Island for Dreams (2 page)

She thought it could hardly be Jony; it was more likely to be someone the lawyer had sent to do the job. She hummed softly to herself as she made an omelette from fresh eggs from the fridge and resolved to discover whom she had to thank for everything in the flat.

She carried her meal on to the little balcony and gazed out over the sea as she ate contentedly. Strange that the conditions of the will had not upset her as much as Jony Cesar had with his brusque, almost rude manner.

Thinking about him, Nora felt an emotion not unlike anger blocking her throat. He was a man, with a male
’
s viewpoint of Jed Kelly
’
s will. He was too uncouth, if that was the word, ever to be a friend. Women might be an unknown quantity in his tight little world. In any case why bother with such a man? She could deal outright with the lawyer.

The sound of a motorboat drew her eyes once more to the beach on the far side of the promenade to the flat. The tide was in and a red motorboat was some distance away in the sea towing a water-skier.

The
skier was a girl in a red bathing suit. They were too far away for Nora to see their features, but she could see the young man in the boat had black rough curly hair, was broad-shouldered and looked strong. She saw the red motorboat again later as she took a walk before going to bed.

The lovely July evening beckoned and Nora crossed the promenade and went down on the beach. Her only companions were the lovely
white breasted
seagulls poking in puddles in the sand left by the tide for their supper. Walking along the water
’
s edge she passed under the iron supports of the pier to continue along the beach, and there was the red motorboat again towing the girl in the red swimsuit.

The girl had a perfect figure and she handled the skis expertly, Nora noticed before giving her attention to the man in the motorboat. His face was tanned and his teeth, as he shouted something over his shoulder at the girl in tow, were startlingly white.

They made one more circle of the water, then they were gone. Nora strolled along and looked up the beach to see the bank of pebbles washed up by the tide against the sea wall. Above the wall green slopes led up to the long cream building of the Beach Hotel.

Retracing her steps, Nora picked up strange shells, some of which were a pinky pearl and almost transparent. There were coloured stones too which could be made into jewellery. She pocketed some of the bigger shells and several of the stones and realised that she was feeling pleasantly tired. And there remained the niggling question of what she was to
do about the terms of the will.

No doubt Jony was hoping that she would not follow out the terms of the will and so leave him to inherit everything. Well, she might do just that, but tomorrow was time enough to think about it.

In the pristine freshness of her bedroom Nora undressed and prepared for bed. It had been quite a day and the cool sheets had never been so welcome.

Her problems came back in force when she awakened next morning to the cry of seagulls on the shore. Padding across the carpet, she looked out over a sea covered by early morning mist. Some distance along the promenade a man was putting scraps out for the seagulls and they were wheeling and screeching excitedly above his head.

Down below the tide was going out and the beach lay golden and inviting and fresh. Lifting her arms above her head, Nora stretched luxuriously. She was going to enjoy her visit to the island, Jony or no Jony, and with this thought in mind she turned, humming to herself, and made her way with a light step to the bathroom.

She had finished her breakfast and was making coffee when her door bell rang.

‘
Good morning,
’
said Jony as she opened the door.
‘
I called to see how you were going on. I didn
’
t think you would be up so early.
’

‘
Oh, good morning,
’
Nora gasped, taken aback by her unexpected visitor.
‘
Come in. I
’
m just making coffee.
’

Jony stepped inside awkwardly.
‘
Nice place you have here,
’
he remarked, looking admiringly at the gold wall-to-wall carpet and matching silk curtains at the windows of the lounge.

He was studying two watercolours of the island on the main wall when Nora came from the adjoining kitchen with coffee.

‘
I wondered where these had gone,
’
he said gruffly.
‘
They used to be at the farm—Jed must have had them brought here. I had my eye on them. I was hoping they would be mine.
’

‘
Really?
’
Nora poured out the coffee.
‘
Black or white?
’
she asked.

‘
Black, please.
’

Jony lowered himself with an ill grace into one of the two easy chairs by the French windows and accepted his drink. He wore a dark blue suit and pale blue shirt and his hair had stood for a good deal of brushing.

Nora sat down on the settee beneath the two watercolours and sipped her coffee.

She asked,
‘
Did you have anything to do with stocking up my larder and kitchen? I
’
m very grateful for it.
’

He shook his head.
‘
Jed arranged everything with his lawyer. He was hoping to see you in the flat before he died, bu
t
it wasn
’
t to be.
’

Nora blinked back the tears.
‘
Poor
Mr.
Kelly
!
’
She gazed at him curiously with the feeling that this was another aspect of the man that she had not met. It was clear to her now that he was out to please.

