Chapter Forty-One
Iris heard the front door opening and Flora coming in and calling her name. She would have to say something to Flora. The words were tangled in a mess in her head. But she knew she needed to ask for help otherwise she would go mad.
‘Hello, dearie,’ called Iris as she walked downstairs and through to the kitchen where Flora would have gone to look for her. ‘Oh, my goodness,’ she gasped, momentarily taken aback as she glanced around. ‘Look at this place.’
‘Gran, you’re back.’ Flora grinned in delight, throwing her arms around Iris and hugging her tightly.
‘Did you do this?’ Iris’s eyes were wide with wonder as she took in the freshly painted grey emulsion walls and ceiling. It looked like a brand-new room.
‘Yes, well, Brodie helped me. I couldn’t have done it without him.’
‘Hello. I love you,’ shouted Sidney from the conservatory. ‘Brodie is scorching hot.’
‘Flora is hotter,’ added Scrumpy.
Iris raised an eyebrow. ‘Sounds like someone has been having a few words with them. Brodie perhaps?’ Flora was blushing.
But she couldn’t let herself think what that might mean.
Even though she wanted to ask what she’d missed when she was away.
But not right now. It wasn’t the time. Her chest tightened at the thought of what she did need to say to Flora.
‘I thought it would be a nice surprise. Do you like it?’
Iris managed to smile, needing to reassure Flora that she did. ‘Of course I do. I can’t believe you got this all done in those few days.’ Iris was overwhelmed at Flora and Brodie’s kindness and what they had done for her, yet she could feel the knot tightening in her chest.
Flora’s brows drew together as she studied her face. ‘Gran, are you okay? You look a bit peaky.’
‘I didn’t get much sleep,’ admitted Iris. ‘I was sharing a room with Jeannie and she’s a dreadful snorer.’ She scrubbed at her eyes. She knows something is wrong, thought Iris. I need to tell her. But how?
‘How about I make you a nice cuppa, Gran, and you can tell me about it.’
Iris nodded and sat down at the kitchen table. The truth was that the past and thoughts of her sister had been on her mind all the time she was away. She knew she needed to ask for help and that Flora was the only person who might be able to help her find some answers.
‘There you are, Gran.’ Flora set a mug gently down on the table.
She sat opposite her and Iris was taken aback at just how well Flora looked.
In fact, her granddaughter was glowing. She mentioned Brodie had helped her with the painting.
Had something actually happened between them while she’d been away?
She mustn’t be distracted. Especially as Flora was now looking at her with such worry etched on her face.
‘Did you have a good time then in Crail?’
She took a deep breath. ‘Mm, not really.’
Flora’s eyes widened in surprise.
‘Sorry, that came out the wrong way. It was nice having time with Catriona and Jeannie. But the weather was awfully dreich and my mind was elsewhere.’ She paused and looked away, trying to work out what to say.
‘Actually . . . there’s something I want to tell you, Flora.
Something I’ve known for a while but have managed to forget over the years until now. ’
‘Are you ill, Gran?’ Flora whispered.
She shook her head and reached across the table to give Flora’s hand a comforting squeeze. ‘No, dear. It’s nothing like that.’
There was an expectant pause and Flora looked at Iris with relief, giving her hand a gentle squeeze in return. ‘Is this to do with the tin I found in Grandpa’s study?’
‘How do you know?’ asked Iris in surprise.
‘Because ever since that day you’ve not been yourself, and I’ve been worried about you. If you’re not ill then I know it must be that.’
‘Did you look inside it?’ she said quietly.
A firm shake of her head said it all. ‘No, of course not. I wouldn’t do that.
It’s your private stuff. But my mind has been working overtime wondering what was wrong.
I had a feeling you were triggered by whatever was in the box and I wasn’t quite sure what to say or how to ask you if everything was okay. ’
A shaky breath escaped her as she started to speak.
‘Before I was born . . . my mother had a baby girl. I didn’t know anything about this until just before my mother died.
That was thirty years ago, just before you were born.
’ She paused allowing Flora to process what she’d just said.
‘She told me her fiancé was killed in the war and she was pregnant and unmarried. Back then, things were very different and the baby was put up for adoption.’
Flora blinked in surprise. ‘Wow, Gran, so you have an older sister that you didn’t know about?’
‘That’s right. She was born seven years before me.
’ She stopped for a moment, lost in thought.
‘I suppose then that would make her your great aunt. But I don’t know where she is or if she’s alive.
All I know about her is in that tin which my mother left me.
I had completely forgotten about it until you found it in the study.
’ Iris hadn’t allowed herself to remember it until now.
It was as though the timing of Flora finding it was meant to be.
‘But I can’t carry this secret any more, Flora.
I’ve not even told your dad about her. Only Grandpa knew.
’ She wiped away a tear that had rolled down her cheek.
‘I keep thinking that you finding the tin is a sign and that I should try and find her before it’s too late. ’