Chapter 24
It was always a treat to breakfast in the garden with Bobbin, even if the temperatures hit minus Celsius. With a blanket around her, Lili breathed in her day off, dew heightening the smells of fresh grass and woody soil, whilst the twin boys next door kicked a ball around before school.
She and Bobbin ate breakfast together – cereal and coffee for Lili, the special mix for the robin, along with an upturned dustbin lid on the ground filled with water, for drinking and bathing later.
‘Tommo and Meg reckon I should go to Vegas with Dylan,’ she said, and the robin, as always, stopped to listen.
‘I like him. He makes me laugh. But a holiday together would take our friendship to a whole new level.’ She sighed.
‘Or am I overthinking? You can never have too many friends, right? Perhaps I should just take the plunge. What do you reckon?’
Bobbin cocked its head. A raisin fell from its beak.
The bird turned and swooped towards the ground, but instead of going after the food, it landed in the dustbin lid and dived under the water.
After flapping and making a hullaboo, spreading drops of water across the patio, it stopped dead and looked up at Lili.
Her face broke into a smile. ‘Okay, my little friend,’ she whispered. ‘Message received loud and clear. You think I should, indeed, take the plunge.’
After a bath, clean of the house and hour of ironing, Lili drove over to Tavistock and parked up outside Dylan’s house.
He’d said to drop around over lunch. He’d make them sandwiches.
The staff would be out on jobs so it would be quiet.
He came out of the warehouse and strode over, wearing worn jeans and a fleecy top.
He leant forwards and gave her a hug then bobbed down and scooped her into his arms.
‘I’m not risking you falling over on my property. The last thing I need is you claiming damages.’
Lili wriggled. ‘Dylan! Let me down this instant!’ She couldn’t help laughing, but not as loudly as he did.
Gently, he placed her back on the ground, opened the front door and they went inside.
She took off her bomber jacket, gave him a pointed look and in an exaggerated manner, hung it on the end of the banister.
Dylan placed his fleece over her jacket.
As he’d taken it off, his shirt rose too, to reveal toned, sun-kissed skin, smattered with black hairs that made her long to run her palm across his chest. If Em was here, the two of them would have giggled like schoolgirls.
That was the thing if you stayed close to your best friend from childhood – immature aspects remained.
They’d still both race to grab the last biscuit in a packet, and Em still had her one-eyed teddy on her bed, Lili her metre-long plushie snake, Sid.
Like the women, those two toys had been the best of friends years ago.
The two women would still jump up to dance to ‘Single Ladies’ by Beyoncé, popping the moves they’d learnt at the age of fourteen.
They called it their very own anthem. Self-reliant Lili Taylor and Em Evans didn’t need any man putting a ring on anything.
New intimate habits evolved over time, more suited to a grown-up world.
They’d think nothing of borrowing each other’s clothes and always bought enough tampons for two.
They’d ring each other when out on a date, after an hour, to see if the other needed an escape.
Em knew precisely how Lili preferred her tea – not too strong, milk in first – whereas Em’s was the colour of tar with two sugars.
More importantly, they knew how to cheer each other up.
Lili liked a hot water bottle and a bar of chocolate.
Em preferred a hug and a comedy movie. That had been the hardest thing in the months running up to her death – apart from a brief moment when they’d booked the trip to Vegas – day in, day out, Lili hadn’t succeeded in lifting Em’s mood.
‘You stick the kettle on,’ Dylan said as they entered the kitchen, ‘and I’ll make us my famous prosciutto and provolone toasties.’
‘Sounds impressive.’
‘Not really, good Italian home-cooking, that’s all. Ham and cheese to you.’
‘What other meals did your mum teach you?’
He opened a cabinet and brought down a wooden recipe box. He passed it to her. Lili flicked through the handwritten cards, some of them stained and curled at the corners. Bean and tortellini soup, pork Milanese, parmesan chicken, pesto lasagna, aubergine Gnocchi…
‘My mouth’s watering!’ she said. ‘But no desserts?’
Dylan plugged in the toastie maker. ‘No. Mum loves cooking savoury foods and said she could never compete with Dad’s favourites – scones, sweet pasties and Cornish saffron cake.
You’ve not eaten proper Italian until you’ve been to a family dinner.
We visit my grandparents when we can. Nonna and Nonno always put on an unbeatable spread, with cheese and fruit, an antipasto platter, biscotti for coffee – all of that’s without even eating the main course, washed down with Chianti or Pinot Grigio.
Even now, they are approaching eighty, and they take so much pride in feeding us all.
I wish I lived nearer to them. But I’ll be flying out to Italy this Christmas.
There’ll be lots of fish, of course, pasta, Nonna’s panettone…
’ He gave a contented sigh. ‘And a glass of Limoncello always reminds me of the good times, sitting out in their garden.’
The sandwiches took minutes to make and melted in the mouth.
‘Apparently the large buffet experiences in Vegas are amazing,’ said Lili.
Dylan took a swig of his tea. ‘Have you thought any more about my offer?’
Lili finished the last bite and wiped her lips with a paper napkin.
‘How would you feel if… I tagged along? I’ve not decided 100 per cent.
