He hugged me. “I was afraid you’d get the wrong idea and want us to finish. I’d understand, of course, but that’s the last thing I want. You’ve come to mean a lot to me, Moya.”
It was the nearest we got to admitting we both wanted a long-term relationship. In my mind, I shouted with joy, and I rolled onto my front and straddled him.
“I’ll show you what I really think,” I purred.
***
Faye finally telephoned and asked whether I would like to meet her and Kate in town for lunch after some serious shopping. It seemed ages since I had bought anything new, and I liked the idea of some female company, so I accepted at once. She suggested we meet for lunch in a wine bar near the salon where she had her hair done.
I arrived early and made a few purchases before setting off for our lunch date. With Christmas round the corner, I bought Mum, Angela and Darcy something expensive and gorgeous for each of them. Something I knew they would love but would never spend the money on. None of us would feel very Christmassy, but we had each vowed not to let things slide and to do our best for each other.
I was shown to our pre-booked table and ordered a glass of Chablis. Within ten minutes, the door opened and both women stepped through.
If Faye looked good, then her younger sister looked even more amazing. I was accustomed to Faye spending money on her appearance, but I was forgetting Kate had just returned from New York, and—it appeared—she was loaded. Not only had she done well out of her divorce, but Faye intimated she had wangled a parting severance from her last employer. I wondered just how good a PA she was.
The sisters shimmied over to where I was sitting, bulging carrier bags grasped in both hands. Apart from sharing the same nose and mouths, the two women couldn’t have been more different.
They threw the bags down onto a couple of empty chairs, kissed me and then sat down. Both looked flushed and excited, and I wondered how much money they had spent; no doubt more than I paid out in a year, but then I was known to be stingy, even though I had money tucked away in various bank accounts. Dad had been shrewd with his investments, and Mum and us girls had always been comfortably off.
“Guess what?” Faye asked. “Kate paid for both of us to have our hair done, and we had the works. Do you like it?” She touched a hand to her smart new style, cut, coloured, and with an added streak here and there; it looked fabulous as well as expensive.
“I do. It really suits you. Yours too, Kate.” I turned to glance at the darker of the two. Kate had also made a radical change. Her long silky tresses had been cut to just below her chin, tapering downwards at the back. It reminded me of a seventies hairstyle and I said so.
“If we’d known earlier, we could have booked you in,” Kate said, picking up the menu.
I laughed and fingered my own blonde hair, which I had let grow longer than usual. “If that’s a gentle hint that mine needs a good looking at, I have to agree. I can’t remember the last time I had it cut. Things, well, you know…” I let my voice trail off. Normally, I was proud of my hair and looks—in my job I had to look good. But all things considered, I hadn’t paid as much attention as I should have. I had to get a grip and start sorting myself out.
“So what do we all fancy?” Faye said brightly. “How about a plate of oysters flown in from Scotland, followed by a light steak and salad?”
“Sounds good to me.” Kate closed her menu and leant back in her chair to glance round the crowded restaurant.
“I’ll pass on the oysters…you know I don’t like them. I’ll have garlic prawns and go with the steak, though.” I smiled. “So what’s new?” I asked, as soon as the waiter had taken out orders and disappeared. “Have you decided to stay local, Kate, or are you looking for another job?”
Faye and she exchanged looks, and I wondered what the secret was. There again, they were sisters, although I fancied Faye and I had always been closer.
Kate shook her sleek new head of hair. “No. The truth is I like not being at the beck and call of anyone. Workwise, that is. Wayne was…er…difficult before I left. I felt I had to get away. He wanted to make decisions on my behalf, and I didn’t want that. He became far too pushy, and my time was never my own. No, I’m going to take six months to a year off and then think about what I want to do. Martyn…” She paused. I tensed but made sure my mouth smiled even if I knew my eyes never could.
“Yes?” I urged.
“Martyn says Scotland is a gorgeous place to experience. Do you know I’ve never been up there?”
