Somewhere at the midpoint on that lovely slope was the bookshop. Joy wished it had a flag flying from its wonky conical roof so she could make out where it stood.
As if reading her mind, Monty said, ‘Can you see that line of palm trees in the backyards there, leading up to the tall spruces? That’s your bookshop in there.’
Joy turned to him with astonished eyes.
‘Everything OK?’ asked Monty.
Joy searched her brain for words and landed on something safe.
‘Your speeches book arrived this morning. I brought it with me.’
‘Ah, great, thank you.’
Joy looked down at her glass. This was so stilted it hurt. ‘We,uh, bumped into your brother at the visitor centre store,’ she added.
‘Yeah, he mentioned it. He said Radia told him smoking is bad for him.’
Joy laughed, glad he was smiling.
‘Aw, no, she did? She’s kind of judgy about smoking, ever since we saw one of those posters on the Underground, you know the ones with the lungs all bunged up with tar?’
‘That’ll leave a lasting impression on a kid.’
‘Yeah, now she sees it as her duty to let everyone know they’re in danger.’
‘I mean, she’s not wrong.’
‘It can be embarrassing though, she’s not shy about it.’
Monty laughed heartily. ‘I really wasn’t kidding when I told her I was stopping smoking, you know? It’s a bit of a hangover from when there were loads of boats working off the harbour. We’d bring in the catch, check the nets, sluice down the hull, all while smoking to keep the hunger away before breakfast. At least, that’s why Dad did it. It’s just habit now, for me. Tom, on the other hand? I can’t see him giving up.’
‘We all have our little habits, I suppose,’ Joy told him.
‘Doyou? I wonder what yours might be.’
She blinked at him, running through her mind, looking for something cheerful to say, something that made her sound happy-go-lucky and fun.
Hiding away?That was definitely a bad habit.Being afraid of strangers?Jumping at every door knock and phone call? Never asking for help? Taking too many jobs so she didn’t have time to think too hard about stuff like this?All habits she’d formed because of Sean – and nothing she could bring up here on what was feeling increasingly like it was supposed to be a date.
‘Coffee,’ she told him conspiratorially. ‘I can’t function without my espresso. That’s a very bad habit.’
‘Well, I absolve you of that,’ said Monty, raising a hand like a priest and making her smile again.
Their eyes were drawn back to the coast by the flicker of lights coming on up at the Big House at the summit of the village, all turrets and sombre stone standing staunchly on rolling green lawns.
‘You really ought to visit the Big House before you go,’ he said. ‘The gardens are open to visitors; Izaak will let you through the gate for free. Leonid’s camellia grove is something else, and there’s the ruins of the old chapel in the middle of it. It’s kind of special.’
‘We will. I reckon I’ll have the security stuff done in the next couple of days. I’m just waiting for a cable to arrive and then it’s website testing and… we’ll be done.’
‘But you’re booked in until the first, right?’
‘How do you know… ah, never mind.’
‘Like Jude said, there’s nothing secret in Clove Lore.’
For a moment, Joy thought about how everyone in the village would know she was sailing with Monty tonight, and yet the gossips felt half the world away out here on the water. And what did it matter, really? They could talk all they liked; she was leaving soon enough.
‘When I’m done we can hang around and see the sights, for Rads.’
