The Little Island Flower Stall

Chapter Seventeen

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Half an hour later, Bella and Celestine were back at Villa Rosa. Celestine looked tired – Bella supposed she must be exhausted – physically and emotionally – but she insisted on preparing their evening meal.

‘It’s only a morsel,’ she said. ‘I can manage it. Go and make your phone call; I can tell it’s on your mind.’

‘It can wait. Don’t you want to talk about what happened at the home with Violette?’

‘Why would I do that?’

‘Well…it must be a lot to process. It might help to say things out loud, to work them through with someone…me.’

‘Nonsense,’ Celestine said briskly. ‘I’m perfectly fine now. It’s all over as far as I’m concerned.’

Bella hesitated, tempted to argue. Not for a minute did she think Celestine really felt that way. But she could see that Celestine didn’t want to talk about it, even if Bella said she ought to. Perhaps, when she’d been able to sleep on it, she might feel differently, and Bella resolved to approach the subject again in the morning. So she simply nodded. ‘I suppose it is on my mind. Nothing gets past you, does it?’

‘It would be on my mind too. Now, off you go.’

Bella took her phone into the garden. It had been a mixed sort of day, to say the least. The sun was skirting the treetops, almost gone, but Bella found the last corner of the garden where she could feel its rays and moved a chair to it. She dialled Rory’s number feeling strangely agitated, though she couldn’t say why. If she’d had time to think about it, she’d have realised her visit to the home with Celestine had shredded her nerves almost as much as it had her great-aunt’s. It went into overdrive when a woman answered.

‘Hello…’ Bella asked, ‘sorry to…Is Rory there? This is his phone, isn’t it? I’ve called the right number?’

‘Rory, no. Do you want me to take a message?’ The voice was courteous enough, but there was a faint whiff of suspicion in her tone. ‘What’s it about?’

‘It’s…I’d rather talk to him about it, if that’s all right.’

‘I suppose it will have to be if you don’t want to tell me. Can I at least have a name so I can tell him who he’s meant to call back?’

‘Yes,’ Bella said, wondering why her name wasn’t showing on the caller ID. Did that mean he hadn’t saved her number under her name? What had he saved it as? Had he stored it in his contact list at all? ‘It’s Bella.’

‘Ah! Bella!’ The woman sounded brighter. ‘You’re his local knowledge person!’

‘I’m not sure…I suppose so.’

Bella paused, her mind racing. It was such a strange thing to say. Unless…Rory was covering something up. He’d lied to this woman – whoever she was – about Bella. And the only reason he’d do that was if he was up to no good.

‘Yes,’ she said, not knowing what else to say, frantically trying to work out what was going on. ‘That’s exactly right. I’ve been helping him with his search.’

‘OK. I’ll tell him you called.’

‘Thanks.’

When Bella locked her phone she was calm. And then the rage hit like a brick falling from the sky. How had she been taken in by a man again? How could she have been so stupid? She wasn’t even angry at Rory – he’d seen game and he’d hunted it. Wasn’t that what they all did? She was furious with herself for being such a willing victim, once again. Would she never learn?

Pocketing her phone, she took a moment to compose herself and then went back into the house. Celestine was in the kitchen putting the finishing touches to their salad.

‘Everything all right?’ she asked without looking up.

‘Fine,’ Bella said.

‘Did you manage to reach him? What did he say?’

‘No, I didn’t reach him.’

‘Never mind. I expect he’ll call back when he can. Do you want this lettuce dressed or just as it is?’

Bella took a seat at the table. ‘Whatever you want is fine.’

Celestine brought two plates over to the table and peered more closely at Bella. ‘Are you sure you’re all right?’

‘Yes.’

‘Bella…’ Celestine frowned as she set the plates down.

Bella took a seat. ‘I’m fine. Supper looks good.’

