Chapter 7: Friday 4 January

The work on Rebecca’s house continued apace the next week, with Pete working inside The Porter House and keeping an eye on Jason Denhope’s efforts outside rotovating, laying the weed suppressant and spreading the topsoil ready for turfing after the frosts had passed.

While the schools were closed until the second Monday in January, Annie spent all day with her father, helping inside, going with him as people heard he was getting his act together and asked him to quote on maintenance jobs and visits to builders merchants, where he also found tradesmen willing to pass him work here and there. Now that he had a business account and credit card he was able to get a mobile phone contract for ease of contact. Soon he was working away from Porter House more often than the internal jobs Rebecca could find for him.

On the Friday after new year, Rebecca rang her ex-husband in London. The call was answered by Hector, her husband’s gay lover, Hector Okinowu. She wished him a happy new year and asked to speak to Justin Simons, wanting to get back on friendly terms as both confess that they still have love for each other and both want to lose the bitterness which crept in during the divorce.

“I am so sorry, Becks, that I ruined my marriage, our partnership, even our medical practice. I thought my attraction to men was just a phase, a young man at college thing, and I really loved you, I still love you, but when I met Hector in that bar, well, we just clicked.”

“I know, Juss, I lost it when you confessed and, well, moving back to Sandmouth Bay and having that respite away from poor Ann and Mother ... You know, I feel have a new perspective on life—”

“What, do you have a new man in your—?”

“No, nothing like that, Juss, it’s only that I’m building new friendships and, well, now I just want to be able to right a few wrongs. Look, I would like you to ask Hector if he could do me a favour —”

“Anything, honey, he feels just as bad about this as I do.”

“Hector is a top QC, and my lodger was ... well, he was in a lot of trouble in his youth twenty odd years ago and I hoped you’d ask Hector to meet my lodger and his solicitor and see what we can do for him, compensation wise.”

“And you and this lodger are not...”

“No!” Rebecca exploded, “this is not about sex, or love, or even relationships, Juss. Ohh, I get so angry about this, it’s like what happened to Mum and Sis, it’s justice, that’s what I’m after.”

“Look, Hector’s listening to the conversation and nodding. Come up here at the weekend on your own, tomorrow or Sunday, we’ve nothing on, stay here Saturday night, it must be like eight hours each way?”

“Six, maybe six and a half on the weekend, so yes, staying overnight Saturday would be good.”

“Great. We’ll go over the situation with your lodger and see if Heck wants to take it on. OK, Hon?”

“Yes, OK, I’ll be up about lunchtime tomorrow.”

The owner of the Starlight Club, Ted Rowntree was advised by the Fire Safety Inspector from the local Fire Service that he needed to replace a couple of internal fire doors that had been damaged through constant wear and tear and were no longer up to the job of holding back smoke or fire. He was faced with losing the Club’s fire safety certificate if not carried out within a reasonable time frame. The fire inspector recommended using Pete Porter, the best carpenter in town and he just happened to have Pete’s new mobile number on him.