Chapter 15
Holly and I took our car, and Miranda went in Lewis’s. To my surprise, Jasmine went with them. Perhaps she wanted to ensure they couldn’t talk about her on the way to the pub.
‘Whoa,’ I said, as we pulled off the drive. ‘That was …’
‘Intense. I know. I’m really sorry they both spoke to you like that.’
To be honest, I was a little shaken by both Miranda and Lewis telling me to fuck off, but I didn’t want to tell Holly how much I was beginning to dislike her siblings.
We were only a couple of days into this trip and I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Surely under normal circumstances, when their dad’s new thirty-four-year-old fiancée, who looked exactly like their dead mum, hadn’t just shown up, they would be a lot nicer.
I bloody hoped so, anyway.
‘We’re only going to need to survive this for a couple more days. I can handle it,’ I said. ‘It’s Jasmine I’m worried about. I thought Miranda was going to punch her.’ Or worse.
‘Miranda isn’t violent.’
‘There’s always a first time.’
Holly shook her head. She was behind the wheel, so we weren’t making eye contact. The sky was thick with clouds, the sun not even attempting to shine through, and an air of gloom hung over the peninsula. On top of that, it was close to zero and I expected it to start snowing at any moment.
‘We’re not that bad, are we?’ Holly asked as we approached the Bay Inn. ‘My family, I mean?’
What could I say? I loved Holly, but so far her dad had ignored me, Miranda was almost unbelievably rude, and I couldn’t get a handle on Lewis.
One minute he was overly friendly; the next he was making some vicious comment.
It was strange how he had suddenly apologized to me when he thought I was going to leave the kitchen, like he hadn’t wanted me to leave.
It was as if he’d wanted me to witness his exchange with Jasmine about the excursion to the caves. But why?
There was something else that had been playing on my mind, too, overshadowed by all the drama with Jasmine and what I was beginning to think of as ‘Gold-digger-gate’.
‘Lewis said something after the truth game last night. Something about “all the truths we could have told”. What did he mean by that?’
‘Oh, I don’t know. I guess he just meant we could have come up with lots of other facts about ourselves.’
It had sounded a lot more ominous than that. But all I said was, ‘Right.’
‘You think we have some terrible dark secret? Bodies buried in the garden?’
‘I don’t know. It definitely sounded like he was talking about something specific.’
We parked. Sounding impatient, she said, ‘Every family has skeletons, Patrick. They’re not all dark and sinister.
This is one of the reasons why I think you should move away from making true-crime documentaries.
It warps your imagination.’ She opened the car door.
‘Now let’s go and see what Jasmine thinks we need to hear. ’
I’m not exaggerating: when we walked into the pub, a hush fell over the place.
I was sure that every pair of eyes in there watched us as we took off our coats and sat down. There were a couple of ladies in their sixties opposite us who were actively staring, forks clutched in their hands in lieu of pearls.
It’s Jasmine, I realized. It’s because she looks so much like Elizabeth.
The three siblings and Jasmine found a table in the corner. I went up to the bar to order.
Brenda tipped wine into two glasses, for Holly and Lewis, and started pouring my pint of Guinness.
Jasmine and Miranda had both asked for Diet Coke.
Brenda looked shaken. ‘I thought an actual ghost had walked into my pub. Morag told me the new girlfriend looks like the old wife, but I didn’t realize she was her double.
I’ve got goose pimples. Look.’ She showed me her arms. ‘Poor Elizabeth must be rolling in her grave.’
‘Do you think?’
‘Of course I bloody think. No woman wants to think she’s replaceable. How would you feel if you croaked it and young Holly took up with another boy who was the spit of you? I hope Elizabeth’s there on their wedding night, rattling saucepans and hiding his Viagra.’
I tried to keep a straight face.
‘Did you know her well? Elizabeth?’
‘A wee bit. She spent the whole summer here on her own once, just her and the bairns. And the kids all hung out together when they were teenagers. Holly and Lewis, and my Morag and Jimmy. Charles came back and forth, being an important businessman.’ She emphasized the last syllable, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
‘I remember once I said something to him about how I know what it’s like to run a business – I’ve been the landlady of this pub as long as he’s been flogging microchips – and he was a patronizing bastard.
“Selling beer to drunks,” he said. “It’s not exactly brain surgery. ”’
She was clearly still annoyed by this historical exchange.
‘Elizabeth was bonnie, though. No idea what she saw in him. And now he’s managed to snare one who’s young enough to be his daughter.’
My pint of Guinness was still settling, so – remembering what she’d said last night – I had time to ask, ‘Do you dislike the whole family, or is it just Charles?’
