Chapter Eight
The One With Careless Whispers
The following Saturday, Kate and Mollie headed down the hill, but before going on into town for a mooch around the bookshop and some lunch, they called on Anna, only to find her at the large table in the window. Sunlight poured in, casting a glow over the contents spread liberally around that belied the chilly day outside.
‘Have we come at a bad time?’ Kate’s eyes scanned the papers and photos on the table, but Anna smiled warmly as she put down the letter she held.
‘Not at all. I’m torn between enjoying what I’m doing and feeling horribly voyeuristic.’
Hanging her coat over the back of a chair, Kate laughed. ‘Intriguing.’
‘Where’s Dougal?’ Mollie called from the sofa opposite the log burner, where she sat stroking Heathcliff, who rolled onto her back, stretching her black, fluffy paws out in ecstasy.
‘Up in the den with Oliver. They’ll be here soon, it’s almost coffee time.’
Anna turned back to the table and Kate picked up a photo of a handsome man, leaning against a sleek boat, who looked to be in his mid-thirties. From the style of the image, his hairstyle and attire, she guessed it was from several decades ago. Glancing at the back, she tried to decipher the fading ink scrawl.
‘Neb. Autumn ’75. Polwelyn.’ Kate raised an eyebrow. ‘Odd name. Who is he?’
‘I’m not sure, except it’s definitely Aunt Meg’s handwriting.’ Anna reached for a polished wooden box in the centre of the table. ‘This is yet another of her mysteries. My brother found it under a creaking floorboard when he stayed over Christmas, but what with that, the wedding and then going away, it was put aside. Oliver reminded me about it yesterday, so I thought I’d have a look. I feel like I shouldn’t, because she’d hidden it away.’
It was generally accepted that Anna had inherited Westerleigh Cottage from elderly Meg Stratfield, who’d never married and had no family.
Aunt Meg – not a relation by blood, but someone who had become important to the orphaned Anna as she grew up and passed her summer holidays in Polkerran under the lady’s care – had passed away a few years ago, suffering from Alzheimer’s. She’d left behind a mystery for Anna to solve at the time, instructing her to ‘follow the shells’, culminating in the discovery of a similar wooden box – in effect, both were antique tea caddies.
Inside the first one had been some important documents relevant to the ownership of Westerleigh, along with a letter for Anna, a few personal photos and the ring now sitting next to the wedding band on her left hand.
Kate picked up the photo again and studied it. ‘Are there any more?’
‘Yes, stacks of them.’ Anna handed her a couple of photos, one informal, the other clearly a studio shot, the man in a suit, his hair much more neatly styled. He had keen blue eyes, extremely handsome features and the hair was clearly auburn.
Kate narrowed her gaze, tilting one of the photos to the side. ‘There’s something familiar about him, but—’
She looked up as the door opened and Oliver came in, Dougal on his heels.
Mollie joined them at the table. ‘What are you doing? Hey, that man looks like the one we met on the cliff path, Mum. You know, the one with the black dog and the little boy.’
Her interest piqued, Kate studied it further. ‘I think that’s Ryther.’ She raised her gaze to Anna’s before it returned to the photo, and she handed it to her friend. ‘Why on earth would your Aunt Meg have photos of Dev’s grandfather?’
Mollie rolled her eyes at her mother. ‘They obviously knew each other.’
‘Rather well, I’d say,’ Oliver added as he joined them, Dougal weaving around his legs. ‘Did Anna show you this?’
He retrieved some torn pages from under a letter. ‘Meg kept diaries. They were stacked in boxes when Anna moved here, but a few had lines blacked out or pages removed. We never knew why until we opened this box.’
‘Aunt Meg was madly in love with someone called Neb, but something kept them apart. It sounds, from what we’ve read so far, that she ended it. We’ve no idea why.’ Anna sighed. ‘And I’m still not sure we should pry. Who knows what secrets these letters hold?’
‘Maybe that man was a wife killer!’ Mollie’s expression brightened at the prospect, but Kate merely rolled her eyes.
‘You’ll have to excuse Molls. She’s obsessed with Henry and his six wives.’
With a laugh, Anna got to her feet. ‘Looking at the rest will have to wait. Let’s have a cuppa before you head off.’
Kate busied herself gathering the papers and photos together, placing them carefully into the caddy, but she hesitated with the last image she held. Mollie was right about it looking like Dev, aside from the dated clothing – and perhaps the smile.
He hadn’t actually directed one at her, yet.
Kate dressed with care the following Saturday. It continued to be dry, but as it was still cool, she’d chosen a fine wool shift dress and a matching three-quarter-length coat. The moment she slid her feet into heels, however, she had a sudden hankering for shedding her business image, donning the new walk boots and coat and taking a stroll on the coast path, losing herself in her surroundings.
Was she a mismatch for Polkerran? Kate sometimes felt like that one boat in the bay facing upstream when all the others pointed out to sea.
She was in the kitchen, checking her bag, when she heard Mollie coming down the stairs. Thankfully, the teenage urge to sleep in hadn’t set in yet.
A giggle came from her daughter as she reached the hall, and Kate sent her a fond look as she came into the room, the perpetual buds in her ears.
‘We need to go in twenty minutes, love.’ Kate pointed at the cereal and poured Mollie a glass of her favourite juice.
