The sun didn’t seem to be out when Bella woke the following morning. A familiar dread swept over her, that only those who lived on an island would understand.
‘Please no,’ she whispered, getting out of bed and pulling open her curtains. She peered at the dense veil of fog shrouding the boardwalk and knew the airport would be closed. ‘Bugger.’ She groaned. ‘No planes in or out of the island today.’ This would delay the photo shoot and Megan’s return to the mainland. Bella assumed that the interview could take place via a conference call, or online. Aware that if Lexi hadn’t broken the news to the girl, then she would have to, Bella’s mood dipped. She didn’t relish the thought and took her mind off the prospect by showering and dressing.
She went to find Jack downstairs, hoping to have a word with him before he went out. It occurred to her that she hadn’t seen him since he had left to speak to Nicki the previous day. If he had come home at all, it must have been late because she hadn’t heard him, which was unusual. She pushed aside the thought that he most probably had spent the night with Nicki. It wasn’t her place to have an opinion on what he did, she thought miserably.
Her mother was still asleep. Wanting to delay the moment she had to speak to Megan, and to take her mind off what Jack might be doing with Nicki, Bella decided to pay Betty a visit. She put on her jacket and stepped outside. It was only just eight in the morning, but she knew her elderly neighbour would be up and about. Bella crossed the boardwalk and leant on the cool iron railings, sticky with salt from the stormy waves that had lashed them during the night.
No one was about and, with the fog resting on the sea, it seemed as if the village was an island itself. There was a peacefulness at times like this, which Bella loved. The fog enveloped the village like a duvet, masking the sounds of cars on the nearby road and the distant roar of jets taking off from the airport a couple of miles away. The only sound came from the waves lapping against the bottom of the sea wall, and everything was calm.
She turned left to continue on her way to Betty’s and spotted some frosted glass on the beach. The pretty colours were displayed in the same symbol that had adorned the boardwalk during the summer. She crouched down to get a better look. They were arranged on the sea wall, between the railings and the beach, and must have been done early that morning before everyone was up. Intrigued, Bella hoped that one day someone would discover who was responsible and what the symbols meant. They were obviously important to someone, but who?
Hurrying to Betty’s, she knocked on the front door.
‘Come in, love,’ the old lady called, her voice sounding slightly weaker than usual.
She was sitting in her favourite chair overlooking the waves, and Bella walked over and kissed her on the cheek.
‘How are you?’ Betty asked, motioning for her to sit on the chair opposite. ‘Your mum driving you mad yet?’
Bella laughed. ‘No, she’s been fine. I’ve enjoyed having her at the cottage to be honest,’ she admitted.
‘Not really fair on young Alessandro, having to move out though, is it?’ Betty said sagely. ‘Given any indication of how long she’ll be stopping here, has she?’
‘No, none.’ Bella wondered if her mother had already begun making plans to leave and hadn’t liked to tell her. She hoped not. She was enjoying catching up with her too much to be ready to say good-bye just yet.
‘Hmm.’ Betty studied Bella’s face.
Bella smiled, wanting to reassure her friend. ‘It’s fine, honestly. I don’t think he minds that much.’ She had been wondering if Alessandro and Sacha might see this as an opportunity for him to move into her flat above the café, but nothing had happened so far.
‘And your Jack. How’s he doing with that nasty piece back on the rock?’
‘He’s not my Jack.’ Bella wished Betty wouldn’t stare at her so intently. ‘I’ve no idea about him and Nicki. The last I saw of him he was going to visit her.’
Betty tapped her walking stick on the leg of a nearby coffee table. ‘That shelf under there, get the brochure for me, will you?’
Bella bent down, and finding what she assumed Betty wanted, handed it to her. ‘What is it?’
‘She was in Sacha’s café the other day and this fell out of her bag.’ She waved the leaflet in the air. ‘Have a read. Go on. Tell me what you make of it.’
It was a prospectus for a development company. Bella opened it, intrigued.
‘They’re looking for properties on the island with sea views.’
It didn’t make any sense. ‘She’s in finance though, not property. Why would she be interested in this, do you think?’
Betty stared at her for a moment. ‘Finder’s fee, that’s what Claire reckons.’
‘You’ve shown this to my mum? She never said anything.’
Betty frowned. ‘Why would she?’
She had a point. Bella had been so focused on Megan, and she and her mum had more than enough to chat about since her return without needing to discuss Nicki’s antics. ‘I’m sure it’s nothing,’ Bella said, hoping to reassure Betty. ‘It could be something she picked up somewhere or was given. Who knows?’ She changed the subject. ‘I really want to know how you are now the weather’s turned?’
‘A bit dodgy on my feet, my love, but fine apart from that. My rheumatism plays me up a bit in this damper weather but I’ve got nothing to complain about.’
‘Good. You must let me know if there is anything I can get you, or do for you.’
Betty smiled. ‘Jack’s always checking on me and bringing me things that I need. He takes me for breakfast, too. That’s how I caught up with all Claire’s news.’
‘Of course.’ Remembering the date, and what Betty had had to deal with the previous year, she said, ‘It’s Halloween today. If you get any of those little sods throwing eggs at your windows, you let one of us know, won’t you?’
‘Yes. Tony, the fisherman, has already spoken to me. He only lives down the way and he’ll sort the little devils out if they make a mess of the place.’
It occurred to Bella that most people Betty’s age would be nervous to live alone with kids trashing their place. As she spotted Jack walking past the window, her stomach did a flip and she focused on remaining composed.
