Page 26 of Dead in the Water (Lily Larkin Mysteries #4)
Chapter Twenty-Six
As Lily carried the tables and chairs outside the following morning, a hunched figure wandered out of the Cookie Jar with a takeaway cup in her hand.
Joyce exuded sorrow as though it was a part of her personality, though presumably it wasn’t her usual state.
Head bent, she didn’t wander far onto the beach before sitting on the sand.
Lily hastily straightened out the chairs before walking over to her.
“Morning!” she said, hoping her cheerful demeanour might cancel out some of Joyce’s sadness. “How are you?”
“Fine,” Joyce said, pushing a wayward grey curl behind her ear.
“It’s such a lovely morning. The sea air is invigorating.”
“I suppose it is.” Joyce eased the plastic lid from her takeaway coffee.
“Where’s Keith this morning?”
“Helping James on the boat.”
“Ah.” She softened her tone as she sank onto the sand beside Joyce. “How’s he doing?”
“About as well as you’d expect for someone who’s lost two parents in the space of a year.” Her chin wobbled and she put a hand over her mouth to cover it. “He’s sorting through Joseph’s things, but I couldn’t face being there.”
“It must be so hard.” Lily gave Joyce a sympathetic pat on her arm.
“Everything just feels such a mess. Two years ago, we were six friends planning all these adventures for our retirement years. Now Lisa and Joseph are gone, and all the dreams are falling apart.”
“It must all feel like a shock at the moment, but you’ll still get your travels. I know it won’t be the same, but I’m sure Joseph and his wife wouldn’t want you to give up on your dreams because of them.”
“I don’t know what will happen.” She sighed and replaced the lid on her cup before setting it on the sand. “Cancer is such an awful disease.”
“Were you and Joseph’s wife very close?”
Joyce’s features flashed with surprise. “Yes, why?”
Lily stuttered a little but didn’t manage to formulate any words.
“Cancer?” Joyce closed her eyes. “Of course. Sorry, I wasn’t thinking of Lisa, though.”
“Oh?”
“Vic’s very ill,” she said slowly. “Terminally.”
Lily kept her features set in surprised concern, while her brain whirred. Vic being ill explained why he’d been having trouble sleeping.
“He’s being a typical man about the whole thing. Refuses to speak about it.”
“Maybe he thinks he’s doing you a favour.”
“He didn’t even want us to know about the diagnosis.
” Joyce’s features morphed into a sardonic smile.
“I’m sure he didn’t think about how difficult it would make life for Kerry.
She kept his secret for a while, but of course she needed to confide in someone.
Keeping something like that bottled up isn’t right. ”
Lily frowned. “So you pretend you don’t know?”
“Crazy, isn’t it?” Joyce idly ran her fingers through the sand beside her. “Apparently he wants to make the most of the time he has, without everyone making a fuss. I suppose I can understand that to some extent.”
“It sounds like a difficult situation for everyone.”
“Yes.” She dusted the sand from her hands. “I think his illness is partly why Kerry got so upset about Joseph not wanting to continue with the trip. I suppose she was thinking it might be Vic’s last chance to do it.”
“Did Joseph know about Vic being ill?”
“No.” She closed her eyes briefly. “I encouraged Kerry to tell him. If he’d known I think he would have changed his mind about the trip, but Kerry said she already felt she’d betrayed Vic by telling me and Keith about his illness.
” She paused and her eyes glazed over. “She didn’t even want us to know, but we overheard her talking to Russell. ”
“No one else knows?” Lily asked.
She shook her head. “Just us. I hate secrets. Vic is our friend and we’d like to support him through this. We can’t do that if we’re not supposed to know about it.”
Lily was a little lost for words. “I’m sorry,” she said eventually.
“I’m sorry for offloading on you. I also feel bad for staying out of the way when I should be helping James sort through his dad’s things. He shouldn’t have to do that alone.”
“Keith’s with him, isn’t he?”
“Yes, but he’s not the most sensitive person. He’ll be all businesslike about it. Which is probably helpful to some extent, but poor James needs sympathy too.” She stood and brushed the sand from her floral skirt. “I’ll go and see what I can do to help.”
“I’m sure he’ll appreciate that,” Lily said. “Good luck.”
“Thank you.” Joyce reached for Lily’s hand and clutched it in both hers while giving her a grateful smile. “You’ve been ever so kind.”
“It’s nothing,” Lily murmured.
Maybe none of it had anything to do with Joseph’s death, but it seemed there were plenty of secrets between the group of friends.