escape her thoughts of Connor. She loved creating the energy of crashing waves, of white surf and its swirling movement – a great mood improver.
‘While it’s quiet, I might go upstairs for a bit,’ Valerie said. She couldn’t work in public like Maddy did. She liked to tuck herself away somewhere quiet, so she usually worked upstairs above the gallery. The space was smaller, but there was a window that gave enough natural light. She worked in the room where they stored all the extra paintings, ready to go up when another sold, or commissions to be collected. Valerie and Maddy worked so well together, able to give each other advice. They knew each other well enough not to get offended by any constructive criticism. ‘When is Josie in next?’ Valerie called down the stairs.
‘Tomorrow morning,’ Maddy replied. She’d employed Josie part-time, so Maddy and Valerie weren’t always stuck at the gallery – they needed a life too. But with the holiday season rapidly approaching, the gallery had to be open seven days a week. Josie worked her shifts around her college work and covered the weekends. In the summer holidays, she upped her hours further.
Maddy’s gallery exhibited a mixture of paintings from local artists – Josie being one of them. She did the same deal for them all; they were responsible for framing their work if necessary and she took thirty percent commission on anything sold. Some worked in pastel, some watercolours, oils, and like Maddy, acrylics. She even had a local photographer who sold his photographs in her gallery too. Maddy usually relied on Valerie’s expertise to help price the work. Tinners Bay attracted a mix of holidaymakers – some from wealthy areas of London, and some average families – so it was about setting the price right. Or having a good selection of affordable pieces and some more exclusive work.
This was to be her first full summer in Cornwall, and she needed to make it work. Setting up the gallery last year, coupled with the purchase of her new house, had eaten up all the funds she’d inherited from her grandfather, so now she really needed to pull in the money to survive. She did not want to return to her mother in Clifton with her tail between her legs.
Plus, Connor had returned to Bristol. And the further she stayed away from him, the better.
***
Maddy turned the key in the lock to the gallery, checked the handle to make sure she had actually locked the door, then slipped the key into her handbag. She looked up at the signage ‘Captured by Hart’ with a heart diagonally resting at the end and smiled. Her gallery.
Being holiday season, they tended to shut the gallery around seven p.m. but the rain that had come in a couple of hours ago had cleared the beach, so they were shutting slightly earlier tonight. The kids hadn’t broken up from school yet so the tourists were families with very young children, making the most of a cheaper holiday. She looked out over the horizon. Now the clouds had dispersed, the clear blue sky showed the sun descending over the Atlantic. With the tide right out, it revealed a vast expanse of golden sand and she could just make out black dots of hardcore surfers amongst the white horses of the waves. Being late June, the weather was being very kind and hot. She could see there were even a couple of bathers still in the water. Mad buggers. It’s still bloody cold. Wouldn’t catch me in there without a wetsuit.
‘Same time tomorrow,’ Valerie said, kissing Maddy on the cheek.
‘I’ll be in a bit later, but Josie will be here. I want to work on my painting, the one for a commission. Might even make the most of the light evening and do some tonight.’
‘Well, I’d best let you get off then, dear.’
‘Would you like a lift?’
‘No, no the walk always does me good.’ Valerie lived locally. ‘I’ll probably be expected to cook for the rabble when I get home.’ Valerie had three sons, who had all moved out, but would still call in for their mum’s cooking. She waved and headed up the hill towards her home, in the direction of where Tinners Bay Hotel was visible in the distance, resembling a five-star cruise liner shipwrecked in the landscape. The prestigious hotel even had some of Maddy’s paintings on display. She got the odd sale from there, which helped her cash flow.
Maddy strolled round to the back of the gallery to where she’d parked her car, feeling much happier than when she’d arrived this morning, her thoughts swirling about how well the gallery had done today, with a couple more commissions taken. Valerie always helped put her head straight too. Washing away the negatives and replacing them with positives. ‘Everything has a positive, if you look hard enough,’ was Valerie’s catchphrase. Maddy smiled to herself, thinking about Valerie. She was a woman of experience: never judged, always cared, and they always had a very good laugh about things, even the serious stuff.
Maddy had managed a couple of hours painting today, taking away her stress. She found every brush stroke therapeutic. Although the rent was high, she felt so lucky to have a gallery opposite the beach where she could watch the ocean come in and out, surfers riding the waves, and families pitching camp on the beach for the day. Sand castles, ice cream and Cornish pasties, all added to her inspiration for her pictures.
Yes, she was blessed, and she would make this work. Although things had been messy with Connor, her life was finally back on track. Being single again wasn’t all bad.
Maddy lived inland; a twenty-five minute drive through narrow country lanes if she didn’t come across any tractors or cars towing caravans – or slow moving camper vans. As she pulled into Annadale Close, she imagined what she needed to pull from the fridge to make her dinner. Chicken, salad … a bit of Caesar dressing … oh, with a glass of Pinot Grigio. Turning the corner, she noticed blue flashing lights, reflecting off neighbouring houses. Then she became aware of the smell of something burning. The kind of smell that clung to the hairs in your nose and made your eyes water.
Carrying on, as she turned around the corner towards her home, two red fire engines, monstrous in size up close, blocked the road. It was sheer chaos with yellow hose pipes, firefighters and neighbours standing back to watch. Black smoke bellowed against the clear pink-blue sky ruining a good summer evening’s sunset.
Cold fear entered her belly. It’s not … It can’t be …
Maddy screamed, and in seconds, her car door flung open, she was out of her car and running towards her burning house.
‘Oh my God, oh my God,’ Maddy cried hysterically. ‘Put it out! Put it out!’ She accosted a firefighter. ‘Do something. That’s my house!’
As if a switch had been flicked inside her, Maddy lost all control. Anger, fear and hysteria replaced her usually composed personality. Rationality had gone up in smoke, like her house.
HER HOUSE.
Maddy swore every expletive under the sun. Where had she put her paintings? Were they in the house, or garage? Would she have any possessions left? As thoughts whirred around her head erratically, she fought to get past the firefighters, because none of them were working fast enough to put the fire out. NONE OF THEM. Black smoke billowed out of the back of her house and from her kitchen window.
‘Will someone get her out of here!’ a firefighter called.
‘Miss, you need to get back,’ another shouted. ‘We’ve got it under control.’
‘But that’s my house!’ Tears streamed down her face. Her voice was sore from
