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‘I know and that’s great, but it’s the upheaval and uncertainty about everything that’s stressing her out. That, and having to leave the home she shared with my dad for decades. I’ve been trying to get her to meditate.’
‘Your mum?’ River couldn’t help smiling at the thought of pragmatic Mrs N sitting on a bean bag, chanting.
‘Yeah, it’s not all sitting on bean bags, saying “om”, you know. It would do her good to give her mind, and me, a rest.’
Once again, River was struck by how much in synch he and Clara were. As teenagers, it had seemed at times that they could almost read each other’s minds. He’d thought they’d lost that connection but, over the last few days, since meeting Audrey, they’d felt closer again. Perhaps the two of them keeping such a huge secret meant they would be for ever linked.
Thinking about Audrey made him jittery. ‘I still feel conflicted about not—’ He looked around to make sure they couldn’t be overheard. Keeping secrets made people paranoid. ‘About not saying anything to my father about…you know.’
Clara, unfazed by his abrupt change of subject, nodded. ‘I know what you mean. I keep going back and forth in my mind, wondering whether it would be better for him to know or not. But I guess we don’t have a choice. Audrey’s been through a lot already and we made her a promise. Though keeping it won’t be easy.’
She paused and winced. ‘Sometimes I wish we’d never found her at all. I should have done what you and my mum told me and left the whole thing well alone.’ She frowned when River laughed. ‘What?’
‘It’s just the thought of you doing what you’re told and backing off. That’s not the Clara I know of old.’
‘Maybe I’ve changed,’ she said, clearly trying to look terribly affronted but failing miserably.
River tilted his head to one side and smiled at the woman in front of him. Her ponytail was falling down and her denim dungarees were coated in dust. A large streak of oil marked the side of her face and her white T-shirt had a rip at the shoulder.
Clara was the same tomboy he’d always known, and yet she was subtly different. Still stubborn and chippy, of course. He doubted that would ever change. But her sharper edges had been smoothed over the years by what life had thrown at her. All of the joys and sorrows she’d experienced had turned her from a great teenager into this amazing woman whom he desperately wanted to kiss.
River closed his eyes. He was turning into a hopeless romantic idiot, and his Aussie mates would take the mick mercilessly if they knew. When he opened his eyes again, Clara was staring at him.
‘Are you all right? Have you had too much sun?’
‘You think this is sun?’ he retorted, keen to ease his vulnerability with humour. ‘You’ve obviously never spent twenty-four hours lost in an Australian desert with a duff phone and a water bottle that’s sprung a leak.’
‘This is true, and it sounds like a terrifying experience. Did that really happen?’
‘It did and it was a bit hairy at the time.’
‘Talking of terrifying experiences, I heard that you fight blazes in the Australian bush.’
‘That’s right. I’m a volunteer firefighter,’ said River, surprised that Clara knew. ‘Who told you that?’
‘Belinda in the village saw an online photo of you being heroic and told my mum.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘You know what small villages are like for gossip.’
‘We tackled a huge blaze last summer that got?—’
They both swung around – his story for ever untold – as a metal pole clanged to the ground. The man who’d dropped it raised his hand in apology.
‘I think we’d better stop chatting and go and help Corey,’ said Clara. ‘We could do with more manpower to put all of these stands up and I never thought I’d say this, but I wish Bartie was here to pitch in.’
‘He’d be far too busy wheeling and dealing to get his hands dirty.’
‘You’re probably right. Has your dad said anything about him upping and leaving like that, without a word?’
‘Nothing except that Bartie left a note saying he had to get back to London because of an urgent work problem.’
‘An urgent work problem?’ Clara guffawed loudly. ‘He probably thought we’d tell Geoffrey the truth about Hannah’s plans. Though I like to think that he felt too guilty to face us after the showdown at the castle. At least that would prove there is some decency in him.’
‘That’s probably it,’ said River, although he had his doubts. His cousin had never seemed the type of person overly bothered by a conscience. But he hoped that his father was still none the wiser about Bartie’s deception.
They’d almost reached Corey when Clara stopped and turned to River.
‘Thanks for your help with all of this. I really want tomorrow’s fete and open day to be the best one ever which raises loads of money for local charities. I want everyone in Heaven’s Cove to remember this amazing place as it is now, before everything changes. I want my mum and your dad to make happy memories. And I want to make sure that you don’t forget us all when you go back to Australia.’
As if he could. River smiled. ‘It’s going to be amazing, Clo. Just you wait and see.’
