‘Oh, hello. You must be Luna. Mason’s niece. I completely forgot you were arriving today. I’m Jane. A friend of your uncle. It’s lovely to meet you, dear. I’ve heard so much about you I feel as if we’re already friends. I hope we shall be.’
So this was Jane Dorset. The woman Mason had a thing for.
‘Hello Jane. I hope so too. Please come in.’
Jane stepped into the hall and walked towards the sitting room whilst Luna closed the door.
‘I hope you and Mason don’t mind but my grandson is going to pop his head in briefly. He can’t stay because of the oysters but at least he’ll say hello. Mason, it’s me. Your niece is simply lovely.’ She beamed at Luna and joined Mason in front of the fire, sitting on the chair Luna had vacated.
Luna smiled and collected the tea tray. She had no idea what Jane meant about the oysters but it probably didn’t matter.
‘I’ll make some fresh. Would you prefer tea or coffee, Jane? And is your grandson joining us right away?’
‘Coffee for me please. Nice and milky. Logan will be here any minute. He’s just helping someone staying at Snowflake Inn, with their luggage.’
Mason leant forward and tapped Jane’s knee. ‘And you’ll never guess who that is.’ He grinned mischievously. ‘None other than Severine.’
Jane’s mouth formed a perfect ‘O’ as Luna left them to it.
From the kitchen, Luna could hear her uncle and Jane gossiping about Severine. He was telling Jane about the train journey, not that there was much to tell, and Jane was making ‘ooh-ing’ and ‘ah-ing’ responses to every word he said.
Luna put the kettle on and leant against the worktop, waiting for it to boil, her mind drifting back to thoughts of Spain, and Mateus, her ex-boyfriend.
What would he make of Snowflake Cove? He’d no doubt hate it. Especially the gossip. That was what he disliked the most about the village where they’d lived. The village he had been so desperate to leave.
She straightened her back and clenched her teeth.
Without the gossips, would she ever have discovered his deception? It had taken long enough even so. Usually, that sort of juicy titbit would have spread around the village faster than the summer wildfires in the hills beyond, but his affair had been going on for at least a year before she finally found out. And she had only found out after he had left.
She sneered at her silhouette on the glossy surface of the wall cupboard opposite.
How could she have been so stupid? Why hadn’t anyone in the village warned her? Was it because she was still getting over the loss of her mum, just a couple of years after losing her dad? Perhaps they all thought she was too fragile to cope. Perhaps they thought the affair was just a passing fancy. Once Mateus had gone – and taken every last bit of the cash Luna kept in the house, with him, and the money in their joint bank account – the villagers all rallied round. They all said they hadn’t had the heart to tell her. Didn’t want to see her hurt again.
Well that worked out well, didn’t it?
She shook her head at her own foolishness. Mateus had repeatedly told her he wanted to leave the village. To go to Madrid, or Paris, or London. Any big city would clearly suffice. Perhaps if she’d sold the house sooner and said yes, he wouldn’t have looked elsewhere for his ticket out of there.
Was that all she had been? A sort of meal ticket with free bed and board until someone else came along and offered him something better. They had met at her mum’s funeral. Like her mother, Jasmine Blake, Mateus Ruiz was a struggling sculptor who had said that he admired Jasmine’s work and hoped one day to be half as good as she was. Was that just a line? A way to wheedle himself into Luna’s affections. It had worked, hadn’t it? Less than a month after the funeral, Mateus and Luna were living together in her parents’ house. But he didn’t seem to spend much time working clay with his agile hands.
‘Luna, sweetheart.’ Mason’s voice, the whistling kettle and the chime of the doorbell all sang out in unison.
‘I’ll get it.’ She pushed herself away from the worktop, took the kettle off the stove and headed to the door.
‘Oh. Hello.’ The man from the station sounded surprised but a smile crept into his eyes.
‘It’s you!’ He wasn’t as surprised as Luna.
‘Me? Um. Have we met? I’m sorry but I’m terrible with faces.’
‘Yes. I mean, no. Not exactly. I arrived by train this morning with Severine. I saw you at the station when you came to meet her.’
