Chapter 39
Nella was on the phone in the office the next morning, organising a visit from a reiki specialist for the extended family due to spend the next week in Bay House. It was nine thirty; Nick had set off hours ago and would be taking off from Heathrow around now.
A tap at the already open door caused her to swivel round in her chair, and Jed Diamond raised a hand in greeting.
Reiki specialist duly booked, she put down the phone and said, ‘Hi, are you off? I know your trip didn’t turn out quite the way you’d planned, but I hope you still managed to enjoy your stay with us.’
‘I did, thanks.’ He nodded, his expression unreadable. ‘I was just wondering . . . I don’t suppose any of the properties are free if I wanted to stay on for a while longer?’
He wasn’t to know she had Tommy and Juliet in her cottage for the next couple of days. Last night she hadn’t even mentioned to them that he was here, seeing as it had been only a matter of hours before he headed back to Manchester.
Luckily she didn’t need to lie to him now. ‘I’m afraid they’re all fully booked for the next few weeks. Sorry, we’d have loved it if you could have stayed on. That’s such a shame.’
He shrugged. ‘I knew it was a long shot. Just thought I’d ask. Never mind. I’ll get on and finish my packing, then drop the key back here when I’ve finished. Thanks for everything. It’s been an eventful few days.’
‘I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Despite the thing with Karina.’
Jed’s smile was rueful as he turned to leave. ‘No worries. It was long overdue.’
His car pulled up outside the office twenty minutes later. Handing over the key, he said, ‘Thanks again. This is a special place. No wonder you’re happy down here.’
After all this time, it was weird to discover he was so much less of a scary gangster type and more charming than she’d always thought.
‘I am. Makes a change from city life, but I’m really enjoying it.’
‘That’s good. And give Tommy my regards the next time you hear from him. I hope he and Juliet are still having fun in Thailand.’ He paused, then said, ‘Also, tell them congratulations from me. Wonderful news about the baby. They must be thrilled.’
Nella stared at him. ‘Sorry, what ?’
Jed, his expression inscrutable, gave a casual wave as he left the office. ‘Bye.’
He was driving back up the M6, seventy miles from Starbourne, when his phone went ding and he glimpsed the name flashing up on the screen. His heart leapt into his throat and he turned the phone over; thank God the next service station was only a mile away.
As he pulled into the parking area, his heart was still racing. Esme had been occupying his thoughts throughout the journey, and now she was messaging him, as if he’d manifested it by the power of his mind. He took a deep breath and began to read her message.
Hi! I was going to suggest we met up yesterday evening so I could repay you for that perfect meal on Saturday. But one of my grandsons fell off a high wall and we ended up in A if he turned the car around and really floored it, he could be there by midday.
Dinggg , his phone sang out, cheerfully announcing the arrival of a second text.
OMG sorry, bloody autocorrect! Obviously I meant quiche!!!
Quiche. Of course. On Saturday evening he’d mentioned the egg and smoky bacon pie his grandmother used to bake, and Esme had told him she regularly made them for her family, before the conversation had moved on to other favourite childhood foods such as jam roly-poly, sausage casserole and cheese straws.
Quiche .
Jed’s heart stopped hammering and lay down in his chest like a disappointed dog realising a walk wasn’t on the cards after all.
He sent a brief message in reply:
Ha ha ha, don’t worry, I guessed it was autocorrect! I’m on the M6 so no quiche for me, sadly. But many thanks for the offer. Would have been great.
A quickie would have been even better, but he didn’t add that.
Hope the adventurous grandson makes a speedy recovery. X
He pressed send, then turned off his phone and headed back onto the motorway. Deep down, he acknowledged that this was karma, the universe paying him back for what he’d said to Nella earlier. He’d suspected at the time he shouldn’t have done that.
He’d been right. And now, just an hour later, he’d been well and truly punished.
Lizzie had asked Nella to drive her into Cheltenham for a visit to the brow bar. Now, her eyebrows perfect once more – if a bit flamingo pink around the edges – and having picked up a couple of cappuccinos on the way back to the car, she saw Nella waiting for her in the driver’s seat, her head stuck in a book.
It took a wave, then a tap on the window to get her attention.
‘Sorry. I was miles away.’ Apologetically Nella stuffed the battered paperback in between the front seats and started the engine.
‘What is it?’ Always curious, Lizzie retrieved the book, which had curled and yellowed edges and looked as if it had been well read. The cover was uninspiring, grey and blue with a shadowy male figure lurking between tall buildings, and the title was One Way to Die . ‘Wouldn’t have thought this was your kind of thing. You told me the other day you weren’t that keen on thrillers.’
‘I know! But someone had left it behind in a hotel lobby in Phuket, so Juliet picked it up, and once she started reading, she couldn’t put it down. She even made Tommy read it after her, and he never goes near a book. They both said it was fantastic, and then they made me promise to give it a go.’
‘And?’
‘Oh my God, you have no idea . I took it up to bed last night and only meant to try the first few pages, but then I couldn’t stop. Look how far I’ve got already . . . It’s just so gripping! It’s about this shady government spy who’s on a mission to—’
‘Don’t tell me,’ Lizzie blurted out. ‘If it’s that good, I want to read it after you.’ Privately she wondered if she’d get past the first chapter, but having just finished the annoying autobiography of a popular American comedian who thought he was God’s gift to women, she might as well give this one a go.
It had been Nick’s idea that they should have a nightly catch-up on Zoom while he was away. Which for Nella meant brushing her hair and putting on a bit of make-up so she looked as if she wasn’t wearing any. Just a small amount, so she didn’t give him a fright. It was eleven p.m. here, which was why she was wearing her white waffle dressing gown, whilst over in his hotel room just off Times Square in New York, Nick was freshly showered and dressed up for the evening ahead, taking potential investors out to dinner at Caviar Kaspia on Madison Avenue.
‘You poor thing,’ said Nella when he told her. ‘I had a fish finger sandwich.’
‘With?’
‘Mayonnaise and slices of chilli.’
He grimaced. ‘No ketchup?’
‘Never ketchup.’
‘That’s so wrong. You don’t know what you’re missing.’
‘I do know. It’s ketchup. And trust me, I don’t miss it. Is that a new shirt you’re wearing?’
‘Well spotted. I picked it up at the airport. You like?’
‘I do like. Very much.’ She was propped up in her narrow bed with the laptop balanced on her knees, whilst he was sitting on the immaculately made king-sized bed in his hotel room. The shirt was peacock blue with swirls of emerald green and magenta, and he usually wore plainer colours than that. ‘I’m impressed.’
‘Good. And your dressing gown is very nice too.’ Nick paused. ‘I’ve just realised, you’re in the spare room.’
‘I gave mine up to Tommy and Juliet. Sleeping in a single bed doesn’t bother me.’ She was half tempted to tell him about Jed’s comment to her this morning, but if it was true that Juliet was pregnant and they hadn’t shared the news with her, either last night or today, there had to be a good reason for that.
The next moment, she heard the music Tommy was playing downstairs change from Ed Sheeran to something that made her throat tighten and her fingernails dig into the palms of her hands.
When a particular song brought back especially horrible memories of an event in your childhood that you wished you could wipe from your brain, it was ironic how often it turned up to give you a jolt when you were least expecting it.
And yes, here it was again. For a couple of seconds she attempted to ignore the sound of Jon Bon Jovi downstairs in the living room bellowing out ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’. But it was no good, she couldn’t manage it.
‘Everything OK?’ On her laptop screen, Nick was frowning.
She raised a hand. ‘Just give me two seconds. I’ll be right back.’