house gets underway. I’m thinking about upgrading to a small trailer or RV temporarily.’
‘You…’ she began but broke off as if trying to make sense of what Ava was saying, ‘what do you mean for the moment? What work?’
‘I’ve decided to restore the house.’
‘You’ve,’ Bunty’s voice was almost lost on a breathy exhale and for one ridiculous moment Ava wouldn’t have been surprised to see her make the sign of the cross against her chest.
‘It won’t last much longer,’ Ava replied, ‘it’s really now or never. It won’t sell in the current condition it’s in but even if I wanted to keep it, I can’t allow it to deteriorate further.’
‘You can’t allow it?’
‘I know that sounds silly,’ Ava shook her head. ‘I don’t know, I guess as its been in my family for such a long time and they’ve allowed it to fall into such a state I feel responsible for it.’
‘You sound like your grandmother,’ Bunty muttered.
‘Do I?’ Ava replied in surprise, somewhat taken aback. ‘What was she like?’
‘Hari?’ Bunty smiled as she once again picked up the teapot, this time filling her own cup. ‘She was very kind; she had a soft spot for everyone. She loved animals and children; she’d have loved to have had a huge family, but it wasn’t to be. The birth of your mother was hard, and after Caroline was born, she was told it was too dangerous for her to bear any more children. I think she would’ve adopted but then your grandfather passed away unexpectedly. A car accident, it was late and dark… and it was raining…’ her voice trailed off.
‘She never married again?’ Ava picked up her tea and took a thoughtless sip, wincing as she burned her tongue in the process.
‘No,’ Bunty shook her head. ‘For some there’s only one and your grandfather was the sun, the moon and the stars to her. He was my cousin you know, fourth, once removed on my mother’s side.’
‘I didn’t know,’ Ava murmured, ‘I don’t know anything about my family.’
‘Well we shall have to remedy that won’t we?’ Bunty patted Ava’s hand as it lay against the tablecloth.
‘I’d like that,’ Ava replied, quiet and genuine as she stared down at the contrast of her golden skin against the stark white table linen.
Bunty studied the stunningly beautiful young woman as she toyed with a loose thread. The girl was an enigma. She had the kind of gorgeous, exotic looks of a movie star yet there wasn’t a stitch of make up on her flawless skin.
If she looked really hard, she could see a trace of her old friend Hari and her wayward daughter Caroline, around the mouth, the full bottom lip, the line of her nose but it wasn’t obvious. The girl’s looks had to have come from her father.
‘Are you alright?’ Bunty asked as the silence began to stretch out between them, ‘you seem… pensive?’
‘Sorry,’ Ava shook her head, ‘I’m being rude.’
‘Not at all,’ the older woman assured her.
‘It’s something about this island,’ she frowned, ‘about being here. I have this feeling in my chest, in the pit of my belly and I can’t figure it out. I don’t recognize it so I can’t even put a name to it. Everything happened so fast. Serenity dying… I didn’t even know she was sick, until she was already gone. She didn’t bother to tell me she was dying of cancer. Didn’t even give me the chance to say goodbye. She made the choice for me, like always.’
Bunty’s mouth thinned.
‘That sounds like Caroline,’ Bunty sipped her own tea in a valiant effort to keep from saying what she really wanted to, but it was plain to see the girl needed some careful handling. She may have come across as independent and capable, but there was a vulnerability there, just a shadow, the merest hint in those dark eyes.
‘I want to know where I came from, who I came from,’ Ava looked up, her gaze locking with Bunty’s. ‘Can you help me with that?’
Bunty stared at Ava for several long silent seconds almost as if she were weighing a decision of some sort. She slowly set her teacup back in its saucer, tapping her pearly pink fingernail against the delicate china.
‘I can,’ she finally answered her violet gaze unwavering, ‘but it does not come without warning or consequences Ava. Once you go down that road, there is no turning back and you may not like what you find.’
‘I don’t understand.’
Bunty sighed deeply. ‘Your family’s roots