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The man behind the counter was wearing a pair of reading glasses perched on the end of his nose. As she spoke, he lifted his head and looked at her. Something about his expression told Gemma she should just keep talking.

“I’m looking for a house. It’s got wisteria growing up the front and a little iron gate. I know it’s here somewhere, but Ihave no idea how I’m supposed to find it other than walking up and down every street, and I don’t think I have the energy to do that. So I’m really hoping you know where it might be, because if not, I might cry.”

For a moment, the man simply observed her. Then, in a slow and almost thoughtful movement, he sat up straight and pushed his glasses back up his nose.

“Wisteria and a little iron gate? That sounds a bit like Lucy’s old place.”

“Lucy? Yes! Grandma Lulu! That’s it!” Gemma wanted to jump up and hug the man. “Is there any chance you can tell me where it is?”

Rather than replying, the man glanced at his watch and then around the bookshop. Unlike the previous places Gemma had been, there were no big events going on here, and though the shelves were gleaming with books, the shop was thoroughly lacking in people.

“You know what? I can do one better than that,” the man said. “I’ll walk you there myself.”

CHAPTER 85

Gemma wanted to ask the old man to walk faster. She wanted to ask him to run—or just tell her the name of the road so she could bolt there herself—but he was intent on doing a good deed, and she didn’t want to rush him. No matter how frustrating she found his slow pace.

“Lovely woman she was,” Wilf said as they ambled along. “I went to school with her, you see. With her and her whole family. Three brothers, god, they got up to some mischief, they did. The youngest in particular. Oliver, I think it was. No, that’s not right. Oscar. Oscar Parker.”

“I know Oscar,” Gemma said, trying to ignore that they were moving slower than a geriatric sloth.

“Is that right?”

“Yes, he was my boss. Owner of the coffee shop I run. I ran,” she corrected herself, uncertain of which tense to use because she didn’t know what her future held.

“Oh, well, pass him my best if you speak to him,” Wilf said. “Say Wilf Winters. He’ll remember me, I’m sure of it.”

“I’ll make sure I do,” Gemma said.

She was about to ask him what he could remember about Lulu, or perhaps if he recalled anything about her grandchildren when Wilf spoke again.

“Well, that’s you,” he said, pointing in the direction of a whitewashed house.

The paint had chipped off the front, and while the wisteria still clung to the walls, there were no flowers in bloom—just the dense, brown stalks of the plant. Even the metal fence had rusted. Slowly, Gemma stepped towards the building.

She knew she was staring at the right place, and not just because of the photo she’d seen or what Wilf had said, but because there, standing on the footpath and shaking hands with a woman in a smart suit, was Kent.

CHAPTER 86

“No, he’s not selling it. It’s not for sale. There’s been a mistake.”

Gemma ran towards the pair, leaving Wilf standing on the pavement.

“Gemma?” Kent’s eyes widened as he turned to look at her. “What are you doing here?”

Gemma’s heart was beating so fast it felt like she had run all the way from Maldon, not just up the path.

“I’m stopping you from making a terrible mistake,” she said. “You can’t sell it. You can’t.”

As Gemma stood there, hearing her pulse pounding against her ribs, Kent took a step towards her. The way his eyes were focused on hers made it feel as if they were the only two people in the entire world.

“Gem, you didn’t need to come here,” Kent said as he took her hands. “I told you I’ll come back, and the coffee shop will be fine. I’m putting things right.”

“No, no, you’re not,” Gemma said, her voice cracking with tears. “You can’t do this. Bringing up a family here is your dream.”

A smile lifted his lips. “It’s hardly a dream if I don’t have the person I want to be my family here with me, is it?”

His hand reached up to cup her cheeks, and at that moment, as Gemma’s eyes fell closed, she wanted nothing more than to disappear alone with him and forget that the last two days had ever happened. But she couldn’t.