‘Now then,’ Celestine said sternly, ‘we’ve been through enough together today for more honesty than that. I can tell you’re upset. You were there for me, and now I want to be there for you. What’s wrong?’

‘I’m not sure.’ Bella picked up a fork and stabbed aimlessly at her meal. ‘I don’t know what to think. I want to be mistaken, but I’m sure I’m right.’

‘I’m afraid you’re not making a lot of sense to me.’

‘I’m not making much sense to myself either. Nothing is making sense anymore.’ She looked up from her plate. ‘Do you think I’m stupid?’

‘No!’

‘Do I come across as gullible?’

‘Goodness no! What’s this about?’

Bella sighed. ‘Maybe it’s a man thing. Like I have some sign on my forehead that only men can see. A sign that says “Come, take the piss. I’ll totally swallow it.”’

‘What on earth has happened? Is this something to do with Sean? I thought you were trying to reach Rory.’

‘I was. But I got…I don’t know. A woman. His wife, probably. She didn’t say.’

‘She could have been anyone. What makes you think she’s his wife?’

‘I could tell.’ Bella paused. ‘I had a call from a woman earlier today too. Unknown number. I bet that was her. She’d seen a message from me on his phone, and she’d called to scope me out. And then she’d confronted him, and he’d told her I was helping him. As soon as I told her my name, she was like, oh, you’re his local knowledge person. Well that’s a strange way to refer to someone who’s a friend, isn’t it? More than a friend, in fact.’ Bella let out a groan. ‘There’s no other explanation.’

Celestine shook her head as she sprinkled salt onto her meal. ‘I’m so sorry. You are having rotten luck lately.’

‘Looks that way.’

‘You really liked him too.’

‘Yes,’ Bella sighed. ‘I did. I might have known that was the jinx. I’m drawn to tossers, apparently. If I fancy them, they’re going to turn out to be bad. Seems like a good rule to follow from now on: don’t go out with any man unless I’m not attracted to him.’

Celestine pushed the salt cellar across the table for Bella. ‘You’re being too hard on yourself. And you don’t know that’s the whole story yet. If I were you, I’d find out for certain.’

‘I do. I’m involved, so what else would it be? I’ve had enough. No more men.’

Celestine was silent for a moment, chewing thoughtfully on her lettuce. After a time, she spoke again. ‘Why don’t you go to his hotel?’

‘And do what?’ Climb up to the windows to spy on him?’

Celestine looked hurt, and Bella immediately backed off. Her poor great-aunt had been battered enough today, and she was only trying to help.

‘Sorry,’ she added. ‘That was uncalled for.’

‘If I were you, knowing what I know now about life and regrets in general, I’d want to be certain. If you like him as much as you seem to, then would you want to throw it all away on a suspicion that might be wrong? There could be any number of explanations.’

‘Do you really think so? Because I can’t see any other.’

‘Perhaps not,’ Celestine admitted. ‘But I’d still want to know for sure.’

‘I’m not sure I want the answer, to be honest.’

‘What about the news you were going to share with him about Violette?’

‘I don’t know,’ Bella admitted. ‘I feel I ought to tell him that – it has nothing to do with our relationship, after all. But I can’t say I’m feeling very generous in that regard at the moment. I could quite easily be peevish about it and keep it to myself, and it would still be no more than he deserves.’

‘I think you’re better than that. Don’t you?’

‘Yes, probably, and it annoys the hell out of me.’

‘I can understand that too, but if I know you, you won’t be able to help yourself. You’d want to tell him, no matter what he did. It’s that sense of fair play – your dad has it.’

‘That’s probably why it’s so galling when nobody seems to want to play fair with me. What would you do?’

‘I have no idea. I haven’t spent the time around Rory that you have, so I couldn’t possibly comment on whether his intentions seemed genuine or not.’

‘Oh, they were genuine all right. As in, he genuinely wanted to get into my knickers.’

Celestine winced, and Bella flushed. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean that to sound so coarse.’

