Chapter 32
Lorna had just picked up her mobile phone, about to get in touch with the company running the trip her daughter was on, when she heard the doorbell ringing insistently and someone banging on the front door.
Andrew has come back to tell me he’s sorry, he’s not going on the cruise, and he and Susie are over!
Lorna rushed to the front door, wondering if that was what she really wanted. Would she want Andrew back after finding out about the affair, regardless of whether he gave her a grovelling apology and said it had been a mistake? How could an affair that had obviously gone on for that long be a mistake? It struck her that it wasn’t just a fling. They had plans.
As she approached the front door, she realised it couldn’t be Andrew – he had a key. She instantly recognised who it was – Freddie.
Her first thought was that he’d come round because Briony had been in touch. Oh, wouldn’t that be wonderful if, unlike Angel, he’s going to sit with me, have a cuppa, and chat about Briony’s trip? It was just what she needed.
She opened the front door, smiling in anticipation, until she saw Freddie’s face. ‘Hi Freddie. Is everything all right?’
Unusually for Freddie, she didn’t get a smile or even a hello. Instead, he barged in, looking about him. ‘Where’s Angel?’
‘She’s not in. She popped out. I think she’ll be back soon.’
‘I’ll wait.’ He started up the stairs.
‘Her door is locked.’
Freddie whirled around. ‘Well, do you have a key?’
‘Um, yes.’ Lorna didn’t know whether she was doing the right thing, but she handed it to him.
He started back up the stairs.
‘Would you like a cup of tea?’ she asked, hoping he’d stop to chat.
He paused on the stairs and shook his head without turning around.
‘Is everything all right?’ She called after him again as he took the stairs two at a time. She’d noticed a letter in his hand. ‘Is it about Briony?’
She heard the key in the lock and the door slam shut upstairs.
Lorna was on the phone to the company that ran the research trip, on hold, waiting to speak to a representative. The music on the end of the line stopped. She heard a message asking her to continue to hold. She’d tried to contact Briony on her mobile phone, but it was either switched off or there was no signal. It just went straight to voicemail.
She heard a key in the front door. This time she didn’t imagine it was Andrew. He’d be in the airport right now, probably sitting in the departure lounge, waiting to board his flight, looking forward to seeing Susie. She grimaced at the thought.
‘Oh, goodness – it must be Angel.’ Lorna leapt out of her seat and rushed to the front door. She’d handed Freddie the key to Angel’s room. She hoped Angel wasn’t angry or upset with her over that.
Lorna caught Angel in the hall, carrying an armful of Oxford University library books, before she walked up the stairs. Lorna lowered her mobile phone. ‘Angel, I’m so sorry.’
‘What is it?’ Angel asked.
‘Freddie turned up. He wanted to speak to you. He seemed … upset. So I gave him a key to your room.’
‘You did what?’
‘Sorry, he just seemed so desperate to speak to you. He said he wanted to wait. Upstairs.’
Angel looked at Lorna wide-eyed. ‘Did he say what it was about?’
Lorna shook her head as she watched Angel dump her books on the sideboard by the door and start up the stairs.
‘Would you like a cup of tea?’ she asked, hoping she could pop upstairs with the tea as an excuse to find out what was going on.
Angel paused on the stairs and shook her head without turning around.
‘Is everything all right?’ she called after Angel as she took the stairs two at a time. ‘Is it about Briony?’ Lorna asked for the second time that morning.
She stood at the bottom of the stairs, heard the creak of the door as Angel opened it, and then heard Freddie’s agitated voice – normally so polite and carefree – exclaim, ‘Angel, do you know anything about this letter from Briony?’
‘For goodness’ sake, keep your voice down! Otherwise her mum will find out.’
The door slammed shut.
Find out what? Lorna wondered what on earth was going on. She slowly turned around, the phone to her ear, desperate to talk to someone about Briony’s trip.
She silently berated herself for listening to Andrew instead of following her own gut instinct. Now she wished she’d got in touch sooner. Something was going on. It had been two weeks without any word. It sounded as though Freddie and Angel had received texts from Briony, and now Freddie had a letter, and she had a feeling it had something to do with her trip.
‘Ah, hello. Thank god!’ Lorna raced into the kitchen and closed the door so that she couldn’t be overheard. She quickly explained what was going on: that her daughter had joined one of their organised trips two weeks earlier.
