A Secret for the Lifeboat Sisters: A heart-warming romance full of family secrets by Tilly Tennant

Author:Tilly Tennant [Tennant, Tilly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781837907588
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2023-10-11T16:00:00+00:00

Darkness had fallen by the time the lifeboat got back in. Killian would need to hose down his waterproofs and see to his kit before he could return home, so they left the beach without him to wait at the cottage.

‘False alarm,’ he announced as he walked in to where they were all watching television. Elijah and Fern were meant to be in bed, but with Meredith there and Killian still not home, Gaby hadn’t had much success in getting them there. In the end, she’d decided it wasn’t worth the hassle and she was in no mood to care either way. ‘Someone saw a body in the water, only it wasn’t a body; it was a lost lilo, so…’

‘No one was out there?’ Elijah asked, looking bitterly disappointed.

‘I’m happy enough about that,’ Killian said, going to the kitchen. ‘I’d take a lost lilo every time over a body in the water.’

‘We came to watch,’ Meredith said. ‘It was cool. I’ve never seen a lifeboat before. I mean, on telly, but not for real.’

‘You did?’ He put his head back around the kitchen door and gave her a tired smile. Then his gaze went to Gaby. She detected the faintest hint of surprise in it. ‘You took them down to the station?’

‘Well,’ Gaby said briskly, ‘like she said, Meredith had never seen one before.’

Killian turned to his youngest children. ‘What are you still doing up?’

‘They wanted to wait for you,’ Gaby said. ‘And we have other distractions…’

‘Sorry.’ Meredith looked sheepish. ‘I guess that’s my fault.’

‘Well,’ Killian said, ‘it’s not every day you meet a new sister, is it? I suppose it’s to be expected.’

His words scratched at the edges of Gaby’s already raw patience. Every time he referred to Meredith as his daughter, so naturally and casually, she found it jarring. Would she ever come to terms with the fact that she wasn’t the only – or even first – mother of a child from him? She felt it diminished her, made her less important, and it made her feel like she was less to him. And the way he dropped it into conversation already like it was nothing… couldn’t he see that? Couldn’t he understand how it might make Gaby feel?

Her head was swimming, but as well as all this, she still had marking to do for her students. It was getting late and she was tired and tetchy and hardly in the mood to concentrate, but that wasn’t going to mean a thing to some anxious student waiting on her feedback.

‘Elijah, Fern…’ She looked at them. ‘Time for bed.’

‘But…’

‘You wanted to wait for your dad to come in; he’s here now so you have no more excuses.’

‘Can’t we stay up a tiny bit longer?’ Fern asked, glancing shyly at Meredith. It was clear she was already in awe of her. Perhaps, being the youngest, the new status quo was a lot easier for her to get her head around.

‘I’ve got work to do and I can’t do it with a house full of people making noise,’ Gaby said.

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