Cinnamon Gardens
Page 28
‘I bet he’s set a trap to catch Jeffries.’
‘He shouldn’t have done that and put an old lady at risk.’
Angus came out of hiding and walked across to them. ‘I’ve got it all on tape, the way he’s pressuring her to sell. And just now he threatened her. I think we’ve got enough to haul him in for harassment and misrepresentation. I don’t want to leave her on her own with him any longer.’
‘Did she agree to do this?’
‘When I suggested it, she was eager to do something to end all the harassment. I wonder …’ He looked at Edwina. ‘How about you let me go in and frighten that prettified idiot a bit? Off the record. I know not to smash his face in, but I may be able to use threats you couldn’t.’
Edwina looked at her colleague, and he rubbed his ear. ‘I didn’t hear what your friend said, Eddie, and I think we’ve got a call from the station to answer before we can deal with this.’
Nell watched her cousin’s face and could see that Edwina was torn as to whether to allow this or not. ‘Let Angus have a go,’ she urged.
Edwina turned and went back to the police car without another word. Her colleague winked and said, ‘We’ll take a little drive round the block.’ Then he followed her.
Angus made some adjustments to a gadget, blew a kiss at Nell and walked into the kitchen.
She watched through the window as he spoke to Jeffries. Annoyed that she couldn’t hear him, she bent low and moved closer.
‘And tell your friend Gus Nolan that my friend Kieran and I have looked into his business dealings online and we’ve found some very interesting irregularities. He’s walking rather close to the legal line.’
Jeffries looked at Winifred, but she was smiling now.
‘Did you manage to record what you wanted, Angus?’ she asked.
‘Record!’ Jeffries looked round as if searching for a microphone.
‘Tsk! Tsk!’ Angus wagged one finger at him. ‘Old people are using technology too these days. In fact, Miss Parfitt’s house has one of the most complex and effective security systems it’s possible to buy, now that I’ve extended it. It also covers the garden. I have the same system at my place.’
He waited, then added softly, ‘I’ll be sending some of the information I’ve collected to the police. They’re already worried about the way you’re harassing some of the town’s older citizens.’
‘I was just trying to help Miss Parfitt.’
‘You were trying to persuade me to sell you my home at a knock-down price,’ she snapped. ‘I was only stringing you along because that’s what Angus wanted.’
Jeffries breathed deeply. ‘I’m sure it’s illegal to record people’s private conversations.’
‘I’d love you to sue me about that.’ Angus gestured to the door. ‘But I think the best thing you can do is go away and we’ll leave the police to look into Nolan’s dealings. Go right away and do not come near this house ever again, or I shall take action.’
Jeffries edged towards the back door as if expecting to be attacked. When he stepped outside, he nearly bumped into Nell and yelped in shock.
She flourished one hand towards the path. ‘Get out!’
She followed him to the front gate, just as the police car returned. He didn’t run to his own car, but he certainly walked very quickly.
Edwina came to join her. ‘Did Angus thump our friend?’
‘Didn’t touch him. But he did make a few things clear.’
‘I wish I’d been a fly on the wall.’
‘I think it was still being recorded.’
‘Good. Now, if I can just check that Miss Parfitt is all right, I’ll leave you in peace. But I will be pursuing other investigations.’
In the kitchen Angus was holding Winifred close and her shoulders were shaking.
‘What the—’
Then Winifred turned round and they could see that she’d been crying with laughter. ‘You should have seen him deal with that horrible man!’ She laughed again. ‘Oh, Angus, I shall chuckle about this for years. Dan, do come out of hiding and join us!’
He opened the door from the front hall and came in, and he was smiling too.
Angus turned to the police officers. ‘If anyone else has any trouble with being nagged by Nolan to sell their houses, I can help you fix up a surveillance system.’
Edwina wagged her finger at him warningly. ‘Leave us to take care of him now, Angus. I promise you we will.’
He saluted her. ‘Shall do.’ Then he turned back to Winifred. ‘Now about this app of mine that you’re going to test …’
‘Dan wants to test it too.’
When Janey came home, the girl seemed thoughtful, but not unhappy. Winifred could tell that at once.
She shooed Angus and Nell out and told them to take some time to work on their romance.
‘Dan will be staying for a few more nights, so we’ll be fine.’
Then she waited for Janey to tell her in her own time what had happened with her mother.
When Nell got back to Dennings, she found an email from Nick on her computer.
‘Phone me, Ma. Whatever time it is. It’s really good news.’
