Chapter 31
‘I can see from here,’ Abigail said, standing near the stairs, wishing she hadn’t agreed to the tour. Three long flights of stairs later, having passed the living quarters on the middle floor with a modern kitchen in the middle of the room segregating the comfortable living and dining area, they had arrived at the top of the lighthouse. Joss showed her the enormous old lamp that used to guide ships safely to the harbour, back in the day.
Abigail refused to go too near the windows, even though Joss tried to encourage her, saying the views were spectacular.
‘Can we go back down now?’ The only good thing was that Joss’s uncle didn’t live in a mess, which was what she had expected. Inside, the lighthouse was kept immaculately clean. The whitewashed walls hardly had a mark on them and contrasted with the polished oak wooden flooring.
There was oak furniture that looked expensive, but it suited what amounted to a bachelor pad. Abigail glanced at a miniature wooden sailboat in a dark wooden display box that looked at odds with the other ornaments; delicate porcelain figurines, some of which appeared to be from abroad, were dotted about on bookshelves. There was even a black sphinx cat that looked Egyptian. Abigail had asked Joss where they all came from. He’d shrugged. ‘I can’t say I’ve really taken much notice of the stuff lying around, to be honest.’
As they were walking down the stairs, passing the mezzanine level that was his uncle’s bedroom, Abigail stopped suddenly, catching Joss unawares. It was the one room they hadn’t ventured into. Joss put a hand on her shoulder to stop himself from careering into her. ‘Sorry.’ He paused. ‘Is everything all right?’
Abigail stepped off the stairs on to the mezzanine.
‘That’s just my uncle’s bedroom. Nothing much to see in there.’
Abigail stared into the room. The galleried bedroom was quite small, with just enough space to walk around the bed. There was a tall, double-fronted oak wardrobe and a chest of drawers beside it. But it wasn’t the furniture, the bed or the little window with the views out to sea that had caught her attention; it was something on the floor in the corner of the room. Is that what I think it is? She turned to look at Joss. ‘Is that a projector?’ Abigail wasn’t really asking. She knew what it was.
Joss shrugged again. ‘What, that old thing? I have no idea what it is. I asked him once. It looks quite old. But he doesn’t like talking about the past. In fact, he doesn’t like talking – full stop.’
Abigail looked at him. She wasn’t surprised he wanted to move out. In fact, she wasn’t surprised his uncle had lived on his own all these years, just himself and his crotchety ways. She said, ‘It’s a projector that plays old 8mm cine film.’
Joss stared at her. ‘How on earth do you know that?’
Abigail was about to mention her late husband’s hobby when the sound of a car on the gravel driveway startled them both.
‘Bloody hell – he’s back!’
Joss raced up to the little window in the mezzanine that looked over the driveway to the cottage, and the sea beyond.
‘It’s your uncle, isn’t it?’ Abigail said flatly when she heard the car engine go quiet and the clunk of a car door.
‘No – it’s not.’ He turned to Abigail. ‘Were you expecting him?’
Abigail frowned at Joss. ‘Him – who?’
Joss pointed.
She joined him at the window and let out a surprised gasp. ‘What’s he doing here?’ she said, then thought,God, they’ve found out. But then she saw Oliver ignoring the cottage and heading straight for the lighthouse.
‘Crap!’ Abigail crouched down, her head below the windowsill. She pulled Joss down with her. ‘What’s he doing here?’ she asked him, jumping at the sound of a knock on the door two storeys below. She expected Joss to tell her he hadn’t a clue. Instead, he said, ‘Oh, Oliver pops around sometimes.’
She imagined Oliver and Carys must have visited their aunt there. It made sense. And Joss’s uncle had lived there for years. They must have got to know him. But it had never occurred to her that they might pay Joss’s uncle visits. Abigail looked at him. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ she said in a whisper, even though there was no way Oliver would hear them.
Joss shrugged, and whispered back, ‘It never cropped up.’ He eyed her. ‘Is there a reason you don’t want Oliver to know you’re here?’
‘What, apart from the fact that I’m nosing around your uncle’s home without an invite?’
‘Yes.’
Abigail bit her bottom lip. ‘You know I told you that I didn’t want it mentioned to Oliver and Carys that I inherited their aunt’s cottage.’
He nodded.
‘They are contesting the original trust. I just think there will be bad feelings towards me if they find out. I like the Somervilles and don’t want to lose their friendship,’ she admitted.
Joss looked at her for a long moment, before raising his head and glancing out of the window.
Abigail got to her knees and looked out of the window, too. Oliver was walking away from the lighthouse towards his car.