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They walked on in silence, as the path got narrower and trees pressed in around them. Lettie felt shaken, not by the revelations from Corey or how easy it had felt to tell him what her life was really like, but by the rush of emotions she’d felt when he’d stepped towards her. It was as though a different life had suddenly revealed itself: a more fulfilling life away from family responsibilities.
Maybe a life here, in Heaven’s Cove.
A roaring noise got louder as they walked on and, when they turned a corner, in front of them was a waterfall. A very familiar waterfall. White water streamed and gushed over moss-covered boulders into a whirling mass of black water below.
‘Oh, my goodness! This is the same place as the photo on Iris’s wall,’ exclaimed Lettie. ‘She told me it was Dartmoor but always changed the subject whenever I asked anything else about it.’
‘And the same as the painting on Gran’s wall too. I thought you might like to see the waterfall for real. It’s a magical place.’
It really was magical. Lettie watched the water cascading and marvelled at the permanence of this wonder of nature. Whatever she decided about her job, about her life, the water would fall and smooth the rocks in its path. It gave her a feeling of peace and she closed her eyes.
When she opened them, Corey was looking at her. ‘That’s how I feel about this place too. I come here when life gets… overwhelming.’
‘So Iris must have known about this waterfall.’
‘Gran said that Cornelius would sometimes bring her here.’
‘Wow. So it was a special place for both of them.’
Lettie could imagine young Iris clambering over the rocks and cooling her feet in the shallow river before it tumbled over the edge of the land. Then sitting with Cornelius, the man she loved, watching the never-ending stream of water. Sit where I sat, darling girl. But there was nothing here that could possibly link to the key that was hanging right now around her neck.
‘Come and see,’ said Corey, pointing at a small pile of stones at the bottom of the waterfall, to the side. ‘It can be a bit slippery so be careful.’
Corey held out his hand and, when she placed her hand in his, his fingers closed around her palm. He held on tight, all the way over the water-slicked rocks, his skin warm and his grip firm.
At the bottom of the falls, he let go and walked to the stones which, she realised, were carefully arranged into a pyramid shape, with the largest stones forming a base.
One of the largest stones carried a plaque, corroded by water splashes, but the wording was still visible: In loving memory of Cornelius Allford, a true son of Devon. Never forgotten. Always missed.
‘We don’t know exactly where Cornelius is buried but Gran and her family made their own memorial,’ said Corey. ‘There’s the general one in Weaver’s Row in the village, but they wanted a personal one just for him. Here, in a place that he loved.’
Lettie ran her fingers across the plaque. Beneath it was a smaller brass plate. She brushed away the water splashes so she could make out the inscription: And also Elizabeth Allford, for whom the loss of her beloved son was too much to bear in this life.
So the gravestone on the edge of Heaven’s Cove churchyard definitely was for Florence’s mother.
‘What happened to your great-grandmother after Cornelius died?’ asked Lettie gently.
‘She died soon afterwards.’
‘But what exactly happened?’
‘She drowned.’
‘How?’ whispered Lettie, dreading the answer but having to know.
Corey rubbed a hand across his eyes. ‘She was a fragile woman who was overcome with grief.’ He winced. ‘She walked into the sea fully clothed.’
‘In Heaven’s Cove?’
Corey nodded as Lettie imagined the sea closing over her head and her lungs burning as they filled with salt water. How unutterably awful for Elizabeth, and for Florence, who was already reeling from tragedy.
Lettie couldn’t bear to imagine losing her own mother as a child. However annoying her mum could be, with her constant matchmaking and moves to manage Lettie’s life, she knew that she was loved. And Florence had lost that special person so soon after losing her brother.
‘No wonder your gran has traumatic memories from that time, and it’s understandable that she still hates Iris if she sees her as the source of all her heartbreak.’
Corey gently touched her arm but Lettie hardly noticed. ‘It was ages ago,’ he told her. ‘It’s in the past and long gone.’
‘It’s in the past but it’s not gone, is it? Not so long as someone remembers.’