Bluntly, she asked,
‘
Why this early visit? As a farmer I would have thought you
’
d be at one of the busiest parts of the day now.
’

‘
I have the day off. Got a man in,
’
he replied, reaching for a biscuit she had placed on a plate.
‘
This coffee isn
’
t bad.
’

‘
And why have you taken the day off work?
’
she insisted.

‘
Thought you
’
d like to see a bit of the island.
’

She asked,
‘
Was
Mr.
Kelly buried or cremated? I
’
d like to put some flowers on his grave.
’

‘
Cremated,
’
Jony answered laconically, and reached for a second biscuit.
‘
Where would you like to go?
’

Nora put down her empty cup and leaned back in her chair.

‘
I
’
m not aiming at going anywhere today,
’
she admitted frankly.
‘
I
’
m just going to take things nice and easy.
’
She stretched out long slim legs in slacks and smiled at him.
‘
Sorry.
’

‘
Got another date?
’

‘
No. It
’
s just that I like time before I go out with anyone. Why the sudden interest? Yesterday you gave the impression that not only were you not interested but that you couldn
’
t wait to be rid of me.
’

He mumbled sheepishly,
‘
I was a bit out of my depth. I never expected anyone like you.
’

‘
Was that what it was?
’
Her dainty eyebrows shot up in disbelief. Then she smiled impishly.
‘
You thought that because I was a miss, I was some frumpish old maid eager for the legacy?
’

His look at her was so surprised that Nora guessed she had been very near the truth.

Doggedly, he said,
‘
I had my own ideas like everyone else. Everyone will be surprised when they see you.
’

‘
Everyone? You mean
Mr.
Kelly
’
s family or yours?
’

‘
Jed has no family and mine hardly count. I mean the people here in Ramsey will all be wanting to have a look at the girl Jed has left part of his money to.
’

Nora was aghast.
‘
But surely no one knows yet? I mean, the conditions of the will and so on.
’

He shook his head and gave her a pitying look.
‘
You don
’
t know the half of it. They probably all know by now about this f
l
at, what it was stocked with for you and what money you
’
ll receive, take it or leave it, to the last pound or so.
’

Nora put back her head and laughed huskily.
‘
How lovely
!
I think I
’
m going to like it here very much.
’

Again the stare of disbelief.
‘
You don
’
t care what people are saying about you?
’

She shook her head.
‘
Why should I? It
’
s nice of them to be so concerned. I might find out quite a bit about my benefactor.
’

‘
Oh, well,
’
Jony shrugged, putting down his cup,
‘
if you
’
re going snooping around...
’

‘
What do you mean by snooping? Have you got something to hide or something?
’

‘
Of course I haven
’
t. So you
’
re not coming out with me today?
’

Nora had the feeling that he was being tolerant against his will.

‘
Sorry. Some other time, perhaps.
’

He took his dismissal calmly and paused at the door.

‘
You shouldn
’
t have much difficulty in marrying a Manxman. You
’
re pretty enough to have your choice.
’

Nora smiled.
‘
I reckon that
’
s very noble of you. But I shouldn
’
t let it worry you—I
’
m in no hurry to get married. Be seeing you!
’

When he had gone Nora leaned back against the closed door. Slowly a smile crept over her face. Her sojourn on the island was going to be anything but dull, by the looks of it. Pity about
Mr.
Kelly being cremated, though, she thought soberly. It would have kind of evened things up a bit if she could have taken some
f
lowers to his grave by way of saying thank you.

To her way of thinking it was positively indecent to feel so happy and carefree about her legacy when it had come to her because of her benefactor
’
s death. But there it was, and he had evidently wanted her to enjoy it, since he had gone to such pains in planning the whole thing. All of which reminded her to telephone his lawyer to thank him.

Richard Garrant sounded surprised but pleased that she should thank him for carrying out the wishes of his late client. He was touched by her thoughtfulness and reminded her that he was there to help her at any time.

There was a shopping precinct directly behind the flats, Nora discovered when she went out for fresh milk and bread. The day was sunny and warm, the tide was coming in lazily beneath a blue sky and the wooden pier beckoned.

Nora strolled along it after doing her shopping and leaned over the pier rail at the far end to watch several yachts putting out to sea. She had tied a scarf around her hair as a protection from the sea breeze, but being silk it had worked loose. The next moment it had fallen from her hair to sail downwards to
the water, and she watched it with dismay as it went out of sight beneath the pier.

Running down the steps leading down to the beach now submerged by the tide, she saw it wrapped around one of the girders supporting the pier not far from where she was standing.