Winter Whimsy on the Boardwalk by Georgina Troy

Author:Georgina Troy [Troy, Georgina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boldwood Books

12

MID-JANUARY

Lexi arrived at Oliver’s cottage ready to continue typing up the next few pages that he had dictated to her. It had been a very quiet couple of weeks and the beginning of January was exactly what she had imagined it would be. The weather had been wet and stormy and most people chose to either stay at home during the bad weather, leave the island to visit family on the mainland or go on holiday somewhere warmer.

She hadn’t seen much of Oliver because he had gone to Scotland to spent a couple of weeks with his parents. It had been strange without him around and she even missed Portia who, after only one day without Oliver around, took herself back to London, promising to return before the Burns Night party. She had heard him being dropped off by taxi late the previous evening and presumed he must have caught the last flight back to the island.

It was freezing outside but she didn’t bother wearing a coat for the short commute to work. Lexi reached his door and knocked a couple of times.

‘Let yourself in,’ he bellowed from somewhere inside.

She did as he asked and walked straight through to the living room. ‘Good morning,’ she said, placing her laptop on the small round table. ‘How are you?’ She noticed that his usual jovial manner when he greeted her each morning had gone. His face seemed pale and his expression dour. He looked dreadful. ‘Are you all right? Shall I make you a coffee? Or maybe I can fetch you a couple of headache pills?’

Oliver shook his head slowly. ‘No, thanks.’

Concerned, Lexi went and sat on the arm of the nearest chair. ‘Has something happened?’ She didn’t want to pry but he seemed upset and she wanted to help if she possibly could.

He sighed. He was staring at his phone screen. ‘They can’t come, Lexi.’

‘Your parents? Do you mean?’

He nodded. ‘I was hoping to finalise their first trip here while I was staying with them.’

She knew now how important the buying of these cottages had been to him. It was the same importance that had helped her come to terms with them not belonging to her family any more.

‘Oh, Oliver, I’m really sorry. Do you want to tell me what’s happened? Or would you rather not speak about it?’ she asked, dreading how bad the news might be. She had lost the two closest women to her and knew only too well how it changed a person’s life forever, regardless of any attempt to put on a brave face, trying to carry on without them.

Oliver seemed to re-read the message on his phone before placing it face down onto the coffee table in front of him and sitting back in the chair. He closed his eyes.

‘My mother did say during one of our chats before Christmas how much my father had deteriorated but she has a tendency to exaggerate sometimes where he’s concerned. I was hoping he wasn’t as bad as she made out.

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