(Part 01)
It was on New Year’s Eve that Jane Cooper’s life changed for ever, although she was totally oblivious to it at the time.
She had gone to bed as the year came to an end she reflected on the events of the year and congratulated herself quite smugly on her achievements, and the growing restaurant fund she had been working on and she looked forward to the future.
She was 8 years old when she and her family moved into Coopers Villa after her father Paul became reconciled with his estranged father Harry.
She had been very happy living there but almost from the day she moved in she attracted the attention of her new neighbour Terry O’Neil.
He was a persistent lad and he pursued Jane for sixteen years before he finally wore her down.
Jane was a person with a goal in life which she had had since she was very young.
And she had been literally working towards it since she left college.
It was been hard work, but she wasn’t afraid of that.
She worked every job she could which was all grist to the mill, every penny she earned went into the Restaurant fund.
Because that was her goal, to be chef de cuisine in her own kitchen in her own restaurant.
It was a big goal, she had set the bar high, but she figured if you’re going to have a dream you might as well dream big.
She had never had anything personally against Terry, and he was a good looking fella just like his brothers.
The three O’Neil Boys were all good looking and had black hair and wild gypsy eyes.
Whereas all the Cooper girls, of which there were also three, all had Auburn hair and freckles all.
The truth was Jane didn’t really do time off and she certainly didn’t do dating which was why at the age of 24 she was still a virgin.
When Jane got up on the morning of New Year’s Day she went downstairs and was met with very grave expressions.
“Blimey! How much did you lot drink last night?” Jane asked and gave a little chuckle.
Just then her father walked in wearing his uniform and no one was laughing.
“I thought you were off today” she said
“I was” he replied then he kissed Lynn
“I’ll see you later love”
“What’s happened?” Jane asked but no one spoke
“What’s happened?” she repeated “Where’s dad gone?”
“Someone’s been hurt” Lynn replied
Jane knew by the atmosphere that it was someone they knew, but she didn’t know who it could be.
And as if to pre-empt Jane’s next question Lynn said
“It’s Terry O’Neil”
And Jane felt like she’d been punched in the stomach.
And the next thing she knew she was being helped up from the floor.
PC Terry O’Neil was on duty on New Year’s Eve with another PC, Georgina Devereaux, when there was an armed robbery at a wholesale jewellers in Finchbottom.
Georgina was driving when they took the call and spun the car around as Terry responded on the radio.
Two other cars were in pursuit of the bandit car from Finchbottom and O’Neil and Devereaux were heading straight for them to intercept.
As Georgina took the roundabout, the bandit car went the wrong side of the island as a shortcut to the motorway and hit them head on.
Devereaux and two of the bandits died at the scene and a third in the ambulance, only Terry survived and he was only hanging on.
“Oh my darling” Lynn said as she helped Jane onto a chair
“I didn’t know”
“What am going to do mum?” she said and wept
Terry had pursued Jane from the age of eight when she and her family first moved to the lake but Jane had always given him the cold shoulder.
However a couple of months before the accident she began to see him in a different light and they had their first proper date.
And it went so well they planned more but Terry didn’t home again for any significant amount of time for the rest of the year buy they spoke on the phone a few times and they did meet briefly at St Mary’s on Christmas morning.
And then the accident happened.
(Part 02)
As soon as he reached the Winston Churchill Hospital, Terry was rushed into theatre and after several hours of surgery he was transferred to intensive care minus one leg.
Jane was like a zombie in the days following the bad news.
Her mum and dad kept her updated on his progress, Lynn through her contacts in the medical profession and her father as a high ranking police officer.
But all she really knew was that he was off the critical list and his police career was over.
And that wasn’t enough, so she had to adopt unconventional methods.
She borrowed granddad Harrys binoculars and from a suitable vantage point, her sister Karen’s Bedroom window, spied on the comings and goings at Lakeside Villa.
