The Beekeeper's Daughter Read Free Page A

of the girl she used to be. ‘Once I was even quite rebellious. But that was a long time ago.’ She turned her gaze to the sea again.
    ‘What whipped you into shape?’ Big asked.
    ‘My conscience,’ Grace replied with a frown.
    ‘Then you would have done the right thing, for certain.’
    ‘Yes, I suppose so.’ Grace sighed heavily and there was a hint of defeat in it as well as regret.
    ‘Do you want the advice of an old matron who’s seen it all?’ Big asked.
    Grace drew her mind back to the present. ‘Yes, please.’
    Big wriggled in her chair like the nesting hen of her own description. ‘You go home now and have stern words with Trixie. Tell her she’s not to deceive you like that again. It’s important that you know where she is and who she’s with, for her safety as well as your peace of mind. You also tell her that she’s not to leave the island again for the rest of the summer and it’s non-negotiable. You have to make it very clear, Grace. Can you do that?’
    ‘Yes, I can,’ Grace replied half-heartedly.
    ‘It’s a matter of respect, Grace,’ Big stated firmly. ‘Really, my dear, you need to toughen up if you wish to assert any control over your child, before it’s too late.’ She took a moment to sip her cocktail, then resumed. ‘When her father arrives, you tell him what happened but inform him that you’ve reprimanded her and that the business is done and dusted. Period. You think he’ll drop it?’
    ‘I don’t know. He’ll be very cross. You know how he likes everything to be in order.’ She shrugged. ‘I could play it down . . .’
    ‘You mustn’t lie to him, Grace. That’s important. You two have to stick together. You’re a soft-hearted woman and I know you want to support Trixie, but you chose your husband first and it’s your duty as a wife to stand by his side on all matters.’
    Grace looked beaten. ‘Duty,’ she muttered and Big detected a bitter edge to her voice. ‘I do hate that word.’
    ‘Duty is what makes us civilized, Grace. Doing the right thing and not always thinking of ourselves is vital if we don’t want society to fall apart at the seams. The young have no sense of duty, and by the sound of things they don’t have much respect, either. I fear the future is a place with no morals and a distorted sense of what’s important. But I’m not here to preach to you. I’m here to support you.’
    ‘Thank you, Big. Your support means a lot to me.’
    ‘We’ve been friends for almost thirty years, Grace. That’s a long time. Ever since you came to Tekanasset and turned my backyard into a beautiful paradise. Perhaps we bonded because you never knew your mother and I never had any children.’ She smiled and took another handful of nuts. ‘And everyone sucks up to me but you,’ she said with a chuckle. ‘You’re a gentle creature but an honest one. I don’t believe you’d ever agree with me just because I’m as rich as Croesus, as old as the Ark and as big as a whale.’
    ‘Oh, really, Big!’ Grace laughed incredulously. ‘You might be as rich as Croesus but you’re not as old as the Ark and you’re certainly not a whale!’
    ‘Bless you for lying. My dear, when it’s a matter of age and size I give you my full permission to lie through your teeth.’
    When Grace returned to her home on Sunset Slip the sun had turned the sea to gold. She wandered onto the veranda with her two retrievers and gazed out across the wild grasses to the beach and glittering water beyond. She soaked up the tranquil scene thirstily. The sound that soothed her more than anything else, however, was the low murmur of bees. It filled her heart with melancholy, and yet that wasn’t an unpleasant feeling. In a strange way it gave her pleasure to remember the past, as if through the pain she remained in touch with the woman she had once been and left behind when she had set out for America all those years ago.
    She went round to the three hives she kept along the side