‘Came to meet her? Do you know Severine? Did you say you were at the station? I didn’t see you. She didn’t say she was travelling with a friend. How did you get here?’
‘Minicab. Mason had ordered one to meet me. And I’m not Severine’s friend. We met on the train. I saw you talking to her when I passed by on the concourse.’
‘Logan?’ Jane called out. ‘Is that you?’
Logan pulled a face and grinned. ‘It’s me, Gran.’
Luna quickly stepped aside, shaking her head and laughing as she did so.
‘I’m so sorry. Please come in. I’m Luna. Mason’s niece.’
He studied her face for a second, smiling. ‘Hi Luna. I’m Logan. Jane Dorset’s grandson.’
‘Are you Severine’s boyfriend?’
Where on earth had that come from? Luna bit her lip.
Logan drew his brows together in a deep frown. ‘No. Just a friend. A friend who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Or wrong place, depending on how you look at it.’
‘Sorry? I don’t understand.’
Logan sighed. ‘Believe me. Nor do I.’ He shook his head. ‘Are they in the sitting room?’
‘Oh yes. I’m making coffee. Would you like some? Or tea, if you prefer. Do go through.’
‘After you.’ He followed Luna along the hall. ‘Thanks for the offer but I really can’t stay. I’ve got a few crates of oysters in my van and although they’re encased in ice, it won’t be too much longer before that melts – even in this weather.’
She grinned at him over her shoulder. ‘Ah. That explains the oysters.’
‘Sorry?’
She stopped at the kitchen door and laughed. ‘Jane said that you couldn’t stay for long because of the oysters. Now I know what she meant.’
‘Those oysters have a lot to answer for.’ He turned at the sitting room doorway. ‘Um. Did Gran mention I’m having a party tonight? Everyone from this village will be there – and some posh-knobs from Michaelmas Bay. You’re welcome to join us. It’s an opening party for my restaurant.’
‘Thanks. That’s really kind of you. Jane’s only just arrived so she hasn’t mentioned it yet, but Mason did. You must be so excited. It’s a wonderful achievement.’
‘It’s not much of an achievement yet. Just took over from the previous owner. But I am excited and I want to do a lot with it once it’s up and running. All I’ve done so far is have the place redecorated and new equipment, tables and chairs installed.’
‘And purchased oysters. Don’t forget those.’
Amusement danced in his eyes. ‘Ah yes. The oysters. Probably developing life-threatening bacteria as we speak.’
‘Remind me to avoid the oysters tonight then.’
Logan grinned. ‘I’m cooking some and adding burnt butter. Stick to those and you’ll be fine.’
‘Is burnt butter a gastronomic delicacy or are you expecting some disasters in the kitchen?’
Luna’s cheeks flushed. The butter would easily burn if he looked at it the way he was now looking at her, with that wicked grin on his perfect mouth and that spark of heat in his eyes as he gave a quick burst of laughter.
‘A bit of both.’ His voice sounded a little huskier than it had.
‘What are you two laughing about?’ Mason called from the sitting room.
Logan glanced over his shoulder. ‘Oysters, Mason.’ He smiled back at Luna. ‘I really hope you’ll come tonight.’ Then he turned and walked towards Jane. ‘I can’t stay, Gran.’
He b
ent and kissed her cheek as Luna watched him from the hall.
‘So you’re not going to tell me about Severine, then?’ Jane sounded disappointed.
‘Nothing to tell, Gran. I bumped into her at the station. Gave her a lift. Helped her across the bridge with her luggage. End of story.’
‘What did you talk about on the way?’
‘We didn’t. She was tired and she nodded off.’
‘That’s a likely tale.’ Jane gave him an affectionate poke with her finger.
‘Sadly, it’s the truth.’
He looked back at Luna and, having been caught ogling him, she dashed into the kitchen and tried to concentrate on making the coffees, but she strained her ears to listen to the ongoing conversation. Or should that be interrogation?
‘You’re honestly telling us that she didn’t say a word?’
‘Yes, Gran. Other than that she was cold and tired. Although I think she may have mentioned that she was dreading all the gossip.’