‘What do you mean, you can’t give out details about people on the trip? I’m talking about my daughter. Look, I haven’t heard from her, and I just want to check she’s okay.’
Lorna rolled her eyes at their reply. ‘Yes, I know she’s an adult, but it’s the first time Briony has been away from home on her own, and I just need to find out about the trip, that there’s been no … hitches.’
The young guy on the end of the phone appeared understanding. ‘Can I just put you on hold for a moment?’
‘Of course.’ Lorna was just relieved he hadn’t put the phone down. ‘My daughter’s name is Briony,’ she repeated, hopeful he’d return with some news – good news, just to put her mind at rest, even if she couldn’t actually speak to her daughter.
The wait seemed interminable.
Finally, he came back on the line. ‘Can you hold just a moment longer? Sorry but there seems to be an anomaly.’
‘A what?’ But he was gone again, and that annoying music was blaring in her ear while she was on hold.
Do you know about this?’ Freddie paced back and forth in front of Angel. He stopped, hands on hips, to look at her.
Angel sat on the bed, eyeing him. ‘Do I know about what?’
‘This!’ He pointed an irritated finger at the letter he’d thrust into her hands.
Angel shook her head. ‘I don’t want to read your personal mail, Freddie.’
‘It’s from Briony!’ Freddie put both hands on the top of his head, and closed his eyes. ‘This cannot be happening.’
Angel stared at him, wondering what the hell was in the letter. She knew all she had to do was read it to find out, but she was afraid to do that. She had already guessed that Briony had written to him to tell him she was pregnant. Now she had a dilemma. When was she going to own up that she already knew? The last thing she wanted to do was lose their friendship. But now she felt she had been put in the middle of a conflict between her two best friends. She had never wanted to take sides. That was the reason she’d fallen out with Briony before she’d left for Suffolk. Angel had wanted her to tell Freddie what was going on – she felt he deserved to know.
And now here he was, having received the news in a letter.
Angel breathed a sigh and slowly shook her head from side to side. Briony should have told him in person. The thing she didn’t get, though, was why he was so upset about it.
Freddie opened his eyes and caught her shaking her head. ‘You know something, don’t you?’
Angel dropped her eyes to study her fingernails.
‘She told you she’s breaking up with me – didn’t she?’
Angel looked up abruptly ‘I’m sorry – what?’
‘Did you know she was intending to go away and write me a letter?’ Freddie studied her face. ‘Oh! You didn’t know either!’
Angel was lost for words. The absolute last thing she expected was that Briony would go away and decide to end it with Freddie. She’d had no inkling. What the hell had happened in Suffolk?
Freddie sat down on the bed next to her. ‘I can’t believe it.’
‘Neither can I.’
Angel looked at the letter. ‘May I read it?’
‘That’s why I gave it to you. Go right ahead.’
Angel started reading the letter, but she was almost immediately interrupted.
‘Why does she want to start a new life in Suffolk? I mean – what’s there?’
Angel replied, ‘Her grandmother’s house.’
‘Yeah – so?’
‘I joked with her that her grandmother might have written to her because she was intending to leave her The Beach House.’
‘Yeah – so?’ repeated Freddie. ‘That’s very nice, and all that, but why would she want to live there? Our lives are here, in Oxford.’
Angel read the short letter. There was no mention of anything else – just that she didn’t see a future for them, and she wanted to stay living in Suffolk. Angel frowned. So, she still hadn’t told him.
‘There’s something more, isn’t there?’ Freddie searched her face. ‘Oh, no. She’s met someone else. What has she told you since she’s been away?’
‘Nothing, honestly.’
He studied her intently. Angel looked away.
‘But there is something else, isn’t there?’ Freddie suddenly started to cry.
‘Oh, no, Freddie. Don’t do that.’ Angel turned to him, put her arms around his shoulders, drawing him close. He cried into her shoulder. ‘What am I going to do?’
Angel drew back, put her hands gently on his cheeks and lifted his head, so their eyes met. ‘You’re going to get through this. We both are.’ Angel suddenly felt like crying too. Like Freddie, she felt as though she’d lost her best friend. She might have joked about her inheriting a rather lovely beach house, but she’d thought that if that happened, Briony would be lucky, and would make it a lovely holiday home. She had not expected Briony to want to start a new life there. She had thought Briony would come back, and that they’d make up after falling out. Like Freddie, she was wondering what would she do without her.
