Water Lily in July (5 page)

“Uncle Rob, Uncle Rob.” His cries were audible through the closed windows.

Rob grinned. “That's Oliver. He's six.” He got out of the car and swung his nephew into the air. “What are you still doing awake, kiddo? It's half past seven on a school night.”

“Mummy said I could wait up for you.” Oliver pointed to the car. “Who's that?”

“This is my friend, Kaylie.” Rob smiled at her. She looked terrified but she needn't be. “She works in the lighthouse.”

“The big tall one out at sea where you live?” Oliver looked impressed.

Tori appeared by his side. “Ollie, go and ask Daddy to help with the bags.”

“Yes, Mummy.” Oliver wriggled until Rob put him down, and then ran off inside.

Tori hugged Rob hard. “It's been too long, Robbie.”

He hugged her back. His sister did so love adding
-ie
to the ends of people's names. Kaylie should fit right in, without having her name changed. He shook his head, not sure where that thought had come from. “Tori, this is Kaylie.”

Tori extended a hand, a smile lighting her eyes. “Hi, it's good to meet you.”

Kaylie returned the smile. “And you. I hope this isn't an inconvenience.”

“Not at all. Rob's waxed lyrical about this lighthouse keeper for weeks. It's a pleasure to finally put a face to your name.” She glanced at Rob. “I saved you both some dinner. The rug rat decided he couldn't wait any longer, so we ate with him.”

“That child is always hungry.”

Rob turned and enveloped his brother-in-law in what his sister termed a one-armed-man-hug-that-isn't-the-same-as-a-real-one hug. “Darren, how are you?”

“I'm good. How's the fishing going?”

“You know, ticking over, scraping by. Just about.”

Darren winked. “You could always come and work for me and earn a heck of a load more than you do now. I could do with a decent systems analyst. That degree and knowledge of yours just goes to waste on the boats.” He turned to Kaylie. “And you must be Kaylie from the lighthouse.”

She nodded as she shook his hand. Red touched her cheeks again. “What's he been saying about me?”

“Nothing bad, honest,” Rob said quickly.

Darren picked up the bags. “I'll take these upstairs. Rob, you're in the green room, as always. Kaylie, we put you in the pink room. It overlooks the garden.”

“I want Uncle Rob to sleep in my room,” Oliver said.

Rob shook his head. “Uncle Rob wants to sleep, not play cars all night.”

Tori looked at her watch. “Ollie, it's bedtime.”

“Mummy…”

“It's late. Uncle Rob will be here in the morning for a bit, then all day Saturday and Sunday.”

“Where are you going?” Oliver demanded.

“London.”

“Can I come?”

Rob shook his head. “Not this time. You have school tomorrow, don't you?”

“Yes. School doesn't break up for another two weeks.”

“Then we'll do something on Saturday. Do what your mummy says, and I'll come and read to you once I've eaten.”

“Promise?” Oliver tugged on his hand.

“I promise,” he said. “I bought you a new book, but I have to unpack it. And I can't do that until after dinner or Mummy will be cross with me.”

“Cool. ‘Night…” Oliver ran back inside.

Tori shook her head as she walked up the path. “I might be cross with you anyway, Robbie. You spoil him rotten.”

“He's my only nephew, Tori. If I don't spoil him who should I spoil? Besides, it's what nephews are for.” He looked at Kaylie. “You don't mind, do you?”

“I might get Rob withdrawal symptoms.”

He roared with laughter, not bothering to explain to his sister and brother-in-law, who just looked confused. “I think you'll manage a few minutes without me.”

When he came back down having read “just one more page” about fifteen times, it looked as if Kaylie had managed just fine. She sat on the couch, talking with Tori and Darren as if she'd known them for years instead of only an hour.

She smiled at him. “You escaped.”

“Only because he fell asleep.” He sat beside her.

“He's been looking forward to you coming,” Tori said. She smirked. “He wanted you to be his show and tell thing for class tomorrow. But I told him you were too fat to fit in his school bag.”

Rob threw a cushion at her. “Am not. Right now I'm way slimmer than you are.”

