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‘So you know we went to the funeral of my Great Aunt Claire, the woman I’m named after?’
‘Yes, Claire, that was about three months ago.’
‘I know, but it takes time, you know probate, but recently her estate was sorted out and it turns out she left me this cottage in Devon.’
‘She left that to you? A house?’ Jonathan looked again at the photo.
‘I had no idea she still owned it.’ Claire’s eyes gleamed with excitement. ‘You see we used to go there when I was a child for holidays but when Aunt Claire got dementia she went into a home, and I assumed that the house had been sold. But no, it was there, empty all this time. She probably forgot she owned it.’
‘How can someone forget they own a house?’ Jonathan frowned. I guess it was a big thing to forget.
‘Well she did have dementia remember, and her accountant took over her affairs, or whatever you call them … Anyway Dad told me that she wanted me to have the house because I loved it so much when I was young. It’s called Seabreeze Cottage and it’s right opposite the beach.’ Claire had a wistful look. ‘I remember the best holidays there as a child, spending days on the beach, playing on that lawn, eating jam sandwiches in the big old kitchen …’
‘So why didn’t you tell me?’ Jonathan narrowed his eyes.
‘Jon, we’ve been given a house, it doesn’t happen every day!’ Claire pushed and I knew there was a but.
‘But?’ he echoed my thoughts.
‘OK, so the reason I didn’t tell you was that we don’t know what state it is in. Mum and Dad went down there for me and they said it’s been neglected and is in need of a bit of work. They took these photos.’
‘So how much work are we talking?’ Jonathan flicked through the photos.
‘We don’t know exactly yet. When all the paperwork is done, I can get quotes, we can even go there, but at the moment I’m not sure if I’m honest.’ She chewed her lip as she did when she was nervous. I went and sat on her lap.
‘And what do you want to do?’ he asked.
‘Well, obviously it depends on the cost and everything, but ideally I want to keep it. I just felt as if I’d been taken back to my wonderful holidays as a child and I want that for Summer and Toby, more than anything. Imagine, Jon, weekends away, summer holidays by the sea, it would be wonderful for us all.’
‘Darling,’ Jonathan turned to his wife, ‘I know this cottage means a lot to you and it would be lovely for us to have a house by the sea but you know how feasible it is. You’re not working at the moment and yes I have a good job but with the kids’ education, and everything … My guess is that the kind of money we probably need to put into this cottage might be a step too far for us right now.’
‘I know and I thought you’d say that. I just dreamt of my children having holidays like I did as a child.’ She looked wistful. Jonathan softened and put his arm around her.
‘If there was any way … Listen, honey, has it been valued?’ I saw tears in Claire’s eyes. Christmas wasn’t ending quite as planned after all.
‘Jonathan, I’m not sure I could bring myself to sell it. It feels like selling my childhood.’ Claire was nothing if not dramatic. I think she got it from me … or vice versa.
‘Well, listen, let’s have a think, find out what exactly is involved, but you know unless we get a large mortgage, one which would make me feel very uncomfortable, I don’t know how we can do it.’
‘Oh, we’ll find a way. I’m sure.’ Claire didn’t appear as confident as she sounded but as they settled down to watch a film I could almost see her mind whirring. I looked at the picture again. A cottage by the sea. I had been to the seaside once, it hadn’t exactly gone according to plan but I did have a lovely time. I could picture us all, sitting on the lawn, George chasing butterflies, Toby and Summer playing, Claire lounging in a deckchair with a book, and Jonathan lying on a picnic blanket. It was like a perfect idea, and one which suddenly I wanted for us more than anything. I looked at Claire, who still seemed to be deep in thought, as was Jonathan, and I said a silent prayer that they would find a way to make this work.
After all I quite fancied being Alfie the holiday cat.
Chapter One
‘I’m going to miss you all,’ Jonathan said, in a moment of tenderness as he kissed Claire.
‘We’ll miss you, but be honest, you’ll love the peace and quiet, and then when you come down for the weekends you’ll be flavour of the month with the kids.’
‘And with my wife?’
‘Of course.’ She smiled and snuggled into him. I purred from my place on the armchair. It was summer now and a lot had changed since Christmas. An awful lot.
Claire had got her way. Sort of. As if there had been any doubt. She had been very clever about it, though even I, cat of many successful plans, was impressed with this one.
Seabreeze Cottage was going to be our holiday home for now. And now the summer holidays were upon us, we were all decamping to Lynstow and Seabreeze Cottage for the school break. And I mean all. It was beyond exciting.
After Christmas, unbeknown to Jonathan, Claire had persuaded her parents to take a friend of theirs to Seabreeze, and do what they called a survey. It turned out that they needed to do some work on the roof, but otherwise the house was structurally sound. However, the interior needed a lot doing to it, new heating and hot water system, and all sorts of modernisation. There was also a big attic which could be converted, so Claire had got together a rough idea of how much the work would cost and then had presented this to Jonathan, who just couldn’t see how they could afford it unless he sold some vital organs, whatever that meant.
