An Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy Collection - DEF

by Diana Xarissa

  “I didn’t really enjoy childhood, anyway,” Mona told her. “Your mother was always so much better behaved than I was. I gave up trying to be good by the time I reached my teens. I could never compete with my younger sister.”

  “Mum would be very sad to hear you say that,” Fenella said.

  “I know. That’s part of what was so annoying. She was always good, but she didn’t even have to work at it. After she fell in love with your father, she never so much as looked at another man. All that time when they were apart, she stayed faithful and was confident that it would all work out in the end.”

  “And she was right.”

  “She was always right,” Mona snapped. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m out of sorts and I’m taking it out on you,” she added quickly. “I’ve spent too much time thinking about my past and some of the unpleasant things I lived through. Maybe I need to go and visit Max. That would cheer me up, I’m sure.”

  “If you can go and visit people whenever you want, you should go and visit Margaret and Anne Marie and ask them both whether they were murdered or not,” Fenella suggested.

  “It isn’t that simple,” Mona told her. “I haven’t any idea where to look for either of them, but Max is here.”

  “Here?”

  “In the building,” Mona explained. “He usually spends his time in the back, in what used to be the ballroom. It’s just offices now, but I’m not sure Max sees it that way. Anyway, I’ll see you later. I’ll want to hear all about your lunch with Hannah when I get back.”

  Fenella watched as the woman faded from view. She wasn’t sure if Mona was telling the truth about visiting Max or not, but for her aunt’s sake, she hoped it was true. She liked the idea of Mona being able to visit old and dear friends who were also dead.

  She changed into a dress and low heels and then took a taxi to the restaurant that Hannah had suggested. There were only a handful of people scattered around the room when Fenella arrived. Her heart sank when she realized that Hannah wasn’t one of them.

  “Just you today, love?” the middle-aged woman who was waiting tables called as Fenella hesitated in the doorway.

  “I’m meeting a friend,” she replied.

  “Oh, aye? Is it a blind date? Will he recognize you or did you send him a doctored photo?”

  Fenella flushed. “I’m meeting a female friend who I will certainly recognize,” she said firmly.

  The woman shrugged. “Sorry, but we get a lot of blind dates out here. We’re just far enough away from Douglas city center so that people think they can meet here and no one will know. This Internet dating thing has been good for my business, I can tell you that.”

  “Good for you,” Fenella said.

  “It’s quite fun for me, too,” the woman said confidingly. “You would be amazed at what some people put in their dating profiles. The truth comes out here, though, let me tell you.”

  “Really?” Fenella was intrigued.

  “Mostly, people just touch up their photos so that they look better than they really do,” the woman shrugged. “But we did have a man come in once and his date took one look at him and started shouting. When I went to see what was wrong, she showed me the picture he’d sent her. It was some guy off the telly. Even I recognized him and I don’t watch much telly.”

  “I take it the man didn’t look much like the photo, then?”

  “He was about five feet tall, bald and nearly round,” the woman replied. “He was missing a few teeth, didn’t look like he’d bathed in a week, and he was wearing cowboy boots with shorts.”

  Fenella burst out laughing. “And he thought the woman would be okay with all of that?”

  “He said he thought she would overlook his slight deception, and those were his words, not mine, because they’d made such a strong connection in their emails.”

  “Presumably, she didn’t agree.”

  “According to her, they’d only barely spoken via email,” the woman replied. “She said she only agreed to meet him because he was so gorgeous. She thought he was really boring in the few emails they had shared, but she was willing to overlook it because he had great abs.”

  Fenella and the woman both laughed, and then the woman showed Fenella to a table in the corner. “Can I bring you a drink while you wait for your friend?”

  Because it was a warm day, Fenella ordered a soft drink, and then looked over the menu. There were several salads that looked good, but she was having trouble focusing on food. Every minute that went by made her more worried about Hannah.

  When the bell on the door rang a few minutes later, Fenella was hugely relieved to see Hannah making her way into the café.

