Fry

by Lorna Dounaeva

It can’t be this easy.

  I let out a strange, strangled whistle. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

  “They’ve got her!”

  Julio reaches over and squeezes my hand, but even in my elation, I can’t return the gesture.

  “Knowing Alicia, she’ll probably wriggle out of it. They won’t be able to hold her for long.”

  I’m not that lucky.

  “Maybe, but if they start digging around, they might just find a few skeletons.”

  “Let’s hope so.”

  “Anyway, I think it’s about time we opened this, don’t you?”

  He holds up a bottle of my favourite champagne.

  “Oh Deacon, you’ve already spent so much. I don’t know how I’m ever going to repay you.”

  “Well, then - one glass of champagne is hardly going to make any difference, is it?”

  I laugh at his logic. “Go on then.”

  “Julio, would you like a glass?”

  “No thanks - I really should get home to Holly.” He turns to me. “I’m so glad you’re out, Isabel and I really am sorry.”

  “Thanks.”

  I let him show himself out.

  I try not to think about him as I enjoy the first champagne I’ve had in a very long time.

  “You OK?” I ask Kate, who is unnaturally quiet.

  “Yeah, why?”

  I narrow my eyes. “You know – Julio.”

  Because he broke your heart into a thousand tiny pieces.

  “Oh, him!”

  “I never thought I’d see the two of you in the same room again.”

  “Yeah, well things are different now.”

  “You’re over him?”

  “Absolutely – have been for a while. Besides, I have more important things to worry about.”

  She smiles mysteriously.

  “What does that mean?”

  She pulls a picture out of her wallet and hands it to me.

  “What’s this?”

  “What does it look like?”

  “A scan picture.” I stare at her in amazement. “Are you…pregnant?”

  She nods. “Thirteen weeks and counting.”

  “What? I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone!”

  She smiles ruefully. “Well, it wasn’t exactly planned, but I’m happy. We’re happy.”

  “So who’s the mystery man? Anyone I know?”

  “Well, actually…”

  She looks up as Rhett walks over with a glass of orange juice in his hand. He sets it down on the table and slips his arm around her waist.

  “You told her then?”

  “You’re…the father?”

  “Is it that hard to believe?”

  “No, no, of course not. It’s just… taken me a bit by surprise, that’s all!”

  I leave them to it and go and find Deacon, who’s using the computer in his study.

  The desk is stacked precariously high with papers and legal books.

  You really tried to get me out, didn’t you?

  “Ah, I take it they’ve told you their news?”

  “You knew about this? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Kate wanted to tell you herself – in person. Not in some manky visitor’s room. Aren’t you happy for them?”

  “Of course I am – I just…didn’t see it coming, that’s all.”

  “You didn’t?” He laughs. “Rhett’s had a thing for Kate ever since I can remember. The only thing I’m surprised about is that it’s taken them this long to get together.”

  So that’s why I’ve never seen him with another girl! Poor Rhett. He must have been devastated when she married Julio.

  He looks at me closely. “You thought he was on the other bus didn’t you?”

  “Well, what was I supposed to think? He is rather fond of shopping. And cooking.” I pause, thoughtfully. “Perfect boyfriend material, really. But I just can’t believe he’s liked her for all these years! How could she not notice?”

  “People can be a bit blind, when it comes to love.”

  “Like you and Alicia?” I blush – I hadn’t meant to utter these words aloud.

  “No.”

  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  Are you still in love with her? Even after everything she’s done to me?

  “No, I meant – that’s not what happened,”

  “What did happen?” I try to keep my tone casual, but every nerve in my body jangles.

  “I wanted to make you jealous.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “I know it was stupid, but you always looked at me as your friend. And I wanted to be more than that.”

  I blink. “Why didn’t you say something?”

  “I did! Don’t you remember? At the ball, the Christmas before last.”

  I look down at the ground. “I thought you were joking. We’d both had a bit too much to drink that night.”

  “That’s the trouble. You never took me seriously.”

  He hangs his head. “And the thing with Alicia – that was her idea. She said if you saw me with someone else, you might realise what you were missing. I know it was stupid and juvenile, but I thought it might just work. I didn’t know what she was then, or I would never have gone along with it.”

  “So you were never… in love with her?”

  “No, never. I only have eyes for you, Isabel.”

  I melt into him.

  The first kiss is soft and sweet and tender. Soon his hands are on my back and in my hair. His body presses against mine as he kisses me more deeply, more urgently. I’m tempted, oh how I’m tempted. But how can I even consider this? His cruel words, spoken so many months ago, still sting in my ears: “Fluffy’s disappearance is probably her own doing.”

  “No!” I pull back sharply.

  He looks at me in confusion.

  “Isabel? What’s wrong?”

  “I was there that night, when you were talking to Kate about me. When you told her Fluffy ran away because of me.”

  “Ohhh…” Deacon’s face changes. “No, Isabel – it wasn’t like that.”

  “I heard everything.”

  I look at him expectantly, waiting for him to deny it, to apologise, anything.

  “I know that’s what I said…”

  So it’s true.

  I spin on my heel.

