Texting Isla, even though she knew it was late, she told her she’d made a start on packing up Aunt Ada’s belongings and had found a number of newspaper articles from the past. She didn’t mention Tom turning up at the cottage, deciding she’d tell her that face to face. Whilst waiting for Isla to reply, Florrie Googled the history of Heartcross, wondering if anything about Aunt Ada’s kindness award would come up. Immediately, she found numerous articles and photographs from the past which she had already seen before. Top of the search list were reports and photos of the worst winter in the history of Heartcross, when the bridge between the village and Glensheil had collapsed in a storm, leaving Heartcross cut off from the town. The community had worked together to look after each other during that difficult time. Felicity had almost immediately begun an online campaign to raise money to build a new bridge, and the power of social media had increased awareness of a situation that Heartcross hadn’t ever imagined it would find itself in.
The internet was full of village history. There were old photographs of times gone by – Bonnie when she first opened the teashop at the foot of Heartcross Mountain, men on horseback in top hats on the cart track that ran over the bridge and passed Heartcross Castle, Hamish’s village shop and the Grouse and Haggis, neither of which had changed a bit in decades. There were photos of bands that had played at the bandstand in Primrose Park, and of women wearing Victorian dress with bonnets, standing with parasols outside The Old Bakehouse. Florrie Googled ‘The Vintage Flower Van, Heartcross’ and straightaway a photo came up of Ada, along with an article that had featured in a national magazine. Aunt Ada’s flower van had been declared the place to buy the best blooms in the Scottish Highlands. The feature had run in some newspapers, too.
‘From Volunteer Hospital Carer to Award Winning Florist’ read one bold headline. She smiled at the next photo, which was exactly the same as the one on the shelf across the room from where she sat. It showed Ada and Ewart standing at the garden gate outside Rose Cottage. Moving her laptop to one side, Florrie slid out of bed and picked up the photograph, then slipped back under the duvet. She felt emotional looking at it. They were just starting out their life together, the smiles on their faces saying it all. Anyone could see how in love they were. A date was written in pencil in one corner of the photograph – it was not long after the newspaper article that had reported Ada winning the kindness award. Placing the framed photograph on her bedside table, Florrie Googled ‘Rose Cottage’. She laughed when the first image appeared on the screen. Ada, looking as if she was in her early twenties, was standing in front of The Vintage Flower Van, which was presented beautifully with a wide variety of flowers. She was standing next to a wheelbarrow, the same one she had often used to wheel the flowers from the back garden to the van. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun with flowers sticking out at every angle, and on the top of her head was her favourite pet chicken, Henrietta, who used to follow Aunt Ada everywhere and even joined them for dinner in the kitchen. Aunt Ada had told Florrie all about this photo. A gardening magazine had spent the morning at the cottage and Ada had talked them through her gardening tips for the summer. During the photo shoot Henrietta had stolen the show and she’d managed to photobomb every single shot. The photo was captioned ‘Loving the Good Life’.
It was great to take a trip down memory lane. Growing up, Florrie had always realised how popular Aunt Ada was, and even though she’d seen the articles before, she felt proud that Aunt Ada was written about and described as an expert in her field. She must have lost count of all the awards she’d won in her lifetime. Florrie felt honoured to have been taught her own trade by such a wonderful person, so full of knowledge, so passionate about flowers, gardens and wildlife.
Florrie scrolled on to the next page and noticed a very old photo of Rose Cottage, one she hadn’t seen before. There was a man standing at the gates she didn’t instantly recognise so she zoomed in. Closer inspection set an alarm bell ringing in her head and she quickly clicked back to the photograph of Ada sitting on the hospital bed. She stared at William. It was definitely him in the photograph standing outside Rose Cottage.
Quickly typing ‘William Houston’, ‘Rose Cottage’ and ‘Heartcross’ into the search engine, she held her breath and waited for the results to load. And there it was in black and white:Property Mogul Purchases the Oldest Cottage in Heartcross.
Florrie wasn’t sure if she was surprised. She’d assumed the cottage had been purchased through the family company at one time or another but according to the internet Rose Cottage was William’s home. He was even quoted as saying that he couldn’t wait to become part of the community and set up his life in Heartcross.
That confused Florrie.
Florrie Googled‘William Houston’s Spouse’ and hit enter. It pulled up his Wikipedia page, which said:Spouse – Rose Houston.There was no other information available.
