Page 47 of The Little Island Flower Stall
‘But?’
Bella was silent for a moment. It didn’t change anything about helping Rory – she was still committed to that. But it changed things with Celestine. Did she know about this? Was that the reason she was so reluctant to talk about it? Was it why she’d fallen out with Violette? Was this the answer to everything? Even if Bella wanted to ask her aunt about it, even going to her with what she thought was halfway towards the truth, she was convinced that would only make Celestine even less likely to talk about it. If it was true, there had to be something in the situation that made Celestine uneasy. Shame? Was that it? Was she ashamed of her friend? It didn’t seem like Celestine to judge in that way. Was it something else? Had she been complicit somehow? Been involved in a way she now wanted to pretend hadn’t happened? Had she been covering for Violette?
Deeper and deeper, Bella was getting dragged into this ever-growing mystery. The bigger it got, the further down she went. It almost felt too late to get out now, even though she feared a day when it would cause a rift between her and Celestine.
‘It’s nothing. Just seems impossible to unravel at the moment, that’s all. You must feel the same.’
‘I don’t suppose you could go back to your great-aunt and find out what she might know about this?’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘What about her friend? You said she had a friend who knocked about with Violette as a girl. She might be able to help.’
‘I don’t think she knows all that much. She was a lot younger than the rest of them.’
‘Could you ask her anyway?’
Bella was silent again. If she mentioned anything about a soldier to Dolly, and it transpired that Dolly hadn’t already known about it, she’d be straight over to Celestine to grill her. She’d spread it around the island so fast it might as well be online. Did that matter? Perhaps not the island bit – the events were so long ago not many would care. But the part where Dolly went to Celestine? That mattered a lot more. She let out a sigh.
‘It’s awkward. Dolly’s a gossip – she’s bound to tell my aunt.’
‘Does that matter?’
‘Yes!’ Bella was irritated for the first time since all this had begun. Up until now, she’d admired his determination, his single-minded pursuit of the truth. But now she could only see a blinkered disregard for who else his search impacted. She tried to see it from his perspective, but it was hard, knowing what trouble it was going to end up causing her if it went the way she thought it might. ‘It matters! It matters because she’s made it clear she doesn’t want to talk about that time or what happened. Whatever it was, it hurt Celestine.’
He flushed, his gaze going out to sea. ‘I’m sorry – you’re right.’
‘You’re fired up. It’s all right – I get that. I suppose I might feel that way too, but I can’t ask her.’
‘But youdothink she might have been involved somehow?’ he asked, turning back to her.
Bella didn’t like the new interest in his tone, but she nodded. ‘I think so. I don’t know how.’
‘And she’s really determined not to talk about it? Not to anyone?’
‘So far as I can tell, she hasn’t been super keen, and to be honest, I haven’t wanted to push it. If you could see the look on her face when anyone even mentions Violette, you wouldn’t want to push it either. Please, could we leave her out of it? There must be a way you can get your answers without having to drag Celestine into it.’
He looked disappointed but then nodded. ‘If that’s what you want.’
‘It is. It’s the only thing I’m asking you for. Everything else is fair game, and I’ll help as much as I can.’
‘How can I refuse when you put it like that?’ He smiled and, as she so often did now in the face of it, she was gripped by an urge that got harder and harder to fight, to pull him into her arms and kiss him until neither of them could breathe. She’d asked him to keep a respectful distance and he’d done just that, and it was almost disappointing. Perhaps he wasn’t as into her as she’d suspected. Perhaps that was it. ‘I don’t suppose you’ve got time to catch up over a quick drink?’
‘It is why I’m here!’ she said with a smile of her own. ‘What did you have in mind?’
‘I was thinking alcohol.’
‘Obviously.’
‘And maybe a sneaky portion of fish and chips…’
Bella laughed, her tension and irritation dissipating. ‘Six weeks with you I’ll be like a whale! Whenever we get together, we end up eating!’
‘You say it like it’s a bad thing.’
‘Not for you – you’re like a rake. But for me…I’m going to have to join a gym when I get back to Shrewsbury.’
‘Shrewsbury,’ he repeated as they left the promenade and made their way towards the pub that overlooked the jetty at the far end of the beach. ‘I never asked. That’s home? Like where you started out? Or did you move there?’