  “Isabel!”

  “Leave me alone, Deacon. I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but there’s really nothing more you can say.”

  I do a lot of thinking on the long walk home. It’s strange, picking my way through the familiar streets. This is the first time I’ve been on my own, truly on my own, for months. As much as it hurts, I have to accept this. If Deacon doesn’t believe in me, then there’s no future for us and no point in pretending.

  My wind battered car waits for me on my driveway, the windows muddied with leaves and cobwebs. I find the front door slightly dented. The police must have broken it down to get in when they were looking for Holly. It’s been fixed, but you can still tell something happened here.

  Inside, the place is a lot tidier than I left it. Kate and Rhett have been round to clean. There are fresh flowers on the windowsill and not a single dish left in the sink or on the draining board. Even Fluffy’s bowl has been washed and neatly put away. I sniff the air. Rhett has put in one of those plug-in air fresheners. It smells lovely and lemony, and yet it makes me feel incredibly sad, as if the citrus smell has wiped out the last vestige of Fluffy. I take his bowl out of the cupboard, fill it with water and place it back on the ground. Then I go upstairs to pack. If I set off now, I should be in Scotland by the morning.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The gentle motion of the train must have lulled me to sleep. I slide open the window and enjoy the cool breeze on my face, as sheep patterned fields whiz by. Am I really here, hundreds of miles away from Alicia, Jody and all the craziness of the last year?

  As the train pulls into the station, I glance
furtively around but no one takes the slightest bit of notice as I set off into the picturesque Fenley village. I don’t know how long the police will detain Alicia, but I’m betting it won’t be long. That’s why I had to get away when I did. It’s best for everyone that they don’t know where I am. I try not to think of the friends I’ve left behind. I try not to think of Deacon and my unresolved feelings for him. If my friends can’t find me, then nor can my enemies.

  I walk into the village shop and linger in front of the display of cigarettes at the counter. I had to cut back on them while I was in prison, but now they are freely available, I’m not sure I really want them anymore. Instead, I fill a basket with groceries; bread, butter, eggs, milk, cheese, wine, coffee and chocolate - everything I need to sustain myself for the next few days plus a bottle of water for the long walk up the hill. And I know it’s a long walk, because I’ve been here before.

  My friends and I rented Tumbledown Cottage last summer, after Kate and Julio broke up. We thought it would help Kate take her mind off things. I’m hoping it will do the same for me now. Quaint, scenic and secluded – it’s the perfect place to hide.

  Tumbledown Cottage, Northwest Highlands

  The cottage is just as I remember; that faint smell of oak and heather, low ceilings supported by solid black beams, walls painted in various shades of peach, lemon and pistachio. Despite the short notice, Marjorie, the owner, has left me a homemade Victoria sponge and turned up the heating, so the cottage is warm and snug when I arrive. There is no need for me to light the open fireplace - not that I had any intention of doing so.

  I take a long, hot soak in the bath and change into my pyjamas. I am tempted to open a bottle of wine, but then what would I do tonight? Instead, I brew some coffee and flip through a magazine, marvelling at how the fashions have changed since I’ve been inside. My eyelids grow heavy and I allow myself to fall asleep in front of the TV. I am faintly aware it’s still on as I’m drifting off, but I do not make any move to turn it off. I have become too accustomed to noise.

  I dream of my purple moon again that night; A moon with a fantastic halo and sherberty-orange stars that pulse brightly in the night sky. I haven’t had that dream for so many years, and yet here it is again, as if to mark the start of my new life.

  I wake at first light and watch the sun break over the mountains as I eat my eggs. The weather is grey and bleak most of the time, and the only person I see is Marjorie, the white-haired landlady, who drives up on Friday to collect her rent. She is curious about my situation, especially when I tell her that I would like to stay on for a few more weeks, but I don’t let her lure me into conversation. I doubt anyone’s heard about the trial in these parts and I’d like to keep it that way.

  I only go down to the village when I run out of fresh food and even then I don’t go anywhere but the village shop. I gaze wistfully through the windows of the little boutique Kate and I found the last time we were here, but I don’t go in. It’s crucial that I keep a low profile. Besides, what use do I have for beautiful dresses now?

  *

  By Saturday, though, cabin fever has crept in. I need to get out, even if just to go down to the village. I promise myself I’ll be careful, that I won’t get caught in conversation by the shop assistant, or linger too long outside the boutique. I just need to taste my freedom for a bit, to remind myself that I can come and go as I please now. That I’m no one’s prisoner.

  But as I open the door, something flies past me, into the cottage. I jump back, startled, till I see that it’s just a little robin. He’s very friendly - hops right up to me and accepts crumbs from the table. He’s such a sweet little thing, I would love to keep him but I could never do that. I could never put him in a cage. Instead, I let him eat his fill and then show him the way out.

  It’s raining hard as I return from my shopping expedition, laden with a rucksack full of groceries and wine. I towel off and put everything away. In addition to the usual sundries, I’ve treated myself to a face-mask and a French manicure kit. These, along with a box of macaroons and a Coronation Street DVD, ought to keep me occupied for the rest of the day.