Although it might have seemed unorthodox, or even creepy to the untrained eye, but she wanted to be sure Kay O’Neil was at home when she called round.
So it was all in a good cause and after all she didn’t spy on them all the time, she still had to work for a living.
All the time Terry was in the ICU someone was at his bedside, talking to him, holding his hand, sharing their news and their love, either one of his parents or one of his brothers.
So their comings and goings at Lakeside Villa were very irregular.
It was twenty minutes into her third morning of espionage when Jane got her reward, when she saw Kay’s car pull onto the drive.
Kay worked at a nursing home in Childean and was obviously returning home after a night shift.
Kay O’Neil was a kindly woman and a good neighbour.
Jane waited until she was sure Mrs O’Neil was in the house before she raced downstairs and out the front door.
And then a few minutes later she was knocking on the O'Neil’s front door.
“Hello Kay” Jane said when the door opened
“Jane! How lovely” she said still wearing her nursing uniform “Come in dear”
“How is Terry?” she asked as she stepped over the threshold.
“He’s stable, but they have him in a medical induced coma” she said “I’m off to sit with him for a couple of hours”
Jane was thoughtful in response and then asked
“Are you going on your own?”
“Yes I’m afraid so” she replied “The others are at work”
“I could keep you company if you like” Jane said
“Would you? That would be nice” Kay replied “I’m leaving in half an hour”
As she drove them to the Winston Churchill Hospital it was Kay who broke the silence
“Terry has loved you since primary school you know?”
“I know” she replied and added a moment later
“And I only realised quite recently that the feeling was mutual”
Kay reached across and squeezed her hand.
Kay always envisaged that they would get together eventually but she didn’t think it would take quite as long as it had.
When they reached the hospital they went straight up in the lift.
Terry was in the High Dependency unit and Jane was shocked when she saw him lying there.
Apart from numerous fractures, sternum, ribs, collar bone and wrist, he had also lost his right leg below the knee and the road to recovery was going to be a long one.
He was a mass of bruises and abrasions and there were tubes coming out of every orifice.
And there was a frame keeping the covers from where his leg would have been.
She felt that same blow to her stomach she had felt on New Year’s Day when she first heard the news, and she felt queasy and light headed and for a moment she thought she might end up on the floor again, but Jane took a series of deep breaths.
“Hi Baby” Kay called “Mums here, and I’ve brought Jane too”
Kay kissed his forehead and added
“Sit down and talk to him while I’ll get us a coffee”
“What should I say?” Jane asked
“Just chat to him” Kay said
“Let him hear your voice dear”
Jane nodded and sat on the chair by the bed as Kay left and after a few moments she said
“Well Terry O’Neil, You finally got my full attention”
And she took hold of his hand and cried.
(Part 03)
Jane felt so much better after she had seen Terry, even though he was in a coma.
And she was much more relaxed on the journey home and her and Kay even laughed and joked.
Jane visited him whenever she could after that, sometimes with Kay, sometimes with his brothers and sometimes on her own, it depended on when or whether she was working.
Her visiting went on like that for more than a week with her sat by his bed holding his hand and baring her soul.
But that came to an end one lunchtime when she was working at the Brown Windsor Restaurant.
It was just after the last of the mains had gone to the pass that she received a text from Kay.
“He’s awake x”
Her first reaction was to go outside by the wheelie bins and cried her eyes out.
But as soon as the service was concluded and the kitchen cleaned down she went across the road to the surgery.
“Hello love” Lynn said “everything ok?”
“Can I borrow the car mum?” Jane asked
“Any particular reason?” Lynn asked
“Terry’s awake” she said
Lynn just smiled and tossed her the car keys.
Jane didn’t realise as she ran down the path towards the car park that there were a number of smiling faces pressed up against the windows watching her.
When she reached the car, she dropped the car keys on the tarmac, twice.
And when managed to unlock the car and get in she couldn’t find the ignition.
But eventually she started the car and drove off.
