Chapter 18
Eighteen
Gemma
I swallow down the bile in my throat as I enter Clover House, lean against the main door then I go to slip the letter from the envelope while half-heartedly bobbing Cora in my arms. I jump as a loud knock from the other side makes it judder.
Cora points. ‘Door.’
It’s not like I’m expecting anyone. Ethan is hammering away in the kitchen. I pop the letter on the floor behind the door before opening it. The woman with rusty-coloured hair stands on the step in the open porch.
‘Hi,’ I say as I wonder why she’s here. Deep lines are ingrained across her face. Her smile creates more lines around her eyes as she holds up a card. She was out on the lane the day everyone got the letters, but she’s smiling at me which is odd considering what’s been going on.
‘I’m Zoe. I live down the road. I clean for a lot of people around here so I have great references.’ She pauses. ‘Who is this little princess? I saw you and your husband out there with her the other day. Hello, lovely.’ She waves.
‘Cora,’ I reply. ‘How can I help you?’ I think it’s okay to feel a little hostile towards her considering she was a part of the angry mob.
‘Like I said. I’m a cleaner and I wondered if you were looking for anyone to clean your home. This is a big house and I helped your aunt do a bit of decluttering in the past, but as you probably discovered, she found it hard to let go of her treasures.’
My hostility is breaking down as she smiles.
I frown, knowing that no cleaner could make this place look better at the moment, then I politely take her card.
She’s only being pleasant to get our business, and I can be pleasant too for the sake of keeping the peace around here.
I don’t trust her though. Someone sent those letters and our wormy hamper containing the Jasmine article.
‘Thank you.’ I go to close the door but she remains in place.
It feels wrong to shut it in her face, then I catch sight of the boxes of chocolates I ordered.
I was going to give a box to Ray and then Tessa but I got distracted by Quinn.
It’s time to show the neighbours that Ethan and I didn’t write those nasty letters despite us both having a go at Ray about his parking.
‘Please wait a second.’ I put Cora down and she sits on the floor and tries to pull her boots off. I grab a box of chocolates, hurry back and pass them to Zoe.
‘Thank you. What are these for?’
‘They’re a peace offering. I know we’re new and that makes people instantly suspect us, but we really didn’t write those letters and my husband didn’t push Ray.
I was going to give you all a box.’ It sounds like a stupid idea now.
What am I meant to say to everyone? Here’s a box of chocolates to prove we didn’t send those letters and that we’re good people. What would that really prove? Nothing.
‘Well, that’s really kind of you but I already know that your husband didn’t push Ray because I saw the altercation. It was me who called the police to say that he reached out to help stop Ray from slipping.’
I’m taken aback. ‘You did that? Thank you. Thank you so much.’
‘That’s okay. I was only telling the truth.
I know everything went down like a whirlwind that day.
The whole street was upset over the letters, and I’m sure some of them would have been happy for your husband to get charged with assault.
But not me.’ She presses her thin lips together for a second.
‘I don’t like to see innocent people get into trouble and your husband was innocent. ’
‘Would you, err’ – I glance back at the mess – ‘if I can find a kettle around here, would you like a cup of tea?’ Cora toddles towards us with one boot off.
Zoe shakes her head and smiles at Cora. ‘No, I need to get back. I’ve got a house to clean in about fifteen minutes, but maybe we can have a cuppa another time, when you’re more settled.’
She heads off up our long drive and glances back to wave.
As I close the door, I let out a long breath.
There are some good people around here. Nirvana blasts out and then Ethan starts singing along to it, badly.
I smile, knowing exactly why I fell for him.
I remember him playing ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ on his guitar when we were dating.
His playing was great, his singing was hideous.
We both broke down laughing after he’d finished.
My gaze catches the letter which sends my stomach churning again.
I can eliminate Quinn and Zoe so far. Quinn is a victim, like us.
That hamper was definitely sent by the same person.
I only have to look at the writing to see that it’s the same.
As for Zoe, she got Ethan released from a cell and she seems genuine.
I don’t want to read what’s in Quinn’s letter but I feel as though it’s begging me to open it, so I do.
I slip the note from the envelope while Cora tugs my coat.
HELLO FRIEND. ACTUALLY, HELLO TROLLOP. THAT BARBIE PINK COAT YOU’VE BEEN WEARING THIS PAST COUPLE OF DAYS IS PURE TROLLOP.
I SEE YOU. WE ALL SEE YOU, THE WAY YOU FLIRT WITH RAY AND WHAT’S MORE, YOU INVITE THE MEN AROUND TO YOUR HOUSE WHEN LITTLE BLINKY HARRY IS AT SCHOOL.
I WONDER IF THE NEWBIE IS SAFE FROM YOUR MANY FLIRTATIONS BUT THEN I REMEMBER, HE ISN’T.
HE HAS ALREADY TENDED TO YOUR BUSH, BACK WHEN MRS NEWBIE WAS STILL AT HOME.
I WONDER IF YOUR SECRETS ARE SAFE WITH ME…
I go giddy and manage to stumble to the bottom of the stairs, where I sit on the bottom step with Cora next to me.
Leaning over, I place my head between my legs until the room stops swaying and I pray that I don’t faint.
The letter is unbelievably cruel. No wonder Quinn needs to have her phone on her all the time if people are this nasty to Harry.
Then something really hits me. I have to be Mrs Newbie.
I think of the time Ethan spent here getting the apartment ready for us.
It was only a couple of weeks. I’d blown hot and cold with him during that time.
One minute we’d been loving with each other on the phone, the next, I’d been angry at him for putting us in such an awful financial position.
Had he befriended Quinn and got too close to her while in a rage with me?
The sender of this letter seems to think so.
