Pumpkins, Peril and a Paella (A Charlotte Denver Cozy Mystery Book 4)

by Bryan, Sherri

“The training course?”

  “Yes. I like to take an interest in my husband-to-be’s career progression.”

  “Oh, yes. Of course. Erm, well, it’s going to focus on er, alternative interview techniques and a new approach to, er, victim support.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Charlotte mulled over his answer as she munched on her toast. “Are Ben and Fiona going, too?”

  “What? Er, no. No, it’s only for senior officers.”

  “Oh, right. Where is it?”

  “Where? Oh, it’s er, in, um, St. Matlock.” Nathan looked at his watch. “Look, I have to get going, I’ve got to call in at the station first. I’ll see you tonight, okay? Not sure what time exactly, depends on how long this course goes on for.”

  He gave Charlotte a kiss, grabbed his jacket, came back and gave her another kiss, and then he was gone.

  ººººººº

  At the next roundabout, take the third exit and your destination is the second road on the left.

  Nathan followed the directions and switched off his SatNav. Slowing down, he squinted out of the window at the house numbers. 28, 26, 24, 22, 20. This was it. 20, Ashwing Road.

  He locked the car and walked up the path. His stomach was churning, although he had no idea why. There was no reason for him to feel nervous.

  Pressing the doorbell, he stood back from the porch. Presently, he heard the pad, pad of footsteps coming closer and the door was opened by a woman, slight in stature, with short, dark hair and light brown eyes.

  He swallowed hard as unexpected tears pricked his eyelids. The woman standing in front of him could have been Charlotte’s mother.

  She stepped forward and slid open the porch door. Smiling, she held out her hand. “Nathan, I’m so happy to meet you at last. Please come in.”

  ººººººº

  “You can’t imagine how many questions I have for you. I understand that you didn’t want to tell me much over the phone, but I hope you’re prepared for a literal bombardment because there’s a lot I want to know.” Lola Whitworth smiled as she put a mug of tea in front of Nathan.

  “And there’s a lot I want to ask you, too, but in time honoured tradition, ladies first.” Nathan sat back and unbuttoned his jacket.

  “Well.” Lola sipped her tea. “First of all, how did you find me?”

  Nathan explained that it hadn’t been too difficult for him to find her ex-husband’s contact details using social media and an online people-finding service. It had taken a while but eventually, his enquiries had rewarded him with an address and a phone number. The only thing was, as the online records hadn’t been updated since Ian’s departure from the marital home, Nathan hadn’t had any idea that he no longer lived there.

  “Oh my goodness, I had no idea you could find that kind of information online.” Charlotte’s Aunt Lola sat in an armchair with her feet curled up underneath her and her hands clasped around a mug of steaming tea. “Anyway, what made you want to get in touch with me in the first place?”

  Nathan felt the goosebumps prick up on his arms. Not for the first time since they’d met, he was struck with how similar Lola’s mannerisms were to Charlotte’s.

  “Well, as I told you on the phone, I never in a million years expected to speak to you - you can imagine my shock when you told me who you were. It was your husband - sorry, your ex-husband - I was trying to get in touch with.

  “Charlotte and I are getting married soon, you see, and I thought it would be a fantastic surprise if her uncle could come to the wedding. She misses her parents so much and I know it makes her sad to think she has no family left.

  “Of course, having you at the wedding is going to be even more incredible but I should warn you, it’s going to be a huge shock for her.

  “I was even considering telling her before the wedding but decided against it because I think the surprise will make the day even more special ... once the shock has worn off, that is!

  “So to answer your question, I wasn’t actually trying to get in touch with you, because I thought you were dead. Charlotte told me that’s what her mother told her years ago.”

  Lola nodded. “I’ve no doubt she did, although it was a dreadful lie and, I swear, I had no part in it.”

  Nathan took a gulp of his coffee. “I must admit, that part of the story’s been worrying me. Why does she think you’re dead?”