  “I’m sorry I’m late,” she told Fenella. “It takes me longer to walk places now than it used to.”

  “No problem,” Fenella said, trying to keep her tone light.

  Hannah slid into the seat opposite her and sighed. “I almost cancelled,” she said softly. “I didn’t sleep much. I can’t stop thinking about Margaret.”

  “I’m sorry,” Fenella said, patting the woman’s hand.

  “She shouldn’t have been going up and down stairs, not at her age. I told her to move into a bungalow, but she loved that old house. She lived there for fifty years or more. Her son wanted her to move, too, but that only made her more determined to stay at home. They didn’t agree on anything, those two.”

  “Someone told me that the carpet at the top of the stairs was torn,” Fenella said. “That sounds dangerous.”

  “There were a lot of things in her house that needed repairing,” Margaret told her. “Like I said, she’d lived there for a long time. She did her best, but she’d just about outlived her resources. Putting in new carpeting was out of the question.”

  The waitress came over and took their orders, and the two women chatted about the weather and local news for a short while.

  “But you wanted to hear about Mona,” Hannah said eventually. “What can I tell you about her? She was the woman we all secretly wanted to be. She was pretty, but more than that, she was sexy and glamorous. We all thought she could have been a Hollywood star if she wanted to be, but she seemed happy enough here. I always thought she stayed because of Max.”

  “What was he like?”

  “So beautiful and so sexy,” Hannah said, giggling. “We were all crazy about him. He used to say the most wonderful things, just a long stream of compliments every time he saw you. That probably sounds weird, but he always sounded so sincere that I never questioned it. He would look at you as if you were the only woman in the world and then tell you how beautiful you were and how perfect your dress was. It was mesmerizing, I can’t think of another word for it.”

  “I’ve been told that everyone in your social circle used to flirt with everyone else,” Fenella said, choosing her words carefully.

  “There was a lot of flirting,” Hannah agreed. “And some infidelity as well, although not as much as everyone pretended. Most of the men were more interested in their bank accounts than in their sex lives and most of the women were too busy with their children to manage secret rendezvous.”

  “So Max was just flirting?”

  Hannah shook her head. “It wasn’t even flirting with Max. It was just his personality. We all knew he only had eyes for Mona, even if we wanted to believe otherwise.”

  “I understand they fought a lot, though.”

  Hannah laughed. “Mona lived for drama,” she said. “I swear that woman would start a fight with Max about anything. The thing is, though, Max always bought her extravagant things to apologize, even though the fights were never his fault. They would have a screaming row and then, a week later, Mona would turn up at a party with a huge emerald ring on her finger and a smug smile on her face. Max had to know what she was doing, of course, but he went along for some reason.”

  “Do you think they loved each other?” Fenella had to ask.

  “Oh, I suppose so,” Hannah replied. “Although I don’t know much about love, myself. My pa
rents picked out my husband for me and we were never particularly close.”

  “How awful,” Fenella exclaimed.

  “He treated me well,” Hannah said. “We had three wonderful children together, he was a good provider, and he kindly dropped dead of a heart attack three months before he was due to retire. I’m not sure we would have stayed together if he’d retired and been at home all day, every day. As it is, I inherited a small fortune in life insurance and I finally got my freedom, aged sixty-four.”

  “I can’t even imagine,” Fenella told her.

  “That was over ten years ago,” Hannah said. “And there are days when I miss the man, which I never thought would happen. Maybe I did love him, in my own way. But Mona and Max? They were crazy about each other. Even when they were fighting, they couldn’t stay away from one another. And even when they were fighting, they stayed faithful. I know Mona had something of a reputation for being wild, but I think Max was the only man she ever actually slept with.”

  While they’d been talking, the pair had worked their way through their salads. “Did you want pudding?” the waitress asked as she cleared their plates.

  “Oh, I shouldn’t,” Hannah said.

  “Why not?” Fenella demanded. “What are our choices?” she asked the waitress.

