Page 109 of The Little Flower Shop By the Sea
‘That Bronte and Charlie have a grandfather they’ve never met and –’ I swallow as a lump forms in my throat – ‘that Stan has the family he’s always longed for.’
Thirty-seven
Dianthus – Make Haste
Jake and I dash to Jake’s house, having called Amber and told her what’s happening so that she could go to the shop to be with Bronte.
It took her a while to get there because she’d been up at Trecarlan helping with the clean-up operation, which hadn’t been due to start until this afternoon.
‘What’s going on?’ Bronte had asked. ‘Why all the secrecy?’
‘No secret, Bron,’ Jake had said. ‘We just want to make sure the picture stays safe if it’s as old as Poppy thinks it is.’
But Bronte had not looked convinced.
‘Are you going to take Basil with you?’ Amber had swiftly changed the subject for us, and we’d all looked at Basil curled up in his basket.
I’d gone over to him and rubbed his ear. ‘What do you think, Bas? Do you want another walk?’
Basil had looked up into my eyes, then he’d licked my hand before settling back down and closing his eyes.
‘We had a long walk this morning,’ I’d told the others. ‘He seems quite tired, perhaps it’s best just to leave him to rest.’
So we’d set off for Jake’s house just the two of us.
When we arrive we immediately go around the back of the house to one of the sheds that stands there.
‘Right,’ Jake says, opening the door. ‘The boxes are in here, I believe. Let’s see if this picture really is the right one.’
He pulls out a couple of cardboard boxes packed with pictures and ornaments, and we look through the contents.
‘That’s weird,’ Jake says after we’ve been through both boxes. ‘It should be in here.’
‘Could it have fallen out?’ I ask, looking around the inside of the shed. But all I can see are a couple of bikes and a lawnmower.
Jake shakes his head. ‘No, I distinctly remember Bronte packing all the stuff carefully into boxes.’
‘Would Charlie know anything?’ I ask, desperate to find the picture. If this was the right one, we only had to find the missing Trecarlan picture and we had a full set.
‘He might,’ Jake says. ‘Let’s go see.’
We head into the house.
‘Charlie!’ Jake calls. ‘Are you here?’
Charlie appears at the top of the stairs with Miley. He has a towel wrapped around his middle and has obviously just come out of the shower. Miley looks like she might have joined him – her fur is all damp and fluffy.
‘Yeah, Dad, what’s up? Oh hi, Poppy, didn’t see you there.’ He gives me a wave. ‘Thanks for arranging that surfing session with Ash this morning. It was the best fun I’ve had in ages.’
‘Not a problem,’ I say, not looking at Jake.
But Jake has his arms full – literally. Miley has slid down the banisters to greet him.
‘Hey, Miley,’ Jake says, catching her and deftly hoisting her on to his shoulder. ‘Ooh, you’re all wet. Have you been letting her go under the shower again, Charlie?’
Charlie, grinning, just shrugs.
‘Do you remember those boxes of pictures and stuff from the landing that Bronte packed up?’ Jake asks him.
