Page 76 of The Little Island Flower Stall
Violette gave the smallest nod. And then she started to walk back to the house.
‘What does that mean?’ Bella asked. ‘Should we go after her? That can’t be it!’
Celestine dried her eyes. ‘I think that is it. I think I have what I came for. At least, as close as I’m going to get, but I’ll take it gladly. I can’t help feeling that I shouldn’t have come.’
‘But you said you got?—’
‘I’ve caused her so much pain. It was selfish of me to bring up those memories – I’m afraid I’ve hurt her all over again.’
‘You were brave to face her after all this time, knowing how she’s always felt about you.’ Bella helped her aunt from the chair.
‘Brave? I’m not sure. Foolish, more like.’
‘Well, I’d have been scared.’
‘I was.’
Bella wove her arm into the crook of Celestine’s to help her down the path. ‘Do you regret coming?’
Celestine was quiet for a good couple of minutes, until Bella was beginning to think she hadn’t heard the question. But then she shook her head.
‘I don’t regret coming. I regret making Violette remember, but I’m glad to have seen her one last time.’
‘It might not be the last time. Now you’ve come to an understanding?—’
‘Yes,’ Celestine cut in. ‘It will be. I shan’t come again. Sometimes, the past is best left there.’
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Half an hour later, Bella and Celestine were back at Villa Rosa. Celestine looked tired – Bella supposed she must be exhausted – physically and emotionally – but she insisted on preparing their evening meal.
‘It’s only a morsel,’ she said. ‘I can manage it. Go and make your phone call; I can tell it’s on your mind.’
‘It can wait. Don’t you want to talk about what happened at the home with Violette?’
‘Why would I do that?’
‘Well…it must be a lot to process. It might help to say things out loud, to work them through with someone…me.’
‘Nonsense,’ Celestine said briskly. ‘I’m perfectly fine now. It’s all over as far as I’m concerned.’
Bella hesitated, tempted to argue. Not for a minute did she think Celestine really felt that way. But she could see that Celestine didn’t want to talk about it, even if Bella said she ought to. Perhaps, when she’d been able to sleep on it, she might feel differently, and Bella resolved to approach the subject again in the morning. So she simply nodded. ‘I suppose it is on my mind. Nothing gets past you, does it?’
‘It would be on my mind too. Now, off you go.’
Bella took her phone into the garden. It had been a mixed sort of day, to say the least. The sun was skirting the treetops, almost gone, but Bella found the last corner of the garden where she could feel its rays and moved a chair to it. She dialled Rory’s number feeling strangely agitated, though she couldn’t say why. If she’d had time to think about it, she’d have realised her visit to the home with Celestine had shredded her nerves almost as much as it had her great-aunt’s. It went into overdrive when a woman answered.
‘Hello…’ Bella asked, ‘sorry to…Is Rory there? This is his phone, isn’t it? I’ve called the right number?’
‘Rory, no. Do you want me to take a message?’ The voice was courteous enough, but there was a faint whiff of suspicion in her tone. ‘What’s it about?’
‘It’s…I’d rather talk to him about it, if that’s all right.’
‘I suppose it will have to be if you don’t want to tell me. Can I at least have a name so I can tell him who he’s meant to call back?’
‘Yes,’ Bella said, wondering why her name wasn’t showing on the caller ID. Did that mean he hadn’t saved her number under her name? What had he saved it as? Had he stored it in his contact list at all? ‘It’s Bella.’
‘Ah! Bella!’ The woman sounded brighter. ‘You’re his local knowledge person!’
