Chapter Forty-One Evie’s House
Chapter Forty-One
Evie’s House
Evie sat at home fretting. She had hoped to go to the party with Sophia and Finn, which would have made everything a whole lot easier.
She couldn’t believe all the flights had been cancelled on today of all days.
Even with the text from Freya asking her to come to the celebrations, she was worried it would be awkward, and she didn’t even have a present to give her.
She’d planned to have Andrzej wrap up the painting and bring it to the hall in his van, and she could have unveiled her work there while everyone sang happy birthday.
‘It’s all been spoiled by Amelia. She might not have vandalised the painting but she has managed to cause a rift between me and Freya.
’ Evie stood up. ‘She will be gloating if I don’t turn up.
I’m not going to give her the satisfaction.
’ She ran upstairs to put on some make-up and slipped on her favourite black dress.
It was her suit of armour and always made her feel more confident.
It definitely took all of Evie’s courage to step into the hall, but everyone was too busy enjoying themselves to do more than nod coolly in her direction. Freya was already up dancing in the middle of the floor to ‘Love Cats’ and Evie waved hesitantly in her direction and hoped she’d been spotted.
She backed into a corner, nursing a large glass of white wine, trying not to cry and wishing she could just run away. Evie felt as though she didn’t belong anymore in the very place that had given her sanctuary. It was nerve-jangling and she could feel a growing anxiety.
Everyone was trying hard to appear perfectly pleasant on the surface so as not to upset Freya’s big night, but they were treating Evie as though she were a stranger. Orkney was a small place and news travelled fast. Thanks to Amelia, they all knew about Evie storming out of Freya’s last weekend.
When Evie had tried to tentatively say hello to people she knew, they simply looked through her, but Amelia, on the other hand, was being treated like a princess.
“I’m surprised they didn’t carry her in here on a sedan chair. She’s getting even more attention than Freya,” Evie muttered to herself.
It was all hugely upsetting and Evie found herself gulping her glass of white wine and grabbing another from a sweet-faced waitress, even though she had sworn never to drink again after getting so drunk on that awful night when she convinced herself she’d destroyed Freya’s painting.
Evie didn’t feel like eating anything, even though the buffet looked delicious and there were bowls of sweets and snacks everywhere. She had no idea what to do next. She felt as though everything was spiralling out of control.
Amelia was like some kind of wicked puppet master, and everyone was dancing to her tune. She had fooled them all and Evie didn’t know how to fight back.
She started to feel uncomfortably hot and clammy, and her stomach flipped over as the woman who had been dominating her thoughts for weeks approached, bearing two overfull glasses of wine.
With a cold smile, Amelia handed Evie a glass and drawled, “Have a drink with me and then we can step outside and clear the air?”
Evie hesitated. Her instinct was to tell Amelia to go to hell, but she didn’t trust Amelia as far as she could throw her and wanted to know what was going on in that conniving mind of hers. She took a large gulp of her glass of wine.
As they headed for the exit Amelia told her, “Don’t worry. This won’t take long.”
Evie felt a chill of apprehension. Amelia’s face was tight and frozen, but her cheeks were bright red. She grabbed Evie by the elbow, spilling some of her wine, and huckled her out of the door and into the night.
Evie gasped with the cold. The stars were out and there was a bright full moon, and it was so still and clear there was already frost on the pavement. It was freezing in the way that made your throat and your chest hurt when you breathed in.
Amelia looked at her with ice in her gaze.
“Was it a night like this when Brodie died?”
Evie’s mouth dropped.
“What? Why on earth would you ask me that? What does that have to do with you?”
“Little Miss Perfect Evie Muir,” said Amelia coldly.
Evie felt a growing sense of dread.
“What the hell is going on, Amelia?”
Amelia leaned in so close Evie could smell the wine on her breath.
She hissed, “You walked out on your friends and family for over twenty years and then you swan back into their lives and they all forgive and forget. Your poor father leaves you the family home even though you have an older sister. Then with his money and Freya’s help you are set up in a successful business. It has all just fallen into your lap.”
Evie was outraged and burst out, “You have no idea how much I suffered, or what I’ve been through. And how hard I’ve worked.”
Amelia gave a shrill shriek. “Oh boo hoo. You act like you are so above us all, but I know the truth about you and I got all the information I needed from your mother, when I visited her. How Liv was second best, her jealousy of you and her love for Brodie and what she did that night. Everything.”
“You visited my mother? What are you talking about?” said Evie, utterly confused.
Amelia smiled malevolently, “Oh, we are good friends now. She’s a right chatterbox if you get her on the right day. She told me all your secrets. I know everything about you.”
Evie was beginning to feel lightheaded and nauseous. She heard herself say, as if far away, “You are talking utter nonsense. My mother is ill and she lives in a care home. You couldn’t possibly have visited her. Anyway, you live in Seattle and you told me you had never been to the UK before.”
Amelia looked at her with utter contempt. “You know nothing about me. Of course, I didn’t come here from Seattle. I live in London, have done for years, I got a flight to Glasgow and then up here to Orkney.”
Evie was stunned. She couldn’t take this in. She shook her head and thought, ‘That explains why she looked as fresh as new milk when she arrived at Kirkwall airport. She’d simply had two short hops in a plane that took just a couple of hours.’
To Amelia, she said, “Why would you lie to me? To everyone? You said you wanted to find out about your family?”
Amelia looked at her with scorn. “You honestly don’t know?” Her voice was cold and low as she continued, “It’s because although you are just my father’s bastard granddaughter, you have everything I ever wanted.”
She went on in the same icy tone, “My mother died giving birth to me and when I was just ten years old my father’s mind went completely. He used to harp back to his past in Scotland all the time. It was pathetic.”
Evie could only stare at her. Her tongue felt too big for her mouth and she was struggling to respond.
Amelia continued, “Do you know, he’d talk about Sheila, your disgusting old grandmother who couldn’t keep her legs together. He would actually call me by your mother’s name. Can you imagine that? He called me ‘Cara’. The child he had never met and he thought more about her than he did about me.”
Amelia hesitated, remembering her father grasping her hand, sobbing and thanking her over and over again for coming to see him. He’d call her Cara and beg for forgiveness.
She spat, “The stupid old fucker never loved me. Not really. He pretended to care but I know that every time he looked at me, he blamed me for the death of my mother.”
Evie felt increasingly numb. “I need to go back inside,” she said faintly. “I need to let everyone know that you are a liar and I think you are dangerous.”
Amelia blocked her way. “Don’t even think about it, no one wants you in there.”
She gave another high-pitched giggle. “Do you know the best thing, Evie? You don’t know just how much worse it’s going to get. You are about to lose everything.”