Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
After leaving the Bramfords, Lily slowed her steps to let her gaze linger on her childhood home.
Loud voices from within sent a shiver down her spine before the door swung open and a woman walked out with a toddler on her hip.
She shouted something over her shoulder, then shooed a golden retriever back into the house and closed the door behind her.
Walking to the car on the drive, she chatted to the child and only spotted Lily once she’d finished strapping the little girl into her car seat.
Her mum would have done the same with her once.
“Can I help you?” the woman called, a bemused smile playing at her lips.
“No. Sorry.” Lily pulled her mind from her thoughts. “I used to live here.”
“Really? When was that?”
“Long time ago. When I was a kid.”
The woman smiled. “I’d invite you in for nostalgia’s sake, but I’m in a rush and the house currently looks as though two kids and a dog have been on a rampage!”
“It’s fine,” Lily said. “It won’t be the same anyway. All different now.” She gave a little wave and wandered away.
A moment later the car crawled beside her, window wound down. The sympathy in the woman’s eyes was a clear sign she’d figured out exactly when Lily had lived there. The local legend returned to Malporth.
“If you want to come back tomorrow, you’re welcome to have a look around.”
“Thank you,” Lily said, shaking her head. “That’s kind of you, but it’s really not the same house. They rebuilt it.”
She nodded knowingly. “I’m very sorry,” she murmured. “The offer stands if you change your mind.”
Lily thanked her again, but knew there was no way she’d change her mind. There really was nothing for her in that house. As the car turned at the end of the road, Lily stopped outside the Grahams’ house.
Roy had dismissed them as possible suspects based on them being on holiday at the time of her grandmother’s accident, but Lily wanted to get a feel for them anyway.
Those two mountain bikes lay on their side now, and the front path was strewn with leaves and decaying conker shells from the horse chestnut in the front garden. Football boots were littered outside the front door along with a football and a basketball.
Lily rang the bell and waited. A teenage boy with short ginger hair answered, looking at her questioningly.
“Is your mum in?” Lily asked, to which he turned and shouted for her so loudly that Lily winced. He disappeared back into the house without another word.
Just as Lily was starting to think no one was coming, a woman appeared wearing sports gear, slightly out of breath and with a gleam of sweat on her forehead.
“Sorry,” Lily said. “I didn’t mean to disturb you. This looks like a bad time.”
“I’m in the middle of a workout,” she said, “but what can I do for you?”
“I used to live next door.” She extended her hand. “Lily Larkin.”
The woman’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh my god!” She pumped Lily’s hand. “Wow. I’m Jackie.”
“It’s a bad time, isn’t it?” Lily said.
“No. Goodness.” She stared at Lily, searching her features. “Do you want to come in?” She stepped back and beckoned her with a flick of her hand.
Lily followed her to the kitchen, where Jackie got herself a glass of water before offering Lily one. She declined with a shake of the head.
“It’ll probably seem a bit odd,” Lily said.
“Me turning up here out of the blue. I don’t really know anything about when I lived here.
No one told me much about it, and I don’t have many memories, so I’ve just been chatting to anyone who lived here back then and who knew my parents. Trying to piece things together.”
“How awful,” she said, shaking her head. “I understand you wanting to know about your parents. I’m afraid I won’t be much help. We’d only lived here a couple of months when…” She trailed off, as though it would be offensive to mention the fire. “I didn’t know your parents well.”
She took a long gulp of her water. “What I do remember is your mum bringing us a cake when we first moved in. She’d baked it herself, and I thought it was really thoughtful of her.
It made me think we’d made the right decision in moving here.
But then all that business with the developers blew up.
Things changed. Suddenly the neighbours weren’t so friendly with each other. ”
“I’ve been hearing about that,” Lily said.
“We tried to keep out of it. That was the sort of drama we’d wanted to get away from. Came here for a quiet life, but apparently the chaos just followed us.”
Lily frowned and waited for her to elaborate, but she only shook her head.
“Would you have sold?” Lily asked.
“At the price they were offering – yes. We’d have been mad not to.”
“It seems as though people were upset with my parents for not wanting to.”
She waved a hand. “Julia would have come around. She told me she could see the financial sense of it. With a little more time, I’m sure she’d have agreed to it.”
“Samantha said the same,” Lily murmured.
“She’d be the best person to talk to about your parents,” Jackie said, while being distracted by a notification on her smartwatch. “They were good friends. Samantha was a wreck after…” Again, she stopped herself from referring to the fire directly.
A shout of “Mum!” rang from upstairs, and Jackie rolled her eyes. “Sorry. Was there anything specific you wanted to ask me?”
“No. I’ll leave you in peace.”
“That’ll be the day,” she said mockingly as she walked Lily to the door.
All four of the tables were occupied in the gift shop. Lily felt a tug of disappointment. She’d planned on grabbing a coffee and casually coaxing Marcie into conversation. That wasn’t so easy when she couldn’t sit and Marcie was busy serving customers.
Lily tried to catch her eye, but she was talking to an elderly lady while gift wrapping her purchase.
Wandering along the aisle filled with greetings cards, Lily kept an eye on the cafe side of the room, ready to pounce if a table became free.
She ran her eyes over the selection of children’s toys at the end of the room, then instinctively reached out to touch one of the cashmere scarves which hung on a rack in the corner. Books and mugs and fridge magnets filled the next aisle, along with a case of handmade jewellery.
“Can I help you?” Marcie asked through gritted teeth, coming to stand beside Lily.
“I don’t know. Maybe. I heard you came to my holiday home looking for me. Did you think of something about the cards from Clara?”
“No. I’ve got nothing to say to you about Clara.” She said the name so quietly it was barely audible.
“Why did you want to speak to me then?”
She shrugged. “I heard you’ve been asking questions. I was worried you were putting people’s backs up. It’s a peaceful village and we don’t enjoy having that peace disturbed.”
“I don’t understand,” Lily said. “You said not to mention my grandmother’s name around here, but everyone has been very kind when I’ve asked about her.” She curled her lip. “Everyone except you.”
Marcie glanced around, presumably looking for a customer who needed serving, or some other excuse to remove herself from the conversation.
“I was thinking about the cards,” Lily said, softening her tone. “If someone has been making online orders from you for twenty years, surely you have a record of that?”
Marcie opened her mouth to say something, but Lily spoke over her. “I understand you can’t give out customer details, but I wondered if you might contact her for me. You must have an email address. Or I could write a note and you could address it and post it.”
“She hasn’t been ordering cards from me for twenty years,” Marcie said, leaning closer.
Lily’s brow crinkled. “You said you’d know if she’d been in here. I assumed that meant she’d been ordering them online.”
“I would know if she came in, but there’s also no way she could have been ordering online for twenty years when I’ve only had the online shop for five years.”
Lily’s stomach plummeted. Why hadn’t she thought about that? She closed her eyes briefly.
“So maybe she was here twenty years ago and bought a bunch of cards,” Lily muttered.
Lightly, Marcie took Lily’s arm and ushered her towards the door.
“I’ve got customers to serve,” she said quietly. “Off you go, and we’ll talk about this another time.”
She didn’t leave room for discussion as she smiled brightly and greeted a young couple walking in. She made a fuss of the baby in a sling at the woman’s chest and made it clear she had no more time for Lily.