Page 18 of The Sisters at the Last House Before the Sea

Jessie, bless her, had said she enjoyed having a youngster in the house again and had done her best to get on with the stroppy teenager. They’d almost been friends by the time Maisie left – which was proved by the fact that she’d bequeathed Maisie her carved angel protector.

Tears sprang into Isla’s eyes at the thought of her grandmother’s generosity. She missed her so much.

The door swung open and Caitlin came in and dropped into a chair, with a loud ‘oof’.

‘I can’t believe how steep the hill up to this house is. And it’s a death-trap when it’s so icy. It never seemed so steep when we first moved in.’

‘That was a long time ago,’ said Isla. ‘And you were probably wearing flat shoes back then.’ She nodded at Caitlin’s high-heeled leather boots. ‘You need sensible walking boots around here, especially at this time of year.’

Caitlin shuddered at the prospect. She seemed like a totally different person these days and Isla missed the sister she’d once had. They’d lost their mother twenty years ago and their grandmother four weeks ago. But they’d lost each other the day that Caitlin had left her behind and moved to London.

‘Why are you walking anyway?’ asked Isla, pushing herself away from Paul. ‘I heard you drive away in your car.’

‘I dropped it off at the garage, the one around the back of the pub. It’s been playing up a bit and I want to nip any problems in the bud. I don’t want to break down halfway back to London.’ She paused and studied her nails, painted a perfect pink, like her perfect life. ‘I didn’t realise that Sean owned the business.’

‘Yeah, he bought it from Derek Falkirk when he retired, a few years ago,’ chipped in Paul, who always perked up when it came to business dealings. ‘I heard he was running a garage over Heaven’s Brook way before that. It’s a tidy little business, I imagine. Why? Are you friends?’

‘We were. More acquaintances, really,’ murmured Caitlin, staring out of the window at the white sky.

Isla glanced at her sister. She remembered a heartbroken Sean knocking on their door after Caitlin had left, asking when she was coming back. Isla had said ‘soon’ because that’s what she’d believed back then. Before the timings between Caitlin’s visits got longer, until they hardly happened at all. ‘Anyway, he’s done all right for himself,’ said Caitlin briskly, taking off her leather jacket, which was totally impractical in such cold weather. She glanced up at Paul, who’d reached across Isla to grab Jessie’s accounts book and was studying the figures. ‘No work today, then, Paul?’

‘One of the joys of being my own boss is that I can take time off whenever I want.’

‘What is it that you do again?’

‘I run a logistics company that arranges transportation and warehousing for select clients. I help them move their products from A to B and find storage facilities when their output requires it. Isn’t that right, Isla?’

‘Mmm,’ answered Isla, who tried really hard to take an interest in Paul’s work, even though it sounded dead boring when he was wanging on about it.

‘And I’ve been working very hard today already.’ Paul gave a brief laugh. ‘I can assure you that I’m not skiving.’

‘I never thought you were,’ said Caitlin mildly. ‘I was simply surprised to see you here in the early afternoon. That’s all.’

‘I’ll be here a lot more when I move in.’

Isla shifted uncomfortably on the sofa. Paul sounded defensive, and Caitlin’s face had fallen.

‘I didn’t realise you were planning on moving in,’ she said, one eyebrow lifting.

‘We didn’t co-habit when Jessie was alive, out of respect. She was a game old bird but, you know, people still have old-fashioned ideas. But now she’s gone…’ He spread out his arms. ‘This is a big house, and I need to move in to look after Isla.’

‘I’m sure my sister is perfectly capable of looking after herself,’ said Caitlin with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

‘You’d think but she does daft things all the time. Don’t you, sweetheart? For a start, she’s horribly accident prone and would burn this place down without me following round behind her, turning off gas hobs. Fortunately, I’m not a clumsy or forgetful person myself or it would be carnage around here!’ He laughed and patted Isla’s knee. ‘Anyway, what else are you up to today, darling?’

‘Nothing in particular,’ said Isla, ignoring Paul’s comments because the awkwardness between him and Caitlin was putting her teeth on edge. ‘Sorting out Gran’s things, mostly, and trying to get my head round her finances.’

‘I’ve told you, I can do all of that. You don’t need to worry about anything because you’ve got me. And like I say, you certainly don’t need to worry about an old letter and riddle.’

Caitlin gave Paul one of her straight stares. ‘Could you give me the letter, please.’

Paul, huffing slightly, picked up the envelope and handed it over. ‘I hope you’re not fuelling Isla’s obsession with this. It’s not good for her.’

‘It’s hardly an obsession,’ Isla murmured, but Paul simply clasped her hand and gave it a squeeze.

Caitlin pulled out the letter and read it through. Then, she tipped the riddle out of the envelope and read that as well. ‘It is intriguing, I must admit. Have you got anywhere with finding out anything more?’

‘I’ve discovered that Edith was our great-great-aunt.’

---