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“I think that’s why he tried to avoid telling me.” She picked up her mug, then put it down again. “About Hugh … what you said yesterday … I understand why you’d be angry but I swear I wasn’t deliberately misleading him.” She grimaced, not sure that was the truth. Of course she’d been misleading him. “I met him up at the club and at first it was just a bit of fun so it didn’t seem necessary to tell him everything. I am going to tell him the truth though. He knows I was a professional golfer … I just haven’t managed to tell him the truth about the waitressing and everything. I’ve been trying to, but then I had to rush back to Surrey. I’d intended to tell him yesterday but there was the party and after that he had to pick Emmy up from the airport.”
Verity put a stop to her wittering by placing a hand over Allie’s. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you yesterday without knowing the whole story. I’m a bit protective of Hugh …”
“I think you had every right to snap at me.”
Verity squeezed her hand. “It wasn’t only about Hugh,” she said then withdrew her hand and drew in a deep breath. “I was hurt …”
Allie felt her forehead crease as she waited for Verity to continue.
“Your mum was a good friend,” she said, then paused when her chin trembled. “I was already sad when you left to go to Surrey, but then to hear what happened … and so soon after you’d moved.” She put a hand over her heart and blinked back tears. “It was so very sad. I often thought about you. Your dad explained that you weren’t keen to come back, but I always asked after you and then I kept an eye on you on social media. Always with a touch of second-hand pride.”
Pausing, she swiped a tear from her cheek. “I always imagined that if you ever did come back you’d come in the cafe to say hello, and I’d tell you stories about when you used to come in the cafe with your mum.”
Allie took a moment before she replied. “When Mum died,” she began, then paused as a lump swelled in her throat. “It was so sudden, I didn’t know how to deal with it.”
“You were nine years old,” Verity pointed out. “As adults, grief is impossible, so of course you’d have been lost.”
“Every time I thought about Mum it was agony,” Allie said, her throat burning with emotion. “Eventually, I figured out it was easier not to think about her. I focused on school and golf and helping Dad with the club. Anything to avoid thinking about her and feeling that horrible pain.” She pressed her lips together and tasted the salt from a stray tear. “I guess my brain got good at shutting out those memories until I honestly couldn’t recall much about living in Hope Cove. Of course I still remembered bits and pieces of my mum, but not much. And I was fine with that.”
“That all makes sense,” Verity said, eyes shining with sympathy.
“When I came back a few weeks ago, things started to come back to me. I remembered the golf club.” She smiled gently. “I remembered Bill when I saw him. Then when I was in the cafe I saw you and you felt very familiar.” She stopped and took a sip of her tea. “I still don’t remember all that much, but the memories I have aren’t as painful as I expected them to be.”
“I’m glad you finally decided to come back.”
“I’m not sure decided is the right word. Dad finally wore me down.”
“Maybe it was just the right time.” The oven timer began to beep and Verity stood up.
Allie took another sip of tea. “I should probably let you get on with your work.”
“Nonsense,” Verity said, pulling a tray of scones from the oven and filling the room with a delicious aroma. “You’re not going anywhere until you’ve had one of these.”
Allie’s mouth watered. “If you insist.”
“I do.” Verity put one directly on a plate for her, then took a jar of strawberry jam from the fridge. “How do you feel about cream these days?”
“I’m not a huge fan,” Allie said, while aiming a questioning look at Verity. “Why?”
“You didn’t like it when you were a kid. Do you remember your mum trying to coax you into eating it?”
“Not really …” Allie squinted as her mind whirred. “Wait, I have a vague memory of Mum trying to force her scone on me. It was loaded with cream and she was insisting I try a bite.”
Verity chuckled as she sat back down. “She used to joke that when you were born she was sure you could never ever do anything to disappoint her … but she’d never considered you might like to eat scones only with jam and not cream!”
Allie couldn’t help but laugh as she cut the scone in two to release a puff of steam. “I’m afraid I haven’t changed.” She left the scone to cool down for a moment. “I hadn’t realised until you said it yesterday that my mum had always insisted on people calling me Alegra. I always insisted on it too, but hadn’t known the preference had come from her.”
“Yes.” Verity smiled. “She was so proud of your name.”
“I almost wish I didn’t know that,” Allie said, blinking back tears.
Verity shot her a questioning look.
“I’ve been using Allie while I’ve been in Hope Cove,” she explained. “And now I quite like it. It feels right somehow. I thought I’d probably stick with it once I told everyone the truth, but now I don’t know. Mum wanted me to be Alegra.”
“Yes.”
Surprised by Verity’s bluntness, Allie wasn’t sure how to react.
