Epilogue
Gemma
It’s been a month now and spring has started to break.
The caravan has been cosy but it’s time to move on.
We’ve found a flat in Whitby on a short-term lease, so we’ll be staying here until Morgan breaks up for the summer.
It has a bedroom for Ethan to use for the time being.
I should be able to put Clover House up for sale soon.
The police have lingered longer than I thought they would, but they’re nearly done.
Ethan has been going back and forth, packing our belongings and taking them to a storage unit until we need them.
I pull on my new top, the one with a little more room because Beanie is starting to show more now.
I lock the caravan up and get into the car.
As we pass the office, I pop out and dash to reception.
There is one letter addressed to me. The owners of the site have been kind enough to allow us to use their address.
They also know what we’ve been through. The whole of Whitby does.
We made the local news and got a mention on the national news.
I check my phone. I’m running late to meet Quinn at that café she told me about.
I have to park, then I have a bit of a walk.
I pop the letter in my bag and before I know it, I’m hurrying with Cora up that cobbled street.
‘Whose silly idea was it not to bring the pushchair?’ I say to her as she dawdles yet again and flashes me a smile showing her baby teeth.
‘Book,’ she says as she spots a book shop.
Chegwin and his Magic Kangaroo adorns the front window.
Aunt Dorette’s name hasn’t been released yet in connection with Jasmine’s murder, but I know it will be soon.
Once that happens, I’m pretty sure I’ll never see any of her books in a shop window again.
I check the time. We run into the shop and I purchase the book.
I don’t know why I want it but I do. I pop it in my bag and hurry to the café.
Quinn waves at me. She’s sitting at a table by the window and already has a drink.
I quickly order some marmalade on toast, milk for Cora and a mint tea for me before sitting opposite her.
Cora happily accepts being placed in a high chair, and I put her drawing crayons and colouring book down to occupy her.
‘I’ve got a viewing tonight,’ Quinn says.
‘Congratulations, you’ll be moving out before you know it.’
She crosses her fingers. ‘How are you holding up in the caravan?’ She sips her coffee.
‘Better than I thought we would. I feel safe there. We’re close to the sea. I actually like it.’
‘Good.’ Quinn pauses. ‘I’ve enjoyed having you around. Do you think you and the kids might stay?’
I shake my head. ‘We’re going back to Bristol in the summer.’
‘I’ll be sad to see you go.’ She looks out of the window, then back at me. She beams a huge smile. ‘I’ve been dating someone and she’s really nice.’
‘I’m happy for you, Quinn. That’s great news. How’s Harry? I know he and Morgan keep meeting up in Whitby.’
She lets out a laugh. ‘They’re working on a new case. Someone graffitied a long swear word in red on Ray’s wheelie bin. It starts with a w and rhymes with banker.’
I almost spit my tea out.
‘What horrible neighbours I have.’ She laughs.
That’s the old Quinn I know and although she got me into trouble here and there as a kid, I do love her.
‘We’ll keep in touch, won’t we, Gem? You’ll write to me this time when you move?’
‘Hell no. I am never writing a letter in my life. Letters are nothing but trouble.’
Her eyes widen and she looks serious.
‘I’ll FaceTime you, though, and you and Harry can come and stay when we’re settled.’
She smiles again. ‘How are you and Ethan?’
‘We talk. We want what’s best for the kids and Beanie.
I haven’t forgiven him and I don’t know if I can or will.
We’ll be looking for separate places in Bristol.
He’s found work down there and stays there during the week, so that’s good.
He’s back working for someone else but it’s a good job and he likes it.
’ I pause, wondering if Ethan and I might still have a future but I need space and intend to discover myself.
Ethan’s dreams had taken over any dreams I once had.
I fell into property developing but my heart wasn’t truly in it.
‘I’ve decided to start studying again, home study for the first year. ’
‘What are you studying?’
‘Maths.’ I am not going to be able to go back to how we were. I need to rely on myself and I always fancied teaching. I can live off the money from Clover House, rent something smallish and get my degree.
‘It was always meant to be, Gem. You’re the brains.’
‘How about you, Quinny?’
‘Well, I came up with this brand-new character and my agent loves it, so we’re preparing a pitch deck and sending it to the same producer I worked on Mika with.’
‘That’s brilliant. I look forward to seeing that one hit our screens soon.’
It’s like we both have our futures sorted and I’m happy.
We chat for another hour. I have no idea where the time went but Quinn excuses herself because she has to go home to get ready for a date.
I have to take Cora back soon because she’s getting bored.
Morgan will be home from school in about an hour, and I’ll happily be doing normal things like cleaning up, making tea, doing a little bit of maths study and I couldn’t be happier.
I finish my mint tea and push the cup aside.
I remember the letter in my bag. A part of me wants to ignore it.
I haven’t been good with receiving post since Clover Lane.
My hands shake as I pull it out. It’s from my solicitor in Bristol.
I open it up and he’s asking me to call him, saying that my aunt left me another letter to open several weeks after taking over Clover House.
It was specified in her will that they told me about the letter only then. I leave the café and call him.
‘Gemma, I’m glad you called. The letter is here when you want it. I know you’re staying at a caravan park and wasn’t sure if I should send it there. What would you like me to do with it?’
I swallow nervously. I can’t wait. ‘Can you open it and read it to me?’
I hear him rustling the envelope then he clears his throat.
‘“Dear Gemma, I know you must have a lot of questions about the house but all I can tell you is, Quinn has all the answers. Ask her.”’ He pauses.
I already know what Aunt Dorette did with Jasmine, so it’s no longer a surprise.
I wait for him to carry on. ‘“You might be wondering why,”’ he continues.
‘“You’re everything to me, Gemma. When you were born, I remember thinking what a little miracle you were, but I wasn’t doing well at that time.
I had a breakdown, got into all sorts of trouble and ended up sectioned at one point.
Anyway, you don’t need to know the ins and outs.
Your mother was a wonderful person who put you first, so I had to prove myself just to have you stay with me during the summers.
We came to an agreement that I would never tell and she would let me have you stay over. ”’
Never tell. Never tell what?
He carries on reading. ‘“I recovered, cleaned up my act and became the person I always wanted to be, but something was missing and it was you. My daughter. I gave birth to you, Gemma, but your mum was always your mum because she took you in when I wasn’t able to look after you. As your birth mum, I promised myself that I would do absolutely anything to protect you. If you’re reading this, you must go on with your life and be the best you can be.
Don’t let your past kill your future. Be there, love your children, make the most of every day and I love you.
I have always loved you. Take care my lovely daughter, Gemma. ”’
‘She was my mother,’ I mutter.
I’m stunned. Cora starts pulling at my coat, trying to drag me into a sweet shop.
The solicitor asks me if there’s anything else I need. I tell him no and we end the call.
I can’t stop my eyes from watering. I now know why.
Quinn ran away on the day I pushed Jasmine.
I waited a while before I checked her and she had no pulse.
I left, but went back in the hope that I was wrong.
When I found that she was gone, I kidded myself that I’d imagined her being dead.
But Aunt Dorette had hid Jasmine’s body for me, so that I’d have a future, because she was my mother and she loved me.
I look down at my smiling little girl and I lean on a wall to stop myself crumpling into a heap.
I’d put it out of my mind, went along with the story that she ran away.
I started a family of my own, but the truth is, I killed Jasmine.
Me. I pushed her and she died. That is something I’ll have to live with for the rest of my life.
* * *
If you were gripped by The People Next Door , then check out My Husband’s Wife for another addictive crime thriller by Carla Kovach.
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