  I am just about to apply the first coat of nail polish when there is a knock at the door.

  Who’s that?

  My hair stands on end a little as I go to the door. I cannot let go of the fear that Alicia will come after me. That she’ll go to the ends of the earth to find me. That I’ll never truly be free of her.

  I spot Marjorie’s pink umbrella through the spy-hole and start to unbolt the door. But it isn’t Marjorie who stands, dripping from head to toe, in the doorway.

  “You didn’t let me explain…”

  “Deacon!”

  Water drips from his body and pools on the bristly doormat.

  I thought I’d never see you again!

  “Can I come in?”

  “I think you’d better,” I say, quick to recover my composure.

  I pull him inside and help peel off his sopping wet raincoat.

  “How on earth did you find me?”

  “Your neighbour.”

  “Mr Krinkle? Doesn’t that man ever learn?”

  “Apparently not. He was at his window the night the minicab picked you up. He overheard the driver yelling ‘taxi for the station’.”

  “He couldn’t be bothered to ring the doorbell, the lazy sod. But how did you know I was coming here?”

  “The overnight train was the only one running at that time of night and I knew you’d only been to Scotland once before and that was with me.”

  My mouth drops open. “So you came all this way - on the off-chance?”

  “Not quite. I rang Marjorie to see if you’d booked the cottage.”

  “Oh. I hadn’t thought of that.”

  I feel a slightly heady sensation as he reaches for me and grips my shoulders.

  “I can’t believe you just left like that. Were you ever coming back?”

  He sounds…angry, no, more than that – hurt, upset.

  “I didn’t think I was ever going to see you again!”

  “Me neither.” I pull away, before I do something reckless. I’m so torn and confused. Too shocked to think clearly. I hadn’t expected him to come after me like this. Hadn’t prepared myself for the possibility that he’d find me.

  “I’ll make us some coffee,” I say. “Then we can talk properly.”

  “Fine. I’ll go and change into some dry clothes.”

  I try to collect my thoughts as I boil the kettle. Part of me is giddy with excitement, but another part wonders if this can ever work.

  “You really should let me explain about those things I said,” he says, accepting a cup.

  I look down at my palms. “I don’t think there’s anything you can say.”

  “Just hear me out, OK?”

  “OK.”

  Because I’m not quite ready to let you go yet.

  “Those things I said – they were all for Alicia’s benefit. I knew she was listening at the door that night. I needed her to believe that I was still taken in by her. I didn’t want her to know that I was onto her. “

  His face is flushed and earnest. Is it possible he’s telling the truth?

  “Come on, Isabel. You know me.”

  I thought I did.

  “You sounded so…convincing…”

  He presses his lips together. “I have to admit – there was a moment when I did wonder about you. You were acting so strangely that I was genuinely worried, but it wasn’t for very long. The more time I spent with Alicia, the more I could see that she was the sick one, not you. I never really thought you could harm Fluffy. I could never think that.”

  My body’s in shock. I feel like I’m floating on air.

  “So you don’t think I’m crazy?”

  “Well, not in a clinical sense…”

  “I still find it hard to believe that you weren’t really in love with Alicia.”

  I saw the way you looked at her. You never looked at me li
ke that.

  “Isabel, I don’t know what I have to say to convince you. Except that you’re the one I want. The only one.”

  He reaches over to me and I’m afraid he’s going to touch me, afraid I won’t be able to control myself if he does, so I set down my coffee and walk over to the window, from where I can steer the conversation back to safer waters.

  “How is everyone? Is Kate OK?”

  “She’s fine. She doesn’t understand why you left in such a rush, though, or why you won’t answer her calls. She was threatening to come and find you herself.”

  “So that’s why you came?”

  “You know why I came.” He takes a deep breath. “I do have some news, though. I don’t really know how to tell you this – I don’t want to scare you.”

  “What? What is it?”

  “The police found the bodies of Alicia’s father and brother at their holiday home in France. Apparently, the bodies had been there some time.”

  “They’d been…murdered?”

  “The French police thought the deaths were accidental, but considering what we already know, I doubt that’s true.”

  So that’s why Alicia came after me. She’d already got revenge on her family. I was just next on her list.

  “Brian made a few calls for me and it sounds like Penney and Millrose are going over there to speak to the French police. They want to launch an investigation.”

  “Let’s hope they get it right this time.”

  “That’s the thing. Brian reckons that if they do press charges, then Jody’s going to take the rap for it all. She’ll do anything Alicia tells her, and she’s got a history of psychiatric illness. She can play the insanity card if she has to.”

  “So Alicia won’t go to prison?”

  “I don’t know, but it sounds like Jody has already confessed to some of the lesser charges. They’re sending her to Gillmore.”

  “Gillmore?” I relish the very idea of Jody being sent to the place where I was wrongly incarcerated. The taste is quite delicious on my tongue. If only Alicia were going too. How poetic that would be.

  “But I didn’t come here to talk about them, Isabel. I came here so that we could talk about us.”

  He takes my hand in his, and electricity flows between us.

  “Will you come home with me?”