Page 49 of The Sisters at the Last House Before the Sea

Isla glanced at his feet and he followed her gaze. ‘Do you mean my rain boots? These belong to Rosie’s husband. He took one look at my footwear and took pity on me.’

‘There’s a lot of boot sharing going on today,’ murmured Isla, trying not to shiver. An icy wind was blowing in off the grey sea and swirling around them.

‘You look like you’re freezing. Do you want my thicker scarf?’ Ben asked. He gave a wry smile. ‘Which is also borrowed from Rosie’s husband.’

Isla shook her head. ‘No, thank you, but thanks for offering. That’s very gallant of you.’

‘That’s me. Gallant to a fault.’ Snowflakes were falling more heavily now and beginning to settle on the long lashes that framed Ben’s grey eyes. ‘Look, shall we get out of this weather? Is there somewhere nearby where we could get a hot drink to warm up?’

‘I know just the place,’ said Isla, after a moment’s thought. ‘Follow me. And keep your eyes peeled for my niece, a stroppy teenager called Maisie, who’s vanished.’

‘Properly vanished?’

‘No, she’s gone for a walk and Caitlin’s having kittens because she’s been out for a couple of hours. She’s fifteen so I’m sure she’s OK.’

As Isla said it, she felt a stirring of concern. Maisie was all right, wasn’t she? Caitlin wasn’t the type of person to panic about nothing, and she hadn’t rung to say that Maisie had been found.

‘Your sister sounds like my mom when I spent time in the Amazonian rainforest. She was convinced I’d be eaten by a crocodile.’

‘I didn’t know you’d been to the Amazon as well. Was the rainforest amazing?’

‘It was awe-inspiring, and I did see caimans, who are related to alligators, but I managed to avoid becoming lunch.’

‘Tell me more about it,’ said Isla, as they walked on, their boots squeaking in the virgin snow.

Ben obliged and Isla felt herself carried far away from Heaven’s Cove, to a tropical forest alive with iridescent hummingbirds.

‘So, is the Amazon on your bucket list as well now?’ he asked, when the tale of his Amazonian adventure came to an end.

‘Definitely. It sounds wonderful.’

He glanced at her, his nose red from the cold. ‘Why don’t you tell me about your favourite places abroad?’

‘Me? I’ve been far too busy here in Heaven’s Cove to go away very much.’

‘I get that, with you looking after your grandmother. But I guess that you and Paul will have more of a chance to travel now.’

‘Mmm, maybe,’ murmured Isla. ‘Though why do we need to travel when we live in such a beautiful place?’

She was parroting Paul’s words, and the moment they were out of her mouth, she wished she hadn’t said them.

Ben frowned. ‘Because there are lots of other beautiful places out there, waiting to be discovered.’ He stepped to one side as a white truck drove slowly past them. ‘Awesome, magnificent places that I’m sure you’d love.’

‘And I’d love to see them. I really would, only—’

Isla stopped talking.

‘Only, what?’ prompted Ben as the shops of Heaven’s Cove came into view.

‘Only I don’t have much time to go gadding about and I’m perfectly fine here.’

Surprise flickered across Ben’s face, but how could Isla tell this intrepid American how nervous she felt about straying too far from Heaven’s Cove these days? Paul believed that the world out there was dangerous and she’d begun to believe it too. Her world had shrunk to this village and the people in it who were familiar and unthreatening.

Had Edith felt the same way? she wondered. Had she also been a coward who was too afraid to leave her little corner of Devon?

20

MAISIE

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