‘You’re upset – it’s only natural.’

Bella chewed on a forkful of salad as she stared into space. ‘I honestly don’t know what I ought to do. I know one thing for sure – I won’t be so trusting next time I meet a good-looking man with a romantic backstory.’

‘You think it’s romantic?’

Bella turned to her. ‘Sort of. Isn’t it?’

‘I’d hardly call it that,’ Celestine said in a withering tone that filled Bella with instant shame. ‘A young man died; a young girl lost the love of her life and had to give up his child. I’m sure it might seem romantic in a film, but I’d call it tragic. Awful, in fact.’

‘I’m sorry; you’re right.’

Celestine gave her a thin smile now. ‘No, I’m sorry. I’m more sensitive about it than I ought to be. It’s only natural it would be hard for you to grasp what it was like. So many years have passed, and most of the people who were around then are dead and gone.’

Bella drew in a long breath. ‘I suppose I’ll go to see him then. If he ever actually replies to one of my messages. I’ll go to his hotel tomorrow if I don’t hear anything before then. It just feels like the right thing to do. What happened between Rory and me has nothing to do with him and his family. Although, I can’t say I’ll be in a brilliant mood about it if he doesn’t contact me before then – I’ll know something dodgy is up.’

Bella pushed some coleslaw around her plate, feeling oddly deflated and redundant. She was still angry at the possibility that Rory had been lying to her, but not as angry as she’d been when she’d first put the phone down on the mystery woman. It wasn’t only about him, though. For the past few weeks she’d been full of purpose, as excited to be on his journey of discovery as he was. It had been a wonderful distraction from her own troubles. Now it was all over, life seemed dull and exhausting once more. She still had her divorce to work through, not to mention how she was going to start her life all over again, and as things stood now, it was hard to see a single bright spot in her future.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said after a moment. ‘Do you mind if I put this in the fridge for later? I’m not really hungry.’

‘I hope you’re not going to make yourself ill over this.’

‘Don’t worry – no man is worth that. I think I’ll go for a walk to clear my head. I’ll be fine when I get back.’

Bella buttoned up her coat, the breeze from the sea giving her goosebumps. Beyond the lights of the promenade were the soft dunes standing sentry on the beach, wild grass woven into them, and further still the black vastness of a dark ocean, pinpricks of yellow light marking out a boat here and there. After all the excitement and noise of the previous couple of days, St Rosa and its seafront seemed eerily quiet. Summer was coming, but the evenings were cooler, and today Bella had noticed a more obvious temperature drop. By the time the scorching weather arrived, she’d be back in Shrewsbury.

She’d grown calmer sitting here on the sand, with the waves beating a hushed rhythm against the shore, reflecting on what had passed between her and Rory. She’d decided there was no point in being angry with him. There was no point in being angry with herself either, for that matter. She’d done what she’d done in the heat of the moment, and despite his obvious flirting, despite him so often seeking out her company, he hadn’t asked her to kiss him. He hadn’t asked her for anything she hadn’t been willing to give. She’d told him how it was, and he’d respected that.

Yes, he was covering something up. She still didn’t know what, but that much was clear. She hadn’t the right to be angry about that either when she’d never taken the time to dig deeper into the facts of his life, though she couldn’t help but feel betrayed. After all, she’d been open with him, and he ought to have done the same with her.

She watched, lost in thought as a boat crossed her field of vision, heading towards the harbour. A fishing boat? They were often the only ones out after dark. Maybe it was Kelvin’s, Celestine’s friend.

Bella shook her head with a small smile. Kelvin? There were many more people with boats on Jersey – why would it be him? Perhaps her mind had gone there because he was one of the first people she’d met after she’d arrived and he’d seemed kind – he’d certainly been kind to Celestine. Why couldn’t Bella find a man like that? Uncomplicated, honest, kind…It wasn’t much to ask, was it? Had she really been such a bad person that she deserved such terrible karma?

