Page 97 of The Clockmaker's Cottage
Theo showed no defensiveness or any sort of denial. All he wanted was to discover the truth. Pippa admired him for that.
‘So, what do you want to do?’ she asked.
‘I think the next step is obvious. We need to speak to Horace while he’s still on the island.’
Pippa’s eyebrows lifted slightly. ‘Today?’
‘Yes, today.’
Pippa nodded slowly. ‘Do you think he’ll talk?’
‘I don’t know,’ Theo admitted. ‘But we have to try.’
Pippa tore off another piece of croissant. ‘Whoever said clockmakers were boring? Every one of us seems to have been involved in some scandal!’ She gave Theo a mischievous grin.
He laughed.
‘You’re handling Sebastian’s accusations very well,’ she added softly. ‘If it were my grandfather being accused of something awful, I’d probably be flapping.’
‘Oh, I’m flapping internally,’ he replied. ‘Even more than those puffins up on the cliffs. I’m just doing it quietly.’
Pippa smiled. ‘I think that’s called maturity.’
Just as she was about to take a last sip of coffee, there was a knock on the front door.
‘I hope that’s not Sebastian,’ she said, standing up.
‘I don’t think he’s worked out yet where we’re staying… though I don’t think it’ll be long before he realises.’
They both slipped back into the cottage and opened the door, and were relieved to find Clemmie standing there. ‘Morning, you two!’ she said brightly. ‘I’ve come bearing news.’
‘Come on in.’ Pippa opened the door wide. ‘We were just out in the garden.’
Clemmie gasped approvingly the moment she stepped into the courtyard. ‘Oh, this is gorgeous! Look at that wisteria and those roses!’
‘You want coffee?’ Pippa asked, holding up her own empty mug.
‘I wouldn’t say no,’ Clemmie replied, settling into a chair.
Two minutes later, Clemmie wrapped both hands around her coffee mug. ‘Right. News! Firstly, the causeway will open again tomorrow afternoon. The tide’s behaving at last.’
Pippa felt a slight dip in her mood. She knew it would happen, but she didn’t want it to happen just yet.
‘Granny has been reliving the events of July 1965 when the causeway was closed for forty days because of the rain. She said we need to be grateful that the sunshine is back.’ Clemmie glanced up towards the cottage. ‘There’s so much history here… But that leads me on to my second bit of news. When I first heard this, you popped into my head,’ she said as she looked at Pippa.
‘Oh? I’m intrigued! What is it?’
‘I know you’re a complete clock enthusiast?—’
‘That’s putting it mildly,’ teased Theo.
‘—but The Clock House has just come on the market. It’s the Vale Brothers’ original workshop! Places don’t come up for sale on the island very often and I thought if you wanted a fresh start, on a beautiful island with just the best people, in a place that means so much given your interest in clocks, it’s worth taking a look. Because as soon as that causeway is open, that property will not stay around for long.’
Pippa couldn’t stop the grin on her face and blurted, ‘We know, and we’ve already been to take a look.’
‘Tell me more.’
‘It’s right up my street, somewhere I could see myself living?—’
