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Lili had her previous partner to thank for that. They’d lived in a flat in London, and he’d supported her to do a degree and volunteer at Kew. She’d even applied for a permanent position at Kew, but had never made it to the interview, despite being shortlisted for the position.

Lili knew what it meant to have her life turned upside down, although she hadn’t been through what Abigail had to face – becoming a widow in her early thirties. A few months earlier, Lili had split up from her partner. It hadn’t been acrimonious. Their lives had moved in different directions; he’d accepted a promotion and moved to Washington, but Lili had ties in England that she couldn’t sever. She wasn’t prepared to make the move with him abroad permanently, leaving her best friend, Hannah, with whom she went way back; she’d known Hannah since before she’d met Abigail at college in London. Then there was Hannah’s eight-year-old daughter, Maisie, whom Lili was very close to. Lili had accepted that living abroad just wasn’t for her.

After the relationship had broken down and Lili had visited Aldeburgh for a holiday, she had decided to stay. It was the best decision she’d ever made, living in a small, close-knit, supportive community. This was the reason Lili wanted Abigail to come and stay in the cottage for a bit. It had been life-changing for Lili, moving back to the Suffolk Coast, where she’d been to school. She imagined it could be positive for Abigail too, especially under her circumstances – if she just gave it a chance.

Lili handed over her bank card and glanced at Ray, who was now putting his shopping on the belt. She noticed he was buying bottles of wine, a lamb joint and fresh vegetables, all in preparation for that meal he was going to cook for his date.

He caught Lili glancing at his shopping. ‘Just in case it’s too late to book a table, I thought I’d still better buy this.’

Lili nodded. ‘Good plan.’ She took the receipt from the lady serving on the checkout. ‘Well, I’m off now. We must get together properly. You must come to The Summerhouse for dinner. We’ll arrange it.’

‘That would be grand. Who knows, perhaps Sarah will come with me too.’

Lili smiled. She and Nate, a doctor working in the local cottage hospital, tried to work picking William up and dropping him off at school between them, but with his long shifts and her commitment at Somerville Hall, it was proving impossible. Along with Ray, Sarah shared the school run, but they were just ships passing in the night. Lili had an idea. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll invite Sarah too, so whether you come together or not, at least you’ll both be there.’

Ray smiled. ‘Now, that is a good idea.’

Lili thought so too. ‘I’m sure the two of you would quite like to venture down the garden to the old summerhouse after dinner, while we get William to bed.’ The old wooden summerhouse, in the grounds of The Summerhouse where they lived, looked over the boating lake in Thorpeness, just a mile or so down the road from Aldeburgh and very close to Ray’s houseboat. ‘We might be some time, though, washing up and whatnot before we join you after dinner.’ Lili shot him a cheeky grin.

Ray was still smiling, getting the picture. ‘That sounds wonderful.’ He opened his plastic carrier bag to pack the shopping.

Lili hovered by the checkout, holding her bag of shopping. She’d bought two large pizzas, a bottle of wine, a large bag of popcorn and that all-important box of chocolates for their Friday night movie when William was settled fast asleep in bed. It was their one relaxing evening of the week. If Nate was working a shift on Friday night and over the weekend, they would just alter the day. But today, for the first time in a few weeks, they were having their end-of-week date night, as she liked to call them, on a Friday night. She smiled. She couldn’t wait. ‘I’m off now, Ray. I’ll be in touch about dinner, if I don’t see you first.’

Ray looked up from packing his shopping. ‘Okay, great.’

Lili hesitated. She wanted to ask him for his advice about Abigail’s inheritance. What did he know about the Somervilles? Daphne in particular? He’d lived here, on the Suffolk Coast, far longer than she had. However, something occurred to her that stopped her in her tracks. It was the thought of skeletons in the closet. There was something in Toby’s past, some connection that, by the sound of it, he knew nothing about. After all, why would he have sent off for the DNA testing kit that Abigail had found in his things? But Lili knew it wasn’t her place to ask Ray. What if there was something in Toby’s past that Abigail would really rather not know? Who knew what she’d discover and where that would lead? Besides, from what Abigail had said, she’d cooled off from the idea of looking into his past.

As Lili packed her shopping in a bag, she reflected on the past week. She’d been too busy to drive to Southwold to look in on her friend, although she knew that it wouldn’t have been a good idea even if she’d had the time; understandably, Abigail wanted some space.

Lili had left a couple of messages on Abigail’s mobile phone, but with the poor reception, she wasn’t surprised her friend hadn’t got back to her. She just hoped that since she’d left her at the cottage nearly a week ago, she’d been taken long walks along the clifftop and had ventured into Southwold to explore the quaint little shops and winding side-streets of the town perched on the clifftop that ran down to the sea. There was the long promenade too at the end of the seafront esplanade, with shops and little cafés to buy a cup of coffee and sit out on benches along the wooden deck overlooking the sea. The weather had been unusually kind too. Lili smiled. She imagined that despite her initial reticence, the stay there was just what Abigail needed.

Lili’s had just settled into the driver’s seat with the bag of Friday night goodies stowed on the passenger seat next to her, when her mobile phone rang. She didn’t recognise the number. She answered it anyway. ‘Hello?’

‘Is that Lili?’

At first, she didn’t recognise his voice. ‘Yes, who is this?’

‘It’s Joss, from the lighthouse.’

Lili raised her eyebrows, thinking,soon not to be from the lighthouse. Her next thought sent chills down her spine. Unbeknown to Abigail, when Lili had been talking to Joss before she left, she had given him her phone number. The cottage was out on a limb, and she was a bit concerned about leaving Abigail there on her own. Lili wasn’t thinking about her personal safety or somebody breaking in. She doubted anything like that would happen in the sleepy Suffolk town of Southwold or thereabouts. They were mostly retirement homes, second homes, or holiday rentals. Joss seemed a nice guy, although by the sound of it, Nate might say otherwise – but she just wanted him to call her if, well, she didn’t know what to say, but he seemed to understand.

Joss said, ‘It could be nothing. Honestly, I didn’t want to bother you, but here’s the thing … I haven’t seen her since you left. Deliveries turn up from time to time, mainly takeaways, but the curtains are permanently drawn.’

Lili raised her eyebrows. That didn’t sound good.

‘You mean to say she hasn’t set foot outside that cottage all week?’

‘I don’t know. I’m thinking not. Look, I’m sorry if I bothered you out of hand.’

‘No, no – not at all.’ It was what she’d given him her phone number for.

‘I did knock on the pretext of seeing if she needed a pint of milk … or something …’

Lili waited, but he didn’t say anything more. She frowned. She was not a fan of a half-finished sentence. ‘And …?’

‘I saw her face in the little pane of glass in the door, but she wouldn’t open it, and she just said,what do you want?I held up the milk, asked if she needed anything. She just saidnoand that was it. I’m sorry to say I did peek through the pane of glass. Well, what I saw wasn’t good. She was still in her pyjamas in the middle of the day and there were takeaway containers and plates and saucers piled on the coffee table. I should have called you earlier today, but I’m moving out, so I had some things to do before I left.’

Lili nodded. She already knew he was going to stay with Ray for a bit. There went her spy – now there would be nobody to keep an eye on Abigail.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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