  Lola sighed and put her mug down on the coffee table. “It’s a long story, but I’ll give you the short version. When Molly and Scott decided to go to Spain, I wasn’t happy about it at all. Our parents had both passed away not long before and I felt as though Molly was abandoning me. She was ten years older than me, you see, and she’d always been very protective.” Lola shook her head. “I know how selfish that seems now, but back then, I didn’t see it that way.

  “Anyway, I was hurt that she was leaving and, very stupidly, I gave her an ultimatum. I told her that if she went to Spain, I’d never speak to her again. Of course, she went. She had to - Scott had been offered the most amazing job and of course, she wanted to be with him and Charlotte. After they left, there was nothing to keep me in St. Eves so I upped sticks and went travelling. I never went back, which is why I don’t remember you, I suppose.

  “You know, I think back now and it makes me so sad. Really, it was such a minor disagreement but what with the stress of them moving abroad for Molly, and for me, it somehow became a major issue. We hadn’t spoken for years but when Ian and I got married, I sent her a letter and a photograph.

  “I almost picked up the phone so many times to get in touch. I can’t tell you how much I wish I’d made that call.” She bit her lip and looked at her lap.

  “Anyway, not long after we got married, Ian and I began to have marital problems. I didn’t realise until after we got married how much he drank but let me tell you, it was a lot and it caused the most terrible arguments between us. I lost count of the times we split up and got back together again.

  “One day, while we were screaming at each other, he told me that Molly had called me years before, after she’d received my letter. I’d been at work but because he’d been so drunk and he’d wanted to get rid of her, he’d told her I’d died and, because it was too painful for him to talk to her, never to call again.

  “It was such a disgusting thing to have done, I couldn’t believe it. I thought he was just saying it to hurt me but he assured me that he really had told her that. I can’t tell you how furious I was. To be honest, I think that was the first time I knew there was no saving our marriage. Even though he stopped drinking soon afterwards, it was too late for us.

  “Anyway, after that, I called Molly on every number I had for her, but they’d all been disconnected. I wanted to explain what Ian had done and to apologise for me being such an idiot. I so badly wanted to heal the rift there’d been between us but I couldn’t contact her. I assumed they’d moved.

  “It wasn’t until a couple of months later that I found an obituary for Molly and Scott online. I was absolutely devastated ... not just for me, but for Charlotte and for my kids, too. That they never got to meet Molly is something I will always regret.”

  “Oh yes, you mentioned before that you have kids. How old are they?”

  “Jamie is 17 and Remy is 15.”

  An aunt and two cousins. Charlotte was going to explode.

  “I’ll be honest, Lola.” Nathan looked her straight in the eye. “It concerns me that you’ve never tried to contact Charlotte.” He needed to know why her aunt had never been in touch with her. “Even though you knew she’d lost her parents and that you and your family were the only relatives she had left.”

  Lola nodded. “I can understand why you’d be concerned. Believe me, if I could have turned back the clock I’d have done anything to have found her but at the time, you said it yourself, she’d thought for years that I was dead. I didn’t know how she’d feel about me turning up out of the blue ... I didn’t even know if she’d want to see me again after what happened between me an
d her mum. I didn’t even know she’d come back to England.

  “I’ll tell you something, though, I’m so happy to know that Molly must have showed Charlotte the wedding photo I sent. And that she must have talked about me to her. She must have done, I guess, otherwise you would never have known that I’d been married to Ian?”

  Nathan had kept his cards very close to his chest during his telephone conversation with Charlotte’s Aunt Lola. He’d deliberately been tight-lipped about Charlotte, wanting to be sure that she would still be interested to meet her niece despite knowing very little about her. The last thing he wanted was for this woman to come into Charlotte’s life out of curiosity rather than love.

  “You’re right. Molly did show Charlotte the photograph ... and Charlotte has it now, in amongst the mountain upon mountain of family memorabilia that she keeps in an enormous trunk.” He chuckled.

  “Really?” Lola’s eyes filled with tears and she blinked them back quickly. “You don’t know how happy that makes me. ‘Scuse me a minute, will you?” She uncurled herself from the chair and grabbed a tissue from the box on the dining room table.

  “Sorry about that ... took me by surprise.” She wiped her eyes.

