AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Love you, t— oh.’ The connection had already been severed.
Rosie sat, lost in thought, as the sun climbed higher in the sky and damp seeped from the grass through her jeans. The mysterious J wasn’t Jerry, but could it be Jackson Porter? The solicitor didn’t seem Mum’s type but he was very upset about her death. What was it he’d said in his office?Your mother was very dear to me, Rosie.
‘Hey, are you thinking of flying?’
Rosie turned her head, to see Nessa puffing along the clifftop towards her, in grey shorts and a blue T-shirt.
‘I haven’t booked my flight back to Spain yet,’ she called, as Nessa got closer.
‘That wasn’t what I meant. You’re very close to the edge and the rock can be a bit crumbly. I don’t want you doing a nose-dive.’
‘I’m sure I’ll be fine,’ said Rosie, but she sat up and shuffled back from the edge nonetheless. ‘Are you out for a walk?’
‘Just blowing away the cobwebs before another shift at Shelley’s. I drop Lily off with my gran in Heaven’s Brook and walk over the cliff to work as long as it’s not pouring down.’
‘Wouldn’t it be quicker to drive?’
‘Definitely, if I had a car. Jake took that when he moved out, so I take her to Gran’s on the bus and then walk back.’
‘Jake?’
‘Lily’s dad. He was a moron so I didn’t much care.’ Vanessa sniffed in a way that made Rosie think she did care, very much indeed. ‘Anyway, how are things going for you?’
‘Oh, you know.’
‘Yeah, I can imagine.’
Nessa plonked herself down on the grass and turned her face towards the sky. Her nose was already sprinkled with freckles and her skin was lightly tanned, with an orange tinge.
‘What do you reckon?’ asked Nessa, pointing at her bare legs. ‘It’s out of a bottle – Saharan Chic. Not the real deal, like yours. I bet it’s really hot in Spain even at this time of year.’
‘It’ll be nudging twenty-four degrees today.’
‘Nice.’
‘The heat gets a bit much in the summer, to be honest. I sometimes feel like I’m going to melt.’
‘It’s got to be better than a dreary English summer, though.’
‘Usually, though I still sometimes dream of Devon drizzle.’
Nessa looked unconvinced, but it was true. Rosie sometimes imagined standing outside Driftwood House in a damp force eight gale when the Andalusian sun was beating down in August. And when the thermometer hit the mid-thirties, she liked to picture a chill sea mist rolling in and blanketing Heaven’s Cove.
‘Jake and I went to Spain once, before we got married,’ said Nessa, shielding her eyes against the sun. ‘He got pissed and fell asleep on the beach. Looked like a lobster for days.’
‘When did you and Jake…?’
Rosie stopped, not wanting to pry, but Nessa smiled, good-naturedly. ‘Split up? Oh, ages ago when Lily was still a baby. He was a bit overwhelmed by the whole parenting thing. Still is.’ She snorted and pushed her hands through her brown hair. ‘Jake’s a bit of a lightweight. My gran was right about him. Have you got a partner?’
‘Yeah, my boyfriend lives in Málaga.’
‘Lucky you, going out with a drop-dead gorgeous Spaniard.’
‘Matt’s from London, actually, but he is gorgeous.’
Rosie thought back to her mum’s first and only meeting with Matt. What was it she’d said about him in that noisy continental bar?He’s very good-looking in an overly groomed kind of way.Rosie, in the first flush of romance, had been miffed by her mum’s criticism but also rather thrilled because Mattwasextremely handsome, and he was going out with her. Over the last few months, their romance had grown into more than just a fling. He loved her and was definitely missing her.
Nessa sniffed. ‘What’s happening about the house, then? Are you going to move in for a while?’