Although Jane had held a full licence since she was 18 she was not an experienced driver by any stretch of the imagination, which was perhaps fortunate as it forced her to be more cautious than she otherwise might have been under the circumstances.
And it was as a consequence of her caution that she reached the hospital in safety.
So she parked the car and then rode up in the lift, when the lift doors opened she paused and took a deep breath before stepping out.
She had only taken a few steps before she heard a familiar voice.
“Jane dear!” Kay said and hugged her.
“Hello Kay” she said and hugged her back
“Come and sit” she instructed “The doctors are with him at the moment”
So they sat in the visitor’s room and held hands as Kay explained the details of his reawakening.
In Kay O’Neil’s eyes Jane was already one of the family and she was convinced that her being at her son’s bedside had definitely hastened his recovery.
Which was why Jane was the first person she contacted when Terry woke up.
“You can go back in now Mrs O’Neil” A doctor said
“Thanks Doctor” Kay said
“You’d better go in first” she said to Jane
“Me?” she replied
“Yes, I told him you were coming” Kay said
“Oh goodness” Jane said “I don’t know what to say”
“You say exactly what you’ve been saying dear” she replied and squeezed her hand.
Jane stood up and immediately had that queasy feeling again but Kay was still holding her hand and she gave it another encouraging squeeze and a warm smile and she felt fine.
As she approached his bed his eyes were closed so she sat in her normal chair and waited.
But she didn’t have to wait for long, however she was looking the other way at the time, and didn’t see his eyes open.
He focused on the figure in the chair and licked his lips before he spoke.
“Now I know what I have to do to get you to come and see me”
“Well text time just ask, you have my number” she said “And my heart”
The following months after her declaration were very difficult ones.
Apart from the cuts, bruises, broken bones and the loss of his leg, Terry’s greatest injury was the loss of his career as a police officer, and worst of all the recurring nightmare of watching the life ebb away from his partner Georgina.
In the plus column after 16 years of trying he had finally won Jane Cooper’s heart.
But he felt the greatest gain in his life was more a result of pity which he heaped on to the already considerable pile of self-pity he already felt.
(Part 04)
However Jane Cooper was having no truck with that nonsense and after three weeks of listening to his self-indulgent whining she snapped.
It happened after he had just launched into one of his well-worn routines.
“It’s a shame you didn’t pay me as much attention before I was crippled” he whined
She had listened to the same old record play day after day and she said nothing but she was growing very tired of it, in fact she was very tired so when he started reciting it again she let him have it with both barrels.
“That’s quite enough of that rubbish” she barked stopping him mid flow
“Let me tell you something Terry O’Neil, I if were merely here out of pity I would at least be able to function in the world when I’m not here, and I can tell you that I most certainly am not.
Last week I put sugar in the cheese sauce, and salt in the meringue and I haven’t managed a successful soufflé for weeks.
These are simple task for me which I am capable of doing in my sleep, and I am consistently failing to complete them.
So don’t you lie there wallowing in a piteous mire and tell me I’m only here out of pity”
“But...” he began
“Be quiet I haven’t finished yet” She yelled
“I’ll tell you precisely what I do pity you for, and that is that you have chased me since I was eight years old with pigtails and now that you have me heart and soul you are pushing me away, for that I most heartily pity you”
And she picked up her coat and left and as she passed the visitors room Kay said
“Good girl”
“I’m sorry Kay” she said “I just lost my temper, I didn’t sleep well again last night”
“No need to apologise” Kay said “It’s just what the silly bugger needs”
Then Kay gave her a big hug and kissed her cheek
“You’re doing wonders with him, don’t give up”
“Ok” she said “I’ll just go and get some air”
When she stepped out of the lift and into the lobby she walked straight out the main entrance and filled her lungs with fresh air and as she slowly exhaled she received a text message.
She saw who it was from and opened it.