  The woman rattled off at least a dozen different options. Fenella laughed.

  “You had me at chocolate sponge,” she told her. “I didn’t hear anything you said after that.”

  “I’ll have the sticky toffee pudding,” Hannah said. “It’s my favorite and I haven’t had it in ages.”

  “This has been nice,” Hannah said as they waited for their sweet course. “I hope you’ll come to Margaret’s memorial service once we work out the details.”

  “I’d like that,” Fenella said. “Will you let me know where and when it’s being held?”

  “Of course,” the woman promised. “I’m helping her children make the arrangements. They all live across now.”

  “Hannah? I thought that was you,” a voice said. Fenella was sure she recognized the posh accent, but she couldn’t quite remember where she’d heard it before.

  She turned in her seat and smiled as she recognized Patricia Anderson walking toward her from a table on the other side of the room.

  “Oh, it’s Fenella, isn’t it? You’re Mona’s niece.”

  Fenella nodded. “It’s nice to see you again,” she told Patricia.

  “I didn’t expect to see you having lunch with Hannah,” the woman said, her tone questioning.

  Hannah looked at Fenella and winked. “How are you, my dear?” she asked, ignoring the unasked question.

  “I’m very well, thank you,” Patricia said. “I was so sorry to hear about Margaret. I was going to ring you, actually, to see how you were doing. I know you two were great friends.”

  “We were,” Hannah agreed.

  “I was always on the outside, just a little bit, in that crowd,” Patricia told Fenella. “I’m somewhat younger.”

  “Patricia was a trophy wife,” Hannah said.

  “Hannah!” Patricia gasped. “I was no such thing.”

  “Patricia was eighteen when she married her husband,” Hannah explained. “He’d just divorced his first wife and was about to celebrate his fortieth birthday.”

  Patricia frowned. “There are two sides to every story,” she said tightly.

  “I’m just sharing the facts,” Hannah replied.

  “But, Fenella, I was hoping I might bump into you somewhere,” Patricia said, turning away from Hannah. “It was so good of you to come with Donald to our little auction the other night. Melanie and I were talking afterwards and we both agreed that you could be invaluable to our efforts. We’re always desperate for new volunteers, and with your background, you could bring a whole new perspective to our work.”

  “Did Mona do much volunteer work with you?” Fenella asked, wondering if the woman would lie.

  “No, er, I mean, Mona had her own pet projects. I was always sad that our charity wasn’t one of them, because we do such wonderful work, but then all of the island’s charities do great things. There are just so many of them and such a limited supply of volunteers. I told Melanie that we’d have to track you down and get you signed up quickly, before all of the other groups start asking. You’ll be in huge demand once word gets out that you’re here.”

  “I am rather busy,” Fenella said. “I’m writing a book.”

  “Really? What sort of book?” Patricia asked.

  Fenella hesitated. “It’s going to be about Anne Boleyn,” she said finally. “I’m a historian.” Both statements were true. It wouldn’t be her fault if Patricia put them together and decided that Fenella was writing a traditional biography, she thought.

  “How exciting,” Patricia said. “I’ll look forward to reading it one day. But in the meantime, surely you can spare an hour or two a week? That’s all we would need, I promise. Give me your number and I’ll ring you in a few days. Melanie and I can take you to lunch and tell you all about the wonderful things we do.”

  Fenella wrote her home phone number on the card that Patricia produced from her handbag. She would have to try to remember to let the answering machine screen her calls from now on, she thought.

  “Excellent,” the woman beamed as Fenella handed the card back. “And now I must be off. We’re having a coffee morning next week and the woman who was meant to be organizing it dropped the ball. Of course, I’ve had to step in yet again.” She sighed and then swept out of the restaurant, leaving Hannah shaking her head.

  “It was lovely to see you, too,” she called after Patricia. The other woman was long gone.

  “She’s a bit overwhelming,” Fenella said.

