Chapter 5
5
SKYE
Skye tucked her hair behind her ears, wishing she hadn’t uncharacteristically succumbed to the trend for wearing her hair in a French bob. She knew others loved the style and she did too, on someone else, but she was finding it more difficult than expected to keep her hair out of her face and it was getting on her nerves. She made a mental note to buy hair clips so that she was better prepared next time she went out.
Picking up her phone, Skye called Melody.
‘So you’ve thought about my suggestion then?’
‘I have. Tell me more about Lettie and Hollyhock Farm so I can make up my mind.’
Skye listened as Melody told her about her boyfriend Zac’s family home on the island of Jersey and how his pregnant sister was in desperate need of help. ‘It’s coming up to harvesting time for those tasty little potatoes we get at the supermarket,’ she explained. ‘You know the ones Gran always tries to get as soon as they are stocked in the shops.’
‘I do,’ Skye said, recalling her surprise at the excitement for a bag of tiny potatoes, then the delicious taste when Patsy served them up to her and Melody. ‘But I don’t know anything about harvesting.’ Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, Skye thought.
‘Sorry, I’ve given you the wrong idea. Apparently Lettie and Zac’s Uncle Leonard will be taking charge of all that. What you’ll be needed for is to look after the animals. You know, let them out to the field, bring them back inside the barn, feed them, make sure they have enough water, that sort of thing.’
‘Sounds simple enough,’ Skye said as it dawned on her she had only ever had to look after a family cat Gran once had. ‘Not that I have any experience doing that though.’
‘That’s the thing. Brodie, Lettie’s fiancé, is the village vet and will only be down the road. Any issues and he’ll be there straight away.’
Knowing that she would have backup in case of an emergency helped. ‘How long will it be for though?’
‘Well, Lettie is due to have the baby in about six weeks, I gather. But her parents are due back in four, so it’ll only be from now until they return from a trip. Lettie is lovely,’ Melody said. ‘And don’t forget she’ll be around to show you everything you’ll need to do and answer any questions. The farm is amazing too and I know you’ll love it there.’
Skye did like the sound of it. ‘It sounds simple enough and as long as there’ll be time for me to search for my father, I suppose I don’t see why I shouldn’t do it.’
Melody gasped. ‘Really? You wouldn’t mind?’
Skye smiled, hearing the delight in her friend’s voice. ‘No, of course not.’ She laughed. ‘It’s not as if I have a job to return to Edinburgh for, is it?’
Skye heard voices in the background. ‘Did I catch you at the gym?’
‘Yes, sorry. I’m about to give my next yoga class. Look, shall I give you Lettie’s number? Then you can give her a call and make whatever arrangements you need to. I’ll send her a quick message letting her know you’ll be contacting her. And, Skye?’
‘Yes?’
‘I know you’ll love it there. You’ll be kept busy, but the island is beautiful with stunning nearby beaches and lots of restaurants.’
‘You don’t have to keep trying to sell it to me, Melody.’ Skye laughed. ‘I’ve said yes.’
* * *
To give Melody a chance to message Lettie, Skye decided to speak to her grandmother.
‘I’m so happy for you, sweetheart,’ her grandmother said. ‘And as you know, Annie worked there in a hotel for a summer season. I believe your father was one of the barmen there, or was it a porter, or concierge? Unfortunately she didn’t ever share his name with me. I always felt guilty that she didn’t feel she could discuss more about your father with me.’
‘You shouldn’t, Gran,’ Skye said, hating to think her kind grandmother could ever feel badly about her mother’s choices. ‘I asked her a couple of times about him while I was growing up but she always became sad when I broached the subject, so I stopped asking in the end.’
‘Can I ask what she did tell you about him?’
Skye didn’t have to think long before answering. ‘Only that he was handsome and dark. She did say once after a few drinks that he had been the love of her life, which I think is really sad, don’t you?’
‘I do,’ Gran replied thoughtfully. ‘I wonder what went wrong between them.’
‘Or why he never bothered to make time to meet me.’
Skye thought back to her five-year-old self, realising for the first time that most of her friends had daddies. When her grandmother took her to Santa’s Grotto at the local shopping centre, she said she wanted her daddy to come to their house, when Santa Claus asked her what she wanted for Christmas. She remembered her disappointment then and for all her birthdays and Christmases when she still held on to hope that even if he didn’t come to see her he might send her a card. None had ever arrived, and by the time she was a teenager all she had for him was anger that she meant so little to him.
When her gran didn’t say anything, Skye continued, ‘I know we both agreed that I should try to look for him while I was here, but I’m not really certain how to go about it. Not when we don’t know his name.’
‘I suppose you do know you look more like him than you do Annie,’ Gran said. ‘With your dark hair and brown eyes, you’re so much darker than anyone else in the family, so I presume you must take after him with your looks.’
‘I always assumed that too,’ she admitted, miserable not to have any idea of the other side of her family. ‘Where would I start looking though?’
‘The hotel where they worked, of course. Where else?’ Her gran mentioned two hotels where her mother had worked.
Skye took a sip of her cooling tea. ‘A lot could have changed since 1998. What if they’re now blocks of flats or housing estates?’
‘I know you’re worried about this going wrong. But what if it doesn’t, Skye? Tell me that. If you don’t find him then you’re no worse off than you are now. If you do, well, then you at least know who he was.’
She was right.
‘I know this is daunting,’ Gran said. ‘But this is an amazing opportunity for you. It can’t be scarier than travelling solo across the world for the past six months.’
Skye laughed. ‘I think it’s far scarier than that, Gran.’
‘But you’ll do it anyway?’
‘You know me, Gran. I’m a sucker for a challenge.’
‘Good girl.’
‘Right,’ Skye said, staring out of her bedroom window at a couple of small boats, their white sails the same colour as the few clouds in the blue sky. ‘I’d better give Lettie a call.’