Chapter 6
CLAUDIA
C laudia pushed herself up from the mound of pillows and scrubbed at her eyes.
Damn, she’d left a great big mascara smear across the pristine white bedding, and her pillow was all damp from her tears.
She’d just about managed to keep a lid on things until she’d reached her hotel room… but it had been a close-run thing.
‘What a nightmare!’ she muttered. Why did she have to channel her mother’s worst kind of behaviour when she was about to have an emotional meltdown?
Claudia sighed and rubbed her face again, irritated to find that her tears were still falling.
‘Pull it together, idiot!’ she muttered, her voice thick and wet.
She was just so cross with herself for taking out all her anger and frustration on a bunch of poor, unsuspecting strangers!
Lionel downstairs had been perfectly lovely, and more than welcoming considering she’d rocked up without a booking.
But in her shaky state, she’d proceeded to be as rude as humanly possible about his beautiful hotel.
It was either that or cry all over the poor man…
though in hindsight, that would probably have been the better course of action!
Instead, she’d behaved like a bad-mannered toddler on a sugar crash. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just Lionel who’d caught the worst end of her behaviour. That poor, smiley woman in the café had faced her wrath too—and all because she didn’t have pumpkin spiced lattes!
‘You don’t even know if you like the blasted things!’ she snivelled, wiping tears, snot and mascara onto the sleeve of her jumper.
That wasn’t the point, though. After listening to the message her mother had left on her phone while she’d been driving in ever more frustrated circles, Claudia had needed something sweet to take the sting out of the bitter words.
She’d always wanted to try a pumpkin-spiced latte…
and the fact that the little café had sold out had been the last straw.
She’d lost it completely… and in the process, had morphed into her mother’s horrific mini-me!
Swallowing hard, Claudia grabbed her phone and flopped back onto the pillows again. Then she hit play once again on the voicemail. She knew it was a bad idea… a bit like picking at a scab. But still…
“Claudia, what on earth is taking so long? I knew I should have gone down there myself. I expect you to pick up when I call, and I expect regular updates. You’d think that after everything you’ve put us through and everything we’ve done for you, you might be a little more considerate.
By the way, don’t even think about coming home until you’ve found out what these Pepper people are all about. And don’t expect me to foot the bill either. I’ve already paid for the car, which is more than you deserve. For once in your life, try not to be a disappointment. Call me back at once.”
Claudia clicked the phone off and tossed it towards the foot of the bed as if it might buy her a bit of space from her mother’s displeasure. It promptly bounced and fell onto the floor.
With a tired sigh, Claudia dutifully forced herself out of the pillows to retrieve it.
She didn’t know why the stroppy message had hurt so much, because the words simply echoed the kind of thing her mother and stepfather threw at her every day.
For some reason, though, this message had managed to worm its way under her usual barriers and had stuck into the remaining soft parts of her soul like a spear tip.
‘I will not turn into that woman!’ she growled, grabbing her phone from the floor and then wandering over to inspect the damage to her perfectly made-up face in the mirror.
Okay… maybe she wasn’t channelling her mother quite as much as she feared. Right now, her tightly controlled hair was decidedly off-kilter. One long strand had somehow managed to escape and was busy defying gravity—the hairspray refusing point-blank to let go completely.
Claudia winced. Her eyes were red and panda-rimmed, and her nose was damp and sore from blowing it so many times.
It was official, her mum would have a fit if she saw her right now.
She was the epitome of an embarrassing disappointment.
The problem was that no matter what she did, Claudia was never able to make her mother see her as anything else.
Not when she still held her responsible for the fact that her dad had left all those years ago.
In her mother’s warped take on things, the fact that Claudia had defied her wishes and set off on her solo adventure to Paris had been the last nudge her dad had needed to make a break for it, too.
‘Ridiculous woman!’ sniffled Claudia. There was no way it could be true… but if it was… even slightly… it meant that she was also responsible for his death. After all, if he hadn’t left her mum, he’d have never gone to the Alps in the first place.
Claudia swallowed and shook her head. These were the thoughts that had plagued her for the last ten years. Thoughts that she was never allowed to move on from, thanks to her mother.
The one time she’d confided in Freya about the whole thing, her sister had had a very different take on matters.
According to her, there was no way the adventures of a teenager could ever prompt a grown man to end his marriage.
Not if he was happy. When Claudia had thrown a whole bunch of “yes, but what ifs” at her, Freya had simply shrugged and said that if she’d been responsible in any way, then she should be proud.
Yes, their father had died, but he’d finally been free and happy and living his best life.
Claudia never broached the subject with Freya again. She preferred to protect her little sister from as much of her mother’s vitriol as humanly possible… but she’d held onto those words like a lifeline.
Responsible or not, as far as Claudia was concerned, everything good and adventurous about her life had died along with her beloved dad.
‘He’d be ashamed of you right now,’ she sighed, peeling herself away from the mirror and turning to rummage in her little pink suitcase for a pack of makeup wipes.
Moping around here wasn’t going to fix anything, though, was it? She needed to find Seabury House. She needed to speak to the Peppers. And then she needed to apologise to most of the rest of Seabury.
‘First things first, though!’
Taking a wipe out of the pack, she swiped at her face and started to remove the layers of thick, tear-streaked makeup.
Five minutes later, there was a small mountain of used wipes sitting on the counter beside her, but at least Claudia recognised her own face again. Sure, she still looked a bit nuts because of her gravity-defying hair, but it was a definite improvement.
