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CHAPTER 22
‘You didn’t mention the mountaineering,’ huffed Matt, hauling his suitcase to the top of the track. Dust puffed up around him when he dropped his case and stood, hands on hips, staring at Driftwood House.
‘What do you think?’
Rosie wasn’t sure why she felt nervous. It really didn’t much matter what Matt thought of her childhood home. It would soon be rubble anyway. But she was still pleased he was seeing it at its best. Sunlight sparkled on the windows facing the clifftop, which was sprinkled with bright spring flowers. A light aircraft hummed overhead, adding to the faint rhythmic boom of waves hitting rock.
‘You weren’t joking when you said it needed some work.’ Matt whistled softly. ‘What a dump.’
‘It’s hardly a dump. It just needs some tender loving care.’
‘A bit like you, babe.’
Matt swept her up into his arms and Rosie relaxed into his embrace. It was good that he was here, to support her and help her pack up what she needed to in the house.
‘Did you miss me?’ he whispered in her ear.
‘Of course.’ She had. Quite a lot. And she’d have missed him even more if she hadn’t been so focused on her grief and saving this house and unravelling secrets. She hugged him tight. ‘Thank you for coming. Were you getting lonely in Spain without me?’
‘Lonely and overworked, though Carmen is showing a great deal of promise. We’ve all been working overtime since you left at a moment’s notice.’
Rosie stiffened in his arms. ‘I didn’t have much choice. My mother died.’
‘I know,’ murmured Matt, stroking her hair. ‘Everyone understands and you need to stay until you’ve seen things through. It’s a bit of a bombshell, this dad thing.’
‘It certainly is.’ Rosie pulled away, not keen to talk about it so soon after Matt’s arrival. She picked up his suitcase. What on earth had he packed? It weighed a ton. ‘Come inside and I’ll show you around.’
Matt banged the front door shut and gazed around him, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the gloom.
‘The place could do with a new front door, but this entrance hall is a decent size and the original tiles and coving would be catnip to a buyer. Is that damp?’
‘Afraid so. The walls are a bit porous in places, though Liam says it’s easy enough to fix where the water’s getting in.’
Rosie suddenly remembered Liam’s gentle touch when he pushed her hair behind her ear. For a moment, she’d thought he was coming on to her, like the Liam of old, especially after that weird moment on market day. Teenaged Rosie would have been appalled, and just a tiny bit thrilled. But then he’d dropped his hand anyway. Of course he had. And Matt had arrived – a man who truly wanted her for herself.
‘I’m so glad you’re here, Matt,’ she said, launching herself into his arms. ‘Everything feels right now you’re here.’
‘Of course it does, babe. Of course it does,’ he murmured. ‘Come on. You can give me the Driftwood House tour later. Why don’t you show me the bedroom first?’
An hour later, Rosie lay with her head on Matt’s chest while he snored softly. Pale light filtered through her childhood bedroom, settling on dust in corners and Matt’s grey underpants on the floor. She hadn’t slept in here since arriving back at Driftwood House, but Matt sleeping in her mother’s bed wouldn’t have felt right.
Quietly, Rosie got up, slipped on her dressing gown and sat by the open window. A gentle breeze billowed the curtains while she studied Matt lying spread-eagled under the duvet.
She’d told him downstairs that everything felt right because he was here. But right now she felt more unsettled than ever. It was wonderful of Matt to – eventually – make the journey to support her, but he seemed out of place in Heaven’s Cove, as though he’d washed up by mistake in sleepy Devon.
Somewhere in the house, a door slammed as a draught snaked through an ill-fitting window. What was she doing here when her life was now a thousand miles away? She was settled there, kind of. She had an apartment, a boyfriend, two jobs, friends to drink with in the local bar, and the weather was amazing. She looked through the window at the dark clouds massing on the horizon.
But sometimes she missed the passing seasons, the unpredictable weather and the sense of being rooted. She and Heaven’s Cove hadn’t always seen eye to eye, but this village, this view, had anchored her recently while grief and secrets swirled around her. Most of all, she missed her mum, whose presence could almost be felt within these walls.
‘You all right, babe?’ Matt yawned and stretched his arms above his head.
‘Fine, thanks. I was getting some air.’
‘What were you thinking?’
Rosie tensed. She hated that question. ‘This and that. Mostly, I was thinking about Heaven’s Cove and about Mum.’
‘I am sorry about your mum.’ He raised himself up on one elbow. ‘She was quite a one for secrets, wasn’t she? Lying about this houseandnot saying a word about your mysterious father. What a woman! Do you really think that Epping man is your dad?’