  “Well.” Nathan smiled at Lola. “Now that I’ve found you I suppose I should invite you, officially, to the wedding. And your children, of course. Do you think you’ll be able to come?” It hadn’t occurred to Nathan until that moment that Lola might have other plans.

  “You just try and stop us,” said Lola, her smile wide and her eyes brimming with tears again.

  Chapter 13

  Charlotte and Jess were getting ready to close the café at the end of the day.

  “You know, I can’t believe you’re going to be married this time next month.” Jess stripped the top cloths off the tables. “Charlotte Costello. Lucky for you, Nathan’s got a nice surname.”

  “I know, I can’t quite believe it myself. I keep waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, worrying that I’ve forgotten something.”

  “Like what? Look Charlotte, between us, me, you and Laura have been over everything. We’ve crossed every t and dotted every i. If you’d missed something, one of us would have picked it up and vice versa. For goodness sake, don’t start worrying about stuff for no reason - you’ve got enough on your plate.”

  “Tell me about it,” said Charlotte. “Oh, look, here’s Ben.”

  “Hi, you two. Anything I can do to help?” Whenever he could, Ben called in to the café to give Jess a lift home. He hugged her and gave her a quick kiss before awaiting instructions.

  “You could give the chairs a wipe down if you don’t mind.” Charlotte passed him a bottle of spray cleaner and a cloth. “Have you been working today?”

  “Yeah, got off a couple of hours ago.”

  “Was Nathan back from his training course when you left?”

  Ben looked up from the chair he was spraying. “Training course? He’s not on a training course. Not as far as I know, anyway.”

  “Oh.” Charlotte was confused.

  “Why did you think he was on a training course?”

  “Because he told me he was.”

  “Oh.” Ben was confused.

  “He said it was a course for senior officers ... something about alternative interview techniques and a new approach to victim support.”

  Ben shrugged. “News to me. It must have been arranged very recently because I don’t know anything about it. I saw him first thing this morning when he briefed the team but then he went out and I haven’t seen him since.” He moved swiftly from chair to chair. “But if he said he was going on a training course, I’m sure that’s where he went.”

  “Hmm, I suppose so,” Charlotte said distractedly. She was extremely intuitive and her gut told that something wasn’t right. She thought back to that morning when Nathan had fumbled for words when she’d asked him about the course.

  She tried to put the incident out of her mind but, suddenly, the words Harriett had spoken in the bridal shop came flooding back to her.

  Number two is that he’s secretive about his whereabouts or his arrangements and number three is that he becomes flustered when questioned about number two.

  She felt as though a fist had formed around her heart.

  Nathan’s having second thoughts about the wedding.

  Without warning, she burst into tears.

  “What’s the matter?” Jess and Pippin were at her side in a flash.

  “Oh, it’s just me being silly.” Charlotte waved Jess away and lifted Pippin into her arms. “It’s just the stress of planning the wedding, that’s all.” She felt embarrassed by her tears, which had taken her by surprise as much as they had Jess.

  “Come on, I know you better than that.” Jess handed her a serviette and sat her down on a chair. Turning to Ben, she said, “You go on home and I’ll be round later.”

  He nodded and made a hasty exit. “See you later. See you, Charlotte.”

  She nodded and took another serviette from the bar. “I’m so sorry about this, Ben.”

  “Right.” Jess pulled up a chair. “What’s up? And don’t give me any old malarkey about being stressed about the wedding. I know you, Charlotte Denver, better than you know yourself, sometimes, and I know it’s more than that.” She dabbed away her friend’s tears. “Now come on. What is it?”

  Charlotte suddenly felt very stupid. Stupid for doubting Nathan’s commitment to her and stupid for allowing an equally stupid magazine article to make her so fretful.

  “You’re going to laugh.” She smiled weakly.

  “Well, it’s about time someone did around here,” said Jess, returning her smile. “Come on. Tell me.”

  “I think Nathan may have cold feet. About the wedding, I mean.”

  Jess stared at her, open-mouthed. “Have you gone stark raving bonkers? What on earth’s brought this on?”

