Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Lily was still in bed the next morning when Flynn brought her a coffee and her phone.
“It wasn’t Seren messaging you,” he said as he handed it over.
“Who was it?” she asked, intrigued by his tone.
“Richard Harper.” He settled himself against the headboard while Lily clicked into her messages. “What was he messaging for?”
Lily frowned at the phone, wishing she’d looked at it last night. She checked the time, calculating how long before she needed to leave for her flight.
“What’s wrong?” Flynn asked.
“Richard found a bunch of files from when they were trying to buy my parents’ house. Minutes from the meetings and details of everyone involved. He asked if I wanted them.”
“Wow,” Flynn whispered. “That could be interesting reading.”
She nodded. The names of all the people in their community when she was little. She definitely wanted that. “I don’t know where he lives, or if he has them at the office, but it’s going to be a rush to get them before I leave today.”
“I could get them later and bring them when I come,” Flynn suggested.
“Yeah.” She pressed her lips together. “That’s a good idea.”
Flynn gave her shoulder a nudge. “You want them today, don’t you?”
“Yes. I’m going to call him, see where I’d need to pick them up from. Maybe we can manage it.”
Flynn nodded, and she hit dial on Richard’s number.
“I only just saw your message,” she told him after a brief greeting.
“I didn’t want to call last night since it was late, but I thought you’d want to know.”
“Thank you. I’d really like to get the files from you, but I have to leave for my flight in a couple of hours.” She also had to shower and pack up her stuff, though that shouldn’t take too long. “Where would I need to pick them up from?”
“I’ve got them with me in the office now, but if you’re short on time I can bring them to you.”
Hope bloomed in her chest. “I don’t want to put you out.”
“It’s not a problem. Send me a message with the address and I’ll head over now.”
She thanked him profusely and ended the call.
“He’s bringing them here,” she told Flynn while she typed out his address.
“That’s good of him.”
“Yes.” She set her phone aside and turned to face him. “I don’t know why I’m nervous – it’s just some paperwork.”
He rubbed her arm. “I think it’s normal to be nervous.”
“I wonder if it has the name of my friend. And if I’ll remember anything when I know her name.”
Flynn kissed the side of her head, and she spent a couple of minutes cuddled up to him before hopping out of bed to shower and start packing. Leaving this time would be a lot easier, knowing she’d see Flynn again in a couple of weeks. And that their stint of long distance was coming to an end.
She’d wanted to be packed and ready to go when Richard arrived, but she struggled to concentrate and spent most of the time clock watching and pacing the flat. He arrived about an hour after their call, and Lily hurried to buzz him in, then greeted him at the door.
“It’s not much,” he said, handing over a paper folder.
“Thank you,” Lily said, lifting the flap and flicking through the pages.
“I only hope it helps.”
“Me too.” She offered a sad smile. “Have you got time for a coffee?”
“No, thank you. I know you’re in a rush. I only wanted to make sure you got these before you left.” His eyes flicked along the hall to Flynn, and he extended his hand to introduce himself.
“It was good of you to bring the papers over,” Flynn remarked, resting his hand on the small of Lily’s back.
“I had a skim through them yesterday evening. It’s not exciting reading material, but if nothing else it should give you all the names of everyone involved.”
“I appreciate it,” Lily said with a nervous sigh.
“Maybe it’ll jog Clara’s memory too. She knew everyone well. I imagine she’s still sharp as a tack.”
Lily frowned.
“Clara?” Flynn asked.
“Your grandmother,” Richard said, eyes on Lily. “Isn’t she helping you look into this?”
“My…?” Lily shook her head. “My grandmother is dead.”
His eyes flashed with surprise, then confusion. “Oh, I had no idea.” He ran shaky fingers across his forehead. “I suppose that’s what prompted you to want to look into this. I’m very sorry. Obviously, we had our issues, but I admired Clara… felt for her.”
“Her death isn’t what made me want to look into this,” Lily said. “She’s been dead for a long time.”
“Sorry, I didn’t know. Why would I?” he murmured, seemingly to himself.
“I’d have thought you would have known. You said you were still in touch with Samantha for a while after the fire. Didn’t she tell you?”
He cocked his head, eyes searching Lily’s features. “I haven’t been in touch with Samantha for almost twenty years.”
“Yeah.” Lily shifted her weight a fraction, taking comfort in Flynn’s hand at her back. “That’s when my gran died. She had a fall. We talked about it yesterday.”
“She had a fall…” He stopped, stared at the wall behind Lily. “The fall didn’t kill her.”
“Not immediately,” Lily said, “but a few weeks later.”
