by S. Y. Robins
“Do you know there’s a reward out for that jewellery or the capture of the person that stole it?” Clara asked.
“I ain’t no snitch, Clara. Besides, I’d never be able to go back home if I did. It’s bad enough there already. People think I’ve sold somebody up the creek already since you came. They think you were from the social or the cops. Stupid people can’t make a decision. But it’s not been good there since.”
“I can keep you safe; I can get you a better life, Champagne. I’m not super-wealthy but I know a cop, he’s willing to help. He can also help get that reward. That will help both you and Selena, if you should want to keep her.” It broke Clara’s heart to speak the words but they had to be said.
“No, no matter what Selena is staying with you. You’re her mum now, not me. Could you really keep me safe?” Champagne asked, a faint hope glowing in her eyes.
“I can keep you safe from the cops, I can keep you out of that environment, and I can give you a warm safe home to sleep in. And as I said, I know a constable that can help us. If Johnny’s in jail he can’t hurt you and by the time he gets out of prison, well, you’ll have moved on Champagne. I don’t know what will happen after all of that but I can only offer you what I have for now. And that’s far more hope than you have right now. You won’t have to look after Selena, or even acknowledge her as yours but it would be nice if her biological mother was a part of her life. Please say yes. You won’t get many opportunities in life and this one could change your life forever. Please take it?”
Champagne looked around, uncertain of what she should do. Then she remembered her mum screaming at her for going out again, asking her if she was turning tricks and making money on the side and not telling her. She’d used all of the money from pawning the ring she’d taken from Johnny on putting food on the table for the last two months and keeping the power on. It was gone now and though she knew her mum might suffer some without her, for once, she decided she was going to be selfish. Her mum had given birth to her and basically stopped caring for her daughter once she started school. Champagne had to wait on her mother hand and foot and her mother always, always made out that Champagne owed her. From her position as a mother now Champagne saw that her mother owed her, should have given up everything for her daughter but had been too selfish to do that, instead spending all of their money on drugs and getting drunk or buying trashy clothes while feeding Champagne junk and taking clothes from charities for her daughter. No, it was time for Champagne to take something back, to leave the estate she was raised on, and do something with herself.
“What do I have to do?” Champagne asked.
“Fill out those papers and let me call Tom. You don’t even have to go back home tonight, you can come to my house right away if you’d like. My mum’s moved into the house right beside me so I have a spare room waiting for you already.” Clara said with a smile, reaching for her phone and Champagne’s hand. “I’m so happy to welcome you to my home.”
Christmas Eve found Clara in her shop wrapping up boxes for Charles, Loverman as her friends called him. Clara supressed a grin at the name and offered the boxes over to him.
“So who’s the new girl?” Charles asked.
Feeling brave Clara made the man an offer. “Take me to dinner and I’ll tell you all about it.”
Her eyes widened when the words actually came out and she blushed a pretty but very dark shade of red.
“I can do that, what are you doing this evening?” Charles asked.
“Well, I’m busy with last minute shopping and cooking but after the holiday?” She asked.
“Sure. I won’t be back at the studios until after the new year anyway so I won’t need any more shoes until then but I’ll be in town.”
“Pardon?” Clara asked.
“Surely you’ve wondered about my purchases? I work for a very well-known television show. I’m the costume designer. That’s why I buy so many women’s shoes. These are for my sisters but usually I’m buying for work.” Charles told her as he gathered his purchases.
“Oh! That explains it. Well, you know where to find me, how about the day after Christmas?”
“That’s fine, I’ll give you a buzz that morning, shall I?” Charles asked as he walked out of the door.
“Perfect,” Clara replied, turning to Champagne with a squeal of delight once the door was closed.
“Oh he’s gorgeous, Carla!” The girl excitedly said back.
“Isn’t he just? Oh, I’m so happy Champagne! You’re here and safe, you have the reward, Selena is now legally my daughter, and you are doing so very well! I am so proud of you!” Carla gushed.
“Oh, stop it! I’m ever so grateful to you. It was nice to give some of that money to my mum but that’s the last penny she’ll see out of me. If she doesn’t clean her act up like she promised she’s out of my life. And I’ll be starting uni soon. I never dared to hope but because of you I have that chance. And most of all, little Selena has a chance. Now what did you get me for Christmas?” Champagne asked, an impish smile on her face.
“If you sing me another Christmas carol I might tell you!” Clara had quickly discovered that her assumption was correct, Champagne had a beautiful singing voice and as she heard the first strains of a song that always brought tears to her eyes at Christmas, Clara truly felt peaceful and happy.
As Christine, her daughter, Bianca, Tom and Greg, and Agnes piled into the shop, desperate to bring their favourite girls back to Clara’s house to begin their celebrations Clara smiled with joy. Johnny was where he belonged, Champagne had settled into her own home, even taking up with Selena as a sister figure, and she had a child. All those months ago she’d thought she had everything a girl could ask for but looking around at the shining happy faces of her friends and family with her daughter safe and happy in her arms Clara knew that only now, finally, did she have all a girl could ask for.
