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‘Sorry, Matt, I’m leaping to conclusions.’
‘Maybe, maybe not. Hold on, I’m going outside.’
Rosie heard muffled voices, a door closing and then the sound of traffic zooming past. She could picture the busy street, lined with palm trees, and Matt sheltering in the shade.
‘Do you really think this Epping bloke could be your dad?’
‘Possibly, maybe, probably. I don’t know.’
‘Have you spoken to him about it?’
‘God, no, and I’m not planning to. You should see him, Matt. He’s cold and unfeeling and I’m not sure I want him to be my dad anyway. I already had a dad.’
‘One who left you and your mum when you were a kid.’
‘I don’t need you to remind me of that.’
‘Sorry. I don’t mean to be blunt. This is just a lot to take in.’
‘I know. It’s all too much on top of everything else.’
What Rosie needed right now was to talk to her mum. She’d wrap her arms around her and explain and make everything all right. But that could never, ever happen. Nothing would ever be the same again.
‘I want to come back to Spain.’ Rosie was crying now, as she reached the cliff path. ‘You were right, Matt. I was stupid to stay here and to try and save Driftwood House. It doesn’t matter. None of it does. Mum’s gone.’
‘Well, yeah, but you were trying to do right by your mum. That’s understandable.’
‘Understandable but still crazy. Charles Epping and his horrible wife will do exactly what they wanted to do in the first place. It’s hopeless. I’ll get the first flight back to Málaga.’
‘Now, don’t be hasty, Rosie. There’s no point in rushing back while you’re not thinking straight. Why don’t you take a day or two to collect your thoughts and pack things up at the house, and I’ll be waiting for you when you get back? I’ve got to head indoors to the Jimsons before they change their minds, but promise me you’ll take the time to get your head together before you do anything else.’
Rosie stopped on the cliff path and let the breeze cool her hot face. She could see that bolting from Heaven’s Cove would cause its own problems. Many of her mum’s possessions were still scattered around the house and needed to be boxed up. ‘OK, I promise, though I can’t wait to get back. I miss you, Matt.’
‘I miss you too, babe. Gotta go.’
Rosie dropped the phone into her jacket pocket and gazed across Heaven’s Cove. The village looked beautiful from up here. At its centre, the church tower rose above huddled cottages and narrow streets. Boats bobbed at the quay, and close to the bright strip of sand at the cove, she spotted the fields that made up Meadowsweet Farm. Liam would be there right now, working hard, and paying rent for his fields to a man he couldn’t stand. The man who might be her father.
When Liam had rung her yesterday, to ask about the Eppings’ visit, she’d said nothing about Charles also being known as Jay. She didn’t want to say anything before finding out more. That’s what she’d told herself. But the truth was she didn’t want Liam to think badly of her, as he surely would if she turned out to be an Epping herself.
With a deep sigh, Rosie trudged on for home. Her head had started to ache after talking to Matt, and Driftwood House seemed musty and full of old secrets when the front door banged shut behind her. She paced from room to room, unable to settle, and spent the rest of the day packing up precious possessions of her mum’s that she wanted to keep. Another restless night followed, filled with dreams of perfect red roses turning to ash in her hands.