Claire was despondent but over drinks just after New Year, the women from my other families, Polly and Franceska, had a brainwave. Or actually Polly did.
‘Hey, Claire, this sounds fantastic. What’s the village called again?’
‘Lynstow in North Devon. It’s on the estuary, perfect for sailing, windsurfing or paddleboarding. The village itself has three pubs, a lovely village shop and a café. It’s changed a lot since I was last there, which was over twenty years ago, but Mum and Dad said it was still charming.’ Claire sounded wistful again, I knew she was thinking of the childhood summers she had spent in Lynstow and I knew how much she wanted it for her children. To be honest, the way she spoke about it, I was desperate to go there too. And I’m a cat, who certainly wouldn’t be doing any sailing or anything to do with water, actually. But I am a romantic and I was definitely caught up in the romance of it all.
Polly asked to see the details, and Claire pulled out her folder with the pictures and the details from the builder in it – she was nothing if not organised. Polly sipped her wine and looked over it, then passed it to Franceska.
‘It is so pretty, my boys would love it here,’ Franceska said.
‘I agree,’ Polly said. I could almost see her thoughts racing. ‘And I can see the potential. This could be such a beautiful house with a bit of love. And of course I could manage this project easily.’
‘That’s what I keep saying to Jonathan. If we did the work it would be worth so much more money, not that I want to sell it ever. As I said, I would love it for Toby and Sum, and you guys could join us for holidays – it’s got five bedrooms at the moment, but the attic is huge and ripe for conversion. There’s only one bathroom but the builder said that it would be easy to put in one en suite and one in the attic, and three bathrooms would be plenty. I mean it’s a big house. When I was little I thought it was enormous, because it was so much bigger than Mum and Dad’s house. I thought it was the biggest house ever.’
I rubbed against Claire, I didn’t want her to be sad, because I knew how much she wanted this. But I also understood Jonathan. They couldn’t just magic up money, that was a human problem I had learnt about in my life. Thankfully not something us cats needed to concern ourselves with.
The women lapsed into silence as they all sipped wine and Franceska nibbled an olive.
‘This might sound crazy but here’s an idea,’ Polly started. Claire looked at her hopefully. ‘Of course we all live in London, and we all want our children to see there are beaches and countryside out there, but it’s expensive going away, even in the UK. We went to the Lake District last holidays, and the cottage we rented cost more than a five-star hotel in Spain.’
‘I agree, Polly, but I don’t understand what your point is?’ Franceska interjected.
‘Oh yeah, sorry it’s the wine. So here’s my mad idea. How about we pool our resources? I can help re-design the place as you know and I am also used to dealing with contractors. As I’m freelance now I can devote time to it and Franceska, your restaurants are doing really well, so I thought, mad I know, but if we all chip in maybe we can restore Seabreeze and use it for our holidays. Like a sort of joint holiday home.’
I was amazed when I heard this. A holiday cottage for us all – I assumed she was including me and George of course – and I meowed loudly to show I for one thought it a very good idea.
‘Alfie approves,’ Claire laughed. ‘And now I think of it, imagine if our families shared the cottage?’
‘But it is your cottage, Claire, and there is an issue of ownership if we get involved, no?’ Franceska said sensibly.
Oh, I hadn’t thought about that. After all I’m a cat, not a solicitor.
‘I have thought of that,’ Polly said. She seemed to have done a lot of thinking in a very short space of time. ‘We get it valued now, then whatever we each put in gives us a share but not the main share, which stays with Claire. I was thinking that one day it will go to her children and, well, in our ideal world our children will carry on like we are, the best of friends, but anyway we can get it all done properly and above board. I know it’s unorthodox but it could work, we could make it work. And of course it would have to be done legally, that would be the only way the men would agree to it.’
‘Ah the men.’ Claire looked a bit perplexed.
‘Firstly, in my wildest dreams I didn’t think we would have a holiday house.’ Franceska suddenly sprung to life. ‘I didn’t think we would have all this but for the boys it will be so amazing. It would be like a timeshare for us, we could all use it together or at other times and if we need to make money we could always rent it out. We need to show it to the men as a business proposition. An investment for all of us and our futures and our children’s futures. Right, how much money are we talking?’ Franceska was now caught up with enthusiasm.
And just like that my three favourite women formulated a plan.
I felt proud of them, it was as if they had learnt their planning skills from me – and OK, some of my plans do go a little awry but they always end up successful. Anyway, they weren’t going to leave anything to chance so they cooked a fantastic dinner – Franceska was the best cook so she took charge of food. The children were all asleep; they were having a sleepover here which I was excited about, as was George, who was asleep with Toby and Henry, who was sharing his room. Aleksy wasn’t asleep; I had been to see him and he was playing on a computer thingy, but that was our secret. So, after the food and quite a lot of beer and wine, the women swooped in with what they called their presentation, which Claire was in charge of. It was funny how formidable they all looked, standing there in a row, with the men almost quaking with fear. As well they should – they didn’t stand a chance.
‘But you mean we would all own the house?’ Jonathan scratched his head as they finished talking.