Tori tossed the cushion right back at him and rubbed her stomach. “That's called a baby bump, I'll have you know.”

Kaylie leaned into him. “I have an ally against the fish.”

He chuckled. “You do.”

“What time are you leaving in the morning?” Darren asked.

“About nine. I want to pack as much in to the day as possible. Kaylie's never been to London. So we'll do the whole tourist thing.”

“I'll give you a lift to the station on my way into the office. It'll cost a bomb to park in town all day.”

“Thank you.” Rob looked at Kaylie. “So, you all look pretty cozy in here. What did I miss?”

“Ohhh, not much really. We were talking about lighthouses and fish and uh, fishermen.”

“Any fishermen in particular?” he asked curiously.

“Well, there was this one bloke. Apparently he used to like pink, so much so that his grandmother had to knit him a pink sweater that he wore everywhere, even to bed.”

Rob's cheeks burned, and he glared at his sister as she laughed. “Thanks for that.”

Kaylie chuckled. “Actually, she didn't specify which fisherman, but I did wonder if it was you.”

“So, what are you doing in London?” Tori asked, changing the subject.

“Depends on the weather and how the mood takes us. I'm hoping Kaylie brought a camera because I forgot mine.”

“I did.” She pulled the camera from her hand bag. “It's digital but looks like a proper one. Want a look?”

“Please.” He took the camera from her and glanced over it. “Wow, impressive. And way better than mine. Have you got different lenses for it?”

“I have a couple, yeah.” She activated the screen. “The picture quality is even more impressive.”

Rob clicked on a few pictures. “There's the lighthouse.”

She nodded. “There are loads of pictures of that, including inside shots of all the rooms. Crispin wanted them to update the website.”

“May I?” he asked.

She nodded. “Sure.”

Tori and Darren squashed onto the arm of the couch and looked over his shoulder. Rob shook his head and pointed to a corner of one photo. “A pond?”

Kaylie grinned. “We have to have some fun out there in the middle of nowhere. It's even got fish in it. All it needs are the water lilies.”

~*~

As the train pulled into Paddington Station in London, Kaylie was glad she'd brought her camera. But, maybe it was time to take the memory card out and put in a new one. After all she would probably take hundreds of pictures today. And today was a new start, wasn't it?

She'd never forget Phil, but it was time to make new memories and starting a new card seemed the best way to go about it.

While Rob vanished into the men's room on the station concourse, Kaylie flicked through some of the pictures on the card which dated back to the day Phil had given her the camera—a birthday present the year they got married. Photos of Phil scrolled across the display, along with the wedding which someone from the church had taken, and several on the honeymoon before he got called in to work. She bit her lip as she reached the last picture of him.

Phil, his blond hair blown every which way by the wind, grinned over his shoulder as he waved. The helicopter stood on the runway behind him, rotors blurred as they moved.

Kaylie sucked in a deep breath. She removed the memory card and inserted a new sixteen-gig one. That should give her plenty of space. She tucked the old one in the back of the camera case and smiled as Rob came back. “Need a selfie.” She grinned.

He rolled his eyes. “Fine. How about with our backs to the clock, and then we can take some more everywhere we visit.”

“Sounds good.”

The sun beat down on them as she and Rob stood on Horse Guard's Parade, watching the changing of the guard. She took several pictures and then hurried down the Mall with Rob to watch them changing the guard at Buckingham Palace. She stood outside the imposing black and gold gates. The Royal Standard flew over the cream building, indicating the Queen was in residence.

Rob took pictures of her with the soldier, whom she tried and failed to make smile. Of course, that would only get him in no end of trouble had she succeeded. She didn't understand the whole idea of not being allowed to smile on duty, but supposedly there was a very good reason for it.

“Tori always says we should pop in for tea.” Rob grinned.

Kaylie laughed. “Would be nice, but the Queen is probably really busy today with the US state visit going on.”

“True. Hence all the additional security—not that it isn't always ridiculously tight along here anyway, even when she isn't at home.”