‘I have a very good reason to hate them. Has Holly not told you—?’ She winced, pained by some memory, before her voice came back stronger. ‘Have you made a start with your film?’
‘I’ve made some preliminary enquiries.’
‘You sound like the police. They’re useless, too.’ She narrowed her eyes in the direction of our table. ‘Ask them about Jimmy. Ask them what happened that night.’
But before I could question her more, another customer called to Brenda, asking if he was ever going to get served, and I carried the drinks over to our table on a tray.
‘What were you talking to Brenda about?’ Holly asked.
I didn’t want to ask her about Jimmy in front of the others so said, ‘Oh, not much. The weather.’
‘It’s going to snow,’ Miranda said.
Lewis turned his head towards the window, frowning. ‘When?’
‘Later this afternoon, according to the forecast.’
It was noon now and it got dark here at around four. ‘We’d better head to the caves immediately after this,’ Lewis said to Jasmine. ‘I was starting to think perhaps we should wait till tomorrow, but if it’s going to snow this is going to be our best chance.’
‘That’s cool,’ Jasmine said. ‘But I’m not dressed for it now.
’ She had put her own coat and boots on over her jeans and sweater, along with a furry hat that she’d brought with her.
Elizabeth’s outdoor clothes were back at the house.
Opposite her, Miranda glowered at Jasmine’s pointed comment but kept quiet.
Lewis gave her a reassuring smile. ‘You’ll be fine. When we were kids we used to go in there wearing jeans and trainers. It’s not like we’re climbing a mountain.’
‘Well. Let’s wait and see if you still want to go with me after I’ve told you what I have to say.’
‘Spit it out, then,’ Miranda said.
‘Are you all ready to order?’ It was Morag, appearing at the table with a pen and pad.
‘Hey.’ Jasmine spoke to her like they were old friends.
‘We’re not hungry,’ Lewis said. The mention of snow had clearly rattled him. ‘We’re just going to have these drinks. Okay, everyone?’
We all shrugged and said, ‘Sure.’ It was a rare moment of harmony.
Morag hesitated.
‘Did you hear what we said? You’re not needed.’ Miranda was so rude it made me want to hide under the table.
But she continued to hover by the table. Just as she had when she’d asked Charles to take Avril hunting, she appeared to be gathering the courage to speak.
‘This is awkward, but … try to stay away from my mum, okay? You know this is a difficult time of year for her. For both of us. I don’t want her to get upset.’
‘For goodness’ sake.’ Miranda handed Morag her menu. ‘What if we need to go to the bar?’
‘Maybe you could send Patrick again.’
Miranda tutted, and something must have snapped in Morag, because she hissed, ‘I really don’t think you want to rattle any cages, Miranda.’
‘What does that mean?’ Miranda asked, but Morag was already walking away.
‘What was all that about?’ Miranda asked the table.
‘No idea,’ said Lewis. ‘Maybe it was something to do with you being an impolite cow.’
‘Please, you two. Can you stop?’ Holly sounded like she was on the verge of tears, caused by the strain of being around her siblings. She took a deep breath and addressed Jasmine. ‘What was it you wanted to tell us?’
Frustratingly, Jasmine hesitated. ‘Maybe I should wait until Charles gets back later.’
‘Oh, come on,’ Miranda said. ‘You can’t give us all this build-up and then not deliver.’
‘Yes,’ Lewis said. ‘Don’t be a prick tease. The prick in this case being Miranda.’
Miranda picked up her fork and said, ‘Do you want me to stick this in your balls? Oh, wait, you don’t have any.’
‘More than your husband has.’
I couldn’t face witnessing another huge row so I started saying something about how excited I was to be celebrating Hogmanay in Scotland.
I only got halfway through the sentence before Jasmine spoke over me, dropping the first of her bombshells.
‘Charles and I are already married.’
Silence fell over the table. The three siblings stared at Jasmine as if they couldn’t quite believe what she’d said.
‘We decided we didn’t want to wait so we flew to Vegas last week. Christmas Eve. Got married in a chapel and then flew back to Miami. We were going to tell you tonight. A New Year’s Eve surprise.’
Jasmine had a defiant look on her face and I could feel there was more coming. I didn’t have to wait long.
‘The reason we didn’t want to wait is that we’re planning to start a family straight away. Charles might be fit, but he’s not getting any younger, and I’ve always wanted kids, so …’
‘But you can’t,’ Miranda said.
Jasmine’s voice was calm. Cool. ‘I assume you’re referring to your dad’s vasectomy. He’s already made an appointment to get it reversed in January. Then we’re going to start trying right away.’ She smiled sweetly. ‘I just cannot wait to be a mom.’