Florrie’s curiosity about William and the cottage and Ada and how it all might fit together had increased tenfold since she first opened Google. She checked the time and was disappointed to see that it was too late in the day to ring Martha or Dolores. She couldn’t understand why neither of them had ever mentioned that Rose Cottage had been William’s family home. And did that mean that Edward had lived here as a child?
Switching off her laptop, she snuggled under the duvet. Her curiosity was unsatisfied but all she could do now was wait until tomorrow and then ask Dolores what she knew.
ChapterTwenty-Two
Florrie woke up to news of Dolores’s birthday celebration being splashed all over the Sunday newspapers. Ada had always had her newspaper delivered on a Sunday and it wasn’t something Florrie had got round to cancelling, and now she was glad. She picked it up off the mat before making herself a cup of tea. The sun was streaming through the window and she had already decided to embrace the gorgeous morning by taking a walk down by the river before heading over to Foxglove Farm.
Sitting down at the table, she read the front page.‘Global Superstar Dolores Henderson Prepares for Glitzy Party to Celebrate One Hundredth Birthday.’
Florrie chuckled. The journalists were so far off the mark. As she read on she found they’d hinted at a number of outrageous possibilities, the frontrunner being that Dolores was hiring out a whole island in the Caribbean for her, her family and her showbiz pals. There were also rumours that she might hold a private concert at a royal palace, as Dolores had been a friend of members of the British Royal Family for most of her life. They were clutching at straws, but Florrie knew that now there would be numerous journalists milling around the village trying to break the true story, not knowing that Aidy had already written it and was just waiting for the right time to print it.
After closing the newspaper, Florrie checked her social media accounts. The Vintage Flower Van was still being tagged in many posts every day and the local protesters had created reels of their action outside the planning office. According to the village WhatsApp group, everyone had sent letters opposing the demolition of the gardens, and the petition sitting on Hamish’s shop counter now had over a thousand signatures.
Finishing her tea, Florrie thought about Tom’s visit last night. She hadn’t agreed with him that she wouldn’t post any more reels or create further publicity, and there was still a part of her that had wondered if she was being tricked when he’d asked her to trust him. Trust Tom Houston? Not likely! He was probably just trying to get her to back off so the planning permission would sail through, giving him and his company exactly what they wanted.
There were only a handful of unsold tickets left for Flowers in Bloom. Dolores was set to perform, and the whole community would be there in support of Florrie and Ada’s legacy. Maybe she didn’t have to do anything more.
After a shower, she headed down to the river and The Little Blue Boathouse, which was already busy renting out kayaks and rowing boats to tourists and locals alike. Across the river, she noticed a man in a wetsuit, and she realised she could still pick out Tom, even from a distance. Mother Nature had certainly dealt him a generously fair hand of cards.
He pressed the screen on his watch before he waded into the water and began swimming with the current towards a small sandy bay on the left-hand side of the river. She watched him for a moment then carried on along the river path.
Ten minutes later she was knocking on the door of Foxglove Farm.
‘Here she is! I’ve just been trying to ring you. Drew is going to collect the first of Aunt Ada’s boxes and store them in the barn. He could pick them up sometime this afternoon, if you’re free?’
‘Perfect, thank you.’
Isla opened the door wider. ‘You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. Was it difficult beginning to sort out Aunt Ada’s stuff? I’d have come and helped, you know.’
‘It was, but in a way it was quite comforting, too,’ replied Florrie, taking off her jacket and slipping it over the back of the kitchen chair. ‘I stumbled across some old newspaper articles and photos of Aunt Ada when she was younger, including a picture of Aunt Ada and Uncle Ewart standing outside Rose Cottage and…’ Florrie pulled out the chair and sat down. ‘And then I discovered some information that took me a little bit by surprise. Oh, and I had an awkward and heated visit from Tom.’
Isla raised her eyebrows. ‘Let me put the kettle on and you can tell me all about it.’
‘Is Martha home?’
Isla shook her head as she reached for two mugs from the top cupboard. ‘No, she’s gone for a walk with Rona, though I suspect that’s code for tea and a natter.’
‘Last night I discovered William Houston, Tom’s grandfather, owned Rose Cottage.’
‘Surely that’s not a huge surprise, given that it’s owned by W. Houston Property Developers?’
