A Perfect Cornish Escape by Phillipa Ashley Page 0,75

It flew off to a rooftop and swallowed the ice-cream whole, while other birds dived in to pick at the scraps of broken cone at her feet.

‘You little—!’ Tiff shook her fist at the thieving gull but cut off the expletive because the quayside was busy with visitors, several of whom were staring and laughing.

Tiff wasn’t so amused. Her dress was now splattered with melted ice-cream and the sticky mess oozed down her legs and onto her sandals.

A familiar figure jogged up. It was Lachlan.

‘Don’t you dare laugh!’ she warned, seeing the grin on his face.

‘I wouldn’t dream of it.’ He set his mouth in a solemn line and Tiff finally grinned. ‘Sorry about your ice-cream.’

‘I should have been more careful. We don’t have vicious gulls in London. A few vultures, maybe …’

He smiled again. His face, even damaged, was very handsome and he’d caught the sun since he’d been here, which made him look much healthier. Tiff hadn’t spoken to him much herself but she could see why Marina liked him so much. She was also aware of how frustrated her cousin was at the lack of any progress beyond friendship. She’d related some of what had gone on at the Pie on the Beach event over dinner a few nights ago.

He held out a handkerchief.

‘Thanks,’ Tiff said, wiping herself down with it. ‘I’m afraid you won’t want it back.’

‘It’s fine. Can I get you another ice-cream?’ he asked.

‘I’m not sure me and that cone are meant to be.’

‘Go on. I need cooling down myself. I’m not used to the heat, you know, coming from the Highlands,’ he added.

She laughed, and a thought occurred to her. They hadn’t chatted much, so it would be nice to have the opportunity – as well as suss out why he was holding back from Marina. ‘OK,’ she said. ‘As long as you act as seagull bouncer.’

They queued again, chatting about how busy the town had become in the past few weeks. Once they had the ice-creams, Lachlan suggested they stand under the porch of the Institute to eat them.

‘If you stand with your back to a wall, they can’t attack from behind,’ he said. ‘Although there’s always the possibility of a frontal assault.’

She laughed. ‘Thank you for the security tip. How’s business, by the way?’

‘Not bad. We’re building up bookings. In fact, we signed a contract at a big visitor attraction only this morning and we’re recruiting more freelance staff. That should keep us busy for the next year.’

‘You’re planning on staying in Porthmellow, then?’ she said, before licking her ice-cream innocently.

‘I’d like to give it a go, yes. What about you?’ he said.

His directness reminded Tiff that he’d been a military policeman. ‘My plans aren’t as fixed as that. The honest answer is I don’t know …’

He nodded and she took the plunge. ‘I can think of at least one person who’ll be pleased you’re staying longer,’ she said, hoping she hadn’t gone too far. Marina would probably kill her but what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.

Lachlan didn’t pretend not to know that she meant Marina. He didn’t look at her, but said quietly, ‘You think so?’

‘I do. She’s had a very tough time, but I think you know that already.’

He nodded. ‘We have spoken of it. It’s hard to lose someone you care about … someone you loved. It must be even harder when you’ve been left in limbo as Marina has. We had a guy go missing from the base once, for weeks. We found his body eventually, on a remote part of Ben Daurrig. I was part of the mountain rescue team who recovered the body. Seems as if he fell, but we’ll never know the full story. Marina hasn’t even had a body to bury, no closure of any kind.’

‘Yes, it’s been very hard for her, although she did accept Nate was dead a long time ago,’ Tiff said.

‘She must still miss him keenly.’

‘She did – does – but … I don’t want to be disloyal to her or Nate but he wasn’t a saint. Far from it,’ Tiff ventured, hoping she hadn’t crossed a line.

‘I gathered that and yet … he was her first love, her husband, and to have him so cruelly taken from her …’

‘Of course, she grieved for him but … it was a long time ago.’

Lachlan turned to her. ‘Even so the memories must be raw, especially at this time.’

Tiff thought he was almost daring her to contradict him and play