Seized by a sudden impetuousness, she got to her feet. Driftwood View – that was Rory’s hotel, wasn’t it? She was sure he’d mentioned it at some point, though she’d never been back there with him. With a sense of irony, she realised why that was probably the case. Of course he wouldn’t have taken her to his hotel if there’d been a spouse waiting there for him. Although, that still didn’t entirely add up. Why would she simply sit in the hotel waiting for him? Why had he been roaming the island alone? Wouldn’t she have been with him?

As Bella started to march across the sand, opening the map function on her phone to locate the hotel, she wondered if Celestine might have a point. Why was this the first she’d heard of the mystery woman who’d answered the phone?

Fifteen minutes later, the hotel came into view. It was set back from the promenade, further along the sweep of the bay than Celestine’s flower stall. It was grand – a bit ostentatious, Bella felt – with faux gothic architecture and heavy velvet drapes at the windows. The first stars were now in the sky, and the hotel was lit yellow from within. Bella took the entrance steps and pushed on the heavy double doors to find herself in a carpeted lobby. Before her courage could desert her, she strode to the reception desk. The boy working on there couldn’t have been more than eighteen or nineteen and, as she made her request, Bella suddenly felt stupid.

‘I wonder if you could tell me if you have a man by the name of Rory staying here.’

‘I’m not allowed to give that information out. Sorry.’

‘Right…I only want to get a message to him.’

‘I could pass one on.’

Him passing a message on would be telling Bella he was here, but she wasn’t about to point that out. ‘I’d appreciate that.’

‘So what’s his surname?’

‘Oh…’ Bella flushed. ‘Hang on…’

He’d told her but only once in passing, and she’d clean forgotten. How stupid, now that she thought about it. She’d gone and fallen for a man whose name she didn’t even know! They’d shared so much of their lives and yet she didn’t have that. It was like she’d been hypnotised or something by him all along.

‘I can’t do much without it,’ the boy at reception said. He sounded as if he wanted her gone.

‘Can’t you just see if there’s a Rory on your list of guests? I mean, it’s not a very common name, is it?’

‘Not really.’

‘I only want you to call up and tell him Bella is here and ask if he can come and speak to me.’

‘Without more information, I’m afraid I can’t.’

Bella huffed, tried to come up with a convincing argument and then decided there was no point. She could hardly blame the receptionist. She must have sounded ridiculous – she’d have acted in the same way had the tables been turned.

‘Thanks,’ she said, hurrying to the entrance, her mind filled with questions of her next step.

Outside, the moon had risen and was casting a pearly gleam on the calm of the ocean beyond the beach. Aside from the gentle rise and fall of the waves and the distant traffic away from the promenade, the street was quiet. There were a few souls wandering its pavements sharing murmured conversations and the odd sporadic burst of laughter, but it seemed dead compared to the feverish noise and excitement of the Liberation Day parade only the day before.

Had it really only been twenty-four hours? So much had happened since then it felt as if it ought to be years ago.

Bella crossed the promenade to walk closer to the beach. She let the sound of the waves breaking on the sand reassure her. In and out, always the same, like a constant heartbeat, somehow regulating her own, calming her.

Celestine was right – Bella didn’t know the facts. She’d leaped to conclusions, perhaps coloured by her past experiences. It was only natural she’d react as she had done, but perhaps she’d been hasty in her judgement. She needed to speak to Rory and she didn’t know how she was going to wait without going mad, but she had to. It occurred to her as she followed the curve of the bay that she could try to phone him again, but she was afraid of the woman answering and didn’t know what she would say if she did.

