The girls both ordered grilled fish with large chips and sat for a good hour or so while they ate, as they adjusted to how it felt to be back here. They chatted, remembering some of the little bays around the island they’d visited during their summers here. They also began to ponder who else would be at the funeral.
‘We’ve been away so long we might not recognise anyone,’ said Addie.
‘I’m kind of dreading it.’
‘Nobody likes funerals.’
Susanna gathered up their rubbish. ‘Come on, we can’t put it off any longer.’
As they deposited their trays and wrappings in the nearby bin Addie at least felt a bit better for eating. She’d needed the food but also coming for something to eat first had helped her adjust a bit to being on the island. In a way it felt almost normal to be here.
They began the walk back past the harbour to the foot of the hill and turned left to make their way up to Bay Street.
Addie stopped midway up the hill out of puff.
Susanna stopped briefly too before they both picked up their luggage and carried on. ‘We’ll rest at the top,’ she called out as Addie trailed behind her.
Addie had quite forgotten the steepness of the hill. Had they really cycled up and down this as young girls? She didn’t have the money or the time for a gym in London, but she walked a lot, and she ran around with Isaac in the park whenever she could. But, here on the island, you’d be in training every time you set off from your front door.
They paused at the far end of Bay Street, catching their breath, knowing the Sweet Life Café was about to come into view. And then, the mouth of Evergreen Close would be in sight too.
‘Are you sure going to the cottage is the best idea?’ Addie quizzed. ‘I know we’re almost there but I’m worried. What if a neighbour thinks we’re breaking in? The neighbours must know she’s gone.’ She also wasn’t sure how she felt about staying in their dead aunt’s house. What if Gayle had died in the kitchen where they would make their breakfast, or on the sofa in the lounge where they might sit and talk about what happened next? The thought made her shudder. And it was dark, which really didn’t help.
As they drew closer to the Sweet Life Café, they stopped again.
‘Closed,’ said Susanna, as if either of them might have expected the lights to be on and a crowd to be gathered on the balcony, laughter and chatter carrying on the wind the way it once had.
‘It’s late,’ said Addie. ‘And…’ She didn’t finish her sentence. Gayle was gone. And perhaps the Sweet Life Café would never open again.
‘It doesn’t look much different,’ said Susanna.
‘The sign has been redone.’
‘Has it?’
‘It used to be faded pink, remember?’ Now it was a lovely shade of sea-blue which they could see despite the fading light. Addie wondered whether the leather seats in the booths and on the other chairs and stools were still the same turquoise blue as before.
‘Wonder if the leather seats are still there,’ said Susanna, almost reading Addie’s mind.
‘I bet they still stick to your bare legs when you’re wearing shorts.’
Susanna let out a gentle laugh. ‘I remember.’
‘It’ll be weird going inside, won’t it?’ Addie didn’t need to add that she meant when they went inside to attend the funeral due to be held in eleven more days. It wasn’t like they were going to go in there before then. They’d be busy sorting the attic and any formalities, unless someone else had been named as responsible for that now. They wondered whether Nancy had been named as Gayle’s next of kin since they’d been gone.
As they carried on towards the cottage, Addie turned once more to look over her shoulder, back at the Sweet Life Café, back at what might have been.
And then suddenly there they were, in front of Gayle’s cottage, and the sight of it swept Addie back in time. Her gaze went straight to the upper dormer windows, one beside the other, her and Susanna’s rooms beyond the glass.
‘Maybe we should go to the inn for the night,’ she suggested quickly. Now they were here she really didn’t want to go inside. It gave her the heebie-jeebies. If Gayle had died in her home, what if her ghost was still hanging around? She shuddered, overthinking it all. She didn’t believe in ghosts, not really, and yet…
‘No point,’ Susanna said decisively. ‘We need to be here, we need to sort through things in the attic and Gayle’s things too, now she’s gone. No point being elsewhere.’
‘I might knock on the neighbour’s door,’ said Addie.
‘Don’t be chicken, we’ll see if we can find the key. No burglar is going to put all the lights on and move in, so if someone sees us doing that, they can come ask whatever questions they like.’ Susanna took the lead down the front path and to the side.
Addie reluctantly followed her past the front windows and to the gate which wasn’t locked. She couldn’t remember it ever having been. The cottage was achingly familiar, with the ivy that she could see creeping up the wall even in the dark, and the stone pavers that lined the way. When they reached the back, however, as well as the little lawn and borders that Addie remembered, the shed had been moved to one side and at the rear there was now a fancy garden room like the sort some people installed as a home office. Now there was an industry that had probably done well since the pandemic, when people’s work arrangements had changed. She wondered why Aunt Gayle had needed one, though.