The message read;
“Sorry, T xx”
Jane put her phone away and did an about face and got back upstairs she and Terry had a good long talk.
“What was it like?” she asked him
“I don't remember that much really” Terry told her
“Not about the crash itself, it all happened so fast”
He remembered nothing about the accident other than being trapped waiting for the fire brigade to cut him free.
“You watched her die didn't you?”
“It was terrible watching her life just ebb away, I still have nightmares about it”
“Do you blame her?”
“I was always telling her that she drove too fast but she never
listened, so I suppose I do a little”
Jane just let him talk and listened
“But I feel guilty, because I survived and she didn't”
“Even though it was inevitable” he continued “it was always going to happen”
“What do you mean?” Jane asked
“She always took too many risks, I don’t think Georgina ever got over losing her husband”
Georgie’s husband, Danny had only gone out to get a bottle of wine to celebrate their two month wedding anniversary.
When he came out of the off license a fight had kicked off between some of the local winos and Danny tried to be the peace maker and got a knife if his kidney for his trouble.
He died before the paramedics reached him and Georgina’s world fell apart.
“I don’t think she cared if she lived or died” he concluded
Their long talk really cleared the air and during the following weeks, Terry made steady progress, his bruises had all but faded his bones had knitted so the physiotherapy could begin and the wound around his stump had completely healed so he was able to have his first fitting of his artificial leg.
He wasn’t looking forward to the session at all and he hadn’t kept his feelings to himself
“Stop making such a fuss” Jane said
“But it’s a big deal” he said
“Last year I saw a man in the Commonwealth games with no arms playing green bowls with his foot” she said
“And he won a medal”
“Are you going to bully me every time I don’t want to do something?”
“Yes probably”
“I think I preferred you when you didn’t want to go out with me” he said and stopped wheeling his chair
“Me too” she replied and carried on walking
“What if I end up with a peg leg like Long John Silver” he called after her
“Then I’ll buy you a parrot” she replied
“Very helpful”
(Part 05)
He may have worried about getting a peg but what he got couldn’t have been further from it.
He loved it his prosthetic leg it had a natural foot action with a microprocessor controlling the movement making walking more efficient and reducing the risk of falls.
Although the physio began very gently and he thought it was going to be a breeze and then they built up and up until they were working him really hard.
When he was returned to his room after a particularly gruelling session he had to be helped into bed and he said to Jane
“Can I start to feel sorry for myself yet?”
But before she could answer he was asleep.
Jane couldn’t see him on Valentine’s Day because it was one of the busiest days of the year in the restaurant, but she did drive over to the Winston Churchill at the end of the night with a card for him, but he was asleep so she left it on his table and kissed his forehead.
As she drove home she reflected on their first Valentine’s Day together, in fact it was her first ever Valentine’s day on which she had a vested interest, and she deemed it something of an anti-climax, not that she was expecting anything much from him, but a card would have been nice.
“Never mind” she thought “there was always next year”
It was quite late when she got home and the house was in total darkness so she took off her coat and went straight up to her room.
Jane opened the door and switched on the light and she started to cry, and she stood stock still with tears rolling down her freckled cheeks.
In the middle of the bed were a large heart shaped box of handmade chocolates, from Crazy Chocolatiers in Abbottsford’s, her absolute favourites.
A huge bouquet of flowers and a cuddly stuffed bear wearing a chef’s hat and an apron with Jane embroidered on it.
And finally a valentines card, not in an envelope but in its own box.
“You didn’t forget” she said as she hugged the bear.
Jane lay in her bed cuddling the chef bear and she wondered what he would do for her birthday which was less than a week away.
Well she would never have guessed it but for her birthday Jane got the best present ever, Terry was discharged from hospital.
And on the day of his discharge, Jane had been to Mazzone’s in Childean and had her Auburn hair cut, washed and blow dried before she travelled over to the Winston Churchill with Kay to pick him up.
