Page 68 of Be More Lucy

‘How was your day?’ he asked as he started chopping the bacon.

‘Good. I got the bathroom ready for the plumber, and I went to see Mary.’

‘Did she like her picture?’

‘She loved it. She was very grateful. And very informative, too.’

Jack stopped chopping. ‘What does that mean?’

‘She knows why Nancy’s banned from the Bay View.’ Em couldn’t help looking smug.

‘We shouldn’t be talking to Mary about that.’

‘Don’t pretend you aren’t interested. You tried to get your mother to dish the dirt last week. Anyway, I didn’t bring it up. Mary did when I mentioned we’d looked at the Bay View for our wedding ceremony. But if you’re not bothered …’

‘I didn’t say that,’ he grinned. ‘What’s the story then?’

‘It’s all rumour, of course. But she reckons the owner had a drugs racket going on, smuggling them in via the harbour. Nancy sussed her out.’

‘Her?’

‘Yes, Silvia Moretti. She’s Italian. She moved back to Italy. But she still owns the hotel.’

Jack looked puzzled. ‘But Nancy would’ve gone to the police if anything illegal was happening.’

’That’s exactly what I said. Apparently, the rumour is that Silvia was having an affair with Xander.’

‘You’ve lost me now. That would be even more of a reason for Nancy to report her, I would’ve thought.’

‘Xander asked Nancy not to grass Silvia up, so she didn’t.’

‘I don’t recall Nancy being subservient to Xander.’

‘I can’t imagine she was, but that’s the story that did the rounds in Dashford in 1989. Whether it’s true or not, who knows.’

‘Only Nancy,’ he said thoughtfully as he put a saucepan of water on the hob. ‘What did you say the name of the Italian hotel owner was?’

‘Silvia Moretti. Why?’

‘Mark’s half-sister Gabriella is a Moretti.’

‘Really? So they could be related?’

‘Probably not - Moretti’s not an unusual surname in Italy.’

‘And Gabriella’s too young - she must’ve been born in the late 90s.’

‘Yes. Just a coincidence then.’

‘In other news, I also spoke to Lucy.’

‘Oh yes?’ Jack was concentrating on cooking now. He didn’t sound quite as interested as he had in Mary’s gossip.

‘Has Mark said anything about her?’

‘What makes you ask?’ He seemed cagey.

‘So he has said something?’

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