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Clara nudged her arm against his. ‘Talking of which, thank you again for sticking up for me.’
‘Any time, Clo.’
He had a sudden urge to close the gap between them and kiss her on the cheek. No, not on the cheek. He stared at her mouth and then looked away. The last time they’d kissed it hadn’t ended well.
Clara cleared her throat. ‘So what happens now, with your dad and this house?’
‘I guess he’s right that, realistically, the manor needs to be sold and what happens to it after that is out of his hands.’
‘So Bartie wins,’ said Clara glumly.
‘Not really. My father seems determined not to sell to Hannah, which means that Bartie will miss out on his commission. So all of his scheming and conniving will have been for nothing.’
‘There is that. But it’s cold comfort when your family will no longer live at Brellasham Manor, my mum will be out of a job and a home, and these beautiful grounds will become an overpriced housing estate.’
Cold comfort, indeed, but River tried to harden his heart. ‘It’s sad but that’s life, I’m afraid. Things change but life goes on.’
‘Yours in Australia and mine here in Heaven’s Cove. Well, until Mum and I have to move somewhere else.’
River nodded, realising how much he would miss Clara after he left for Australia and she and her mother moved on to who knows where. He’d got used to being without her sixteen years ago and he’d have to get used to her absence all over again.
‘I was thinking about the charity fete,’ said Clara, pulling her shoulders back. ‘Realistically, it’s going to be the last one ever held here so we should make it a real celebration of all the money that’s been raised over the years, and the link there’s always been between Heaven’s Cove and its inhabitants and the manor and the Brellasham family.’
‘I’m up for that.’
‘I’m not sure your dad will be.’
‘I’m sure he can cope with an influx of local people one last time.’
Clara glanced up at River through her eyelashes. ‘Will you still be around for the fete?’
That was a few days away and he really should get home to Australia after arranging for prospective buyers to visit. He was beginning to realise that the longer he delayed his departure, the harder it was going to be. But he smiled at the woman he’d known since she was a tomboy with scabbed knees, and made a decision.
‘Yeah, I’ll still be here. My dad needs me.’
Clara opened her mouth to speak but she was interrupted by the ringing of her phone in her dress pocket.
‘Sorry,’ she mouthed, glancing at her phone screen and frowning before answering the call. ‘Yes?…Yes, that’s me.’ She listened for a moment, her brow creased. ‘That’s very helpful. Thank you very much for getting back to me. Goodbye.’
‘Is everything all right? Who was that?’
‘It was the residential home in Dorking,’ said Clara quietly. ‘I left a message asking if they still had a resident called Violet Winter and if we could visit her. That was a care assistant returning my call who said that yes, Violet is still with them and visiting hours are between ten and six every day.’
‘OK.’ River brushed his fingers across the petals of a pink pelargonium. ‘Then it looks as if we’re going on a day trip to Surrey.’
‘Are you sure?’ Clara asked, her eyes opening wide.
‘No, but I’m not sure about anything these days.’
Clara laughed as if he’d made a joke and River smiled even though he was being deadly serious. Everything had seemed fixed in Australia. Sorted. Settled. But his life had been in flux from the moment he’d first set foot back in Brellasham Manor.
There were ghosts from the past swirling around this place. The ghost of abusive Edwin, whose influence continued to stifle his repressed son; the ghost of the person River had once been – and now it seemed that he and Clara were going in search of another.
30
GEOFFREY
He wasn’t born yesterday, despite what his son thought. Geoffrey padded along the landing and stood outside Bartie’s bedroom door. He paused but only for a few moments before knocking loudly. When there was no reply, he knocked again – even more loudly this time – and pushed the door open. It swung widely, banging into the chest of drawers behind it.