As he stepped outside for the first time the March wind blew through his black hair and he walked with a defiant look in his wild gypsy eyes as he walked arm in arm with his mum and Jane.
Later that day she got her real 25th Birthday present, Terry had bought her a gold charm bracelet, with charms that meant something to them both, amongst them was a heart, a teddy bear and a bowling ball.
He would be able to add more for each future special day.
Terry was so pleased to be back home but he was confined to barracks so to speak but with having him next door it meant she didn’t have to do all the travelling to see him so it meant she could actually spend more time with him.
He still had to do physiotherapy three times a week but he was able to do that at the Shallowfield surgery.
Alma Fuentes was a tiny Spanish woman who looked like a breath of wind would blow her a way but Terry found out looks could be very deceptive as she was quite brutal.
In addition to the physio he had to go back to the hospital once a month just to check on his prosthetic and more importantly his stump.
But after three months he was completely discharged and only had to go back once a year.
By the time Easter came around Terry O’Neil was no longer a serving police officer.
He could have stayed on in an admin role, shuffling paperwork, or data entry, but that wasn’t why he joined the police in the first place, so instead he took a medical discharge.
This was problematic, firstly as it left him unemployed and secondly he had absolutely no idea what he wanted to do.
The police service was his dream and that dream was over.
(Part 06)
On the first weekend in May it was open house as usual for Lynn Cooper’s birthday and everyone on the lake was there, well almost everyone.
There were two notable exceptions because while everyone was enjoying the food, drink and warm sunshine Jane and Terry were next door in Lakeside Villa, in his room making love for the first time.
When they eventually arrived at the party it was with a gleam in their eyes and a spring in their step.
It may have been the first time but it certainly wasn’t the last and they would have spent the entire summer in that regard had fate not taken a hand.
It was when Jane was working at the Brown Windsor, a month later.
It was Saturday night and it had been a full house.
Mark Roscoe the owner and manager, a pleasant personable man around 40 years old, who carried the evidence of his over indulgence around his middle.
He was in great form that night and was a natural with the customers.
Jane would have been on her own had she not have been able to draught in Emily Goff to help her.
The reason for that was that the Chef de cuisine had quit the week before.
Her sisters, Kath and Karen waited tables and by the end of the night they were all totally shattered.
And it was just after that, when mine host, Mark Roscoe, had a heart attack and collapsed.
Fortunately for Mark, one of the last customers out the door was Dr Andrews, who was dining with her film director fiancée Peter Lutchford.
It was Kath who witnessed the collapse and immediately dispatched Karen to fetch the doctor back.
“Jane! Jane!” Kath called “Come quick”
Jane came bursting through the kitchen door wielding a large frying pan expecting to confront a robber only to find her boss on his back and her sister performing CPR on him.
“Phone an ambulance” Kath said.
Jane dropped the pan and picked up the phone.
Karen came back through the door panting hard, with Claire close behind her panting even harder.
“The Ambulance is on its way” Jane said as she crouched down besides Kath.
They all stood in the street outside the restaurant and watched as the ambulance drove away and Jane had the distinct impression that Mark Roscoe’s restaurant management days were over.
The Cooper girls ran the Brown Windsor for the next couple of months, initially while Mark was in hospital and then while he convalesced at his sisters in Millmoor.
They didn’t realise until he wasn’t there just how much he did so Jane and her sisters were kept very busy.
As Jane was so busy with the Brown Windsor and he was at a loose end Terry started to help out in the restaurant as well.
This was originally motivated purely by selfishness as he wouldn’t have seen very much of Jane if he hadn’t but as the weeks passed he found he was actually enjoying it.
When he first suggested it to Jane her reaction was a little derisory.
“You don’t know anything about working in a restaurant and I’ve seen you in a kitchen remember”
She was referring to when they used to do food tech together at school.
Even the teacher despaired of his efforts and in one school report, wrote,
“Never have I seen a pupil less suited to the subject”
Harsh but true, after all he only signed up for the subject because it was her passion and she was his.
