Chapter Text
Lily was 23 years old, barely out of college, barely scraping by and burnt out when she received the news that her grandmother had passed away. In the midst of family phone calls and funeral preparations, she was surprised with a letter from the estate lawyer’s office. Nana Caoimhe, whom she had never even met, had left her a cottage in her will.
Lily’s mum had told her many stories about Nana Caoimhe, but she always had an excuse as to why they couldn’t go see her. It was too late now, but Lily was curious to see how much truth there was in her mum’s stories about the cottage and the woods.
Her current life was somehow both boring and incredibly stressful, so the decision was easy - Lily moved out of the city and into her grandma’s old cottage. She managed to find a job in the village a few kilometres away teaching primary school English - her degree finally coming in useful for once.
She loved her new job - the little kids seemed genuinely grateful to spend their days with Lily. She spent hours reading them books, practicing spelling and helping them write short poems of their own.
The village was beautiful, too - the farmers market was lively and colourful, but not too loud. She visited once a week for fresh produce, eggs and milk. Apart from that, Lily spent most of her free time in the cottage, looking through her grandma’s old books and photo albums. She found tens of pictures of her mum as a little kid, and plenty of people she didn’t even recognise.
It seemed like her nana had had a whole secret life she knew nothing about, even with the stories her mum had told. It felt a little weird to be looking through all these things - though she supposed it wasn’t really an invasion of privacy if her grandmother had intentionally left her this house.
That was the other thing Lily was curious about. Why had she left her her house? She’d never even met her. Lily hadn’t even been sure if Nana Caoimhe knew about her existence before she got the letter.
Apart from that mystery, Lily’s life finally felt peaceful. She actually had time to cook herself a nice breakfast in the mornings, she took it upon herself to revive her grandma’s overgrown garden - she was truly living her cottagecore dream.
***
One day in late April, about a month after she initially moved in, Lily was browsing the farmers market in the village. Once she purchased all of the essentials - milk, butter, oats, flour, sugar, eggs and all the produce she didn’t have growing in her garden, she decided to take a stroll around the other stands.
There were old ladies selling knitted clothes and decorations, people advertising various baked goods, woodcrafts and handmade jewellery. The atmosphere was amazing. A teenager was playing guitar for tips, the smell of pies and muffins was wafting through the air, and the cobbled walkways were filled with people going about their shopping.
Lily stopped at a stand to get some tea. She chose chamomile, and just as she was about to hand the lady her money, she froze.
“Are you alright, dear?” asked the older woman.
“Erm… yes, I’m so sorry”, she said, putting the coins down on the counter. “You just… remind me of someone”.
“Well, everyone knows everyone here”, said the woman. “But I haven’t seen you around, dear”.
“I just moved into the cottage a few kilometres from here last month, so I haven’t met everyone yet”, said Lily.
“Oh dear! The cottage in the woods?”
“Yes, that one. It’s really nice”.
“Well that’s Caoimhe’s old place! Oh, I was devastated when I heard the news… I guess it’s nice that someone’s taking care of it”.
“You knew my grandma?” asked Lily.
“Well of course! She was my best friend back in the day. She never told me she had a granddaughter, though. Are you Rose’s daughter?”
“Yes, I am, and, to be honest, I’m not surprised nana never mentioned me. I never knew her, I was so surprised when I found out she left me her cottage”.
“That’s so odd… Tell you what dear, come over for tea next time you’re in town. I close down my stall at eighteen, so you’re welcome to come by any time after that. My house is that yellow one at the end of the street, you can’t miss it”.
“Oh! Thank you, that would be lovely. I’ll definitely come by”, said Lily, grabbing her cup and walking away quickly.
What was that? Lily thought to herself, rushing through the crowd to get to her bike. She put her bag of groceries in the front basket, quickly downing her tea. That was an incredibly strange interaction. What Lily expected to be some harmless small talk turned into an invitation into the woman’s home.
On the bike ride home, Lily thought through the offer. Maybe meeting up with the woman would mean getting some answers about her grandma?
Once she got back to the cottage, Lily immediately grabbed her grandma’s album. She flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for - an old black and white photograph of her grandma and another young girl in the woods. That was where she recognised the woman from the stall from.
Lily gently slid the photograph out and closed the album. She put the photo in her wallet, intending to show it to the lady when she came over for tea. She looked like the type of person who liked reminiscing.
Lily went to bed that day nervous, but in a good way. She felt she was close to some answers. Well, she’d have to see tomorrow. For now, what she needed was a good night’s sleep.