Chapter 29
TWENTY-NINE
LIANE
I dream of my family. All of us, together, on a holiday, enjoying some sunshine.
I see my boys as youngsters, playing in the pool.
I see my husband, lying on a lounger with a beer in his hand.
And I see my mother, sitting up in a chair and watching her grandsons with a smile on her face.
As for me, I’m happy, and why wouldn’t I be when I’m on holiday?
Especially a free one. Mum paid for this trip.
That’s not the only reason she is here with us though.
She did offer to give us money for only the four of us to go away, aware that Frederik and I had been saving up to buy a bigger home.
But we insisted she come with us if she was paying, so here she is.
I am glad she is here. It’s nice to have Mum around.
One day, sadly, that won’t be the case.
When I open my eyes, I am very quickly reminded that Mum has gone and my family will always feel different to how it did on that sunny day by the pool many years ago.
I suppose it could have been worse. I could have had a nightmare instead of that pleasant dream.
I could have had a nightmare about Haven and her wild accusations that threaten to disrupt my family even more than it has already been disrupted since Mum passed.
Thankfully, I didn’t, so I didn’t see Haven in my sleep.
With a bit of luck, I won’t be seeing her now that my eyes are open either.
I get out of bed, the one in this spare room that I slept in last night after deeming my mother’s main bed to be far too uncomfortable for me.
I have no idea how Mum slept in that particular bed every night.
The mattress felt like it was full of lumps and bumps, although I am aware that everyone has their own preferences and never more so than when it comes to our own beds.
But this other bed was comfortable enough for me to achieve a few hours’ sleep, and while I let out a yawn as I make my way into the bathroom, I got more rest than I thought I would when I arrived here last night.
I wash and then return to the bedroom to get dressed. But as I do, I notice something on the carpet by the bed. What is that?
Kneeling down, I pick up the item to take a closer look.
When I do, I see that it is an earring. Did it belong to my mother?
I doubt it because this looks far more fashionable than the type of jewellery she was known to wear.
But if not hers then whose? It’s definitely not mine.
It’s not my style at all. But who else does that leave?
I think about it for a moment before she pops into my head again.
Haven.
Could this earring belong to her? I try to think if I have seen her wearing something like this, and the more I think about it, the more I realise I might have. But what is it doing here, on my late mother’s carpet?
She was here the other day. She came with Joel to help do some packing. Did she lose it then? Maybe. But I don’t remember her being in this room that particular day. But if not then, when?
I decide to keep the earring with me as I finish getting dressed before going downstairs.
I won’t bother checking the cupboards to see if there’s anything for breakfast because even if there is, I don’t really want to start my day with food from a tin.
That’s how I ended yesterday, and I want today to be much better than that, for more reasons than one.
I consider calling Frederik and checking in with him to see what the atmosphere is at our house before I go home.
I can’t imagine it’s great, but my husband might surprise me and give me some good news.
He might say something about how Joel has woken up this morning and feels like I reacted appropriately to the situation when I threw his girlfriend out.
If so, me and my youngest son don’t have to be at war for the foreseeable future.
But somehow, I have a feeling it’s not going to be as easy as that.
Deciding to hang on to being optimistic rather than realistic, I leave the house, making sure the door is locked before getting into my car and starting the short drive home.
As I go, I think about where Haven might be now.
Hopefully out of town already if she has any sense.
Wherever she spent the night, today is a fresh start for her as well as it is for me, and I hope she is safe, well, but not planning on coming anywhere near any of us again.
I also wonder how Scott is after I told him about my confrontation with Haven, when she had openly accused him of murdering his grandmother.
My poor boy must be suffering because that’s such a heinous thing to be accused of.
But he’s made of strong stuff, and I suspect he’s already at work now, wearing his greasy uniform and fixing another car, doing his best to get on with his life despite somebody trying hard to ruin it.
I don’t want to get the police involved in this because that will only add more drama and stress to our lives.
But I will if these fabled accusations continue any longer.
If Haven has any sense, she will know that pursuing this will result in the police getting involved and I doubt she would want that.
That’s probably why she hasn’t already gone to them herself with her claims against Scott.
It’s because she knows they won’t take her seriously.
It’s also because she is afraid they might figure out she is the bad one, a fact I’ve already discovered.
As my house comes into view, it feels strange to be arriving home here so early in the morning. But I’ll soon be inside, enjoying a cup of tea in my kitchen, and things will slowly start to get back to normal from there.
I can’t wait.
I park and enter my house, eager to get the kettle on and make some breakfast. But as I approach the kitchen door, I hear voices on the other side.
I can hear Frederik and Joel, which tells me they are both up already.
They don’t seem to be arguing, which is a good sign, just like it’s a good sign that our son is not hiding away in his bedroom, avoiding his parents.
I can only hope the arguing and the avoidance don’t start again when I go in.
I open the kitchen door and walk in purposefully, conscious that I don’t want it to feel like I am intruding here. But I stop still when I see who is sitting at the breakfast bar.
I already knew my husband and son were in here.
But I didn’t know she was here.
I didn’t know Haven was back in my house.
But she is.
And she’s smiling at me.