Quite unexpectedly, Angel’s tough exterior slipped completely, and she began to cry too.
‘Oh, no, Angel, I shouldn’t have come round and dumped all my problems on you. Now I’ve upset you.’
‘Don’t say that.’ Angel shook her head. ‘You’re my best friend too, and I love you.’
Then something happened that neither had anticipated. Before Angel or Freddie knew what was happening, they kissed.
Freddie drew back first, leaving Angel sitting there, her eyes closed, wishing that moment, that kiss, was frozen in time and would last forever.
‘I’m sorry, Angel. I don’t know what came over me, I’m a mess …’ He flung his arms wide, and knocked over the lamp on the side-table. It smashed on the floor.
Angel touched his lips, the colour rising in her cheeks. ‘Don’t be sorry, Freddie. I’m not.’
Lorna was still on hold when she thought she heard raised voices upstairs, and something smash on the floor. ‘What is going on up there?’ she wondered aloud. It sounded as though Freddie and Angel were having a fight.
She raced up the stairs and burst into the room to find Angel and Freddie sitting next to each other on the bed, Freddie’s arm around Angel’s shoulder. They turned their heads in her direction, looking surprised.
Lorna stood stock still, staring at them. She held up her hand before either of them could try to explain what they had been sitting there doing – Briony’s two best friends. It was obvious. After all, where had that smudge of Angel’s bright red lipstick on Freddie’s lips come from?
For the second time that morning, Lorna put her hand to her mouth in shock. The whole world seemed to have gone to pot in one horrible morning. She closed her eyes for a moment, hoping the image of the two of them kissing would go away, but it didn’t. When she opened her eyes, they were both still sitting there, looking as guilty as hell.
Freddie said, ‘It’s not what you think.’
Lorna ignored him and looked at Angel. ‘So, this is why you’ve had a falling-out, you and Briony. Over Freddie!’
‘How did you know we’d had a falling-out?’
Freddie turned to Angel. ‘What’s she talking about?’
Lorna walked out and slammed the door shut. She reopened it just as Freddie was saying, ‘What did you two argue about?’
Lorna said, ‘Angel, I want you to pack your things and leave my house – now!’
She heard Angel call her name as she thundered down the stairs. When she reached the bottom, she heard a voice on her mobile. She put it to her ear. ‘Tell me it’s good news,’ she said, seething at the young man who had put her on hold for what seemed like an age.
He asked Lorna a question. ‘Are you sure you have the right company?’
Lorna raised her eyebrows. Is he serious? ‘Of course I have. I’ve got the details she left right here.’ She headed towards the kitchen, where she’d left them on the table.
‘And the date she joined the trip is correct?’
‘Yes, I saw her pack her suitcase with my own eyes – I know when she left.’
Lorna was about to step into the kitchen when she heard someone thundering down the stairs. She could hear Angel’s voice. ‘Freddie, we can figure this out. For goodness’ sake, don’t ask her mum.’
‘I need to see Briony about this letter.’
Lorna raised her eyebrows when she heard Freddie mention a letter. She was only half-listening to the young man on the end of the phone when he said, ‘You weren’t aware that your daughter withdrew from the trip?’
That got Lorna’s attention. ‘No, no you’ve got that wrong. There must be some mistake your end. She’d never do that. There’s just no way she’d withdraw from a trip of a lifetime. It was all she could talk about …’
Lorna was just saying this as Freddie burst into the kitchen. He held up a letter, and said, ‘Tell me where Briony’s grandmother lives – exactly.’
Lorna, still on the phone, said, ‘I’m sorry, what?’
Angel appeared behind him. She grabbed his arm in an attempt to pull him out of the kitchen and back in the hall. ‘Freddie, Freddie, I need to tell you something.’
‘What are you doing? Will you let go of my arm.’
‘Freddie – she didn’t tell her parents that—’ Angel stopped short. ‘Freddie, don’t ask Lorna.’
‘Ask me what?’
‘What I said.’ Freddie looked at her. ‘Where is Briony’s grandmother?’
‘Why on earth do you want to know that?’
Freddie turned and looked at Angel.
Angel stepped forward, looked at her hands, avoiding eye contact and said in a small voice, ‘Because that’s where he’ll find Briony.’
Lorna dropped the phone.