Chapter 2
‘Ah, there you are,’ said Andrew, glancing over his shoulder when Lorna walked into the kitchen. ‘Dinner was ready a few minutes ago. I was wondering where you were.’ He was dishing up spaghetti bolognese onto two plates. ‘I guess Angel won’t be joining us.’
‘Oh, I didn’t ask,’ Lorna said.
‘I thought that’s what you were nipping upstairs to do before I dished up – to ask her if she was going to join us?’ He turned from the kitchen countertop with two plates in his hands and looked at her. ‘Why are you grinning like a Cheshire cat?’
‘Briony is fine.’
‘I’m relieved to hear it.’ He grinned too as he walked over and put the plates on the table as Lorna pulled out a chair. ‘You got an email, then? Or did she manage to text?’
Lorna chewed her bottom lip as she took a chair.
Andrew sat at the table opposite her. He raised his eyebrows. ‘She phoned you, then?’ He frowned. ‘She didn’t call me.’
Lorna shook her head. ‘No, um … she didn’t email, text or call.’
Andrew picked up his knife and fork and paused before he dug into his meal. ‘So, how do you know that Briony is fine?’ He stopped abruptly. ‘Ah, Angel told you.’
‘Not exactly.’
‘Little wonder you forgot to ask her to dinner after you’d heard the good news.’ Andrew was just swirling some spaghetti around his fork when he stopped and looked at her. ‘Sorry, what did you mean when you said not exactly?’
‘I haven’t spoken with Angel.’
Andrew was about to put the forkful of spaghetti into his mouth when he stopped. ‘You haven’t spoken to her? But you just said—’
‘I overheard Angel on the phone when I walked up the stairs.’
‘You overheard her?’
Lorna nodded.
Andrew frowned. ‘You mean that you were standing outside her door, listening in on her private conversation?’
‘Well, no, not intentionally. I overheard Angel mention Briony’s name, so of course I just wanted to know she was okay.’
‘So, why didn’t you come downstairs and wait until she got off the phone, and ask her?’
Lorna stared at Andrew across the table as he put the forkful of spaghetti into his mouth. She’d thought he’d be pleased to hear that Briony was all right, even though she had only contacted her friends. She had not expected his tone to be accusatory, as though she’d done something wrong.
Andrew shook his head as he ate. ‘Really, Lorna. First you steal Briony’s personal mail, and bin it, now you are spying on her friends.’
Lorna had just picked up the napkin to put on her lap. She slammed it down on the table and was about to remind Andrew why she’d had to steal the letter her mother had written to Briony – not that he knew the details; he never would. But even so, she was about to remind him that she was estranged from her mother and didn’t want her having any contact with Briony when she was interrupted by a knock on the kitchen door.
Lorna could feel her face flush with embarrassment, wondering how much Angel had heard while standing outside the kitchen door before she knocked. Serves me right, thought Lorna, for eavesdropping.
‘Oh, hi Angel,’ Lorna said, as soon as she opened the door. ‘Everything all right?’
‘Sorry, was I interrupting something?’
Lorna looked at the napkin. ‘Um, I thought I saw a fly.’ She made a show of gingerly lifting the napkin. ‘I was trying to swat it, but by the looks of it, I didn’t.’ She exchanged a glance with Andrew. The look on his face said he wasn’t amused that she had lied to Angel.
Andrew rolled his eyes at Lorna, and said, ‘Not at all, Angel. Come in and join us for dinner, why don’t you? Lorna was going to nip upstairs and ask you to join us, but …’
Lorna glared at him.
Andrew continued, ‘She got a bit waylaid with … something.’
Lorna turned to Angel, eyeing her hovering in the doorway, hoping to goodness she had not been privy to their whole conversation. The look on her face suggested she had not.
Andrew added, ‘You don’t have to knock in future. Just because the attic room is self-contained, we don’t want you to feel that you can’t come down and join us. Or just sit in the lounge or dining room for a change, or use the house kitchen. Really, we want you to feel at home.’
Lorna vigorously nodded her head in agreement.
‘Thank you,’ said Angel.
Andrew got out of his seat and pulled out a chair. ‘Do you like spaghetti bolognese? I’ve cooked loads. I always seem to overdo it.’
‘Um … I’ve got a work thing tonight. We’re having a meal too, so …’ Angel trailed off.
Andrew pushed the chair back under the table. ‘Another time, then?’ he asked, hopefully.
Lorna caught that inflection in his voice. He missed Briony too, and the trouble was that Angel had not proved the welcome distraction that either they, or their daughter in her absence, had hoped for.
