Chapter 16 #2
Euan sits at the end of the table, shovelling food.
He frowns at something on his phone. ‘Have you still got reception?’ I blurt, not meaning it to sound as accusatory as it does, but with the Wi-Fi surely downed by the power outage it seems important that at least one of us has coverage, in case of emergencies.
‘I’ve got a bit – it’s patchy, but my network sometimes picks up some signal. I’m just checking the forecast. More of the same I’m afraid. Oh shit! There’s a red weather warning for tomorrow. No sign of let-up until the weekend when milder weather moves in.’
Fear whirls inside me like freezing fog. I can’t remember the last time we had a red weather warning.
The weekend is three nights away. I didn’t intend to stay that long.
‘It’s so beautiful out there,’ Kimmy says, glancing out at the patio where the pots and hanging baskets are misshapen lumps beneath clumps of snow. Every stone on the garden wall is perfectly rimmed in frost.
‘Beautiful, and deadly,’ Leo says, with a sinister waggle of his eyebrows. ‘Wouldn’t want to get stuck out there in one of those blizzards.’
‘If the snow stays off for a bit, Eilish and I are going to take a walk,’ Jameson says, through a mouthful of bacon.
Alex gives me a knowing look. ‘Sounds like an offer you can’t refuse.’
Becca sips her coffee. ‘I’d rather stay warm and toasty indoors, thank you – which it will be once Euan gets the generator going.’ She leans towards him but he doesn’t look up from his phone.
‘Well, I fancy a sauna,’ Leo says, rolling his shoulders. ‘I’m a bit stiff from the hike yesterday.’
Alex snorts. ‘Hike?’
‘Once Euan gets the generator going, the spa will be good to go,’ Becca says sweetly, with a reproving look at Alex. Euan sighs at yet another dig. Suddenly the LED lights in the ceiling snap on and the microwave clock starts blinking.
Becca, Kimmy and Alex all whoop with excitement. ‘Great,’ Becca says. ‘Hopefully it stays on this time.’
Leo looks up from his newspaper. ‘Hopefully the Wi-Fi starts working. I’d like to do a bit of work later.’
‘The phone lines are going to be temperamental in weather like this,’ Euan says. ‘And … my reception is out again. Better resign yourselves to being off grid for a while longer.’
‘I’ve got work to catch up on—’ Leo begins, but Becca breaks in.
‘You’re not really thinking of working, Leo. So boring. Kimmy, how do you put up with him? It’ll be good for you to go offline for a while.’
Kimmy links an arm through Leo’s. She’s wearing a tiny slip of a nightie, black silk, with an oversized cardi and socks that come up to her knees. She makes this outfit impossibly sexy. ‘Someone has to.’
I remember her in the kitchen last night, all that vitriol directed at Genevieve and, by association, me. I don’t know how I feel about Kimmy this morning.
I don’t know how I feel about any of them to be honest, except Jameson. Last night everything was so confusing – one minute it felt like we were on the right track to reclaiming our friendship and the next they were either arguing or spouting outlandish theories about Genevieve.
I’m certain there’s no truth in what Alex said about someone being in the water with her. He was drunk and talking nonsense.
But Becca also implied there was more to that night than met the eye – some secret we’re all supposed to know and keep.
Becca, who lied to the police on our behalf …
It’s hard not to let my mind wander places I wish it wouldn’t. Even in daylight, with their easy banter swelling around me, and good food and coffee inside me.
The others’ voices fade as I sink into my thoughts again. I’m back at West Sands. Reliving the night again, as though I can somehow take my memory by surprise, sneak up on it and remember, finally, whatever it is my mind is withholding from me.
The singing is over, the fire dwindling. My head is a mess from whatever that pill was that Alex gave me. I stumble along the beach alone …
Wait!
That’s new.
I explore the memory, probing for more. My skin prickles, like someone is watching me but when I spin around there’s no one. I hear shouting, a distant argument on the far side of the dune, but I can’t determine who. A shadow creeps at my peripheral vision, a dark shape … a hooded figure?
Then it’s gone.
I’m back to walking in the dunes alone. Leo’s scream ripping through the night.
I lurch into the present to see Kimmy sitting in Leo’s lap, stroking the side of his face as he loops his arms around her, his eyes still on yesterday’s newspaper. Becca and Euan have slipped into easy repartee again. Jameson has picked up the discarded sports pages of the paper.
Alex is looking at me.
Speculative.
I give him a quick smile, but he doesn’t return it.
Everyone starts laughing at something Leo’s said, and I scrabble to connect to the words, to anchor myself to the present.
Alex is still looking at me, his eyes silvery and serious, even as his lips tug upwards, mirroring the expressions of the others.
He thinks Gen was a victim not of an unfortunate incident, or her own folly, but a malefactor.
A murderer.
Is that possible?
‘What do you think, Eils?’ Alex’s eyes bore into me.
I give a start. ‘A-about what?’ Oh God, I need to focus.
‘You were miles away.’ He laughs good-naturedly now. ‘I was asking if you fancy a game of pool later, you were always pretty decent. Not a match for me, of course.’ He puffs out his chest, flexes a bicep and waggles his eyebrows.
‘I have a whole itinerary for us today, actually,’ Becca says airily.
She winds her hair up on top of her head.
‘Swim before lunch, then a tour of Tarnmore if the weather holds, cocktails in the library – we could maybe do that in the games room if there’s an appetite for pool,’ she adds thoughtfully.
‘Then we party!’ Her eyes sparkle as she claps her hands together.
I struggle to marshal much enthusiasm for partying now.
With alcohol in the mix, everything could get all muddled and muddied again.
‘You’re being bossy, Bex,’ Euan warns, but she only bats her lashes at him and blows a kiss.
Jameson clears the plates. As he reaches for mine he catches my eye with a smouldering look that makes my belly do somersaults. ‘So, will we take that walk while the others head to the pool?’
I nod, grateful that he remembers what I said last night about swimming. I don’t really want to spend time in the pool complex.
‘Sounds good.’ I ignore the fact that Becca, Leo and Kimmy are all smirking at us, and Alex is looking speculatively at me again.
‘Well, I think you’re nuts going out in that,’ Leo says snagging a leftover piece of bacon from one of the plates before Jameson whips it away. ‘I’d much rather be relaxing by the pool. I’m sure Alex will be up for a hike though, won’t you, Al?’
‘Nah, three’s a crowd.’
My cheeks flame again as Becca swats Alex’s arm and tells him to shut up. Jameson dumps the plates in the sink and passes by the table on his way towards the door. His hand brushes my shoulder ever so briefly in passing. ‘Meet at the boot room in five?’
‘Sure.’ I nod, instructing my unruly heart to slow down, my mind to stop galloping ahead of itself.
I’m no longer just thinking about getting through the next few days and then resuming my old life, A life that no longer seems to hold the appeal it once did.
I’m contemplating a future with Jameson, now. A second chance.
But I don’t know if it’s even possible.