Page 39 of The Little Island Flower Stall
Bella looked up from her plate. ‘You’re really interested in what flowers we’re going to be sticking in our Jersey flags?’
‘Yes,’ he said with a soft laugh. ‘I really am.’
The ground floor of Villa Rosa was in darkness by the time Bella arrived back there. It looked as if Celestine had gone to bed, as Bella had told her to when she’d phoned briefly to let her know there was no need to worry.
Taking off her shoes, she crept upstairs to her room and fell onto the bed. It had been a long and strange kind of day. Good, she decided. It had been a good day. More than good: unexpectedly great. She reflected on how easily she and Rory had got along, how comfortable she’d quickly felt around him. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d been like that with a man.
There was no romance, of course, and perhaps things might have been different if that had been on the cards, but she’d made it clear that wasn’t what she wanted and he’d been totally respectful of her wishes. It didn’t stop him offering hesitant compliments and giving her looks that spelled out how he mightwish for more; even Bella, with her unpractised eye, could recognise them. She hadn’t minded that. In fact, she’d liked it. To be so obviously admired and desired – she hadn’t felt that for a long time. Even when Sean had said it, she’d never really felt it, like she could tell he was only going through the motions because they were married. And, of course, she’d been proved right in the end on that score. He’d been far more interested in forbidden fruit than what he had waiting at home.
Bella tried to push thoughts of Sean out of her mind. From a distance, even with the finality of a divorce on the horizon, he was still ruining her life – at least, if she let him. The trick was not to let him. Spending time with Rory was certainly helping there.
As tempting as it was to curl up on the bed and go to sleep, Bella forced herself to get up and go to the bathroom to clean her face and brush her teeth. It was late for a bath – Celestine’s old house had no shower – and she didn’t want to wake Celestine, so that would wait until the morning. But as she tiptoed down the landing, she heard her aunt call out.
‘Bella… is that you?’
‘Yes. Sorry if I woke you; I was trying to be quiet.’
‘That’s all right. I wasn’t quite asleep. Did you have a nice day?’
Bella went to the bedroom door and opened it a crack. Her aunt was sitting up with the bedside lamp on, a book in her hand. She clearly hadn’t been anywhere close to sleep. Bella cringed inwardly. So Celestinehadbeen waiting up for her to come home?
‘I had a lovely day,’ Bella said.
Celestine patted the bed for Bella to sit on it. ‘Was the museum interesting?’
‘Really good,’ Bella said, perching at her aunt’s feet. ‘Brilliant. I had no idea of half the things that had happened here during the occupation.’
‘I thought about what you said this morning, and I think you’re right. It ought to be remembered and understood. It’s just, for my part, I find it hard to…’
Bella reached for her hand and gave it a quick squeeze. ‘After what I saw today, I get why you would find it hard to talk about. It’s OK – nobody is asking you to if you don’t want to. I’m curious, I’ll admit, but only because I find it so hard to imagine living through, and knowing that you did, well…’ Bella shrugged. ‘I suppose it almost feels as if it can’t possibly have happened for real, but you’re living proof that it did.’
‘A lot went on,’ Celestine said, her gaze on a spot across the room, as if it were suddenly in the past. ‘It was a complicated time for people. We didn’t know whether we were coming or going most days. Enemies and friends…it all got so mixed up.’
Bella squeezed a little harder, sensing some distress. ‘Celestine…don’t…Don’t get upset. I didn’t mean to upset you by telling you about the museum.’
‘Oh, you didn’t.’ Celestine snapped out of her trance and gave a tired smile. ‘So where did you go to eat afterwards? In St Lawrence?’
Bella nodded. ‘It was close by. I don’t remember the name of the pub, but it was nice.’
‘I’m surprised the buses were still running back to St Rosa at that time.’
‘They weren’t. I got a taxi.’
‘All the way from St Lawrence? That must have cost a pretty penny.’
‘It wasn’t too bad…’ Bella paused. Should she mention Rory? ‘I was with a friend, so we split it. He got to his destination andpaid the fare that far, and then the taxi went on with me so I didn’t have that much to pay in the end.’
Celestine’s smile grew. ‘A friend? That didn’t take long. When did you meet him?’
‘I kind of got chatting to him the other day,’ Bella replied vaguely.
‘I’m glad you’re making friends and having nice days out,’ Celestine said. ‘You deserve it. So when you say friend, is he really a friend or more than a friend?’
‘Cheeky!’ Bella laughed lightly. ‘That would be telling. Seriously, though, I don’t think my head is in the right place for anything but friends right now. Ask me six months down the line, and perhaps I might be ready for more. This time, it’s friends, and that’s enough.’
‘You’ll have to bring him over sometime,’ Celestine said. ‘We could cook for him.’
Bella got up and kissed her aunt on the cheek. ‘It’s late, and we both ought to be asleep by now.’