Removing one of the earbuds, Mollie set to, then giggled again.
‘What are you listening to?’
‘A podcast,’ Mollie mumbled through a mouthful of coco-pops. ‘They’re doing “Sexy/Not Sexy”.’
With a frown, Kate swept toast crumbs from the counter into her hand and dropped them in the food waste. ‘I don’t think it’s—’
‘Muuum!’ Mollie rolled her eyes at Kate. ‘It’s not that sort of sexy, when – ewww.’ She shuddered, and it was her mother’s turn to laugh.
‘Okay.’
‘It’s this game, where a thing, like, you know, an everyday thing is not s exy, but if it’s a bit different, then it is .’
‘You mean its aura?’
‘Vibe. Yeah, kinda.’
Kate held out a hand for Mollie’s now empty bowl and spoon. ‘I’ve heard of it. They do it sometimes on the radio. Like, a raisin isn’t sexy, but a chocolate-covered raisin is.’
Mollie slid off the stool. ‘You’re such a mum sometimes. Gonna brush my teeth.’
‘ Going to ,’ Kate corrected automatically, then frowned. Was she? What was it about raisins that made Mollie think that?
By the time they reached Anna’s, where Mollie was to spend the day until Kate left work, the debate continued.
‘See? Bose, not sexy.’ Mollie pointed to the headphones resting on the counter. ‘Puro, sexy. I’m winning.’
Anna looked over as they came into the house. ‘Sounds like an intriguing game.’
‘Except I’m failing miserably at it.’
Kate searched her mind desperately for something not remotely ‘mumsie’. ‘Peanuts,’ she announced with triumph. ‘Not sexy. Peanut butter , sexy.’
Her daughter sent her a resigned look and walked off to sit by Heathcliff in the window seat, and Kate winked at Anna. ‘Depends what you’re using it for, mind.’
Anna smothered her laugh as Kate said goodbye to Mollie.
There. That proved it, didn’t it? She wasn’t just a mum!
The wedding went smoothly, with the guests in good humour and the weather continuing dry, allowing them to spill out onto the terrace, albeit with the heaters lit to keep them warm. It was gone six by the time Kate arrived back at Westerleigh to delicious aromas filtering through the open window of the boot room.
‘There you are!’ Anna welcomed her in, and as soon as she’d kicked off the heels and shed her coat, her friend thrust a glass of chilled wine into her hand and told her to sit. ‘You’ll stay to eat with us? Mollie’s up with Oliver in the den at the moment.’
Kate filled Anna in on her day as she sat at the island, watching her friend checking on a hearty-looking fish pie.
‘Mollie’s had a busy day. They took Dougal out for a long walk this morning, and she’s been round at Nicki’s too, gaming with the boys. After lunch, she watched back-to-back Digging for Britain on YouTube, and she’s been with Oliver since, pounding him with questions about archaeology.’
‘Poor Oliver!’
Anna put the pie in the oven to keep warm and turned her attention to the pans on the stove top. ‘He loves talking history. Besides, he needed a break. He spent all the time she was next door going through some paperwork with Dev.’
Despite herself, Kate’s ears pricked up. ‘I wouldn’t have thought they’d have much in common.’
‘We’ve only really got to know Dev well in the last few months. Before his wife finally moved out, he didn’t really socialise or interact with the locals. I’m not saying she kept him captive,’ Anna smirked. ‘He’s very much his own man, but I think she was away so much, he wanted to be a stabilising factor for the son. He’s become interested in Oliver’s property schemes lately, though, so he pops in now and again.’
‘What does Dev do for a living, then?’
Anna opened the Aga door, waving her oven-mitts at the escaping heat. ‘He owns a lot of land, which he manages. I’m not aware he has anything to do with the family business.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Music. His grandfather was something big in the industry back in the day – still owns the companies, even though he’s retired, along with Secret Gem Records.’
Kate raised an impressed brow. ‘Even I’ve heard of them.’
‘It’s who my brother, Matt’s, working with. He and Ryther somehow hit it off when Dev’s grandfather was down for Christmas and now Matt’s writing music for some of the label’s artists.’
Anna paused to stir a saucepan on the stove. ‘Anyway, the family have owned Harbourwatch for years. Decades, as far as we know. When I first started coming to Westerleigh, for my summer stays with Aunt Meg – that would be when I was about six – the house was all boarded up, derelict and neglected. Phee was one of the local kids I made friends with, they all called it the Bat House.’
‘A bit different to how it is now. The interior is stunning.’ Kate recollected her admiration for the room they’d had the reception in.
‘Yes, according to Leigh – who is never terribly discreet – the grandfather made it over to Dev and funded its renovation to its former glory. She made no secret of how much it cost, especially the restoration of the period features.’
Kate’s gaze drifted towards the window. ‘I wonder why Ryther would have left the house empty, to fall into such a state? What could’ve happened to drive him away from the cove for such a long time?’
‘I’ve no idea. Anyway, the completion of the renovation coincided with Dev’s going to the US. Something to do with Leigh and a high-profile role she’d secured, so he rented it out. Oliver took it on for three years.’ Anna released a contented sigh. ‘And if none of that had happened, we’d never have met.’
Kate sent her an understanding smile. She was still none the wiser as to what Dev actually did, but more disturbing was why she desperately wished to know more about him.