Page 71 of The Little Island Flower Stall
‘Hmm…it’s just Rory. He can’t meet me today. Something came up.’
‘That’s a shame,’ Celestine said. ‘Have you told him about…?’
‘Not yet. I wanted to do it in person – it’s not the sort of thing you discuss over a text message, is it?’
‘I wouldn’t know – I’ve never sent one. I’m sure I’d want to talk about it face to face too, though.’
Bella went to straighten up a bucket of roses. She didn’t know what to do. Should she try to message Rory with what she knewabout Violette? It seemed too complicated and delicate for that. She supposed she could wait until he called. She supposed she would have to.
She decided to wait until they’d closed up the flower stall and then try to get hold of him. She’d hopefully get an explanation for his no-show then, and she’d be able to tell him what she’d learned about Violette.
‘I might get a sandwich from the crab shack,’ she said to Celestine. ‘I was waiting to meet Rory but there’s no point now, and I’m starving.’
‘Do you still want to take your break?’
‘No, no point; I’ve got nowhere I need to be. How about I get us both a sandwich and we can eat it here?’
‘That sounds lovely,’ Celestine said. ‘I am going to miss you when you go back to Shrewsbury, you know.’
‘I’ll miss you,’ Bella said. She paused. Something else was bugging Celestine – she could tell. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing.’
‘You don’t seem…Is it about our conversation last night? I’m sorry if I overstepped?—’
‘No, it’s not that. Well, perhaps it is, but you haven’t done anything wrong. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.’
‘Have you decided if you’d like to see Violette?’
‘I’m not sure I ought to. I haven’t enquired about visiting yet, and now that I think about it, I don’t know if I will after all.’
‘I think you should,’ Bella said. ‘You should try to talk to her.’
‘What if she doesn’t want to listen? She never wanted to listen before. She didn’t want to listen to me or Anais?—’
‘That was then. There’s been enough time for a whole ocean to pass under the bridge. Rory said…’
‘What?’ Celestine asked.
‘He told me her memory’s not good. She might not recognise you even if you do go.’
‘There then. There’s no point.’
‘I don’t know about that. I was thinking it might make things easier. You can go and say your piece. I don’t know that it even matters whether she knows what you’re talking about or not, because at least you’ll have got it off your chest.’
Celestine shook her head. ‘It matters. In some ways I feel it’s selfish of me to go.’
‘Why?’
‘I’m the only person who would feel better afterwards. It wouldn’t change anything for Violette.’
‘You don’t know that. She might appreciate the opportunity to hear your side of things and to make peace with you. What’s the worst that can happen?’
‘She can tell me to get out.’
‘Then you’ll get out, but you’ll know you tried.’
Celestine fiddled with the buttons on her cardigan. After a moment of silence, she turned back to Bella. ‘You’re right. Would you be able to call the home from your mobile phone for me? Otherwise I’d have to wait until we’ve closed up here, and I might lose my nerve by the time we get home.