I grab Cora and run out the door, my feet kicking up slush as I reach the end of our drive.
I glance up and down, wondering who could be behind the letters.
The entrance to the woods grabs my attention and it makes my heart thud.
I can never escape the past. It follows me around like a bad smell and then I have to face it every time I come out of the house.
The trees sway in the breeze and I shiver.
Tessa is getting into her car. She shakes her head and drives past me in her blue SUV.
I look up and Ray is staring out of his bedroom window.
As soon as I see him, he closes the curtains.
Another neighbour, who I haven’t introduced myself to yet, a woman with black hair, stands at the end of her drive.
Her hoodie hangs loose over her tiny frame and tight leggings.
She looks my way and bites her bottom lip while frowning and it feels like she’s trying to avoid looking at me.
A car pulls up and she gets in. Were all these people waiting and watching for that note to be collected from Quinn’s post box?
Do they know I took it? Ray opens his curtains again and starts to spray the inside of his window before wiping it.
Maybe he’s just cleaning his glass. I don’t know anymore.
This place is pushing me onto the crazy train and I can’t get off.
Stuff them. Stuff them all. I was going to give them chocolates, be a lovely neighbour but not now.
Just bide your time here, Gemma. I trudge back down the drive holding Cora tightly.
I slam our front door and follow the terrible singing to the main family room.
Ethan is about to knock the final piece of a wall down.
As the sledgehammer makes impact, I flinch, then I turn to see Morgan sweeping the other end of the room.
She catches sight of me. I lean on the stack of pallets topped with a length of plywood that we’re using as a makeshift table, and I place the letter behind the receipt from the skip hire company, hiding it from them.
However much I’d like to confront Ethan with what I’ve read, I can’t.
I’d have to admit to stealing Quinn’s post and reading it, which I know is illegal.
Ethan already doubted me a little when I said I hadn’t sent those letters the other night.
He might see this as me trying to manipulate him even further into giving up on this project and leaving. That letter is my secret for now.
‘Morgan,’ I shout over the music.
She looks up. Her mouth is downturned which means something bad has happened. The chaos upsets Cora and she starts to cry.
‘Mum.’ Morgan removes her ear defenders.
‘What are you doing home? School isn’t out for another hour, and how did you get back?’
She looks down. ‘Dad picked me up. I err…’
Ethan walks over to me and rolls his eyes. ‘First day, she gets into trouble for fighting. I got a call from the head to collect her. Thankfully, she can go back tomorrow if she apologises.’
Our daughter has never been in trouble for fighting. Ethan shakes his head and gives her the look. She throws the broom down and walks off.
‘Morgan.’
‘I hate it here,’ she yells as she stands in the doorway.
My hands shake even more now. First the letters, now our daughter is in trouble at school. ‘We’ll talk about this later.’ Cora wriggles and cries. I can’t put her down as she’ll probably step on a nail. ‘Take your sister up, please. I’ll be up in a minute.’
She folds her arms. ‘I’m not your babysitter. All you do is keep dumping Cora on me. We’re stuck in hell and we don’t even have Wi-Fi yet, and you’re going off at me.’
‘Morgan, you don’t get to call the shots right now. You’re grounded, and I don’t dump Cora on you. I need to have a word with your dad in private about your behaviour, so just do as you’re told, please.’ My throat hurts from shouting.
Ethan turns the radio down. At last, I can hear the sound of my own voice.
Morgan takes her crying sister from me. I walk over to my husband and wait until we hear Morgan stomping up the stairs.
‘Apparently she pushed a boy over a chair and he hurt his arm. She said that a group of boys said something horrible about Harry earlier and then they started picking on her in the lunch queue. She was sticking up for him.’
I thought about the letter and what it said about Harry.
Our daughter was being a good friend, that was all, and I shouted at her.
I feel bad now but I’m still going to have to have this out with her later.
I cringe as I think of the way I flipped a moment ago.
Morgan is right, I am relying on her too much to help us with Cora, so organising childcare is a must.
Ethan opens his arms and I sink into his chest.
How true was that note? My mind wanders to places I’d rather it not go. I picture Ethan in Quinn’s garden, her leading him into her house. Did they gaze into each other’s eyes before she led him to her bedroom? I need some thinking space. ‘I best go up and talk to Morgan.’
‘Okay, love. Don’t give her too much of a hard time.
I spoke to the head. The head knows that the boys bully Harry but the teacher who saw Morgan pushing one of them had to respond.
They want her back tomorrow as long as she apologises.
It’s nothing to worry about.’ He pauses. ‘There is some good news.’
I raise my brows.
‘There is a nursery about three miles away from here. The head gave me the details. I emailed them and they have a place. I was hoping it would be okay for us to take Cora for a look.’
I smile. Ethan leans in for a kiss. His soft lips brush mine and it’s ridiculous that I doubted him; after all, the letter to Tessa mentioned that her husband would rather get with me than her.
The perpetrator is trying to turn us all against each other.
Besides, I have bigger things to worry about, like the woods and Jasmine’s ghost that haunts me at every turn.
‘You look so sexy in those dungarees,’ Ethan says as he pulls me close and kisses me again.
See, my husband loves and wants me , I want to say to the nasty sender of the letters.
However much I’d like to stay down here with him and see where this goes, I know I have problems upstairs to handle.
Morgan will be livid and Cora will no doubt be testing her to her limits.
‘Maybe we can pick this up again later.’
‘Looking forward to it.’
He turns to collect all the rubble up. As I reach the doorway, I move the skip receipt but I can’t see the letter. I reach behind the tool box but it hasn’t fallen into that. Ethan glances back and smiles, and I try to hide my panic. The letter has gone.