It seemed Jane was determined to extract some snippet of news from Logan, however tiny, and Logan appeared to be equally as determined not to reveal any.
Why was that? Perhaps he was telling the truth. After all, Luna had spent more than an hour on the train with Severine and hadn’t any news to tell her uncle. It was highly likely that Logan was in a similar position. Especially as he’d spent less than twenty minutes with Severine.
Jane clearly wasn’t giving up and only briefly glanced at Luna as she brought in the tray of coffees. ‘I’m surprised. I would have thought she would have chatted away non-stop, catching up on all your news and sharing hers with you. After all, she used to have a bit of a crush on you.’
Jane took the coffee Luna handed her and smiled, but quickly returned her gaze to her grandson, as did Luna, on hearing that statement and the odd guttural sound it extracted from Logan.
‘No she didn’t! She hardly even knew I existed. It was the other …’ His face flushed and his Adam’s Apple jittered. ‘I mean … she was in love with someone else.’
Jane tutted. ‘I meant before she had that unforgivable affair with the father of her sister’s best friend. Before Roggero Tazzeone.’
Luna watched Logan’s mouth form a tight line before he took a deep breath and replied:
‘Severine has never been interested in me. Before or after Roggero. As for unforgivable – we all make mistakes, Gran. Don’t we all deserve a second chance?’
Jane shrugged. ‘There are mistakes and there are mistaken ideas. Severine knew exactly what she was doing. Mark my words. That girl never does anything by mistake.’
He tensed visibly and clenched his fists. ‘I’ve got to go. See you all tonight.’
Before anyone had a chance to reply, he was gone. And from the loud bang echoing down the hall, he must have closed the front door with a bit too much force.
Chapter Nine
Severine was already wishing she had merely sent her daughter an open-dated plane ticket and told her to join them in New York whenever she was ready to make the move. Life would have been so much easier.
But she hadn’t, and now she was sitting at the kitchen table in Snowflake Inn trying to think of a way to disappear to whichever room her parents had allocated her – and she had been with them for less than ten minutes.
Perhaps if Raven had been there, it would have been a little better, but Raven was out with Roggero, her father or so Jessie had said.
Her father.
Those were two words Severine had been trying not to associate with Raven for the past fifteen years.
Obviously the topic had come up. Several times in fact over the years, especially when Raven reached her teens. But Severine had been lying to everyone else about that man for so long that lying to her daughter seemed the most natural – and definitely the simplest – thing to do.
She’d told Raven she had no idea where Raven’s father was. (That much was true at least.) That he was just a man she had met at the Michaelmas Bay fair. (A lie) That she had had a fling and hey presto – Raven was conceived. Severine had said the father didn’t know about the pregnancy. (Also a lie.) And that she had no way of getting in touch with him. (Only partly true.) Sylvie, Roggero’s wife in all but name, might have had some idea where her cheating partner had gone – although there were rumours that Sylvie had buried him in the garden because, despite them living together for years and having two children, he had never put a ring on her finger and wasn’t ever likely to. But as the poor woman seemed as surprised as everyone else that the man had simply disappeared, Severine seriously doubted that. Besides, how could Severine have asked? She could hardly have knocked on Sylvie’s front door and said, ‘Excuse me. Do you know where Roggero is? Only I’m expecting his child. He had a bit of a strop when I told him and I haven’t seen him since.’
No one other than herself and Roggero knew of their affair.
Oh, apart from Logan Dorset.
For some stupid reason she had been foolish enough to blurt it all out to him and cry on his shoulder, the night she heard Roggero had vanished.
That had been an awful night. For her and for Logan. She heard the news that her lover had disappeared, and she had a distinct feeling she might never see him again. As she wept in Logan’s arms, her dad appeared, and Logan got the news that his own father had died, suddenly and somewhat unexpectedly it seemed; he had succumbed to the cancer that had riddled his body for some time.
‘Well, child.’ Jessie gave Severine’s hand a gentle slap. ‘What have you got to say for yourself?’
Severine glared at her. ‘I’ve had a long journey and, as my daughter isn’t here, I’d like to go and lie down until she returns.’
‘That’s it? No apology. No explanation. You haven’t even said you’re pleased to be here.’
