‘It looks that way. It will be good for the island to have its own practice again.’
‘Do you think it would be something that’s happening soon?’
Pete nodded. ‘Yes, as soon as the contracts are signed. I’ll have to go now but I’ll see you same time tomorrow morning.’
‘See you tomorrow.’
Ambling back down the path towards the bay, Verity noticed that flowers were already beginning to be laid down near where the old pier used to stand. There was also a photograph of Joe, propped on an easel, with candles scattered about. It must be comforting to Sam to know that the residents of Puffin Island had never forgotten his grandfather. Sitting down on a nearby bench and reaching into her bag for her sandwich, Verity thought about Pete. She’d enjoyed every minute of the morning and their easy-flowing conversation. He was a knowledgeable and interesting man. She admired how, even though the popularity of the band had been growing back in the day, he’d continued with his studies to qualify as a vet. She gazed at the photo of Joe. He was as deviously handsome as Sam. Tucking into her sandwich, she stretched out her legs and admired the blue sky and the water glistening in the sunshine. A gang of hikers was heading towards the path along the cliff. Children clutching fishing nets were dangling them from the small rocks at the side of the bay.
‘Penny for them?’
She spun around to see Amelia standing behind her.
‘Just grabbing some food, what are you up to?’
‘On a break. The bookshop has been heaving this morning. I’ve never known so many customers, which is amazing, but they’ve all interrupted my proper job of writing.’
Verity laughed. ‘It’s a genius move to get paid for one job whilst furthering your career in another field.’
‘I’m not just a pretty face,’ said Amelia with a grin. ‘I’ll have to get back, but before I go, how was counting puffins?’
‘Puffin good! I really enjoyed it.’ Verity held out her arm to show Amelia her counting wounds.
‘Are they bites? They looked like they enjoyed you too!’
‘Pete was right: after a few nibbles you become immune to it.’
Amelia nodded to the photo of Joe. ‘How is Pete? This time of year must hit him hard.’
‘I think he had a moment up on the cliff top when he saw that Joe’s photo was down here.’
‘I know Betty is struggling at the minute too.’
‘I don’t know the ins and outs of everything, but I do think Sam and Pete could help each other at a time like this. Wouldn’t Joe want them to unite and put their differences to one side, at least for one day?’
‘Who knows? Even after all this time Sam is still convinced there was more to that night than what has been reported.’
‘But surely if nothing has come out after fifty years there’s nothingtocome out.’
Amelia gave a little shrug. ‘Or people are good at keeping secrets,’ she ventured. She held up her coffee and pointed towards Lighthouse Lane. ‘I’ll catch up with you later.’
At Amelia’s mention of secrets, Verity thought of the postcard and the message written on it. She had had ample opportunity to chat about it with Pete this morning but she’d decided to wait and speak to Betty first and see what her take was on potential secrets from the past. But Amelia was right. People were good at keeping secrets. Her granny had never mentioned ‘W’ or Puffin Island except in her stories, yet she had still kept the picture of the puffins hanging on the wall in her favourite room in the house for all those years.
As she finished her lunch, she noticed a well-dressed man walking down the path from the cliff top and assumed that it must be Cooper. He headed towards a Range Rover parked at the edge of the bay and pressed the fob on a bunch of keys to unlock it. Taking a punt, Verity Googled ‘vets practice in Sea’s End’ on her phone and clicked through to the website, navigating to the list of staff members, looking for Cooper’s photo to confirm it was him – and it was. The website had all the usual general information about the surgery and its opening times, but at the top of the web page something caught Verity’s eye – a heading reading ‘Current Vacancies’.
So there would be vacancies at the new practice opening very soon on Puffin Island. Verity’s heart began to race when she noticed there was one for a veterinary assistant. She doubled-ticked every box of what they were looking for. Now all she needed to do was send a CV with a covering letter. Looking up from the screen and staring out over the water, she wondered, could she actually apply? What was stopping her? Well, there was the matter of a place to live. Her van would be fun to live in for a little while but there was no way she would survive the cold winter months without proper heat or a shower. In her head she’d already moved to Puffin Island, but in reality was it even possible? Looking for houses to rent, she found there was nothing on the island; the nearest vacant property was in a village on the other side of Sea’s End. It wasn’t a million miles away though, so it certainly gave her food for thought.
Throwing her phone into her bag she headed back towards Cosy Nook Cottage. Her plan was to have a shower and then catch up with Betty. She couldn’t wait to hear what she had to say.
* * *
Ten minutes later, she was standing in the shower at Cosy Nook Cottage, taking advantage of the gorgeous-smelling body wash and expensive shampoo, not knowing when her next shower would be, if she moved back into the van tonight. Singing at the top of her lungs, she enjoyed every second of the shower. As she switched the water off, she heard someone banging around downstairs. Sam must be home. Quickly, she dried herself, pulled on clean clothes and headed downstairs.
Sam was in the kitchen and Jimmy was wolfing down the food in his bowl.
‘I was hoping that was you upstairs and not a burglar but when I heard the singing…’
‘Firstly, I’ve never known a burglar to have a shower, and secondly, tone-deaf I may be, but if you can’t sing in the shower what’s the point of living?’ she said boldly, trying not to let her embarrassment show.