  Charlotte told her about how flustered Nathan had become when she’d asked him about his training course and reminded her of the magazine article Harriett had been reading in the bridal shop.

  “When I think of it now, it was so obvious he was lying. I don’t know why I didn’t say something to him about it. He wasn’t going on a training course - I’m sure of it. So where did he go?” She bit her bottom lip to stop the tears coming again and hugged Pippin close to her.

  “Oh, Charlotte! Come on! You don’t think ... I mean, you’re not worried that ...”

  “That Nathan’s seeing someone else?” Charlotte finished the sentence. “Well, I wasn’t until fifteen minutes ago, but why else would he be behaving like this? We’ve never had any secrets from each other, so why would he suddenly be so cagey about what he’s doing and where he’s going?”

  Jess shook her head. “No, I don’t believe it. There must be another reason for him being so guarded. I mean, how many times have I told you? That man loves the bones of you. I’d bet on my life that he’s not seeing anyone else.” She hugged Charlotte, prompting another onslaught of tears. “Now, dry your eyes. I’ll walk home with you and I’ll stay until Nathan gets back. Okay?”

  “Oh, my gosh, I’m a mess. What would I do without you, Jess? I love you so much.” Charlotte wiped a serviette over her face and gave her friend a hug. “You’re the best bridesmaid ever. You know that?”

  Jess rolled her eyes and grinned. “Of course I know! I could’ve told you that!” She winked. “Now come on, let’s get finished up and we can go home.”

  ººººººº

  It was almost half-past seven when the loud chime of a striking clock alerted Jess to the fact that she had a text message.

  “For goodness sake! I wish you’d change that to something else. It always makes me jump out of my skin.” Charlotte chopped red onions, sweet potato, juicy peppers and parsnips for the roasted vegetable side dish she was cooking to accompany a roast chicken.

  “Yes, me too, actually,” said Jess. “I’ll check this message and I’ll change it afterwards.” S
he swiped her screen fully expecting to see a message from Ben, but immediately saw that it was from Nathan. Instinct told her not to mention it to Charlotte.

  “Everything okay?” Charlotte filled an oven dish with the chopped vegetables and whole garlic cloves and drizzled the whole lot with olive oil.

  “Um, yes, it’s from my sister.” Jess was horrified that the lie came to her lips so easily. She read the message again.

  Can you meet me at Garrett and Laura’s place tonight at 8? Can’t say more now but PLEASE DON’T SAY ANYTHING TO CHARLOTTE. Will explain later.

  She drank the last of her coffee, thinking quickly of what excuse she could make to Charlotte to absent herself so suddenly. Again, she was disturbed at the speed with which a completely fictitious, but plausible, story came out of her mouth.

  “I’m sorry, lovie, but I’m going to have to leave. My sister wants me to email her the details of that sinus medication that cleared up my allergies before the chemist closes at eight. I can’t remember what it is, or I’d send it from here. You sure you’re going to be okay on your own?”

  “Of course I am. Thanks for staying with me - you didn’t have to, you know.”

  They hugged and Jess pulled on her coat, hat and scarf. “Right, I’m off. And don’t worry about Nathan, okay? I guarantee, there’ll be an explanation for his weirdness. I’ll see you in the morning. See you, Pip.”

  As she walked to Ben’s place, she cursed Nathan for putting her in such an awkward position. She had never lied to Charlotte before and she didn’t intend to start now.

  She’d been sure that her friend’s concerns were unfounded. Sure, that is, until she’d read Nathan’s message. She hoped he wasn’t about to tell her something she didn’t want to hear.

  My God, if he really is having second thoughts about the wedding or he’s done something that’ll hurt Charlotte, I’ll kill him. If Garrett and Laura don’t get to him first, that is. Or just Laura, actually.

  She turned the key in the lock of Ben’s front door and as she did, her mind went back to all the times she’d spent in the house with Charlotte before Ben had moved in as her tenant. As she set foot over the doorstep, she grinned as she recalled her and Charlotte sliding down the stairs in sleeping bags and wearing cycling helmets, one evening, long ago, when they’d both had one glass of wine too many.