Contents (57)
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
- Also by Sharon Gosling
‘Okay, I think,’ she called back. ‘But you’re going to have to check everything!’
‘Don’t worry, I’m sure you’re—’ The phone rang in her hand. ‘Sorry, I’ve got to take this.’
Gilly waved one hand, but didn’t look up. Rachel put the phone to her ear.
‘Hello, the Lighthouse Bookshop.’
‘Uh – hi! Hi,’ the voice on the other end of the phone was distinctly breathless, ‘I’m looking for Rachel Talbot.’
‘That’s me,’ Rachel said. ‘Speaking. And you’re… Trudy Goodwin?’
‘Yes! Hi. Hi. Oh God, this is weird.’ The woman sounded very young, and Rachel couldn’t imagine her as a doctor at all. ‘Isn’t it weird? Like, this morning I was just this normal student doctor who was trying to work out if I could afford to buy a coffee on my way into work and now I own a lighthouse. And a… what is it?’
‘The… gatehouse?’
‘Yes! God, that sounds romantic. A gatehouse! What even is that?’
Rachel wasn’t sure if the question was rhetorical. ‘It… would have been where the gatekeeper lived. When the big house was still standing.’
Trudy Goodwin gave a dramatic sigh. ‘The big house. This all seems like a dream. It is a dream. I have to keep telling myself that. It’s not real. It doesn’t really exist, so I can’t visit it.’
‘Oh,’ Rachel said, having trouble following this train of thought. ‘But – why can’t you visit? Because… well, it is real.’ She looked around the bookshop. ‘I’m standing in it right now.’
‘Nanananana,’ the voice sang. ‘Don’t tell me that, please. I can’t keep it – any of it – I can’t, and if I come to visit, I know I’m going to fall in love with it and want to move to Scotland and live there in my lighthouse – I can’t believe I’ve just said those words – but I can’t. You wouldn’t believe the debt I already have. From what Alan’s said, selling will mean I can clear it all and maybe even get a house here. I can finish my residency without owing anything.’
‘I understand,’ Rachel said. ‘But there’s something I need to—’
A sudden beeping cut through the call. It was coming from Trudy’s end of the line, and Rachel heard her fumbling.
‘Dammit,’ the young woman said. ‘I’m being paged to the OR. I’m sorry, I’ve got to go.’
‘Okay, well—’
‘It was good to talk to you, Rachel, and I’m sorry I can’t keep the place as it is,’ Trudy said hurriedly. ‘I really am. I’ve got to go, I’m sorry. Bye. Bye!’
Rachel was still holding the phone to her ear when Trudy cut the call. She stood there for a minute, breathing in the quiet of the mezzanine before going back down to where Gilly stood at the counter.
‘You all right?’ the girl asked.
Rachel nodded. ‘Yes. I’ve just… got some stuff to think about.’ She rubbed a hand over her face. ‘You wanted to talk to me about something, didn’t you? What is it?’