She heard the voice before she saw them. It was Rory’s – of that she was certain. Ducking across the promenade again, she moved back into the shadow of a building and watched the couple walk towards where she’d just been. They were deep in conversation. The woman sounded defiant but upset. Bella couldn’t be sure – she’d only heard her voice for a few minutes on the phone that day – but it did sound like the same woman who’d answered when she’d called to speak to Rory. He was calm but using a tone Bella had never heard from him before. Whatever their conversation was about, Bella got the impression it was a difficult one. He seemed frustrated, maybe even angry. Was it something to do with her call earlier that day? Was the woman grilling him about who Bella was? She’d been courteous enough then and hadn’t seemed too concerned about Bella, but perhaps that had been a front for what she’d really felt. Perhaps she’d done the same as Bella was doing now, reserved judgement until she’d managed to speak to Rory about it. And perhaps she was coming to a conclusion she didn’t like, just as Bella had done.

Bella strained to hear the exact conversation, but she could only make out the odd word, and even that wasn’t helpful. It was the tone of each voice that told her more than anything.

She froze. What if they looked across the road and saw her? She was weighing up her options when they stopped on the pavement, lit by the glow of a nearby streetlamp. Rory said something and then folded her into his arms. They were silent then, frozen like this for perhaps thirty seconds. Then Rory let her go and they went on their way, still silent, her head down and his gaze straight ahead. She folded her arms to wrap herself and seemed so much smaller for it. Rory’s step was agitated too – Bella could see it in the way his hands were dug into his coat pockets, as if he might be able to dig his way through them.

What had she witnessed? Bella wanted to cry, but she wasn’t going to let that happen. She still didn’t know the truth, but the evidence wasn’t looking good. Whatever the connection between Rory and this woman was, clearly it was something intimate.

She stepped out from the shadows, glanced back once, and at the same time so did Rory. His expression of surprise was matched only by her mortification as he recognised her.

The rest of the scene played out as if in slow motion. He hesitated, seemed torn on his next action, but then he bid the woman he was with to wait and ran across to her.

‘Bella…what are you doing here?’

‘I came to see…’ She angled her head to the far side of the promenade. Rory’s companion was watching them. ‘Who’s that?’

‘Bella, it’s not like you think; it’s?—’

‘Rory!’ the woman called to him.

‘Give me a minute!’ he replied, but as he turned back to Bella, she began to walk over to them.

Rory seemed to wither in front of Bella’s eyes, a look of defeat in his expression.

‘Hello,’ the woman said to Bella. She sounded cheerful enough, but Bella had spent enough hours of her own life putting a brave face on a situation to recognise it. All wasn’t well here.

‘Lisa,’ Rory said awkwardly. ‘This is Bella. Bella…Lisa.’

‘Oh,’ Lisa said. ‘I spoke to you on the phone. So you live on Jersey? Rory’s been telling me all about how helpful you’ve been. I wouldn’t know where to start as a genealogist. I bet it’s fascinating though.’

‘A what?’ Bella stared at her.

‘You trace family trees. That’s right, isn’t it?’

Rory threw Bella such a pleading look that she fell into the lie without even realising what she was doing. ‘Yes, that’s right. I help trace families. That’s what I do.’

‘I’ve been saying to him for years he ought to find out about his great-grandparents. It’s good news about the DNA, isn’t it?’

Bella nodded, her thoughts racing. ‘How are you enjoying Jersey?’ she asked.

‘I only arrived here this morning.’

‘Oh.’

‘I didn’t know you were coming, did I?’ Rory said to her, something strained and deliberate in his tone. ‘I wasn’t expecting?—’

‘I know you weren’t. I didn’t know myself until I’d booked the flight, did I? I told you about that…’

‘Yes.’

He gave Bella another look loaded with significance. She couldn’t work out what it meant, and she was beginning not to care. She turned back to Lisa. ‘So you’re Rory’s… family ?’

‘Only by marriage,’ Lisa said. She put her hand on Rory’s arm and tugged. ‘I think we should get back.’

‘I just need to talk to Bella; it won’t take?—’

‘I won’t keep you,’ Bella said stiffly. She’d heard all she wanted to hear.

