The Light Over London(74)

“Yes. Liam will have his and I’ll have mine,” she explained. Again.

“Wouldn’t it be more convenient for the two of you to just admit that you’re attracted to one another and save the money on the second room?”

“Gran . . .”

“Oh well. Since you’re being unreasonably puritanical about it, I’ll just have to hope there’s a freak snowstorm and you’re snowed in.”

“In Cornwall?” Cara had asked with a laugh.

“Or maybe the inn will have lost the booking and there will be only one room left when you arrive and you’ll have to share it.” Gran wiggled her eyebrows. “Wouldn’t that be something?”

“One of these days, I’m going to come in here and take all of the romance novels off your shelves. You’re already dangerous enough without them.”

“I need them,” said Gran with a sniff. “They’re good reads, and I’m also waging a campaign of seduction on Charles Erskine on the first floor.”

“Does Mr. Erskine know?” Cara asked with a sigh.

Gran’s brows danced a wiggle. “Oh, he knows.”

Liam had the additional task of arranging for a dog sitter for Rufus who, when Cara had seen him a few minutes ago, was delighting in having a new friend with the boundless energy of a nineteen-year-old.

Now their houses were locked up, and they were officially on the road, speeding—with any luck—toward answers.

“Do you know, I keep thinking about Louise’s wedding,” said Liam as they hit the main road.

“What about it?”

“It read like a disaster,” he said.

“I can’t imagine a wedding happening that quickly. How many days had they spent together?” Cara asked.

“That’s wartime weddings for you.”

“I wonder how many people were demobbed, came home, and realized they’d made a huge mistake.”

The car fell silent until Cara merged on the motorway headed south. A thought rolled through her mind, nagging at her until finally she said, “I worry that Gran and Granddad were a mistake.”

“Why do you say that?” he asked.

She shrugged. “I hardly remember him. Most of what I know is because of stories she or Mum told me. But they married fast too. They’d only known each other for four months. Seeing Louise and Paul marry quickly and all of her reservations right after the wedding makes me wonder.”

“Are those his dog tags on your key ring?” Liam asked.

She nodded. “Mum started carrying them after he died. She once told me that having them with her kept him close.” She paused. “Mum had them on her during the crash. A first responder found them in the wreckage when they pulled her out.”

“Cara, I’m sorry,” he said.

She glanced over and gave him a little smile. “Thank you. Anyway, they’re a little dinged up after all they’ve gone through, but you can still read everything. Name, hometown, blood type, serial number, next of kin. It’s all still there.”

“Do you ever worry that the more you dig into Iris’s past, the more likely it is that you’ll find something you wish you didn’t know?” he asked.

“Constantly, but I need to know,” she said.

Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw him open his mouth to say something, but when she turned, he was reaching for the radio and the latest auto-tuned pop hit began to groove out of the speakers.



They traded spots midway through the drive, and at just five o’clock Liam turned into the Star Inn’s car park.

“It’s huge,” Cara said, craning her neck to take in the entire stone building. It was shaped like a U, with wings flanking a central building. A sweeping lawn stretched up to a covered latticework porch that offered holidayers a shady place to sit along the front of the building, and three tall white flags on the roof flapped in the sea breeze.

“Calling it an inn feels a bit like false advertisement, doesn’t it?” Liam asked.

They climbed out of the car, grabbing their weekend bags from the trunk, and trooped through the front door. The interior was no less grand, with marble floors, chandeliers dripping in crystal, and light blue walls that picked up the white lattice room dividers mirroring the front porch.

A woman with a prim bun and tailored green suit greeted them at the front desk.

“I believe you have a reservation under McGown,” said Liam, sliding his ID across the desk.

Cara held her breath as the receptionist tapped away on her keyboard, wondering if Gran’s wishes would be granted.

“Yes, we have two rooms next to each other for you,” said the receptionist.

Cara blew out her breath.

The woman’s hand paused over the stack of blank key cards. “Is that satisfactory?”

“Yes,” Cara said.

After programming the keys and writing their numbers on the holders, the receptionist slid them across the desk. “Here you are. The lifts are just behind you. And the restaurant has asked me to let you know that your table will be ready at seven thirty, Mr. McGown.”

“Your table?” asked Cara with an arched brow as they made their way to the lifts.

Liam cleared his throat. “Yes. I thought we might have dinner here tonight since we’ve been driving all day. Too tired to get in the car again and all that.”