I may not commit fully until the last minute.
As the booking was for two adjoining rooms, we’d each have our privacy.
We wouldn’t have to spend all our time together either and?—’
Dylan beamed. ‘It sounds great, Lili. Let me know how much I owe you.’
She shook her head.
‘I insist!’
‘Nuh-uh. The main thing is that the booking gets used.’
‘But—’
Lili raised one eyebrow.
‘Oh God. It’s like my nonna ’s here in the kitchen,’ he said.
‘That’s the look I get if I steal a slice of salami before dinner.
’ He looked at his watch and jumped up, put their plates in the sink and drank back his tea.
‘This discussion is not over! Either way, Vegas, here I come! Harry won’t believe it when I message him later.
But for now – sorry to rush you, but let’s look through these boxes before my teams get back and I’m needed. ’
They made their way over to the warehouse. Dylan pointed to a stack of boxes that were newly in and yet to be sorted. A man in overalls walked past and nodded. Dylan steered Lili away from him.
‘Sad story,’ said Dylan. ‘The owner of all this stuff was only sixty and got killed in a car accident. He’d never settled down with a partner, seeing the world with the Navy for many years.
Once back in England, he became estranged from his sister.
She passed several years ago. His only living relative was a niece who simply wanted the property cleared, lock, stock and barrel.
Even though he’d left everything to her, she didn’t want a penny and was giving the proceeds of the sale to charity.
She didn’t keep any personal items. There are letters and photo albums that will just end up in the bin.
Makes you wonder what sort of fallout they had, and it makes you grateful for family that you get on with.
’ His words petered out and a vacant expression momentarily crossed his face.
‘Anyway, me being brutal now, he was the right sort of age to have had a VCR player. I looked in the top of one box and saw a pile of old videos.’
For half an hour they searched. Dylan kept looking at his watch and the road.
The man in overalls came back and began to approach but Dylan rushed over and kept him at a distance.
Clearly Dylan didn’t want staff to stop working.
She was about to give up when her fingers ran over a smooth rectangular object at the bottom of one of the boxes.
She dragged it out from underneath books, military autobiographies mainly.
‘Bingo!’ Lili said and examined it. ‘Although I feel uneasy passing it on, as a second-hand electrical appliance should be PAT tested.’
‘I’ve got a mate who reconditions and tests old electrical items before putting them up on eBay. I might be able to twist his arm to take a look at it for you promptly,’ he said.
‘Oh, thank you. That would be brilliant. How much will it cost?’
Dylan crouched on the floor next to her and swept a lock of hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. ‘Are you for real, Lili? You’re insisting on giving me a fancy hotel room in Vegas and expect me to charge you for a knackered old video player?’
Her throat went dry. His touch took her back to that night.
‘But this is business,’ she managed to say.
He got to his feet and hauled her up. ‘Talking of which, I need to get back to the office.’ He looked up and frowned as a lorry trundled down the road and pulled up.
It had a bobbing plastic reindeer on the dashboard.
The driver jumped out and came over, a lanky man with a dark brown crew cut, in navy overalls.
He clapped Dylan on the back. ‘I’ve left the lads at the property.
Bigger job than we expected in terms of emptying the loft.
Good thing it’s just down the road in Whitchurch.
I’ve come to get more boxes.’ He looked expectantly at Lili and then at Dylan.
‘Lili – this is Jags, our new manager.’ Was there a nervous edge to Dylan’s voice? No. She must have imagined it.
Jags gave a small bow and held out his hand. ‘Nice to meet you. Are you the reason Dylan’s been so chipper lately?’
Dylan gave a small smile. ‘That’s down to all the mithai you keep bringing in, Jags.’
Jags rolled his eyes. ‘That’s Indian sweets to you and me, Lili. Dylan’s trying to outdo my Hindi.’
‘Jags is something of a sweet maker. And you should try his honey cake.’ The phone rang in the office. Dylan didn’t move.
‘Want me to get that, boss?’ asked Jags.
Dylan looked at his watch. ‘No, you’d better get those boxes.’ Reluctantly, he headed to the office.
Jags beamed at Lili. ‘You work in Mevagissey? Great seafood restaurants.’
‘Oh. He’s mentioned me?’
‘You know Dylan, any opportunity to boast about saving someone’s life by rushing them to A&E.’
Lili grinned. ‘Did he tell you it was his fault I fell down the stairs?’
Jags’s expression became serious. ‘He did. He was really worried. It’s… good to see him have something going on apart from work… Not that, I mean, I know you two aren’t…’
‘It’s okay,’ she said warmly.
The office door opened and Dylan appeared.
‘It’s not been easy for him, having to keep the business on track on his own,’ said Jags with genuine concern in his voice.
‘I’m off to give a quote on a property,’ said Dylan, out of breath, having hurried over.
Lili took this as her cue to leave and the two men waved her off as she walked back to Colonel Mustard.
Jags seemed nice. Perhaps being responsible for the business, alone, was more stressful than Lili imagined and Dylan really had found it hard to cope.
She turned on the engine and yawned. Lili was about to drive off when her elbow pressed against her jacket and something hard in the pocket. She took out a shiny conker.