Page 47 of The Sunken Truth
“As far as I’m aware, no one was having an affair. They seemed happy to me.”
Relief brought tears to her eyes, but she blinked them away. “What happened after that? Did you stay in touch with Derek more regularly?”
“The next time I saw him was when he turned up with you and he told me what had happened to your parents. It was probably a month after they’d died. You and Derek were both so broken.”
Lily swallowed hard. “We stayed with you in the flat?”
“Yes. Just for a few days. It was school holidays and I think the lack of routine was a struggle for you both. While he was here, he got an email to say he’d got a job he’d applied for in Italy. He took you back to Truro to pack everything up. He thought a fresh start would be good for you.”
Lily frowned. “Did you see him again?”
“A few weeks later, right at the end of the school holidays, he brought you back. He asked me to go with him to Italy. I think your parents’ death put things into perspective for him. He said he wanted us to be together. He wanted the three of us to be a family.”
“You didn’t want that?” Lily asked.
“I didn’t know what I wanted. But I was finally feeling settled. I loved running the ice cream shop, and then he turned up, asking me to give it up for something unknown. I didn’t know what I’d do in Italy. I wouldn’t be able to speakthe language, so getting a job wouldn’t be easy. And part of me was worried that Derek was asking because he wanted someone to help with you. It’ll sound awful, but deciding whether to take on a grieving child wasn’t a simple decision.”
Lily tried not to wonder how her life would have been if Maria had made a different choice. Having a mother figure would have made an enormous difference. Uncle Derek would probably have been different too if he’d had someone else in his life.
“It was always just me and him,” Lily murmured. “And I’m not sure that was a good thing. Sorry,” she added quickly. “I’m not trying to make you feel guilty. I think I had a pretty good childhood, but he was overprotective. He worried a lot.”
“I saw that,” Maria said wistfully. “It was part of what made me hesitate to go with him.”
Lily gave an encouraging nod, willing her to go on. Now that she was finally getting some answers, she wanted every bit of information she could get.
“He was different after your parents died. Which makes sense. He was grieving for his brother and his sister-in-law, and he was suddenly guardian to a five-year-old. He’d always been so carefree, and then he had all this responsibility. It seemed as though he poured all his energy into you. Which was admirable, but suddenly he saw danger in everything. He was in a constant state of panic about something happening to you. When you were staying with me…”
She trailed off and looked as though she’d lost her train of thought for a moment. “I remember one morning – Derek was in the shower and you were at the window watching the sandpipers hop along the beach. You asked if we could go down and look at them. It was practically the only time you asked me for anything. You were so subdued, you barely spoke, so of course I told you we could go down to the beach. Ten minuteslater, Derek came down and screamed at me for letting you walk on the beach without holding your hand.”
“On Porthcressa Beach?” Lily said, lifting an eyebrow. “What did he think was going to happen?”
“Who knows,” Maria said with a shrug. “He wasn’t himself. But it occurred to me that perhaps I didn’t know him as well as I thought. All the time we’d spent together had been so intense. It had only ever been a weekend here and there. The few weeks we’d spent in Madrid were the most we’d ever spent together, and we’d both been so young. Moving to Italy with him felt like such a huge leap.”
“So you said no?”
“I told him I needed to think about it. I couldn’t just walk away from the ice cream shop, anyway. So I suggested the two of you go ahead and I’d come later, maybe for a few visits before we made any long-term decisions.” Her shoulders rose as she inhaled. “He didn’t like that idea. Said it would be confusing for you and that you needed stability.”
“That’s a little ironic, given the way things played out.”
Maria looked at her questioningly.
“We never stayed in one place for very long,” Lily explained. “We always moved on after a couple of years, so I’m not sure it was the most stable of childhoods.”
“I’m sure he did his best,” Maria said. “All he wanted was for you to be safe and happy.”
“I know,” Lily said, her chest tightening at the thought of her uncle. He might not have always got it right, but she never doubted he’d always wanted the best for her.
“I didn’t hear from him again for years after that. I sent emails every now and again, but he didn’t reply.”
“When did you leave Scilly?” Lily asked.
“A month or so after he took you to Italy. I didn’t intend to leave for good, but I knew I’d go crazy here over the winter. Withnothing to do, I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about Derek, and wondering how you and he were getting on. So I went back to Bristol for the winter, and then I couldn’t face coming back. I don’t really know why. I think I was worried the memories of having Derek and you there with me would haunt me.”
“What about the fire?” Lily asked.
Her eyebrows rose. “What fire?”
“The one at the shop. It wasn’t long after my parents died in a fire. That’s a weird coincidence, isn’t it?”