Kaylie turned and took photos of the flags along the Mall.

Rob took her hand as they walked to Westminster. Big Ben struck 11:00 AM as they approached.

The sight of the Abbey took her breath away. It was so much bigger and more impressive than on the TV or in the papers. The twin towers of the west entrance rose above her. Inside this building every King and Queen had been crowned since 1066 and seventeen lay buried.

She could have spent all day inside, looking at the stained glass windows and wandering slowly, but Rob had timed tickets for the London Eye—formally known as the Millennium Wheel, built on the banks of the River Thames. They caught the tube there and Kaylie had to remind herself that those tunnels had been used during the war as a shelter.

The London Eye never stopped moving and she had to step carefully into the capsule. The view was amazing and Rob took pleasure in pointing things out to her. She didn't even want to imagine how many photos she was taking. Once they left the Eye, he dragged her a few feet along the Embankment to the boat.

“I've always wanted to do this,” he said as he showed their tickets.

“Isn't this a busman's holiday?” She laughed as they found seats on the open deck.

He shrugged. “You don't get sights like this on my boat.”

Kaylie settled back in her seat as the boat pulled away from the dock. The sun sparkled off the water as they passed so many landmarks, including Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and the clipper ship, the
Cutty Sark
.

“Having fun?” he asked, his fingers laced into hers.

“Oh, yes,” she said. “I put a new memory card in my camera. All that's on here is you and me.”

Rob looked at her. “Really?”

She nodded. “Well, I was thinking. I'm here with you and didn't want someone else in the way, even if it is just photos on the camera…”

His gentle fingers touched her lips. “I don't want you to ever forget Phil.”

“But…”

“If it weren't for him, you and I would never have met. He will always be part of your life, and I don't want you hiding it or your photos of him.”

“OK.”

He nodded, and leaned forwards, catching her lips with his softly. “Now, after this we're going to Tower Green on the tube. I have a picnic lunch planned and fancy it at the Tower of London.”

“Sounds good to me,” she managed. She could still feel the imprint of his touch and wished he'd kiss her again, but he pulled back into his seat, seemingly content to hold her hand, and nothing more.

Exiting the Underground into bright sunlight, Rob led her first into the sandwich shop and insisted on paying for the food. Then he took the bag in one hand, her hand gently in the other and led her across the road to the imposing white building with its four towers.

The Tower of London, scene of so many executions over the years, including several Queens of England, also housed the Crown Jewels and the Doll's House. Kaylie wished she could have taken pictures inside as well, but contented herself with outdoor photos.

She and Rob even managed to get a picture with one of the Beefeaters and another with one of the ravens. They sat on Tower Green and ate lunch.

“You reckon it's true what they say about the ravens?” Kaylie asked.

“There are seven, because if six leave, the tower will fall,” Rob said. “No idea if it's true, but they aren't taking any chances.”

“Unless all seven leave. Then I guess we're stuffed. Maybe the kingdom will fall if that happens.”

“Possibly.” He took a swig from his bottle of lemonade. “There are rumors about your lighthouse, too. Some say it's haunted. That the automatic settings don't work, it's got cold spots, and the entire crew just vanished one dark and foggy−or was it stormy−night almost a hundred years ago.”

“Not exactly. It's true the lighthouse has a sad past, but there aren't any cold spots or transparent figures rattling chains and moaning. Nor do the lights go out as you walk up and down the stairs.” She folded her empty sandwich bag and slid it into her pocket. “It's just got a very sad history.”

“So the crew did vanish?”

She nodded. “They did. Food was left on the table, chairs over turned, the door left open. No trace of them was ever found and there was no reference to anything happening in the logbook. There was a huge storm that night, so it's possible something happened, and they didn't have time to radio in or write it down. But we never leave the tower unattended. Ever. Not even in the fiercest storms.”

“Because that's when we need you the most.” He paused. “You know Jesus is a little like a lighthouse.”

Kaylie tilted her head. “I always thought of Him being more like a lifeguard or a lifeboat—you know, the only One who can walk on the water of the storms of life to rescue you.”