It was playing on Lorna’s mind that Briony and Angel had, from what she’d overheard, had a falling-out. She stole a glance at Andrew and thought that after what he’d said, perhaps she wouldn’t divulge any more of Angel’s private conversation.
Lorna said, ‘Have you heard from Briony?’ Of course, she knew that Freddie had, and that he’d told Angel; she just wanted to see what more Angel might divulge. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Andrew shaking his head at her.
Lorna ignored him and focused on Angel, anticipating some more details. ‘No,’ Angel said. Lorna was surprised at the abrupt answer. She glanced at Andrew, who looked as surprised as she did. ‘Ah, so … has, um, Freddie heard from her, do you think?’
Angel shrugged. ‘I guess, maybe. Look, I’ve got to go. I’ll catch you later.’ She slunk out of the door.
Lorna stared across the table at Andrew, miming what the hell? Angel had just told a bare-faced lie. Granted, Lorna knew that she shouldn’t have even been aware that Briony had been in contact with Freddie. But why had Angel lied about it? Lorna spoke her thoughts.
Andrew said, ‘How do I know? Maybe there’s something going on with Briony’s friends that we don’t know about.’
Lorna breathed a sigh. ‘Actually, Angel and Briony have had a falling-out.’
‘Really? That’s unusual. That might explain why she’s lied, though – maybe she just doesn’t want to talk about Briony. Did she say what it was about?’
Lorna chewed her lower lip again, avoiding eye contact.
‘Lorna, how much of her conversation did you overhear?’
‘Well, not enough, apparently,’ Lorna said indignantly, now wishing she hadn’t been so quick to retreat down the stairs.
Andrew looked at his dinner. ‘I wish Briony would get in contact with us. I don’t like that she’s abroad, miles away.’
‘Neither do I. Look, I was thinking I might contact the company who runs the expeditions. I don’t even know whereabouts in the Galapagos Islands she’s based.’
‘It’s on a research ship, though, isn’t it?’
Lorna silently berated herself for not asking more about the trip. After years of discouraging her daughter from heading down the marine biology route, Lorna had finally come to accept that it was her daughter’s passion and that nothing, not even Freddie, would stand in the way of her dreams.
The research trip was the culmination of those dreams, and Lorna had been so excited about Briony securing a place that she’d forgotten to ask her for the details. Lorna had assumed she’d contact her and let her know. And another reason she hadn’t really asked was that her departure, along with Angel’s arrival, had all been quite sudden. Somebody had dropped out of the trip at the last minute, and that was how Briony had secured a place. It had seemed as though there had barely been time for Briony even to pack before the biggest adventure of her life.
‘I want an adventure,’ Lorna mumbled under her breath.
‘What was that, dear?’ Andrew asked.
After their earlier words about listening in on Angel’s conversation, Lorna didn’t think that it was quite the right time to bring up what she was planning for her fortieth. She’d save that, and the fact that she’d taken a sabbatical from work, until later.
Instead, she said, ‘I’m sure there’s a leaflet or an itinerary lying around somewhere about Briony’s trip. Perhaps there’s a contact number for the company that runs the expedition. They would be able to tell us how her trip is going.’
Andrew finished his spaghetti bolognese and mopped the sauce off his plate with a slice of garlic bread.
Lorna had also finished her meal. She put her knife and fork together on her empty plate. ‘Did Briony talk to you about her trip – I mean specifically about the company running it?’
Andrew looked up and shook his head. ‘If Briony has left any details behind, they’ll be upstairs in her room.’
They both raised their eyes to the ceiling. Andrew said, ‘Lorna, don’t even think about going upstairs to Angel’s room to find out.’
Lorna looked at her husband, keeping her expression neutral. She decided that she wouldn’t go up there straight away, while Andrew was in. After revealing that she’d been eavesdropping outside Angel’s door, he’d no doubt be watching her every move.
‘Lorna …’ Andrew’s voice held a warning note.
She lowered her eyes. ‘What? I’m not going up to her room.’ Not yet, anyway. She did have a spare key in case Angel locked the door and lost the key.
She knew she was worrying out of hand, but Lorna had already decided that if she hadn’t heard from Briony soon, she would go upstairs another time when Angel was out and have a little root around. If she could just find out the name of the company running the expedition then she could phone the organisers, and ask them to check in with the research vessel – surely they had a satellite phone or something – just to put her mind at ease that her daughter was okay.
The question was: how long would she give it?