The End
BONUS
Thank you for supporting this book. To extend your reading pleasure, here is a selection of books that you may like.
Enjoy!
I
Colorful Death
Cozy Mystery
About the Book
Jade is having a very bad day. Her little cottage has a leaking roof, her car broke down, and she’s managed to lose her favorite hat while walking back home. So far, this trip to England has not been so much the restful country retreat she wanted. So far, it has pretty much sucked.
And unfortunately, it’s about to get worse. When she catches attractive neighbor Maddox out in a horrible rainstorm, Jade invites him in out of the cold, only to see scratches on his arms. Maddox is pleasant and polite, but even Jade can see that something is wrong. When she learns the next day that an old lady was murdered in her cottage, Jade has a sinking feeling that she knows who’s to blame.
When another body crops up soon after, Jade sets out to find the truth. After all, how much worse could this vacation get? She might as well tramp over the heath and figure out what’s going on.
But all this poking about is going to put her squarely in the killer’s sights. And now that they’ve murdered twice, they’re not going to stop until all of their enemies are dead.
1
Jade slammed the cupboard shut and glared at it. She glared at the mug, too, as she threw a tea bag into it, and at the kettle as she filled it, and the stove as she turned it on. She threw an extra glare around the room for good measure, and crossed her arms while she waited for the water to boil.
No doubt it wasn’t fair to take her frustrations out on innocent inanimate objects, but there was no one else to take it out on. She had no one to call up and bemoan to, because she hadn’t bought an international phone plan. She knew no one here to go out with, and even if she did know someone, there was no hope of getting something fruity and pink to drink at the pub in town. No, they just had beer, beer, beer, beer, and more beer. So she was stuck with tea. Alone. No one to shriek at that she’d had it up to here with
this bloody trip.
The day had started out fine, of course. She’d woken up to birds chirping and a rainstorm clearing, and for about an hour she thought this trip had been the perfect idea. Cottage in the English countryside. Secluded. Lots of tea. The best place for her to finish the manuscript that just would not go right.
And then she spent all morning and part of the afternoon staring at a blank page. Jade was stubborn. She did not give up quickly. Still, after three hours with not a single word, even she had to admit that she was beat. She piled into the teeny car that came with the cottage and drove into town, almost killing someone right as she pulled out and swerved onto the left side of the road.
The day had continued downhill from there. There wasn’t a decent cup of coffee to be found, and the pretty blue skies clouded up almost immediately. Used to the heat and sunshine of Phoenix, Jade found herself shivering as she tried to buy groceries. Without peanut butter or macaroni and cheese to be found anywhere, she settled for a loaf of bread, some Nutella, and a bag of apples, which she then had to carry home when the car broke down a mile from the cottage.
Which was approximately when it had started to rain—and 'rain' was a generous term. Jade might as well have swum home. She arrived as darkness was falling and bumbled around the cottage in the dark, trying to find the light switches while she banged her shins into every shin-height object in the immediate vicinity.
She was going to scream. Jade gave another glare at the kettle, and then turned to look as the glare of car headlights flashed across the room. The car sped past at terrifying speeds, considering the deluge outside, and Jade glared at it, too, more out of habit than anything else. She flumped down into the armchair by the cast iron stove and gave a groan. She was still damp, which was hardly helping her mood, and her dinner of a single apple had likely not helped either.
But the more she sat here, the more it all started to drain away. The stove was finally starting to warm the cabin nicely, the chair was ridiculously comfortable, and the tiny bed in the corner looked perfectly inviting with its patchwork quilt. From the old desk to the mismatched mugs, this cottage was perfect. The kettle was just beginning to whistle, and Jade could sense that a piece of bread with Nutella might make a good end to an otherwise awful day.
Tomorrow she would start over. Yes, that was a perfect way to look at it. She’d been struggling with this manuscript for five months. One more day was hardly a reason to give up.
She stood up, stretched, and considered herself in the tiny mirror by the door. Her looks, hardly noteworthy at all in Phoenix, had been another way she was out of place here in England. With wavy black hair and caramel skin, Jade drew eyes wherever she went here. No one remarked on how pretty her eyes were, large and dark, framed by long lashes, or on her pointed chin or tiny rosebud mouth—no, all anyone saw was her coloring. Apparently, this part of England did not have a lot of South American tourists.
At least, she thought with a smile, the people here didn’t seem to care about appearances as much as they did in Phoenix. Jade had wandered around in jeans and a sweater for two days, not a speck of makeup on her face and her hair in a messy bun, and no one gave that a second glance.
Oh, the lecture she’d get if her mother could see her now…
Jade grinned and cut a slice of bread, spreading Nutella thickly over the top of it. Her mother hadn’t liked anything about the idea of this trip. That was part of what made it so appealing. She moved around the apartment, lighting a candle on one of the side tables and a pretty little lantern by the bed. Switching the electric lights out, she was bathed in soft, flickering light. No computer, no TV, nothing but her and her books.
Perfection. She retrieved the plate from the counter, turned—and froze.