‘Just a minute…’ Rory said, shaking his arm free of Lisa’s hand. ‘Lisa, start back; I’ll catch you up. There’s something I’ve got to talk to Bella about.’

For the first time during the encounter, Lisa regarded Bella with something like suspicion. ‘Can’t it wait?’

‘Just what I was thinking,’ Bella said. ‘You can speak to me tomorrow during office hours if you need to. I might be your genealogist, but I’m not on standby twenty-four-seven.’

‘Bella, please, wait…it’s not what you think – we’re not together!’ he blurted out. ‘Lisa and me, we’re not?—’

‘Rory?’ Lisa squeaked. ‘I don’t?—’

‘Whatever this is,’ Bella cut in, ‘I don’t want to be a part of it.’

With Rory’s voice in her ears, she hurried away. She half wondered if he would chase her, but from what she could tell, a heated discussion had begun with Lisa, and he was probably too busy.

Her phone buzzed in her coat pocket a few minutes later as she marched towards Villa Rosa. She pulled it out and grimaced at the screen.

‘Rory,’ she said, trying hard not to sound as rattled as she felt. Of course he’d phone now, while she was busy working out what she was going to do about him. She needed more time, but it seemed fate had other ideas.

‘Bella, what you just saw…it’s not what you think.’

She held back a hiss of impatience. Part of her wanted to hear a reasonable explanation because she hated the notion that she’d made a total fool of herself for this man. She’d liked him a lot, and she wanted desperately to think that they could still have something. But she wasn’t going to allow her intelligence to be insulted – Sean had done enough of that to last her a lifetime.

‘Please,’ he continued. ‘Give me five minutes to?—’

‘You know what?’ she cut in, her tone cool and measured. ‘It’s on me. I should have known you were too good to be true; I should have realised you’d be married.’

‘But that’s just it! I’m…I suppose I’m married, technically, but we’re not together. Isn’t that just like your situation?’

‘You looked fairly together to me. If you’re not, perhaps you ought to tell your wife that. She did come all the way to Jersey to be with you, after all.’

‘Yes because she was trying to patch things up. I didn’t ask her to come – I don’t want her here.’

‘Charming. Poor Lisa.’

‘It’s not like that. I’d already told her I wanted a divorce, but she’s struggling. When she arrived here this morning, I hadn’t the heart to send her away. I still care about her. I was going to tell you when I got a moment. I planned to explain it all to you when we met today?—’

‘You should have told me at the beginning!’

‘I know. Do you think I don’t realise how stupid I’ve been? I should have been straight with you. I should have been straight with you both. But I didn’t imagine what happened between us was going to happen, and by the time I realised, it was too late. It all just spiralled out of my control.’

‘Instead you decided to lie to both of us.’

‘I know. Please believe me – I was going to tell you when we met up again.’

‘And you expect me to buy this? Why did you tell Lisa I was a genealogist? If you’re not together, why hide our…I don’t even know what it was. But why hide it from her? You had no reason.’

‘I didn’t want her to get weird about it.’

‘So your solution was to keep us both in the dark so you wouldn’t have to have a couple of potentially awkward conversations? Great work. Your great-grandfather may have been a deserter, but it looks to me as if you’re a bigger coward than he ever was.’

‘Grandfather…? I don’t understand.’

‘Probably not. I would have explained it, but I don’t feel inclined to now.’

‘Bella, don’t hang up!’

‘I’ve heard enough. Forgive me if I don’t trust another word that comes from your mouth. I wish you well, Rory, but I think we’re done.’

She ended the call. A second later, her phone began to buzz again, but she ignored it. Maybe Rory did have a good explanation, but she was afraid to hear any – good or bad. How could she trust it to be the truth? She’d been taken in more than once by Sean – what made her think it would be any different with Rory?

From now on, she’d concentrate on people who wouldn’t let her down, and one of those was waiting for her at Villa Rosa.