As much as she didn’t want to reapply the heavy makeup, Claudia didn’t think she really had much choice in the matter. The idea of turning up at Seabury House without a bit of armour in place was mildly terrifying.
Rolling her eyes at her own cowardice, Claudia grabbed her comb, her makeup bag, and the huge can of hairspray and headed for the ensuite.
It was time to get to work. Perhaps if she could get this fool’s errand done, her mum might give her a break at long last. Then maybe, just maybe, she could stake a moment to rediscover who she really was under all the layers of anger and hurt.
‘As long as there’s still a real me to discover.’
Claudia couldn’t help but curl her lip in disdain as she approached the massive hire car. She really didn’t want to get back in the thing!
After scuttling back to it earlier, she’d managed to sneak away from the entrance she’d blocked just in the nick of time. A quick glance in the rearview mirror had revealed an elderly gent watching her go with his hands on his hips.
Just another person I need to apologise to!
At least she’d managed to find a slightly more suitable spot when she’d got back into town, though.
Slightly being the operative word!
Claudia had pulled into a vacant parking spot in front of a posh-looking café at the far end of town. Unfortunately, the car was so big that she had to edge in diagonally, taking up a space and a half. Now, she was half-expecting to find a rude note waiting for her on the windscreen.
Not that any rude note could hold a flame to the kind of rubbish her mother threw at her on a daily basis!
‘Oh poo,’ she muttered. ‘I think I’d have preferred a note!’
She’d just got close enough to spot an official-looking sticker pouch on the windscreen, along with its money-grabbing piece of paperwork inside. It looked like karma was out to get her for her bad behaviour.
Ripping the ticket off the windscreen, Claudia scrunched it into a ball and lobbed it into the passenger footwell.
Then she hopped into the driver’s seat and slammed the door before anyone spotted her and decided to give her an earful.
Right now, she’d probably just burst into tears again, and she didn’t have it in her to sort her makeup out again so soon!
‘Right, let’s get this ridiculous job over with,’ she muttered, automatically reaching for the keys, only for her hand to brush smooth plastic. Of course, this stupid hunk of a car didn’t have anything as simple as a key to start it.
Shaking her head, Claudia reached for the ignition button.
‘I hate you, you know that, right?’ she growled, as the computer on the dashboard sprang to life so that she could use the cameras to reverse out of the space.
In theory, all these gadgets should make manoeuvring the car easier, but it was safe to say that she felt like she had zero control over this monstrosity.
If only she was sitting in her cosy little banger right now, she might actually enjoy exploring the back roads of this gorgeous little town.
Sure, her old car was mostly held together by bits of moss, but at least she knew how to drive it.
An ominous beeping suddenly filled the car. Did that mean she was in reverse… or about to run over a little old lady? Claudia peered at the computer screen in confusion, but it just flashed violet at her. Useful!
‘Sod it!’
Glancing in the rearview mirror, Claudia eased her foot down. She promptly took off at a speed that would take her straight into the railings on the other side of the road if she wasn’t careful. She quickly corrected her course and thrust the car into gear before weaving along the seafront road.
Claudia breathed a sigh of relief the minute she left the town centre behind her to head back up the hill.
At least this time, she had a slightly better idea of where she was going, thanks to the woman in that cute little café.
The woman she’d been thoroughly rude to.
Despite her bad behaviour, she’d still given Claudia pretty detailed directions on how to find Seabury House.
‘Unless they’re fake and you’re about to head to the local sewage farm!’
The idea made Claudia smirk. Then she sighed, and it fell straight back off her face again. It was time to get this horrible, stupid, pointless job done. Then maybe she could head back to the hotel and do her best to apologise to Lionel for her horrible behaviour.
Then tomorrow… she could head home.
Home. There was a word that held no comfort.
Claudia swallowed, determined not to start crying again. She put her foot down a little harder as she neared the crest of the hill.
‘When I get back, something’s going to have to change,’ she muttered. ‘I don’t care if I have to live in my car… it’s got to be better than this!’
The thought had barely flashed through her mind when her phone started to vibrate on the passenger seat next to her. With a sideways glance, Claudia spotted her mother’s name flashing up on the screen.
‘Bog off!’ she muttered, gripping the steering wheel tightly.
The phone rang out, and then started to buzz all over again. Claudia sighed, reached over to silence it… then let out a high-pitched scream as she glanced back at the road.
The junction at the top of the hill had crept up on her far too fast… she was going far too fast!
Claudia pumped the brakes and yanked at the steering wheel. The car squealed, leaving a quadruple arc of rubber on the road as it slid across the junction.
A horn blared at her, and shaking in fear, Claudia met the terrified eyes of a man in a red van… a man she’d nearly wiped off the face of the earth. If she’d hit that junction just a second later, he’d have been a goner. They both would.
Claudia waved at him in desperate apology, willing him to understand, but all she got in response was several long, loud, angry blasts from his horn as he drove away.
‘Shit. SHIT!’
Claudia thumped her fist against the steering wheel. That had been close. Too close! She might be unhappy, but she really didn’t want to end up in a mangle of broken glass and car bits.
And she definitely didn’t want to be the reason someone else got hurt… or… worse!
The minute she spotted a pull-in at the side of the road, Claudia indicated and slowed to a careful stop.
Breathing hard, she applied the handbrake.
Tears welled in her eyes, but there was no way she was going to let them fall.
She was going to take a second to catch her breath, and then she was going to drive—very slowly and carefully—to Seabury House.
As soon as she was done vetting the poor, unsuspecting Pepper brothers, she was going to find somewhere safe to leave the car…
and never set foot inside the thing again.