Chapter 40
Nel could hear Lauren’s boys squealing before she and Cath even reached the front door. She braced herself, then opened the door and nearly collided with Archie who was sliding down the hallway in his socks. The smell of the barbecue wafted down the hall.
‘My turn!’ Leo yelled.
Nel gasped at the sight of a deep purple bruise that stretched from his eye to his lip.
‘Goodness!’ Cath said, frowning.
‘Leo! What happened to your face?’
He ignored the question as he whizzed past. Nel and Cath made a dash to the kitchen where Lauren was chopping parsley.
‘There you are!’ She tossed the herbs into a bowl of potato salad.
‘What happened to Leo’s face?’ Nel asked.
‘Oh.’ Lauren grimaced. ‘He got into a fight at school.’ She passed Nel the salad bowl. ‘Can you put that on the table?’
Nel took it and waited for Lauren to explain, but she busied herself stacking the dishwasher.
‘What was the fight about?’ Nel asked.
Lauren sighed heavily. Nel looked at Cath, who raised her eyebrows.
‘Lauren?’
‘I don’t know.’ Her tone was clipped.
‘Did you ask him?’
Lauren shut the dishwasher and reached for the sink cloth, avoiding her gaze. Nel swallowed. Lauren knew more than she was saying. Of course she’d asked him. Why wouldn’t she say?
‘Who was the fight with?’ Nel asked.
A pause. ‘Charlie Warner.’
‘Charlie Warner?’ Nel pictured the boy standing by Sophie’s side at Leo’s party. ‘I thought they were friends.’
‘I think Charlie said something that upset Leo.’ Lauren’s tone was vague, as though this was mere speculation, but Nel knew her sister better than that. Lauren would have subjected Leo to an inquisition.
‘What did he say?’
‘I don’t know … just some nonsense,’ Lauren said, rinsing the cloth under the tap. Nel frowned. What wasn’t Lauren saying? Then it hit her.
‘Was it something about me?’
Lauren sighed.
‘Lauren, what did he say?’
‘It’s nothing, Nel! It’s two twelve-year-olds, for god’s sake!’
‘If it’s nothing, why won’t you tell me?’
Lauren turned to face her. ‘Okay, fine. He said you murdered Maddie Marshall.’
‘Lauren!’ Cath exclaimed, shaking her head.
Lauren threw her hands up and let out an exasperated laugh. ‘She made me tell her!’
Nel felt like she’d been winded. It was one thing for people who were there at the time to think these things about her—she was used to that—but the thought of her name being hurled around in the playground, weaponised against her nephew, made her feel sick.
Lauren looked at Nel. ‘I told you that stirring up the past was a bad idea. What do you know? I was right.’ She took the salad bowl from Nel’s hands. ‘Lunch is ready!’ she called, walking into the dining room.
Nel was speechless. Was Lauren implying it was her fault that Charlie hit Leo?
She was still standing in the kitchen, reeling, when there was a beep from her bag. A message from Poppy:
I got another one.
Nel swore under her breath, then she went into the dining room and sat down next to Cath as the boys barrelled into the room. A wave of shame came over her at the sight of Leo’s face.
Cath looked around. ‘Where’s Poppy?’
‘In her room,’ Lauren said, cutting up Archie’s sausage. ‘She’s grounded so she’s refusing to come out.’
‘Why’s she grounded?’ Nel asked.
‘There you go.’ Lauren passed the plate to Archie, then she looked back at Nel. ‘She lied about where she was. Again. Has she mentioned anything to you about a boyfriend?’
Shit. The last thing Nel needed right now was for Lauren to know she’d spoken to Poppy about contraception.
She shook her head as Steve offered Lauren the platter. ‘Lamb cutlet, Loz?’ Nel was grateful for the interruption.
‘Well, this time next week we’ll be at the ballot box,’ Cath said, once everyone was served.
‘I’m organising the fundraiser at school,’ Lauren said. ‘Barbecue and a cake stall. Can you make a big batch of your caramel slice, Mum?’
‘Sure,’ Cath said.
‘You can put me down for a shift on the barbecue,’ Steve offered. ‘As long as everyone thinks my skills are up to scratch.’
‘Thanks, babe, you’re already down for a shift.’
Steve laughed. The discussion moved on to the relative merits of Geoff Marshall and Susan Elliot, who was the only candidate who stood a realistic chance of unseating him.
When the political debate started to wear thin, Nel cleared her throat. ‘Any developments on the sale of the clinic, Steve?’
He gave them an update on a potential buyer who was currently doing due diligence on the business. He felt that an offer was imminent.
‘Thanks for all you’re doing, Steve,’ Cath said. ‘I wouldn’t know what to do without you.’
Leo sighed loudly as though the conversation had officially passed his boredom threshold. ‘Can we please leave the table?’
Steve gave them a nod and the boys disappeared. He reached for the wine bottle and topped up the glasses.
Remembering Poppy’s message, Nel reached for a couple of plates and stacked them on top of her own, then carried them to the kitchen and went to find her.
Poppy was lying on her bed looking at her phone.
‘Shuffle over,’ Nel said. They lay side by side in silence for a few minutes.
‘Did Mum tell you I’m grounded?’ Poppy said.
‘Yeah. Why?’
‘Because she’s a psycho who thinks it’s reasonable to track my location twenty-four seven.’
‘What happened?’
‘I told her I was going to Gemma’s house and turned off location tracking. She freaked out when she couldn’t see where I was and rang her mum, so now I’m grounded until I tell her where I went.’
‘Where were you?’
‘Watching Jack play at the Shark Bay Markets.’ Poppy sighed heavily. ‘But if I asked her, she would have said no. What was I supposed to do?’
‘I don’t know,’ Nel murmured, feeling caught in the middle.
Poppy was only fifteen. It wasn’t unreasonable for Lauren to want to know where she was, but Nel sensed that the trust Poppy felt for her was fragile.
It might not survive if Nel took Lauren’s side.
‘Let’s have a look at the email,’ she said, keen to move the conversation on.
Poppy opened the message and held it up for Nel to read.
Its time your aunt left town one way or another
‘He’s just trying to scare me away,’ Nel said under her breath.
‘Why though? And why’s he sending the messages to me?’
Nel bit her nail, thinking. It was a good question. ‘Maybe he wants me to think he might do something to you.’
‘Maybe he will do something to me!’
Nel shook her head. ‘Leave Ryan to me.’ She took the phone and typed a reply:
Hi Ryan, it’s Nel. Sounds like you have a guilty conscience. Stop harassing my niece. PS We’ve traced your IP address, so if anything happens to her, you will go down.
‘You’ve traced the emails?’ Poppy asked.
‘Jimmy has, but he hasn’t heard back yet.’ She handed the phone back. ‘If Ryan’s smart he will have used a public computer but …’ She shrugged. ‘It’s worth a try.’