Page 37 of The Little Island Flower Stall
He smiled warmly. ‘So let me treat you to dinner.’
‘You’ve already paid for the entry here so?—’
‘Please. You’re doing me another favour by coming to eat with me, so it’s the least I can do.’
‘Only if you let me pay next time.’
‘Next time?’ His smile spread. ‘There’s an offer I can’t refuse! It’s a deal.’
CHAPTER NINE
They settled on a venue that was more of a gastropub than a restaurant, but the place was cosy and ambient, and the food was good, and Bella quickly relaxed into easy conversation with him. As the main course arrived, talk turned to Bella’s childhood holidays on Jersey, some where they’d stayed with her aunt and others where they’d been to hotels or chalets.
‘It’s so strange to me,’ Rory said. ‘It’s almost like your second home. Considering what I’ve discovered over the past couple of weeks, I feel guilty that I never even thought about visiting this place until I found out I had a family connection. But now I’m here, I can’t believe it slipped under my radar – it’s a beautiful island.’
‘I didn’t really think about it for all those years, except that I knew I loved coming here and we did that a lot. I never appreciated how lucky I was to have this place. When I got a bit older, I began to get jealous of friends who went all over the world because I only came here. When I got married, I stopped coming altogether. I wish I hadn’t – I missed out on so many years of visits for no reason apart fromhimnot wanting to come here.’
‘If you still wanted to come, you could have visited your great-aunt?’
‘I could have, but…’ Bella shrugged. ‘I don’t really want to go into that now, if it’s all the same to you. I made some decisions I’m not proud of, and some I’m angry at myself for making, and it’s going to take time to come to terms with them.’
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to?—’
‘I know you didn’t; it’s fine. So, the hunt for your grandfather…Do you think visiting the tunnels today has helped?’
‘I don’t know about that. It’s been amazing to see what he might have gone through, but it hasn’t really told me much else.’ He sipped at his beer. ‘It has made me more determined to find out. I want to know more than ever if the story I saw today might have been his.’
‘Will your DNA test tell you what you need to know? I suppose the records are showing no name for your great-grandfather if Violette wanted to keep it secret.’
‘As I understand it, the company can find blood relatives if they have matching DNA on their system, but those people need to have registered their consent to be contacted. Some people get their own results but don’t want to be on the database for others to see.’
‘And if they don’t, you’re none the wiser?’
‘It will certainly make things more difficult. I suppose I’ll have to wait for the results first and then go from there.’
‘And there’s no dad on the records?’
‘Father unknown.’
Bella fiddled with the stem of her wine glass. ‘That’s certainly a challenge then.’
‘Yes, but one I think I can get on board with if I put my mind to it. Now that I’ve been here and seen the island and learned the history for myself, I want more than ever to uncover the mysteryof who my great-grandfather is and what happened between him and Violette.’
‘You seem confident you’re going to crack it.’
‘If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here.’
‘And I suppose you’ve left a life on hold back on the mainland until you do. How long realistically can you do that before it starts to be a problem? I know you said you can work remotely, but surely you can’t do that indefinitely? Have you decided how long you can allow for this?’ She was angling, hoping he’d drop some clue about who might be at home waiting for him, but he didn’t seem to notice. He certainly didn’t volunteer any information of that sort. He only broke into a slow smile.
‘Not really…Six weeks is sounding good right now.’
‘Six weeks…That’s how long I…’ Bella had to smile too. No mention of anyone. What did that mean? Did it mean there was nobody? ‘OK, I get it. Smooth. Are you asking me to be your Watson for the next six weeks?’
‘That would imply I’m Holmes. I appreciate the compliment, but I don’t think I’m that good.’
‘So…’ Bella realised that her food had been sitting in front of her for a full ten minutes and she hadn’t taken a single bite. Digging her fork into it, she continued. ‘If you’re here next week, you’ll be around for the Liberation Day celebrations.’
‘I should be. Are they worth watching?’
