Page 78 of The Little Island Flower Stall
‘Looks that way.’
‘You really liked him too.’
‘Yes,’ Bella sighed. ‘I did. I might have known that was the jinx. I’m drawn to tossers, apparently. If I fancy them, they’re going to turn out to be bad. Seems like a good rule to follow from now on: don’t go out with any man unless I’m not attracted to him.’
Celestine pushed the salt cellar across the table for Bella. ‘You’re being too hard on yourself. And you don’t know that’s the whole story yet. If I were you, I’d find out for certain.’
‘I do. I’m involved, so what else would it be? I’ve had enough. No more men.’
Celestine was silent for a moment, chewing thoughtfully on her lettuce. After a time, she spoke again. ‘Why don’t you go to his hotel?’
‘And do what?’ Climb up to the windows to spy on him?’
Celestine looked hurt, and Bella immediately backed off. Her poor great-aunt had been battered enough today, and she was only trying to help.
‘Sorry,’ she added. ‘That was uncalled for.’
‘If I were you, knowing what I know now about life and regrets in general, I’d want to be certain. If you like him as much as you seem to, then would you want to throw it all away on a suspicion that might be wrong? There could be any number of explanations.’
‘Do you really think so? Because I can’t see any other.’
‘Perhaps not,’ Celestine admitted. ‘But I’d still want to know for sure.’
‘I’m not sure I want the answer, to be honest.’
‘What about the news you were going to share with him about Violette?’
‘I don’t know,’ Bella admitted. ‘I feel I ought to tell him that – it has nothing to do with our relationship, after all. But I can’t say I’m feeling very generous in that regard at the moment. I could quite easily be peevish about it and keep it to myself, and it would still be no more than he deserves.’
‘I think you’re better than that. Don’t you?’
‘Yes, probably, and it annoys the hell out of me.’
‘I can understand that too, but if I know you, you won’t be able to help yourself. You’d want to tell him, no matter what he did. It’s that sense of fair play – your dad has it.’
‘That’s probably why it’s so galling when nobody seems to want to play fair with me. What would you do?’
‘I have no idea. I haven’t spent the time around Rory that you have, so I couldn’t possibly comment on whether his intentions seemed genuine or not.’
‘Oh, they were genuine all right. As in, he genuinely wanted to get into my knickers.’
Celestine winced, and Bella flushed. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean that to sound so coarse.’
‘You’re upset – it’s only natural.’
Bella chewed on a forkful of salad as she stared into space. ‘I honestly don’t know what I ought to do. I know one thing for sure – I won’t be so trusting next time I meet a good-looking man with a romantic backstory.’
‘You think it’s romantic?’
Bella turned to her. ‘Sort of. Isn’t it?’
‘I’d hardly call it that,’ Celestine said in a withering tone that filled Bella with instant shame. ‘A young man died; a young girl lost the love of her life and had to give up his child. I’m sure it might seem romantic in a film, but I’d call it tragic. Awful, in fact.’
‘I’m sorry; you’re right.’
Celestine gave her a thin smile now. ‘No, I’m sorry. I’m more sensitive about it than I ought to be. It’s only natural it would be hard for you to grasp what it was like. So many years have passed, and most of the people who were around then are dead and gone.’
Bella drew in a long breath. ‘I suppose I’ll go to see him then. If he ever actually replies to one of my messages. I’ll go to his hotel tomorrow if I don’t hear anything before then. It just feels like the right thing to do. What happened between Rory and me has nothing to do with him and his family. Although, I can’t say I’ll be in a brilliant mood about it if he doesn’t contact me before then – I’ll know something dodgy is up.’