‘Here’s young Jack now,’ Betty said, beaming from ear to ear as he entered the room. ‘Good morning, lad,’ she called. ‘How are you with all that’s going on?’
He frowned. ‘Nothing much going on in my world,’ he said, glancing at Bella quizzically. ‘Not that I’m aware of.’
‘Why, what have you heard?’ Bella asked the older lady. She knew that nothing much passed her by, and with most of the neighbours paying her visits throughout the week, Betty didn’t have to walk far to know exactly what was happening in the village.
The older lady shrugged her skinny shoulders. ‘I couldn’t possibly say.’
‘Has Mum been talking to you?’ Bella asked without thinking. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she cringed. ‘That is to say…’
Jack folded his arms across his chest. ‘Hang on a sec,’ he said, staring at Bella intently. ‘What does your mum know about me that I don’t? Come on, tell me.’
She desperately wanted to, but prided herself on never breaking a confidence.
‘Bella?’ All amusement in his navy-blue eyes disappeared.
If her mum had already told Betty, then she would no doubt have told her best friend – Jack’s Aunt Rosie. Everyone knew Rosie was incapable of keeping a secret.
Bella tried to work out how best to tell him. Then, remembering how good a friend he’d always been to her, especially lately, helping her with the autumn market and delivering stock to her customers, she said, ‘Nicki’s planning a secret wedding for you.’
Betty dropped her walking stick. Jack stared at Bella for a split second before picking up the stick and handing it back to the older lady.
‘Why?’ he asked, looking dumbfounded at the news.
‘I don’t know. Because she wants to marry you, presumably,’ she said, confused by his question.
Jack’s mouth slowly drew back into a smile and then he began to laugh.
Shocked, Bella exchanged glances with Betty, who looked as surprised as she was by his reaction.
‘I thought Mum had told you,’ she said.
‘Not about that, lovey,’ said Betty. ‘I thought you were going to tell him about that actress who’s staying up at one of Lexi’s cottages on the hill.’
Irritated with herself for reacting without thinking things through, Bella groaned. ‘No, Jack already knew that news. And she’s not an actress, she’s a reality star.’
Remembering the fog, and Megan’s predicament, Bella stood up to leave. Hearing Jack’s quiet laughter, she turned to see him wiping his eyes. Annoyed with him for not taking her seriously, she added, ‘I don’t know what’s so funny about a surprise wedding. Anyone would think you liked the idea.’
His laughter stopped. ‘I can’t think of anything worse, to be honest,’ he said. ‘I suspect you probably misunderstood what you heard. We’re not even dating, so I doubt Nicki would waste her time planning a wedding for us. It doesn’t make sense.’ He shook his head. ‘Who told you, anyway?’
‘I’d rather not say.’
He narrowed his eyes, amusement twinkling from them. ‘Are they a reliable source?’
Why wasn’t he worried about this? she wondered. ‘I thoughts so, or I wouldn’t have believed it. What are you going to do about it?’
‘Nothing. It’s supposed to be a secret.’ He shook his head. She could see he thought the whole thing was ridiculous and wasn’t taking it seriously. ‘I’ll wait and see if it turns out to be anything and deal with it then if I need to,’ he said.
‘Good idea, lad.’ Betty coughed. ‘What are you doing here anyway?’
‘I promised to take you and Claire for a fry-up at Sacha’s this morning, remember?’
Betty waved at him to help her stand. ‘I do now.’
‘I’ll leave you both to it,’ Bella said, kissing Betty on the cheek and zipping up her jacket before going to the door. Jack might say that he and Nicki were finished, but he always seemed to jump whenever she told him to. Bella couldn’t help wondering if they would ever truly be finished. There was no way she would ever entertain a relationship with someone who was still in love with, or at least closely connected to, his ex-girlfriend. And that’s exactly what Jack appeared to be.
‘Are you hungry?’ Jack asked, interrupting her thoughts.
‘What?’
‘You seem deep in thought and I wondered if maybe you wanted to join us?’
‘I’d love to,’ she said honestly, relieved he didn’t have a clue about her thought processes. ‘But I’ve got to go and break the news to Megan that there’s little chance any flights will be coming in today. The magazine crew for the photo shoot and interview will have to wait until the fog lifts before coming in, unless they can get here on the ferry.’
‘And when the flights are cancelled that’s usually booked quickly.’
‘She wants to hope that this fog doesn’t settle for the next three days,’ Betty said, dolefully, handing her stick to Jack while she put on her coat. ‘By the looks of it, all the planes are going to be grounded for a time yet.’
‘I hope not,’ Bella said, aware Betty was probably right.
‘Why does it bother you so much?’ Betty asked.
‘Because Lexi and I have to entertain her while she’s here,’ Bella explained. ‘Please don’t tell anyone else that she’s staying.’
‘Why not? She’s hardly Sophia Loren. I can’t imagine anyone is going to be interested in her staying in the village.’ Betty frowned as she concentrated on doing up her coat buttons and pulling on her gloves. ‘I’ve never heard of the girl.’
‘Why don’t you invite her to the café for our small Halloween party?’ Jack asked.
Bella was grateful to him for giving her something to suggest to Megan. With all the excitement of her mum’s unexpected arrival, and Megan coming to the island, she had forgotten all about the event that Sacha and Alessandro had suggested to various locals.
‘I can’t see that she will want to join us, but I’ll ask anyway.’ She took a deep breath to brace herself for whatever was about to happen. ‘Right, I’d better get up that hill and break the news to Megan, if Lexi hasn’t already seen the fog and told her.’
‘Good luck,’ Jack said. ‘If you need backup, you know where to find me.’