“So, is that what you’re going to do then? Visit Scotland?”
“Why not? One side of our family comes from the Highlands. I thought it might be fun to look it all up in the genealogy records and trace our family tree.”
“That sounds like a good idea. Have you made any plans?”
She shrugged and laughed after flicking another glance in Faye’s direction. “Not really. I’ll let you know. Ah! The oysters have arrived!”
We ate, drank and chatted as if there was nothing wrong with the world. But I could sense a subtle shift between Faye and me. It was a faint and barely perceptible parting of the ways. As the meal dragged on, I felt disappointed and filled with a profound awareness of unease. Something had happened to change the deep friendship between us.
Eventually the conversation turned to Evie, and Kate asked me how I and the rest of my family were coping.
“Okay, I suppose. Mum seems to be coping. She’s thrown herself into charitable works which helps fill her days. I spend more time with her too, which I know she appreciates even if she doesn’t say much. Darcy went off the rails for a few weeks. Mum couldn’t control her, and I appointed myself her watchdog, but she’s quietened down now. In fact, if anything, Darcy’s gone in the opposite direction. She’s staying in far more, keeping to her room. Sometimes she scares me. She doesn’t say a thing and gives me the oddest looks. At times I think she’s about to say something, and then she shies away at the last minute.”
“She’s just growing up. It can’t be easy for a girl of her age.”
“Maybe. I’ve asked her if anything is troubling her, and she says there isn’t, but I don’t believe her.”
Faye laid down her dessert spoon and joined in. “She’s probably mooning over some boy at school. You remember how we all were? We changed our minds about who we fancied almost every week. You mark my words, in a few days’ time she’ll be more like her old self.”
I shook my head. “Normally I’d agree, even with Evie’s death still very much on our minds. But this time, she’s acting incredibly strange.”
A silence hung between us as the waiter brought us coffee, and I broke it by asking Faye how Simon was.
“He’s fine. Simon is quite chilled at the moment. I raised the subject of babies again, and he said he’ll go along with whatever I want. He said he wants me no matter what! So we’ll definitely be getting hitched early next year.”
“That’s wonderful news. I’m really pleased for you. A spring wedding! And Jon and I are getting along really well. He’s been given the opportunity to work in San Francisco next year and has asked if I want to go along. I just might.”
I noticed how Faye shot a glance across to Kate before she answered. “Thank you. And I’m happy for you too. It’s nice knowing you’re finally getting over Martyn.”
I blinked. She really thought I still missed him! I held my tongue and took hold of my coffee cup. As I raised it to my lips, I felt my hand shake.
Kate leaned forward and touched my wrist lightly. For the first time, I noticed her voice had picked up a slight American accent.
“He’s such a nice guy. Do you know he went back to work at the hospital almost immediately? He said it was easier to forget Evie by being busy and what was better than helping sick people?” She sat back shaking her head. “So sweet and caring. I can see why you liked him and why Evie fell in love as soon as they met. And he’s been so lovely to me. He understood why I had to get away from my em
ployment with Wayne. He said he couldn’t stay with anyone who tried to manipulate him either. Wayne wasn’t that bad, but he did like to know exactly what I was doing every minute, twenty-four seven!”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Faye and I have encouraged Martyn to get out more. He agrees there’s no point in staying at home and being depressed and lonely. He’s put the house on the market, as it holds such sad memories for him. We’ve done all we can to help, spent a few evenings together, and he’s really making an effort to come to terms with his loss. You’d be surprised how he’s learnt to manage these last couple of weeks.”
No, I wouldn’t. Cheats and liars have no scruples. Murderers even less. And I was certain Martyn was a murderer.
It didn’t come as a surprise to me that Martyn was trying to sell the house and release some capital. I almost smiled as I realised his dilemma. There was a small matter of some family business which neither Faye nor Kate would have known. Before Dad died, he made sure we four sisters each had equal shares in the family sweet factory. The amount was a tidy sum, but because it was a private company and not public, the small print stipulated that on any of our deaths, the shares would revert back to the company and be recycled among the remaining sisters. Martyn might have known Evie was worth thousands, but he could never get his hands on a penny. I wondered how strapped for cash he really was.
