She scrunches her brow as she takes me in. ‘You’re that woman who lost her baby sister, right? I thought I recognised you. I follow your page. That was a horrible article and it was all so long ago.’
I see Damien coming back. ‘Can you message my page, please? I need to speak to you.’ I hope my pleading look brings out the best in her.
‘Okay. I don’t know anything mind, but yes.’
‘My husband’s coming back. Message me.’
‘Who was that, love?’ Damien pats his damp hands on his jeans.
‘Just a local. She said the girls looked cute, that was all.’
The woman comes back out of the toilet and winks at me as she heads back to her table. Immediately, her friends all start talking and glancing over at me. Without trying, I’ve become the talk of the town. I need to find Cody. That woman can help me, I know she can.
My phone buzzes. As Damien pours far too much ketchup onto his chips, I take a sneaky look at the message under the table.
It’s Laura. I have a shop, Laura’s Treasure Trove. You’ll find me in there. Come tomorrow.
THIRTEEN
KATE
Sunday, 23 October
Running shoes on, I’m out of that door leaving Damien making pancakes for the girls and the last thing I did was promise not to be too long. The girls are eager to have some fun and I hope that I can let go of that message a little and join in with them.
The salty sea air hits me instantly. That’s when I imagine being at sea. The whooshing waves sending the boat turning and plunging. My body slipping into the sea, unable to swim against nature’s violent pull. An image of Millie and Rosie’s deep brown and copper waves getting caught up in weed. I can’t reach them and they plunge deeper and deeper. Glancing behind me at the sea, I shudder. Water splashes against the rocks and I turn away, trying to get all those horrible thoughts out of my head.
I can’t waste any of this precious time. The clock is ticking. Laura knows something about Cody and I need to know what that is. Turning away from the seafront, I duck in towards the shops.
As I take the first left behind the cottages, I pull my phone from my pocket and see that I have no more messages from Will or Laura. Running through the tiny streets, I take in all the shops. Whatever you want, this little town has it. Art shops, jewellers, trinkets galore and cakes that look amazing. The waft of Cornish pasty comes from an open-doored shop, making my stomach grumble but I couldn’t eat if I wanted to, not yet. Not until I’ve spoken to Laura.
A moment of my past fills my mind. I remember my dad giving me a pasty. I once sat on the path in front of that shop, screaming and crying on the floor because I couldn’t have a cake as well. My fussing had started Jess off and my mother walked off, leaving my dad to deal with me. I shake that thought away. I’d been so upset that my mum was cuddling Jess. All I wanted was for her to hold me too.
I looked on my Maps app earlier and it said that Laura’s shop was here. Maybe I’m missing something. Standing on the path, panting lightly, I gaze around. Staring at my phone, I continue walking. It’s just a little further down.
Slam. I’ve crashed into a woman in her fifties carrying a shopping bag. ‘Bleddy emmet.’
‘So sorry. What?’ I have no idea what she means or what an emmet is.
‘Tourist. You lot, coming here and standing in the middle of the path with your noses buried in your phones. You’re in the bleddy way as usual.’ She shakes her head then scurries off past me.
‘Sorry,’ I shout.
I shrug my shoulders and continue, following the app’s instructions and I see Laura’s Treasure Trove on the opposite side of the road. It’s tiny and could easily be missed with its lacklustre pale-grey sign that almost blends in with the white-painted wall. The window display is full of shells and boats in bottles. I gaze through the dusty window to see racks of games and toys. Shiny marbles catch the little ray of light coming through the window, creating a rainbow on the back wall. Cornwall playing cards and mugs fill another stand. What I don’t see is her. I go to push the door open but it’s locked.
The woman I recognise as Laura comes out of the back room and scurries towards the door. She slides a couple of locks and turns the closed sign around.
‘Come in.’ Her grey-streaked brown hair falls wildly over her shoulders and a pair of glasses almost drop into her ample cleavage as they hang on a cord around her neck.
The tiny shop is even more packed than I imagined. If Millie and Rosie were here, they’d probably tear around knocking everything over. As I turn, I almost knock a ship’s wheel ornament off its stand.
‘Your shop is lovely. I must bring the girls in for a stick of rock.’ It doesn’t hurt to be polite. I may actually risk bringing them in to buy a pack of cards or some sweets.
‘You’re not here to talk about rock.’
Straight to the point. ‘No, I need to know where I can find the man who couldn’t get out of the pub quick enough when he saw me. You called him Cody.’
‘Yes. He said he had to go. His dad needed him, that’s why he was in a rush.’
