Page 39 of Second Chance Summer

Morven angled the laptop so Lily could read the article.

‘Lily was the proverbial swan,’ says Amelia Parker, long-time friend of Harper and former marketing director of Lily Loves. ‘To the world, it looked as if she was gliding serenely through life yet she was always racing around in pursuit of the next big thing. Under her cut-throat and ruthless business image, she could sometimes be a loyal and generous person. It’s a dreadful shame that the wider world never got to see the real Lily.’

Parker added: ‘I urged her to slow down several times for the sake of her mental and physical health. Her family will be completely devastated.’

‘Not very nice of your friend to say that about you,’ said Morven helpfully.

‘She’s not my friend,’ Lily murmured, recalling how Amelia had left Lily Loves. They’d been colleagues but not mates and Amelia had quit of her own accord for apromotion at a bigger company. Lily had found her rather aloof and had never quite trusted her, but they’d always got on well enough.Under her cut-throat and ruthless business image –that was a strange thing to say when someone had supposedly died. It hinted at a hidden agenda. Had Amelia secretly hated her? Did other people in her team feel that way – her friends and acquaintances?

Lily’s stomach knotted at the thought.

‘I doubt it’ll be on there long once they realise you’re not really dead,’ Morven said. ‘But I got a screen shot. In case you want to sue them.’

‘Morven!’ Elspeth said, handing a mug to Lily, her green eyes full of concern. ‘You’ve had a terrible shock, Lily. Anyone would turn pale. I’ve put sugar in it,’ she said before glaring at Morven, who was grinning at Lily from the opposite side of the table. ‘Morven, make yourself useful and fetch some of my ginger fairings!’

‘Thank you.’ Lily sipped the sweet tea. Words and phrases from her obituary and some of the comments under the news stories kept flashing through her mind like a neon sign she couldn’t turn off.

‘Driven and ambitious’ – she’d have used those to describe herself. Yet ‘notorious’, ‘controversial’ and ‘heartless’? She’d never been heartless or sought notoriety. She cared about her staff and the makers – and her customers.

She didn’t even dare look at social media. Those words would not be the kindest things she read about herself, judging by what had happened after theGreat British Craft Show.

‘You’ll be wanting to speak to your family,’ Elspeth said.

‘I’ve already sent a message on my phone, saying I’m fine. It was the first thing I did the moment I got a signal.’

Luckily, her parents hadn’t seen the reports, though Richie had sounded hysterical with relief when she’d called him. She’d managed to reach him and asked him to get hold of Étienne as soon as he could. He’d managed to message Étienne but Lily still wasn’t sure her brother-in-law had seen any communication at all – in the media or from Richie.

What must he think if he’d only heard the worst?

Lily’s stomach turned over but she could do nothing until she heard from him.

In the meantime, Richie was busy issuing a statement that she was alive while marshalling the PR team to contact editors and have the story removed. Now she’d have to get involved in a long exchange of messages with people who wanted to know the full details.

Lily heaved a deep sigh. ‘This is a nightmare.’

Sam walked into the café and Elspeth flew to him, holding him tightly. ‘Sam Teague, you never mentioned you’d been involved in this accident with Lily!’

‘We’re fine,’ he said, avoiding Lily’s eye. ‘There was nothing much to tell and I didn’t want to worry you, Auntie Elspeth.’

Morven clattered a biscuit tin onto the table. ‘It’s all over social media too. People are saying some horrible things.’

‘Can’t you find something useful to do?’ Sam shot back.

‘Useful? It was me who called you about Lily being dead,loaned her my laptop and brought the biscuits. What else do you want?’

‘And I’m very grateful you were on the alert,’ Lily said, trying to stem the rising storm. Morven was a pain but the last thing Lily wanted was a full-scale row between her and Sam. She pushed the laptop aside. ‘Thank you. I’ll be out of your hair now. I’ll use my phone to deal with things from here.’

‘We should set off to the heliport if we’re to catch your flight,’ Sam said anxiously.

‘Yes, of course,’ Lily said, remembering that she had been on her way home when the news had broken. She’d almost forgotten in the chaos. ‘The sooner I’m back in London to sort this out the better,’ she declared.

Minutes later, Sam was motoring the few hundred metres over the channel from Bryher quay to Tresco, where a golf buggy was waiting. He accompanied Lily and her luggage on the five-minute ride to the heliport. Her phone was constantly ringing. She recognised some of the names as press contacts she’d given interviews to in the past. They must now want a scoop on what it was like to come back from the dead.

Ignoring them all, she managed to speak to Richie, who seemed almost excited by the whole drama.

‘I’ve arranged a car to meet you at Penzance and bring you straight to London,’ he said. ‘It’s all in hand.’

‘Thank you,’ Lily said.

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