‘Yes, but obviously to different degrees. The input from us would give us a share but a minor one, and we’d do it all legally. So for example if we wanted to sell or get our money out we couldn’t just do that,’ Polly expanded on the legal side, which I couldn’t concentrate on; I was eyeing up the left-overs and wondering how long I’d have to wait before they would remember to give me some.
‘So we all go there for holidays?’ Tomasz asked, his eyes narrowed.
‘We could do! Imagine, Tomasz, the children get to see the sea and the countryside when they’re not at school. And we thought that we could all go this summer, us women and the kids, and then when you could get time off work you join us, that way we can supervise the work and the kids will love it, it’ll be an adventure.’
‘But hang on, it sounds as if the house is going to be a building site this summer, will that be safe for the children?’ Matt asked.
‘It’ll be safe but obviously a bit chaotic,’ Polly said. ‘Listen, I’ll manage the restoration and I’ll do it so there’ll be minimal disruption. The children will be out all day when the builders are in, there’s so much to do: the beach, trips to the countryside, the older ones can learn to surf or paddleboard. Honestly, I’ll make sure the house is safe.’ Polly gave Matt’s shoulder a squeeze.
‘And if you all agree, we can get essential work done before the summer,’ Claire chipped in.
‘You’ve thought this all through, haven’t you?’ Matt said, shaking his head.
‘If you mean have we anticipated all of your objections, then yes,’ Polly replied with a wry smile.
‘Look, between the three of us we can afford to get the cottage looking amazing again,’ Claire started. ‘We’ve done the figures and, worst-case scenario, we will have added value and can sell it for a profit for everyone. Best-case scenario, we enjoy it with our families, together at times, on our own at others, but we will have a holiday home and the children will get to enjoy beach life the way I did growing up.’
‘But it was valued for more than I expected,’ Jonathan said. ‘So I still think the sensible option is to sell.’
‘This way, though, Jonathan, we can do it up and sell it for even more if we decide to,’ Polly persisted. ‘But we all think that this summer, when we get the work done, we’ll all fall in love with it and won’t want to let it go.’
‘Just look at the figures, I promise they make sense.’ The men all studied the spreadsheet that Claire thrust at them.
‘But are you sure it’s habitable for the children?’ Matt reiterated, looking worried. And for cats, I wondered.
‘Well, not exactly, but the summer holidays aren’t for two months so we thought we could all take it in turns to go down before, just the adults, and each time we could do what is needed to make it habitable. We can buy beds, appliances, make sure the water and heating works, we’ll get it ready for the summer and also get some alone time.’ Polly raised her eyebrows at her husband.
He shrugged, defeated. Honestly, these women had thought of everything and my whiskers stood up with pride.
‘We can do this!’ Claire added with a smile.
‘You make it sound like a fantastic idea,’ Tomasz said. ‘And now I take more time from work I can come and join you more I guess.’ He looked at the other men for reassurance.
‘I can arrange to work from home on a Friday and come down for weekends,’ Matt said.
‘Hold on, how do we even get there?’ Jonathan asked.
‘Ah, well we’ll be taking the cars but there’s also the trains. The station is only a forty-minute drive away, direct from London, so really there’s no problem.’
‘Have I been stitched up again?’ Jonathan asked. I jumped onto his lap and yelped. Of course he had. Everyone laughed.
‘Well the house will be quiet, no Claire, no children, just me, Alfie and George this summer.’ I suddenly looked up.
‘Oh no, darling, Alfie and George will be coming with us. It’s their holiday cottage too.’
I purred with delight. Yay! We were going on holiday.
‘Claire, you do know it’s strange the way you take Alfie and now George everywhere with you, as if they were dogs?’
I yelped. How dare he compare me to a dog?
‘They’re part of the family and, anyway, Alfie came on holiday with us before, didn’t he?’
I put my head down, as a bolt of sadness hit me. We went on holiday with Snowball, my then girlfriend, before her family moved her away, leaving my heart broken. It was all OK now but I still remember my last holiday with a pang. Actually, perhaps this was going to give me new holiday memories, which would mean the old ones would properly fade away. It was about time, after all.
‘Well yes, but you know, George hasn’t been away from here before,’ Tomasz pointed out.
‘Yes but Alfie will take care of him and anyway how will Toby sleep without George next to him,’ Claire said, indicating any debate was over.
As I finally got my left-overs they discussed the finer details. Everyone, even Jonathan, seemed a little swept away with excitement now. I certainly was, my fur was tingling with the thought of the adventures that awaited us. We were all going to decamp to Seabreeze Cottage for the summer, and we would all spend a lovely, perfect, English summer by the sea. Yes the men had been ambushed, but really it was all for the best.
‘I’m not sure Seabreeze or Lynstow know what’s going to be hitting them,’ Matt said.
‘Edgar Road decamps to Devon,’ Polly laughed.
‘And you know, it will be so great for the children,’ Franceska reiterated.
‘Meow!’ I clambered up her, nudging her with my nose.
‘And the cats of course,’ Claire finished.
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