AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘That all sounds terribly civilised.’
‘I suppose it is, but there’s no point in being weird about all of this stuff, is there. Life slaps you in the face and you either adapt or you don’t.’
When he shot Caitlin a loaded look, she glanced away, towards the sea that glistened in the sun peeping through cloud. She certainly wasn’t adapting well to Stuart’s latest bombshell that they would have to leave their beautiful home.
‘So how long are you staying in Heaven’s Cove, once you’ve found Maisie?’ Sean asked, stamping his feet on the snow to warm them.
‘I don’t know. Not long. I’m hoping that Isla might agree to sell Rose Cottage, but I think Paul’s going to move out of his flat and move in with her instead.’
‘That doesn’t surprise me.’ Sean’s jaw tightened.
‘Don’t you approve?’
‘It’s not for me to approve or not. It’s just I don’t…’ He grimaced. ‘Like I said, it’s not for me to comment on other people’s plans.’
‘Don’t you like Paul?’ Caitlin asked gently.
‘I don’t really know him. But on the occasions we’ve met, I don’t know…I just found him…hard to read.’
‘I know what you mean. I’m not sure he’s right for Isla. But I don’t think I have the right to interfere.’
‘Probably not, in the circumstances.’
When he gazed out to sea, Caitlin took the chance to really look at him. The years appeared to have treated Sean well. He’d filled out and the angular youth she’d once known had disappeared. His fair hair was shorter and he looked older, but the lines that now feathered around his eyes gave him a gravitas he’d once lacked. The snow piled on the castle’s fallen stones meant the ruins were like the backdrop to a Disney film, or a Christmas romcom – and Sean looked like the handsome lead.
Caitlin pulled her eyes away from him and stood up straight. Why was her mind straying towards romantic feelings? She’d had her chance with Sean years ago but had thrown it all away.
Such a lot had changed since then. Sean had managed brilliantly without her, becoming the owner of a successful business and negotiating a civilised divorce with dignity. Whereas she was married to a man whom she was no longer sure she wanted to be with, but could not in all conscience leave because of his problems. And to top it all, she’d lost his daughter.
‘I have to keep searching for Maisie,’ said Caitlin, flutters of panic rising into her throat. ‘Thank you for helping me to look for her, Sean, but you should get back to work now.’
‘I don’t mind helping you look for a bit longer.’
‘And I really appreciate that. But she’s my daughter, not yours.’
That didn’t come out how Caitlin had intended and she winced. Sean pushed his hands deep into his pockets and shrugged. ‘You’re right, Cait. She’s not mine,’ he said gruffly.
‘I’ll walk back with you into the centre of the village, and if I still can’t find her, I think I need to call the police.’
‘That’s probably for the best.’
Sean set off walking, back along the sea wall, and Caitlin followed. The atmosphere between them had cooled and they trudged in silence through drifting snow.
18
MAISIE
‘Go away! I don’t want any food.’
Maisie sighed and wrapped her arms around her waist to keep out the cold. The old lady was being very insistent, and Maisie didn’t understand why Freya and Ryan didn’t read the room and leave her to it. Instead, they kept on shouting encouragements through her letterbox.
‘Connie Carmichael keeps herself to herself and doesn’t much like people,’ said Beth, totally unnecessarily in Maisie’s opinion. It was pretty obvious that the old woman wanted them off her land, like, right now.
Maisie looked around her. Connie’s home – an old farmhouse, sad with neglect – was in the middle of nowhere, on the slopes of moorland that were coated in thick snow. The village was just visible in the distance, but Maisie shivered. It must get very lonely out here, and spooky at night.
‘Why did you call her Creepy Connie in the truck when we arrived?’ Maisie asked warily.
Beth winced, looking faintly embarrassed. ‘I shouldn’t have ’cos it’s not very nice but it’s what some of the local kids call her. Connie’s lived here for ever and is the last one of her family left. I heard her family were shunned in the village, like, loads of years ago, which also isn’t very nice, because of their outrageous behaviour.’