Kaye blithely carried on talking, and for the first time, I realised how insensitive she could be. “Martyn sometimes asks after you. He says he’s concerned you’ll never get over finding Evie like that. He blames himself for leaving her. He had no way of knowing she would call you and ask you to come over. He feels really bad about that. Poor Martyn, he’s such a darling man and so courageous and compassionate.”
Kate really had no idea. She didn’t know that it was Martyn who suggested Evie telephone and invite me to go over that dreadful day. I excused myself and made for the ladies. All this talk of Martyn and his blatant lies made me want to vomit.
Chapter 29
The morning was crisp and dry, not a trace of a cloud in the pale-blue spring sky. It was a day for flinging open the windows and letting the cobwebs blow away. I always considered March in England to be a special month. Daffodils, primroses and other flowers raised their heads towards the milder weather, new-born lambs skipped around the pastures, and birds began building their nests. Easter wasn’t far off, and people could turn their thoughts to the possibility of a hot and sunny summer. No one could persuade me that England could be beaten when the weather was glorious.
Christmas and New Year had come and gone almost without a whimper. I received fewer party invites than usual but put it down to people thinking I was still mourning, which I was, but now, gradually, I was clawing my way back up through the murk of despair to fresher, cleaner air.
I had been suffering with ‘flu for a week or so. At first I thought it just a cold, but with hundreds of cases popping up, I knew I was fooling myself. So I bought up almost entire stocks of painkillers and throat lozenges as well as various other potent items from the chemist and locked myself away at home. I considered myself to be the world’s worst patient and thought it better no one came near me.
This ‘flu strain was apparently the worst to hit for years, and I suffered for ten days. I must have been at low ebb. ‘Rundown’ as my mum would say. Gradually, as the fever left me, I recovered enough to get out of bed and drag myself into the kitchen to prepare soup or tea. A hacking cough accompanied my still aching head, and judging by the haggard face when I looked in the mirror, I had lost pounds in weight.
Jon, thank goodness, never needed to know how ghastly I looked, as I wasn’t into those horrid ‘selfies’ and kept the camera off when we Skyped each other. He flew to the States early on in my illness, and I had told him in no uncertain terms over the phone not to come round before he went, as I was contagious. I felt bad letting him go without a proper goodbye, but he had a job to do, and the last thing he needed was a case of ‘flu like mine. We talked about his year abroad, and I decided there was still too much uncertainty over Evie’s death for my liking. Without telling Jon the real reason, I said I would stay here. I sweetened my decision by agreeing to join him for a couple of long stays when the weather turned better in late spring.
That day, as I dressed, I realised it had been weeks since I had either gone running or even visited the gym. I grimaced again at my reflection. Never had I seen such huge dark circles lurking below my eyes as those I saw then. What with my lacklustre hair and pallid skin, I could easily have been an escaped waxwork model from Madame Tussaud’s. Drastic measures were needed, and I had to get better as soon as possible.
I made some tea and toast and forced it down my throat. As I ate, I cast a look round my flat. Ever since Evie’s death, I had let things get on top of me, and because I didn’t think I could cope with strangers wandering around, I took it off the market. I still had a sense of my home being soiled after Martyn’s trespass, but as I had neither seen nor heard for him since Christmas, I was keeping my fingers crossed that he was finally leaving me alone. Besides I had since learnt that he had other matters on his mind.
Feeling full, I rinsed my cup and plate and shoved them in the dishwasher. What next? I had cancelled all work for that week, and glancing round the place, I knew it could do with a clean. Had I the energy to drag a vacuum cleaner round? I wondered. Mum had offered, but I told her to stay clear. Ever since the funeral, she had become much older and frailer. I couldn’t cope if she caught ‘flu and it turned to pneumonia. The news was full of how many old people succumbed to complications and died. I decided to ring her that day and let her know I was nearly better and arrange a lunchtime treat later in the week.