‘Why is that, I wonder, Gran?’ Severine sucked in a breath. ‘I don’t think I have anything to apologise for. It’s not my fault the weather was so dreadful. Delaying seemed the sensible thing to do … in my condition.’ She placed a hand on her tummy.
‘Oh don’t give me that twaddle. I wasn’t born with the fairies. If you’d wanted to come home, you would have. You and I both know that.’
‘Jessie.’ Severine’s mum, Molly intervened, her voice soft and soothing. ‘Don’t you think you’re possibly being a little harsh? I was as cross as you are, but the important thing is that she’s home now. There’s no point in raking over the past. It’s the future that’s important.’
‘Bah! Whose future? Did she think about Raven’s future when she ran off to America with a man she hardly knows? When she phoned us – phoned us mind – to tell us she was getting married? When she blurted out that she was expecting. And moving thousands of miles away.’
‘I agree it would’ve been better to break all that news in person.’ Molly squeezed one of Severine’s hands as Severine tapped her fingers on the table in an irritated fashion. ‘But we all know Severine acts … hastily. I’m sure she didn’t mean any harm by it. Did you darling?’
Severine returned her mum’s smile, though with less enthusiasm than Molly.
‘Of course I didn’t. If I’d known you were going to act as if I was trying to blow up the inn and everyone in it, I’d have waited. I was just so excited. Haven’t any of you been that excited about something? So much so that if you don’t tell the people who are supposed to love you, your news, you think you’re going to burst. That’s how I felt. I wanted you all to know. And you all behaved as if I said I’d contracted the plague or something.’
Evie – who had been making coffee for everyone – thumped a mug on the table in front of her sister.
‘No we didn’t, Severine. That’s unfair. We were all thrilled you’re in love. We all want you to be happy, believe me. We know what you’re like when you’re not. Don’t scowl at me. The days of me keeping my mouth shut are long gone. What upset us all, was the way you told us. I wasn’t here when you called and I came in to find Raven in tears. Mum more u
pset that I’ve seen her in years. Dad almost unable to speak. And Gran. Well…’ She threw Jessie a little smile across the table. ‘You can imagine how Gran felt. All we’re saying is we think the least you could do is see things from this side of the pond. I mean, why the sudden move to New York, for instance?’
‘Why the…?’ Severine shook her head in exasperation. ‘Because I think it would be rather nice to actually live with the man I’m about to marry, Evie. That’s why. I bet if Zachary Thorn asked you to move to Outer Mongolia, or the Moon, you’d go.’
Evie’s face glowed at the mention of her boyfriend’s name and she beamed at Severine.
‘You’re right. I would. But I’d tell my family in person. And if I had a teenage daughter, I’d talk to her about it first. And I’d make damn sure that she was happy about it because if she wasn’t, as much as I love Zachary, he’d be living on his own until we figured out something else.’
‘Yes, well. You always were the goody-two-shoes, weren’t you? If I’m such a bad mother, Raven’s probably better off staying here. That’s what she said she’s wants. Of course that was before her errant father bloody well showed up and threw a spanner in the works.’
‘Can you hear yourself?’ Jessie said, banging her mug on the table top. ‘And that’s another thing. Roggero Tazzeone! Surely you realise we deserve a bit of an explanation about that sordid little affair.’
Severine got to her feet, her chair tipping back on to the floor with a resounding thud.
‘It wasn’t sordid. We were in love! At least I was. He said he was, too. He was even talking about leaving Sylvie and the kids – until I told him I was pregnant. You may not care – and I don’t suppose for one minute you do. That any of you do. But that man broke my heart. Thoroughly, utterly and completely. I actually thought it would never mend. That I’d never find love or happiness again. And then I met Harvey and fell head over heels. Forgive me if I didn’t stop to wonder if my loving family would prefer me not to be happy.’
‘That’s enough, Severine!’ Her father, John banged his hand flat on the table. ‘Pick up that chair and sit yourself down. I’m not sure how things got this crazy but there are some things I am sure about and I’m going to say them without anyone interrupting me.’
Blame it on the Moonlight Page 4