‘Because his lights were off early last night and there aren’t any on this morning.’
‘Spying on your new neighbour?’ Greg joked. At least, Lara hoped he was joking.
‘No. Just … noticing, that’s all.’
‘He might not be up yet,’ Greg said between slurps of his tea. ‘He must be eighty if he’s a day. And old folks feel the cold, so best place to be on mornings like this is tucked up in bed till noon. That’s what I’ll be doing when I’m old and grey. Unless I win the Lottery and then I’ll be living on a luxury yacht, travelling the world, surrounded by women half my age.’
‘Good luck with that,’ Lara said.
Ula looked confused as she continued polishing the wooden sash window frames.
‘Do you have his number, Greg?’
‘Who? Tom’s?’
Lara nodded.
‘No. Why would I ever need to call him? I often see him in The White Lion. He might be there. That’s his favourite haunt. There, and Bonnie’s Diner.’
‘It’s too early for the pub to be open. But Bonnie’s Diner might … Wait. Wasn’t his wife called Bonnie? I thought…’
‘She was dead? She is. But she owned it for years, and Tom couldn’t bear to part with the place. His wife had loved it so much. I think he hoped that grandson of his would come and take it over. He worked there during his school holidays when he was younger although he also helped out on the construction sites. But he had no real interest in either and he was far too grand, and probably too rich, to want to move back here from the bright lights of London, to a tiny seaside village and run his granny’s little diner. Tom arranged for one of the staff to manage it after Bonnie passed away. He goes there a lot. Sometimes forhis dinner and sometimes for breakfast. Sometimes for both. And sometimes for lunch too.’
‘He didn’t mention it to me,’ Lara said with genuine disappointment.
After everything she had told him, she felt a tad hurt that he had kept something like that under his hat. Or cap, in his case. Especially as the place was clearly so special. She would be asking him about it the next time she saw him.
But that must be where he was. She could stop worrying about him now.
