Page 69 of A Letter to the Last House Before the Sea

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‘You’re a dark horse,’ said Daisy, as they walked back to Driftwood House before ten o’clock. She’d had far too much to drink and was wobbling slightly as she negotiated the cobbles.

Lamps were glowing in cottage windows but there was still some residual brightness in the sky to light their way. Garden walls and trees were casting shadows across the cobbled lanes.

‘What do you mean, a dark horse?’

‘Having two men on the go, when I thought you were a boring Goody Two-Shoes.’

‘What are you talking about?’ demanded Lettie, who had a headache and wanted her bed.

‘Sexy Simon and the very brooding, angry fisherman.’

‘Corey Allford definitely isn’t interested in me.’

That might not have been true during their Dartmoor trip. He’d seemed to like her well enough then. But now, after she’d blabbed to Simon about his grandmother being ill, it was certainly true.

‘Ha,’ said Daisy, stumbling on a loose stone after several vodkas and lime. ‘Are you saying Simon is interested? Though he certainly seems to be, to be fair. But did you clock the fisherman’s face when he first came into the pub?’

‘Yes, he looked furious when he saw Simon.’

‘He did. Really furious. I thought he was going to reach across us with his muscly arms at one point and drag Simon across the table.’ Daisy didn’t look wholly unhappy at this prospect. ‘But he spotted you first, before he started scowling at Simon, and his face changed. He looked…’ Daisy thought for a moment as the dull boom of waves hitting rock sounded through the night air. ‘… thrown. As though he wasn’t expecting you to be there with Simon. Disappointed, in fact.’

Lettie shook her head. ‘You’re imagining things.’

‘I know what I saw! So, how well do you know this Corey bloke, who would look bloody marvellous in britches and a tricorn hat. Nice arse, too.’

Daisy was so drunk. Lettie pushed her arm through her sister’s to make sure she stayed upright. ‘I’ve spoken to his grandmother, Florence, who’s the sister of Cornelius, who Iris was in love with almost eighty years ago.’

‘Say that again?’

‘I’ve already told you all this.’

‘Tell me again.’

So Lettie did, very slowly, and Daisy thought for a moment before shaking her head. ‘Nah, I still don’t get it.’

‘Never mind.’

‘Does he just do his fishing thing?’

‘I don’t know what else he does, apart from being a lifeboat volunteer.’

Daisy stopped walking and threw her arms wide. ‘Oh my God. He’s a hero too. A hero who wears those sexy yellow rubber uniform thingies. Way to go, sis. Though I hope you haven’t been leading him on, not when you’ll be back in London soon. Simon is by far the more sensible choice.’

Lettie sighed. Her sister really didn’t know her at all. ‘I don’t lead people on. That’s not what I do. And I don’t think I’m Corey’s favourite person at the moment anyway, not now he thinks I’ve been talking to Simon about his gran.’

‘Talking to who about what?’

Daisy went to sit down on the cobbles but Lettie grabbed her and started marching her towards the cliff path. ‘Never mind. I need to get you to bed.’

‘You will be coming back to London soon, won’t you, Letts?’

When Lettie didn’t answer, Daisy sniffed. They’d reached the bottom of the cliff path and her voice was wobbly when she added: ‘You’re so much luckier than me.’

‘What on earth are you talking about?’

‘I’m talking about you, being a lucky cow.’