  “She’s a bit horrible,” Hannah replied. “Do yourself a favor and don’t have lunch with her. She’ll talk you into organizing something and then complain about every single thing you do until you end up quitting out of sheer frustration.”

  “Oh, dear. That sounds like bitter experience.”

  “It is. I worked with her in the early days, before she got this bad. Now I just sit back and watch as she begs people to help and then refuses to actually let them do anything. Melanie is the only one who can work with her, and that’s only because they’re family.”

  “Perhaps Mona was smart to not get involved, then.”

  “Mona would have, though, if Patricia would have let her. But Patricia didn’t approve of Mona, at least in part because her husband thought Mona was wonderful. I understand that Mona volunteered for a couple of things and was always politely told that they didn’t need her help. If you ask me, Mona was lucky.”

  It didn’t take the women long to eat their desserts once they were delivered.

  “I’ll ring you when I know what’s happening for Margaret,” Hannah said as she got to her feet once Fenella had paid the bill. “Thank you again for lunch. I didn’t mean for you to pay.”

  “It was my pleasure,” Fenella insisted. The older woman took a few steps and then stopped, resting her hand on the back of a chair. “Are you okay?” Fenella asked.

  “Just a bit stiff from sitting for so long,” the woman replied. “I’ll be fine once I get going.”

  “Take my arm,” Fenella suggested.

  Hannah slid her hand around Fenella’s arm and the pair slowly made their way across the room. Outside the sun was shining on a beautiful summer afternoon.

  “I haven’t far to go,” Hannah said as they crossed the parking lot. “I’ll be fine from here.”

  “If it isn’t far, then I’ll walk you home,” Fenella replied.

  They both jumped as a car door slammed behind them. Fenella looked back and was surprised to see Paul and Paulette Clucas heading toward them.

  10

  “Fenella, wait,” Paulette called.

  Hannah smiled as the pair reached them. “Paul and Paulette, look at you,” she said. “You’re both all grown-up now, aren’t you? I remember when you
were both tiny babies.”

  “How are you, Mrs. Jones?” Paul asked.

  “I can’t complain,” Hannah replied. “I don’t get around as well as I used to, but otherwise, I’m doing all right.”

  “I just need a quick word with Fenella,” Paulette said. “I hope you don’t mind.”

  “I was going to walk Hannah home,” Fenella explained. “Are you getting something to eat? I can walk her home and then meet you in the café.”

  “Paul can walk her home,” Paulette said. “He won’t mind.”

  Fenella looked at Paul, who seemed surprised. “Sure,” he said after a moment. “I’m happy to do that.”

  “I don’t want to be any bother,” Hannah said.

  “It’s no bother,” Paul assured her. “Paulette wants to talk to Fenella, anyway. You’re only just up the road, if I remember correctly.”

  “I am. Still in the same house I’ve lived in since I got married,” Hannah confirmed.

  Paul nodded. “I’d quite like a word with you as well,” he told Fenella as he took Hannah’s arm. “Please don’t rush off if you and my sister finish before I get back.”

  Feeling oddly popular, Fenella nodded. She and Paulette watched as Paul and Hannah walked slowly away, Hannah leaning on Paul’s arm.

  “I just wanted to apologize,” Paulette said once the pair was out of earshot.

  “For what?” Fenella asked.

  “My mother has had trouble sleeping since my father passed away,” the woman replied. “Her doctor gave her some tablets to help her sleep, but they give her very odd dreams.”

  “I’ve heard that some sleeping pills can do that.”

  “Well, these definitely do. The worst part is that she can’t always tell what was a dream. I’m afraid everything she told me about my father’s memoirs was untrue.”

  Fenella thought for a minute. “I thought you told me that you found them on his computer?”

  Paulette flushed and shook her head. “I don’t recall exactly what I told you, but it hardly matters. When Paul came to check the computer, I told him what Mum had said about our father’s note, and he searched the machine. He couldn’t find any trace of anything like what Mum had said she’d found.”