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‘Don’t you realise that man doesn’t play by the rules? He’s a cheat.’
‘Calm down, Corey.’ Florence put a steadying hand on his arm before addressing Lettie. ‘I’m afraid my grandson has got the wrong end of the stick. This young lady isn’t here to talk about land, Corey. She’s asking about her family history.’
‘So she says.’
‘So I say? Why are you so suspicious, and why would I be lying about my family anyway?’
‘You tell me.’
‘I am telling you. You’ve got me all wrong.’
The colour in Corey’s cheeks began to fade and he took a deep breath. ‘Are you telling me that you don’t work with Simon?’
‘I definitely don’t work with Simon. I work in customer services for… Well, I used to.’ Lettie shook her head. ‘My job doesn’t matter. The fact is that I’m trying to find out more about my family when they lived here, and Si… someone told me that your grandmother might be able to help me piece a few things together, seeing as she’s lived here for years.’
‘I see.’ Corey scuffed at the ground with his boots, but didn’t apologise. Distrust was still etched across his face.
Florence tutted but gave Corey’s arm a loving pat. ‘Pay no attention to my grandson. He’s a good lad and always looking out for me, Miss… what did you say your name was?’
‘My name’s Lettie.’
‘That’s pretty.’
‘It’s short for Violet. All the women in my family are named after flowers – my sister’s Daisy, and my two paternal aunts were Alyssa and Hyacinth. It’s a tradition.’
Florence’s smile faltered. ‘Is that right? And what would your surname be?’
‘Starcross, I’m Lettie Starcross, and I’m trying to find out more about my great-aunt, who, it won’t come as any great surprise, was also named after a flower.’
‘Which flower?’ whispered Florence, her mouth hardly moving.
‘Iris.’
Lettie smiled but Florence’s face had frozen. With the help of her stick, she pushed herself slowly to her feet. ‘I have nothing to say to you,’ she said coldly.
Lettie also stood up, shocked by the older woman’s sudden shift in attitude.
‘I won’t take up much of your time,’ she told her. ‘I just wondered if you remembered my great-aunt and her family. They used to live at Driftwood House, where I’m staying now. They left Heaven’s Cove towards the end of the Second World War, as far as I’m aware.’
‘Corey, take me home.’ Florence grabbed hold of her grandson’s hand. ‘I need to go home now, and you…’ Her glare held such naked hostility, Lettie took a step backwards. ‘Stay away from me. I need to go, right now, Corey.’
‘Of course, Gran.’ He put his arm tenderly around her shoulders and started leading her away. Just once, he looked back at Lettie, with a questioning glance.
‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you,’ called Lettie.
But Florence and Corey were gone.
‘What the hell?’
Lettie sank back onto the low wall as a gust of wind caught dust in the centre of the ruined hall and made it dance. What on earth was that all about?
Her mum thought Iris might have left Heaven’s Cove after some sort of trouble or scandal. But what could possibly have been so bad that it still upset a local lady more than seventy-five years later? Lettie sat for a while, listening to the squeals of children having fun at the fete and wondering what she was going to find out about the Starcross family.
