Joe was looking doubtful. ‘Have they said that?’
‘No. But it was advertised as no upward chain, so they won’t want to hang about.’ She stifled a giant sigh. ‘It’s probably for the best. The longer I stay, the harder it’ll be to leave. Although it’ll be weird being completely alone in the house.’
Joe gave her a worried look. ‘I’m sorry. Has he got worse since this morning?’
‘Oh, no. Bernard is still hanging in there; but when I spoke to Dayea earlier she was talking about him moving in with her. Which makes sense. No point him coming back to the manor only to have to move out again.’
‘Where does she live?’
‘You know what – I have absolutely no idea. Apart from that it’s near Stow, I think, but I could have got that wrong.’ Lottie made a mental note to find out more about Dayea; their superficial exchanges were fine before, but if she was going to marry Great Uncle Bernard and be a proper part of the family, then Lottie felt she should get to know her better.
Christmas Day had given Lottie a lot to think about. She’d known Joe wasn’t in a good place when he’d gone to America, but she’d always thought of it as him running away, rather than him trying to preserve his mental health – his perspective had put a whole new spin on things. She felt selfish for thinking he’d left her. Now she better understood that he had to get away from everything associated with the village – and that just happened to include her. His timing had been exceptionally bad, but he wasn’t to know that, for one simple reason – she’d never told him. Nana was right: keeping secrets was like a cancer. But when you’d held a secret for so long, how did you even begin to share it?
Something else had been playing on her mind as well. ‘Joe, what did you mean yesterday when you asked if I was sure I knew what happened with your mum and dad?’ She could instantly sense his discomfort.
Shirley interrupted the conversation by waving them down like a traffic cop. Joe quickly diverted towards her and they obediently slowed. ‘Now don’t you make a lovely pair?’ said Shirley.
‘Oh, no, we’re not …’ Joe pointed a finger at Lottie and then back at himself. His mouth remained open. Lottie felt warmth in her cheeks. He clearly didn’t want Shirley to get the wrong idea about them. In fact, he seemed overly bothered that she might.
‘I know, I know,’ said Shirley. ‘I’m just teasing you.’ Joe gave a weak laugh and dropped his gaze to his shoes. ‘I hear some actor has bought the manor, is that right?’ asked Shirley, leaning in to catch every word of Lottie’s reply.
‘Then you know more than me, Shirley,’ said Lottie, trying and failing to laugh it off. ‘Even the estate agent doesn’t seem sure about who has bought it – he said something about it being a company.’
‘Well now. That is interesting.’ Her eyes widened as she spoke, but that may have been the amount of mulled wine she’d consumed. It was widely known that Shirley liked a tipple. ‘Very interesting indeed,’ Shirley added.
Lottie didn’t think it was interesting at all. She didn’t want to think about what was going to happen to the manor after it was sold. It was all too raw. It felt as if she was selling her memories of Nana along with the house, and it was like a physical pain inside her.Can you get homesick for somewhere you haven’t actually left yet?she wondered.
‘And what’s this I hear about an ambulance at the manor yesterday?’ continued Shirley.
Joe seemed to take that as his cue to respond. ‘Bernard had a fall and it triggered a heart spasm. He’s okay though – in hospital recovering.’ Shirley pulled her head back in surprise.
‘Oh my. He’s no age!’
Both Joe and Lottie looked puzzled. ‘He’s seventy-two,’ said Lottie.
‘Like I say. No age,’ said Shirley. Lottie guessed age was all about perspective.
‘Sorry Shirley, but I need to get back and feed the hordes. It was lovely to see you. Bye now.’ Lottie gave her a kiss on the cheek.
‘Okay. Keep me posted on the manor house. Especially if it’s that Ryan Reynolds who’s bought it,’ called Shirley, and she waved them off.
Joe matched Lottie’s pace but the atmosphere between them was different.
‘You wanted my phone number,’ said Joe, getting out his phone.
‘For the Land Rover. Yes.’ Lottie felt she had to clarify it wasn’t exactly for her.
They exchanged numbers and walked on in silence. Lottie didn’t like to ask the question about his parents again, and it seemed that Joe wasn’t going to offer up an answer willingly. They began to walk up the hill, and neither of them spoke. Lottie was relieved when Zach jogged to catch them up and broke the silence. ‘Can we talk?’ he asked, giving a sideways look at Joe.
‘Don’t mind me,’ said Joe, striding on ahead, and Dave quickened his pace until his little legs were almost a blur. Lottie watched Joe for a moment and then pulled her attention back to her brother.
‘What’s up?’ She could tell there was something wrong. She always knew.
He huffed a bit before speaking. ‘It’s Melissa.’ The words almost tripped Lottie up.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Lottie took a moment to compose herself. ‘What do you mean exactly when you sayMelissa?’ Just saying her dead sister-in-law’s name out loud had an odd effect on Lottie. Guilt crept all over her like a rash. After all these years keeping her secret, it was still difficult for her to bring Melissa to mind.