“There are things I can do that don’t require culinary skills” he said
“And I can smooze the customers”
“You can’t even say schmooze” she said and laughed “But you are cute”
On July the first Terry was officially unemployed and for all he knew unemployable.
He had only been in the police about 3 and a half years when he was involved in the car accident that ended his career and took his leg.
So although he survived he was invalided out of the service
He got a lump sum on his discharge followed by an even larger sum in compensation and there was even a small reward from the insurance company for the recovery of the stolen jewellery.
He donated the insurance money to the Police benevolent fund.
(Part 07)
It was August the twelfth, also known as the glorious 12th, and was the beginning of the Grouse shooting season, so Jane had Grouse on the menu and as a result they were fully booked.
It was also the day, after the lunch time serving was over, that Mark Roscoe decided to drop in to see them.
He had lost a lot of weight and skin hung loosely at his neck and his skin was ashen.
As he sat at one of the tables he made an announcement.
As he wasn’t staff, Terry listened from behind the kitchen door.
“I wanted to catch you while you were all together and give you the news” he said slowly having to pause to catch his breath.
“I have decided to sell the Restaurant”
It was obvious to them all that he was gravely ill and it would be a very long road to recovery if he was to complete the journey.
His plan was to sell up and move in with his sister in Millmoor and he planned to sell the restaurant as a going concern so he hoped their jobs would be safe but he couldn’t promise that they would be.
That afternoon as Jane and Terry walked home in silence, they paused and took a seat by the lake and sat gazing out across the water.
It was Jane who broke the silence
“Well it looks like we’re both unemployed now”
“Not necessarily” Terry responded
“The new owners will want to do thing their way, and with staff of their choice” she said “With a chef of their choice”
“That’s not what I meant” Terry said
“What then?” she asked
“You’ve always wanted your own restaurant, why don’t you make him an offer?” Terry suggested
“I already spoke to him” she said “I can’t afford it”
“How much is he looking for?” he asked
“Twice as much as I have” Jane said
“But not twice as much as WE have” he said
“What?” she said
“I just happen to have a lump sum burning a hole in my pocket, and I’m looking for an investment opportunity” he said
“Don’t tease me Terry” she said crossly “it’s not funny”
“I wasn’t teasing” he said seriously “I’m serious”
“You are?”
“I’ve really enjoyed working at the restaurant and working with you” he continued “and I think we work well together”
“Yes I know but…” she began
“No buts” he said cutting her off “we could really make a go of it, this could be our chance”
“Are you sure?” Jane asked clearly not
“I am” he replied “But you have to be as well, so you need to think it through”
He stood up and took her hand and pulled her to her feet.
“So I prescribe a long hot bath, scented candles and soothing music” he said “and whatever you decide I will support”
“And what will you be doing while I’m soaking and thinking?” she asked
“I’m going home to soak my foot” he said and she laughed
Jane took his advice and had a long hot bath with scented candles and soothing music and it did clear her mind.
But she also spoke to her mum and dad and Granddad Harry and her sisters.
The decision was unanimous.
As she lay on her bed wrapped in towels cuddling her teddy bear chef she phoned Terry who was indeed soaking his foot.
When he answered the phone she said
“I’m in”
“Great” he said
“I’ll be around in ten minutes to seal the deal” she said
“Does that mean we’re going to shake on it?” he asked
“Something like that” Jane replied
So taking advantage of an empty house they sealed their partnership.
Then they had to get a wriggle on and get back to the restaurant to start the prep for the evening service.
The next morning they phone Mark and made him an offer, which was just under his asking price which he accepted without hesitation.
Her first act as joint proprietor was to employ Emily Goff, who helped her with her home dining bookings, as her full time under chef.
The Brown Windsor closed on the Friday before the August Bank Holiday and reopened on the 1st of September as The Phoenix.
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