She did that immediately, waiting impatiently for the call to be answered. ‘Nick? What’s happened?’
He chuckled. ‘Straight to the point, as usual. It’s Steve.’
‘Oh no, what now?’
‘He’s fallen in love.’
‘Steve has?’
‘With a dog.’ He explained about the pup and added, ‘I think he’s enjoying an open air life, too. He never did settle easily to studying and bookwork, did he? But Dad threw a hissy fit when he tried to do a gap year before going on to study in TAFE.’
‘Are you sure of this?’
‘Yes. Dad was so amazed he went down to see his friend Owen and find out what was going on. Dad’s very full of himself for sorting out Steve, you know what he’s like when he feels he’s scored over someone. But it was the pup that did it, Ma. And the way you brought us up, I’m sure.’
Tears of joy came into her eyes. ‘I’m so glad.’
‘So, tell me what you’ve been doing? Tell me about your new guy. Dad is so miffed about that.’
When she put the phone down Nell was smiling, feeling as if she’d shed a heavy burden.
She went and kissed Angus. ‘I think it’s time now that we got on with our own lives, as Miss Parfitt just said. I love you, Angus. I think we’re going to be very happy together.’
‘I love you too, darling.’
‘Coming to England, making the boys stand on their own feet was the right thing to do. But, best of all, I met you … and a cousin … and I’m going to meet some other relatives. Isn’t life wonderful?’
Three weeks later, an Australian friend of Angus set up a computer to broadcast the wedding ceremony to Dennings.
Angus didn’t tell her anything until it was nearly time for the wedding.
Nell stared at him in amazement, then sat down to watch Nick and Carla exchange vows.
Afterwards another camera took up the story at the small reception Craig had insisted on.
‘Thank you, darling,’ she said as the drinks and nibbles session ended and Nick escaped with his new wife.
Even Steve had been allowed up from the country, pup and all, to be present, because Craig wasn’t having Carla’s parents thinking no one on Nick’s side cared. Her family had been invited at the last minute so that they couldn’t change the arrangements.
Afterwards, Nell sighed and turned to Angus. ‘Thank you, darling. You couldn’t have done anything that pleased me more. It did upset me not being able to participate in my son’s wedding. What did you think of Craig? He and Jenny were a bit overdressed, weren’t they?’
‘I may be a tad biased, but I didn’t like the looks of him,’ he said. ‘I’d not buy a used car from him, that’s for sure.’
She let out a gurgle of laughter. ‘How did you guess? That was what he was working as when we firs
t married. Before he made it into management.’
Angus grinned. ‘No, Management with a capital “M”.’
‘I’ve not seen Nick looking so good for ages. Or Steve.’ She mopped away some happy tears.
Angus frowned at her. ‘I hope you’re not going to weep all over me at our wedding.’
‘I’m bound to. I always cry when I’m particularly happy.’
He rolled his eyes and pulled her close. ‘I’ll just have to get used to it, then. Because I’m definitely going to marry you and the sooner we do the deed the better.’
Another tear fell on his cheek and he laughed softly.
‘I agree,’ she said. ‘The sooner we get married the better. I want a big, fancy wedding.’
He jerked in shock, moved his head back, then grinned. ‘Phew! Don’t tease me about things like that. Big weddings give me the horrors.’
‘OK. But I’ll feel free to tease you about anything else.’
And she did feel free, wonderfully free, happier than she’d been for many years.
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About the Author
ANNA JACOBS is the author of over sixty novels and is addicted to storytelling. She grew up in Lancashire, emigrated to Australia in the 1970s and writes stories set in both countries. She loves to return to England regularly to visit her family and soak up the history. She has two grown-up daughters and a grandson, and lives with her husband in a spacious home near the Swan Valley, the earliest wine-growing area in Western Australia. Her house is crammed with thousands of books.
annajacobs.com
By Anna Jacobs
THE PEPPERCORN SERIES
Peppercorn Street
Cinnamon Gardens
THE GREYLADIES SERIES
Heir to Greyladies
Mistress of Greyladies
Legacy of Greyladies
THE WILTSHIRE GIRLS SERIES
Cherry Tree Lane
Elm Tree Road
Yew Tree Gardens
Winds of Change
Copyright
Allison & Busby Limited
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London W1T 6DW
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First published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2015.
This ebook edition published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2015.
Copyright © 2015 by ANNA JACOBS
The moral right of the author is hereby asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All characters and events in this publication other than those clearly in the public domain are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent buyer.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978–0–7490–1717–0