Seaside Manor Bed and Breakfast - Lilly Mirren Page 0,92
Dad.”
“Congratulations. I hope you two will be very happy together. Like your mum and I were…”
She’d let that slide. It was a happy day today and she had no desire to start an argument with her father. Besides, from his perspective perhaps they had been happy. Or maybe it was only hindsight that could give us the rose-coloured glasses that kept us moving, one foot in front of the other, into the future.
He left her there and wandered back out on the porch. Sarah rose and followed him, then stopped by the open back door. Only mum was out there now. The sun had set and rays of pink and orange shot through a purple sky from the horizon towards them. Long shadows hid the garden in their inky depths. In the distance a crow cawed.
“It’s nice to see you here today, Andrew,” said Mum with a formal tone to her soft voice.
“Thanks, Cindy,” replied Dad. “I was in town, and I couldn’t say no to our daughter.”
“No, you never could when it came to Sarah.” There was a smile in Mum’s voice, although Sarah couldn’t see her face.
She felt bad for a moment listening in on their conversation but wasn’t able to walk away. She had a horrible feeling that they’d fight, and Mum would end up crying and she couldn’t stand for that to happen today. She tensed, ready to jump in if she was needed, to stand by Mum’s side.
“I’ve missed this place,” said Dad, clenching fingers around the top railing.
“I’m sure you have.”
“Keisha misses the Cove too.”
Mum didn’t respond. Sarah’s teeth clenched.
“I thought you might like to hear it from me… I mean we did talk about it a while back, but I thought you should know — Keisha and I have found a house. We’re moving back to the Cove next month.”
“Thank you for telling me.” Mum’s voice was tense, her shoulders straight.
Sarah’s eyes widened. She hadn’t known Dad was thinking about moving back to town, but it sounded as though he’d talked to Mum about it. Why hadn’t she said anything?
It made sense though — Dad had lived here all of his life. People in Emerald Cove knew him, they respected and admired him. When he left the Cove, he’d be another face in the crowd. Dad couldn’t abide not standing out. She wondered how he was feeling about Ben, he hadn’t said much about the secret that’d remained hidden for so long, but he seemed happy. She’d seen he and Ben in deep conversation several times since the revelation — there was an uncanny resemblance between the two of them. She smiled at the thought — she never imagined she’d get another brother so late in life. But life was full of surprises.
Dad turned, walked away from his conversation with Mum. When he brushed past Sarah, he offered her a smile. “Did you hear any of that?”
She nodded. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry…”
“No, it’s fine,” he said. “You should know. I’m going to go and tell the others now. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Of course not, Dad. I’ll be glad to see more of you.”
“And Keisha?”
“Yes, and Keisha.” Sarah swallowed. That would be an awkward meeting, but she was willing to try, for Dad’s sake.
Athol walked past with two coffee cups in his hands, both sending steam into the cooling night air. He set them on the outside dining table, then went to Mum and put his arms around her. She turned in his embrace and kissed him on the lips.
Sarah ducked her head in embarrassment. When had that happened?
Apparently, everyone was keeping secrets in this family. She’d have to make more of an effort to catch up with people, or she’d miss out on everything that was going on in their lives. At least most of them either lived in the Cove or were moving there soon. Now they only had to work on getting Adele back into town, and they’d all be there.
With one more backward glance at Mum in Athol’s arms, staring at the brilliant sunset, Sarah hurried into the living room and sat at Mick’s feet. He massaged her shoulders and she warmed beneath his touch. He was her husband, and it was still difficult for her to wrap her mind around, but filled her with such a sense of peace, satisfaction, and security that she couldn’t do anything but grin.
* * *
THE END
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