‘Oh right, yes, I remember the tattoo,' said Dan. ‘I didn't make her do it. She had it done as a surprise. Was her name Ellie or Ally, something like that?'
‘Ania,' said Lily as it came back to her. Poor Ania, indelibly tattooed with the name of someone who couldn't even be bothered to remember hers.
‘That's it. But this is what I'm saying.' Dan's tone softened. ‘There's a chance this Declan chap might have forgotten your mum.'
‘OK, I get the message. But they were together for nearly a year,' said Lily, ‘so hopefully he hasn't forgotten her. Hopefully,' she added, ‘he wasn't as much of a heartless bastard as you.'
Paracetamols. Long shower. Giant mug of tea. Unable to cope with the idea of actual breakfast, Lily let herself out of the house and made her way across the yard to the office, where Coral was already busy opening the post.
‘Morning, darling!' Coral was as bright and cheerful as Dan had been on the phone; she was famed for her ability to knock back dubious cocktails without suffering the subsequent hangover. ‘Feeling like death warmed up?'
Lily collapsed on to the chair in front of the computer. ‘I'll be OK.'
‘You look white. Not too ill to work?'
‘Never too ill to work.' Mind over matter; if she said it with enough conviction, everything would be fine. She might even live.
Coral's eyes sparkled. ‘How about a nice glass of Chambord to perk you up?'
‘Don't be cruel.' The very thought.
‘It was fun last night, though, wasn't it?' Lowering her voice and double-checking that no one was outside the office to overhear them, Coral added, ‘With Eddie!'
The mention of his name brought the dream rushing back. Measuring curtains and getting kissed by Eddie Tessler. Lifting her still-damp hair from the back of her neck, Lily belatedly realised that that was where he'd brushed his mouth against her skin. She nodded and said faintly, ‘Yes, it was … good.'
‘So are you heading over there in your lunch break?'
‘Over where?'
‘To see him! You're going to write that letter, remember? He offered to help you!'
Oh God, he had. It was all coming back to her now. They'd been discussing the letter and she'd been wondering how best to word it, and Eddie had said, ‘Well, why don't I give you a hand?'
Which at the time, what with him being a professional wordsmith and all, had seemed like an excellent idea.
Now, post-dream, it just felt embarrassing.
‘I don't know. I should do it myself,' said Lily.
Coral looked dismayed. ‘Oh go on, let him help. He'll be looking forward to a bit of company, I expect. Anyway, you can't turn him down now. It'd be rude.'
At 2.15, Lily double-knocked at the front door of Patsy's cottage, then pushed open the letter box. ‘Hi, it's me.'
The door opened and she slipped inside, deliberately not thinking about the dream.
‘You're late,' said Eddie Tessler.
‘We've been busy. Some of us have work to do.'
‘Touché. How are you feeling after last night?'
‘Terrible, thanks.' It was getting easier to look at him, but still weird to think he was famous. This afternoon he was barefoot and wearing a dark blue polo shirt and board shorts, so she was even getting to see his famous legs. They were nice ones too, lean and tanned and with a pale scar across his left knee.
‘And does anyone else know I'm here? Have you mentioned it to the rest of the village yet?'
‘Of course I have. Didn't you hear me bellowing the announcement through my loudhailer?'
His mouth twitched. ‘I'll put the kettle on. Fancy some tea and toast?'
‘Perfect.'
In the kitchen, she watched from the doorway as he made the tea, sliced the loaf and took the butter out of the fridge. They really were very good legs, not off-puttingly hairy, finely muscled, with well-shaped calves and-
‘I can see what you're doing, by the way.'
‘What?' She jumped.
‘Checking out my backside.' He pointed to the window to indicate that he'd been watching her reflection in the glass.
‘Well you're wrong,' said Lily, ‘because I was looking at your legs.'
‘And? Are they OK?'
‘Not bad.'
He laughed and began buttering the popped-up toast. ‘Have you thought about how you want to write this letter?'
‘Kind of. I've made a few notes. It needs to be right, though. I don't want to scare him off.'
Eddie placed everything on a tray and carried it through to the living room. They sat down at the table facing each other and he slid over one of the plates and a mug of tea. ‘Go on then, I got the gist of it last night, but tell me properly everything you know about your mum and this chap of hers. Declan.'
Chapter 10
Coral, of course, was the one who'd heard the story about Declan directly from Jo herself. But Lily had learned it over the years following her mum's death. She'd always loved discovering details of her mother's life, especially the happier aspects. She could pretty much recite them off by heart.
‘OK, well they met in Barcelona. They were both eighteen, taking a year out after A levels before heading off to university. Mum was a waitress in a restaurant on Las Ramblas and Declan worked there behind the bar. They fancied each other from the first moment they met, apparently … well, Mum was stunning and she was such fun, why wouldn't he fancy her? And he was the prettiest boy she'd ever seen, like really good-looking. So they started seeing each other, and arranging their work schedules so they could do the same shifts and have more time off together to have fun and explore Barcelona. They'd go to the beach, swim in the sea, have adventures and just make the most of every day.'
‘Because they knew it was going to come to an end,' said Eddie when she paused to take a bite of toast.
Lily chewed, swallowed and nodded. ‘That's right. Mum had a place at Exeter to read English and he was due to go to St Andrews. I mean, they couldn't have chosen two places further apart if they'd tried. I mean, hundreds and hundreds of miles apart. And they loved each other to bits, but what could they do? Either try and make a long-distance relationship work, or be practical and break up.' She shrugged; they both already knew the answer. ‘And when it came to it, they broke up. Mum was devastated at first; it wasn't easy. But she got over it in time.'
‘They were nineteen,' said Eddie. ‘When you're that age, it kind of happens. Life goes on.'
‘Exactly. Mum didn't forget him, though. After the first year, she wrote to him suggesting they could spend the summer break back in Barcelona, but Declan said he couldn't, he already had some other job lined up. Then a couple of days later she got a letter from someone called Theresa saying she was Declan's girlfriend now and it wasn't fair to keep pestering him; she needed to get on with her own life and let him go.'
Eddie nodded. ‘Must have been hard.'
‘I know. But Mum knew it was for the best. She wasn't going to beg. And the next year, she met someone else too.' Lily grimaced and took a gulp of tea. ‘Keir Bourne.'
‘Your father.'
‘Unfortunately.'
‘If it hadn't been for him, you wouldn't be here now.'
‘Oh I know that. I just wish he could have turned out to be a bit less selfish, a bit more of a decent human being.' She puffed a stray curl off her forehead. ‘So anyway, that was it as far as Mum and Declan were concerned. She didn't contact him after that.'
‘Can I ask how you ended up here? Sorry, you don't have to tell me that.' Eddie shrugged. ‘I'm just interested. I like to ask questions.'
‘It's fine. Mum carried on seeing Keir, on and off. He wasn't a student; he lived with his parents in Exeter and worked for them in their car showroom. Don't laugh.' Lily pointed a finger in warning, then said, ‘Actually, why not? Laugh as much as you like. I'm the biological daughter of a sleazeball used-car salesman.'
‘It's OK.' Eddie wasn't laughing, but he looked as if he'd like to. ‘Not your fault.'
‘So anyway, it got to the end of the third year and Mum finished her finals, but she didn't do as well as she'd hoped. Then Keir's parents lost their office manager and offered her the position, and she wasn't sure what else she could do so she took the job.'
‘Working for the out-laws,' Eddie shook his head. ‘I'm not sure that's ever a good idea.'