Page 9 of The Summer Escape

Gravel crunched underfoot as he stepped onto the short path to the door. “Where’s your mum?”

“In the shower.” Her chest hitched as she sniffed.

He stopped before he got too close and crouched to her level. “You’re Ellie, right?”

“Yes. Do you know Mirren?”

“She’s my mum,” he said with a smile.

She wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “She’s Kit’s mummy too, and Noah’s.”

“They’re my brothers,” he told her. “Why are you crying? Did you hurt yourself?”

“No.” More tears flooded her eyes and her chin twitched wildly. “Granny fell down and I don’t know what to do.”

“Granny?” he said, confused. “I thought it was just you and your mum on holiday?”

She shook her head, causing her blond locks to swing around her shoulders. “Granny came too. She fell over in the kitchen.”

“Show me,” he said, trying not to convey his panic.

She reached for his hand, wrapping her delicate fingers around his to lead him into the cottage.

“See,” she said, pointing to the floor at the other side of the kitchen island.

One of the tall stools had been moved against the counter and was covered in … what was it? Sand? Or dust maybe? It was all over the counter, and a pile of it was on the floor.

Picking up a handful to inspect it was automatic. “What is this?”

“That’s Granny.”

A shudder ran through Trystan when he spotted the urn upended on the floor. He let the ashes slip through his fingers, then brushed his palms against each other. “This is your grandma?”

“Yes.” Ellie gazed up at him. “She’s dead.”

He chewed his lip. “I see.”

“She was up on the high shelf. But she fell.”

“Just fell? All on her own?”

“I wanted to have a look while Mummy was in the shower, but it’s very heavy.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m going to be in trouble,” she said solemnly.

“It was an accident.”

“Mummy’s already sad that Granny died. She’ll be even more sad that she’s all over the kitchen.”

Trystan registered the sound of water running through the pipes. “How about we clean this up before Mummy gets out of the shower?”

The suggestion brought a smile to Ellie’s blotchy little face and she nodded eagerly. Quickly, Trystan surveyed the scene again, then knelt to pick up the urn and carefully pushed the ashes from the counter back inside the container. He did the same for the layer covering the chair, then got the dustpan and brush from under the sink and knelt to the mound on the floor.

“You’re very good at cleaning.” Ellie crouched beside him as he swept ashes onto the dustpan.

“Thank you.”