“No.” He locked eyes with Lily, shook his head. “That can’t be right.”
Lily’s heart rate increased. “What do you mean it can’t be right? Why not?”
Richard’s eyebrows lifted, and it took a moment for him to speak. “If Clara’s been dead all this time,” he said eventually, “who’s been sending me Christmas cards?”
Time seemed to slow, and Lily felt lightheaded. What was he talking about?
“You’ve been receiving Christmas cards from Lily’s grandmother?” Flynn asked, thankfully stepping in when Lily lost the power of speech.
“Yes,” Richard replied crisply.
“It must be a different Clara,” Flynn said.
“No.” Richard looked puzzled now, too. “It’s signed Clara Cotton.”
“That’s your grandmother’s name?” Flynn asked Lily.
She nodded.
“I don’t know anyone else called Clara Cotton, and I can’t imagine it’s a common name.” Richard stared right at Lily. “She’s really dead?”
“Yes.”
“So someone has been sending Christmas cards, pretending to be her?” Richard looked as bemused as Lily. “For twenty years?”
“Why would anyone do that?” Flynn muttered.
“What’s written in them?” Lily asked, finally finding her voice.
“Nothing.” His forehead wrinkled. “The first one had a message. I remember because… well, it said, time to let bygones be bygones.”
“That’s all?” Lily asked.
“Yes. Since then it’s signed with her full name, nothing more.”
“That’s weird,” Lily said, then let out a quiet laugh. “Not only because she’s dead – even if she were alive, didn’t you think it was odd that she sent you Christmas cards?”
“Yes. Absolutely. I tried writing to her, asking how she was and how you were doing, but the letters got returned and marked as being the wrong address.”
“Was there a return address on the Christmas cards?” she asked.
“No. Never.”
Lily released a strangled laugh. “And didn’t you ever think to look into it? Twenty years of Christmas cards from someone you barely knew?”
“Honestly, Clara was always so feisty that I sort of thought it was her way of making it known she was keeping tabs on me.”
“You got one last Christmas?” Lily asked.
He nodded. “It’ll sound strange, but I look forward to receiving it.”
If he got one last Christmas, Uncle Derek would already have died so it couldn’t have been him sending them, though why her uncle would keep up such a charade she couldn’t imagine. Why would anyone?
“I’m very sorry,” Richard said. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“You didn’t. Maybe it’s actually helpful. It could be related to my parents’ deaths. I don’t suppose you kept any of the cards?”
“I did.” He nodded, but looked uncertain. “I can pull them out for you, but there’s absolutely nothing distinctive about them. They’re signed with a name only.”
“You never know,” Lily said. “Maybe I can find something.”
After ending the conversation in a daze, Lily followed Flynn back to the living room.
“That’s creepy, isn’t it?” she said. “Why is someone pretending to be my grandmother?”
He looked as though he was going to say something, but stopped himself. “I don’t know,” he said quietly. “I think I’ll make more coffee. Do you want one?”
“Yes. Please.”
When Flynn drifted to the kitchen, she sank onto the couch and opened the folder Richard had brought.
Flicking through the papers, she quickly agreed with his assessment that it wasn’t riveting reading material.
None of the names stood out to her except for her parents’.
None of the children’s names were stated anywhere, so she was no wiser about her childhood best friend.
Thumbing through the pages, she soon found she wasn’t even registering the words. A heaviness in her stomach made her feel slightly nauseous.
Christmas cards from Clara Cotton. It made no sense.
She breathed deeply and registered the quiet from the kitchen. Flynn wasn’t making coffee.
“What are you doing?” she asked, looking at him from the kitchen doorway.
At the table, he closed the lid of his laptop. Guilt shone in his features.
“Nothing. I just…” He closed his eyes. “I wondered…”
“Wondered what?” she whispered, ignoring the overwhelming surge of emotions.
Don’t say it. Don’t even suggest it…
Flynn bit down on his lip, eyes shining with sympathy. “What if she’s not dead?”
“She must be.” Tears flooded Lily’s eyes. “Someone is playing a sick joke, that’s all.”
“But when you and your uncle left for Italy she was still alive, right?”
“Barely. Maria told me she died shortly after we left.”
“Does Maria know for sure, or was she assuming?”
Lily swallowed hard. Everything she knew was second-hand information at best. “The hospital staff told my uncle she wouldn’t survive.”
“What if she did?”
A sob escaped her. “Stop it,” she said, shaking her head.
“Sorry.” He was out of his seat and crossing the room to her. “I know this is all confusing and overwhelming.”
“It’s not that,” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I thought I didn’t have any family. Don’t get my hopes up that I have a grandmother.”