Out in the slanting rain, the last light of dusk fading from the air, a figure stood by the side of the road, its eyes fixed on her. It did not move even as the rain gusted. It stood as still as any ghost in a horror movie, implacable and determined.
Jade let out a strangled little whimper. The plate was shaking wildly in her hands, and she fought the urge to hurl it at the window. She needed to find the phone. Then she could call for help. Standing still, too afraid to take her eyes from the figure lest it begin to advance on the cottage, she felt along the counter for the phone they’d given her.
And then the figure turned to leave. It stumbled, fell to its knees, and struggled up to march onwards in the rain. Jade let out her breath in a whoosh. The plate clattered to the ground and she jumped. Not a murderer. Not a—
Was the person injured? She frowned at the shape, then ran to the door and threw it open.
“Wait! Wait, come back!”
The figure looked over its shoulder and burst into a run.
What on earth? Jade looked around for her coat, but she was already losing the shape in the dark and the storm. Reasoning that she was already damp and her hair still wet, she dashed out into the pouring rain with a few muttered oaths.
“Come back!” She sprinted through the darkness, hoping against hope that no drivers were out without their lights on.
The figure kept running, but Jade was faster. A sprinter in high school and college, she’d always been able to put on an impressive burst of speed. She caught up with the man a few hundred yards away, grabbing his arm and pulling him back.
“Hey! Why were you looking at—” She broke off as she recognized the man. “Maddox?”
Maddox Smith owned the cottage closest to hers. She’d been introduced to him yesterday when she arrived, the landlady simpering at his handsome face while he passed by on the road. A painter, she’d said later. Very talented. Studied with Vera Acker a few kilometers away. Yes, quite a prodigy. Quite a prodigy, indeed. And even Jade had to admit that Maddox was good-looking. Tall and pale-skinned, he nonetheless had eyes of a deep sapphire blue and black hair that fell over his forehead like he was on the cover of a romance novel.
Whatever he had in looks, however, he was one of the most awkward people she had ever met. After a muttered greeting, he’d been on his way hastily, and now he was staring at her like he was absolutely terrified.
“Were you watching me?” Jade asked suspiciously. Cozy cottage be damned, she was not going to stay if there was a peeping tom around.
“You just got home,” he said. It was a question.
“About an hour ago,” Jade said, bemused by this sudden change of topic. She squinted through the rain. “Are you hurt? I thought I saw you—oh, my God!” Scratches showed on the side of his face, visible even in the dim light. “Come with me, I think there’s Neosporin and Band-Aids in the cottage. Come on. What happened?”
“Nothing,” he said instantly. “I should go.”
“Are you sure? Look, let’s get you dry and…did you come to my place for help? Did someone attack you?” If someone had scratched at her face like that, she’d probably be staring in people’s windows in shock as well. “Is there someone dangerous still out here?”
“You said you got back an hour ago,” he said, instead of answering any questions. “Where were you before?”
He was in shock. That was the only answer. It had to be. Jade shook her head.
“Please, you have to get out of the cold. I’ll make you some tea and you can call the police and tell them about this person who attacked you. You’ll be perfectly safe.”
“Where’s your car?” he asked suspiciously.
“What?”
“Your car. It’s missing.”
“Does that matter?”
“I have to go.” He yanked his arm out of her grasp and ran into the darkness, leaving Jade staring after him.
She turned slowly, peering into the darkness. There was no one there. Maybe he’d just fallen in the dark. Maybe he’d fallen while trying to peer in her windows, for all she knew. That would be why he didn’t want her to call the police, perhaps.
Nevertheless, she couldn’t quite get over the idea of some deranged lunatic stalking around
the British countryside. She sprinted back to the house and locked the door, pulling all of the curtains closed. When she did go to sleep, it was with the phone on the bedside table and her eyes fixed warily on the door.
2
Jade hardly hesitated before picking the largest jar of Nutella on the shelf and tossing it into her cart. She was getting addicted to the stuff. Two loaves of bread were already sitting in the cart as well, and a bunch of ridiculously expensive bananas. She looked at her list, frowning. Honey for tea, eggs, cheese, pasta and sauce… And she’d give anything for black beans and rice, but Britain didn’t seem to have black beans. Or avocados.
Ah, well. She picked up a set of eggs with delicate blue shells, and a block of cheddar cheese, and made her way to the check out. Everyone seemed to be whispering about something, looking at the paper, and the distracted cashier dropped Jade’s change onto the ground instead of her outstretched hand as he craned to hear what the people in the next lane over were saying.
That was odd. Jade frowned at them as she loaded the groceries into the trunk of her car—“boot, dear,” her landlady had informed her. “We call it a boot”—and set off for the tea shop nearby. Since the car was fixed and she was already here, she might as well try one of their fabled scones.
More whispering abounded in the tea shop. Knots of people clustered by the counter, parting only reluctantly to let Jade order a pear ginger scone. While she waited, she saw an Indian man surrounded by a crowd of people, looking vaguely cornered. As Jade watched curiously, he shook someone’s hand and tried to smile.
