddy nodded, chewing on the end of the paintbrush. Once she’d removed it, she said, ‘As I wasn’t allowed in the house this morning, I thought I’d come out here and start on this painting. I don’t feel so bad not being at the gallery and at least I feel like I’m doing some work.’

‘It looks like they’ve gone now.’ There were no more vehicles parked in Annadale Close outside Maddy’s house.

‘Yes, yes, they handed my keys back about half an hour ago and said I’m allowed back in now. The first thing I did was grab some more washing.’ Maddy laughed. ‘Sad, aren’t I?’

‘Not at all, more like practical. What did the insurance company say?’

‘They can’t send a Loss Adjuster out until they’ve received the reports, but they can put me up in rented accommodation in Bodmin.’

‘Nonsense, you can still stay at mine,’ Harry said, before thinking through the implications. It would mean a few more nights on the sofa. But he knew it made sense. Maddy could keep an eye on her house this way. The sofa wouldn’t kill him.

And he could keep an eye on Maddy.

Where did that thought come from?

‘Are you sure?’ She looked up at him, squinting as the sun shone behind him. She raised her hand holding the brush to block the sun, but it didn’t stop the light brightening her green eyes, drawing Harry to her gaze. Their eyes locked briefly until suddenly, a scratching sound came from the fence and they both looked in the direction of the scrambling noise. Sookie’s head appeared, then she swiftly jumped over the garden fence and trotted over, weaving around their legs, purring. Maddy stroked her. ‘It would make it easier for Sookie, too. Less of an upheaval.’

Harry hadn’t thought about the cat. But however much he didn’t like cats, it did make sense. This was about making life easier for his neighbour – who he’d developed a soft spot for. Nonsense . He was even, ever so slightly, becoming fond of the cat, too. I’ll never admit that. ‘Yes, I’m sure. This way you can pop back and forth, and when the insurance guy comes you can tell him to call for you at my house.’

‘The insurance company said something about paying for my accommodation, so I could always pay you.’

‘I don’t need paying.’

While Harry waited for Maddy to finish up and put her easel back in the garage, he took a closer look at her back gate to see if he would need any extra materials to repair it. Maddy stepped out of her garage laden down with a laundry basket piled high with damp clothes and a peg bag. He went to her aid, taking the basket off her, and helped peg out her washing. He grabbed the larger items like T-shirts and let Maddy hang out her underwear. Because that would just be weird.

‘I’ll fix the back gate tomorrow for you,’ he said, focussing back on the job. He would pick up some hinges and better locks in Truro.

‘Thank you. I can definitely pay you for replacing the back gate. It will come out of the insurance payment, so tell me what I owe you. I don’t expect you to do it for free.’

‘I’ll keep the receipts.’ Anything to keep the woman happy.

***

While Harry drove, Maddy enjoyed the views of the Cornish countryside and tried to forget about her scorched kitchen. Once the police had left her house, and she’d gone in to retrieve some washing, she couldn’t help taking another look at her devastated kitchen. Tears had fallen but, giving herself a pep talk, she’d wiped her eyes and ran upstairs. Valerie was right, she couldn’t change the situation, she couldn’t go back in time – time machines hadn’t been invented! – so she needed to get on with life and everything it threw at her. She could do nothing about her kitchen until her insurance company contacted her, but she could at least tidy and clean the upstairs.

Sitting up higher than she was used to in the cab of Harry’s pickup truck, and not having to concentrate on the road as a driver, Maddy was able to see so much more of the lush Cornish landscape. She watched the wind farms on the horizon, how some turned faster than others – what was all the fuss about those things? Surely people would prefer a windmill outside their house rather than a nuclear power station.

‘Your phone’s ringing,’ Harry said, pointing towards Maddy’s handbag where a muffled Bruno Mars’ Uptown Funk could be heard.

‘Oh, yes.’ Maddy scrabbled for her phone. Would she get to it in time? When she saw the caller, she wished she’d let the call go to voicemail. I must designate her a different ring tone.

‘Hi, Mum,’ she said as cheerily as she could. Maddy had avoided calling her mother until she had everything organized her end. Plus, she didn’t need Harry seeing her turn into another blubbering mess. She’d hoped to call her mother as soon as she believed she wouldn’t break down.

‘Are you all right? Gosh, I phoned the gallery, and Val told me everything … why didn’t you call me?’ Sandra Hart said with exasperation. She’d spoken so fast she sounded out of breath. Her mother was possibly more put out that Val knew more than she did. Although Valerie and Sandra were the best of friends, Maddy always wondered if there was a hint of jealousy in her mum over Maddy and Valerie’s closeness.

‘Mum, calm down. I’m fine. I haven’t had a chance to call you.’