My phone beeped, and I picked it up to read the text. It was Faye asking how I was and could she call round to see me. No, I thought, not yet. Her ‘disloyalty’ still rankled. I replied with a short message saying I still felt lousy. It was better to let more time pass, as I didn’t trust my temper.
After our pre-Christmas lunch together, I wondered just how cosy she had become with Martyn. She had always championed his cause, saying he cared for me, ad nauseam, etcetera, etcetera. When I tried to tell her for the final time that he wasn’t caring or nice or what he seemed to be, she got annoyed.
“Just listen to yourself!” She flared up. “Stop it. Stop trying to turn everyone against him. Martyn is as puzzled over your behaviour as we all are.”
“All? Who have you been discussing me with?” I demanded.
She waved a hand dismissively. “Just the usual friends…Simon, Kate, Jon.”
“Jon? You discussed this and went behind my back with Jon? How dare you? I don’t want Jon involved in this.”
“Involved in what? Martyn finished with you, fell in love with Evie. End of story. He’s just an ordinary guy wanting an ordinary life. Get over it or…or—” She stopped.
“Or what?”
“We’re finished as friends.”
I knew then there was nothing to gain by flogging a dead horse, and we shortened our evening together. On the few occasions I had seen her since then, Faye and I were polite with each other but hardly the bosom pals we had been since school. She was so protective where Martyn was concerned, I wondered if she had the hots for him. No, surely not.
How could I have known I was barking up the wrong tree?
With the herald of spring, I felt the final betrayal when I learnt Kate and Martyn had gone off to Scotland. Not only had they just gone off together, but apparently, they disappeared not long after New Year. No one had had the decency to inform me, or maybe they wanted to spare me Martyn’s latest transgression. He hadn’t long been widowed, for Christ’s sake! Either way, I was furious that I wasn’t kept in the loop. I always hated secrets.
I realised with a jolt I had been so wrapped up in worrying about Darcy and Faye getting involved with Martyn, Jon going off to the States and me being ill that I hadn’t seen it coming.
But of course, Kate was the wealthy one here, and I recognised Martyn was madly attracted to wealth. Apparently, he hadn’t sold his house yet, and no doubt his nursing salary wasn’t enough to fuel his desired lifestyle.
I was jolted out of my reflections by a harsh banging on my door. Wearily, I dragged myself along the hall to see who it was.
“Faye!”
“You look bloody awful,” she said, planting a foot over the threshold and barging past me before I could keep her out. She didn’t look her usual pretty self either, I thought. “Why don’t you answer my calls? We’ve got to talk.”
I followed her down to the kitchen, where she plopped her bag down on the table, unwound a multi-coloured silk scarf from around her neck and shrugged her coat off.
“Sit down,” she ordered. “Is the coffee still in the same place?”
I nodded and flopped into the nearest chair. I think walking to answer the front door was the farthest I had gone in a week.
After filling the kettle, she turned to face me, leaning a hip against the cupboard unit. Seeing her bleak expression, I knew something was wrong.
“Something terrible has happened,” she whispered and burst into tears.
Chapter 30
Having Faye appear and in such distress galvanised me into action. My selfish feelings of lethargy and loneliness disappeared instantly. My friend needed me. I sat her down, made a strong pot of coffee and once she got her sobs under control, asked her exactly what she meant.
“She’s been involved in an accident.”
“Who?”
“Kate.”
“Oh my God! How bad is she? What happened?”
Faye shook her head. “She’s broken her neck and she’s in a coma. She was up a ladder and it slipped.”
My mouth dropped open. “Bloody hell! But what was she doing up a ladder, and where did this happen?”
“There was a cat, or a kitten, I don’t know. It had climbed from a bedroom window in the place she and Martyn were staying in and got stuck on a piece of jagged slate.”
Behind A Twisted Smile (Dark Minds Book 2) Page 16
