by Jenny Kane
‘Well, Cassandra, I will have to explore this matter further, but my initial thoughts are that Mr Justin Smythe of Family Values has indeed been acting on your behalf. As he is your solicitor, that wouldn’t have been difficult for him to do. If you didn’t make this instruction yourself, then we will have to ascertain that no verbal order from yourself could have been misinterpreted.
‘According to Ms Crystal Andrews, Mr Smythe had someone sign on his behalf, but it appears the initial order was on his request, with the rider that it was your wish.’
‘It was Justin? Not his business partner?’
Picking up on his client’s tone, Donald asked gently, ‘Do you know Mr Smythe personally as well as professionally?’
Cassandra nodded slowly, as a nasty suspicion she couldn’t quite bring herself to dismiss gripped her.
Was Justin in the process of selling the company from under her?
Pulling into the car park by Marazion beach an hour later, Cassandra let the emotions that had been tightening in her chest for hours go. Tears streamed her face as she rang Justin’s number once more as she replayed the last few minutes in Donald’s office.
He had re-called the Family Values office, and had spoken to Crystal for a second time, telling her he was a lawyer acting for a client who was employed by The Pinkerton Agency. Donald had been informed, without hesitation, that Mr Smythe was currently on his way to America to attend a conference, and wasn’t contactable for the foreseeable future.
In that one moment Cassandra had seen how much of a fool she’d been.
Justin had never had any intention of coming to join her in Cornwall.
Nor did he want her back in his life in London.
It had been her flat they’d rented out to help fund the upgrading of the holiday cottage, and as Justin had always handled her legal affairs, she’d trusted him completely, Cassandra hadn’t even argued when he’d said that her flat hadn’t been more than a place to sleep for her anyway, so they might as well make money out of it. He’d said it wasn’t a home, more a holding place in between the chances to stay with him in hotels, while Cassandra waited for them to move in together. And I let him!
Staring over the heads of the people sat on the beach, Cassandra’s eyes came to rest on the ebb and flow of the sea, as she faced the unpalatable fact that, just maybe, nothing Justin had ever done for her was as she imagined.
Did Justin insist that I stay down here to keep me out of the way, not so he could arrange our lives together, but so he could steal my business?
Every bone in her body ached with the desire for all this to be a misunderstanding. That Justin had seen a business opportunity for the agency that was too good to miss, and he simply hadn’t had the chance to talk to her first. With the phone signal being so poor here, it was possible – but only just. . . Or maybe she should cling on to the hope that Crystal had been misinformed, and the letters were a genuine mistake down to Justin not wanting to tell his PA the truth about their relationship. . .
You’re grasping at straws.
The image of Donald’s kindly round face telling her that he would investigate to his utmost ability came to the front of her mind. He’d told her that she’d be wise to prepare herself for the fact that, even if this was an error – which he didn’t consider to be the case – then the damage to her reputation would need addressing quickly.
Cassandra’s first instinct had been to get on the next train to London to confront Justin face to face, but if he was travelling to the States, which had been another shock, there was no point. She really didn’t want to confront Crystal, and have her over-made-up face silently laughing at her gullibility.
Her throat felt dry and her eyes smarted with the effort of stopping her tears. There’s no point in crying until you know the facts. Go back to the house, get that sorted out, and think. Think very, very hard. You still have a business – just no staff and a shattered reputation. . .
Abi stood by the gate that led into her front garden. A feeling of horror filled her as she surveyed the haphazard pile of broken fixtures and fittings which had been heaped forlornly in her neighbour’s small front garden.
This was precisely what she’d been worrying about all day at work. Ms Cassandra Henley-Pinkerton was ripping the soul out of number two Miners Row. She was bringing London to Sennen Cove. After so many years of dreaming of escaping the city, Abi had done her best to dismiss her initial fears about her new neighbour as paranoia.
The reassurances Max had given her at lunchtime, that Cassandra only wanted number two to be repainted and updated, now felt horribly inadequate. The woman had obviously played down her intentions to Max.
With a heavy sigh, Abi opened her front door to be greeted by a delighted Sadie, just as her neighbour drew up in the car she’d acquired. Ignoring Abi, she marched up the path and into her house.
Noticing that Cassandra wasn’t her usual pristine self, and that she might even have been crying, Abi held back her natural inclination to check if she was alright. If the woman couldn’t even take the trouble to say hello, Abi wasn’t going to bother about making sure she was alright. Anyway, she was in too much shock at the sight of the debris from her previous neighbours’ lives lying, abandoned and unloved, in front of the adjoining terrace to care.
Calling to Sadie, Abi grabbed her handbag and headed to her car.
‘Come on, sweetheart. Time we talked to Stan.’
Chapter Eight
Beth wasn’t sure how she’d got through the school day. Her young charges had sensed her lack of control. A rare reign of chaos had taken over her classroom, until the noise level had broken through the fog of Beth’s brain, and she gathered her wits long enough to get them sorted into drawing groups.
Sat at her desk, watching the village’s three- and four-year-olds sketching pictures of what they hoped to do over the forthcoming summer holidays, Beth felt her heart constrict. Would a child of her own be drawing in here in a few years’ time?
At lunchtime she’d resisted the urge to call Abi or Max and tell them what she suspected. She badly wanted to talk to her best friends, but what if she wasn’t pregnant? She could be coming down with a bug or something and worrying over nothing. And if she was, then Jacob should know first – but what if he hated the idea?
He’d uprooted his life to be with her, but the deal for the local studio wasn’t signed and sealed yet. Would he panic and run back to Hayle to renew the rental agreement there when she told him the news?
Rather than make any phone calls to Jacob or her friends, Beth had walked unsteadily into Sennen during her lunch break. She’d got as far as the chemist to buy a pregnancy test, when she’d realised it was a bad idea. If she purchased it there, then the whole of Sennen would know that one of the village’s unmarried teachers suspected she was pregnant within half an hour.
Instead, the instant the end of the school day had arrived, Beth had driven to a reassuringly anonymous supermarket in Penzance, and made the most frighteningly exciting purchase of her life.
Now, with her eyes firmly closed, Beth sat on the edge of her bath. The plastic wand in her hands felt oddly heavy, as if it was weighted with her whole future.
Her phone’s stopwatch, which had counted down the longest three minutes in history, had gone off at least five minutes ago. Knowing she couldn’t put off the moment for ever, biting her bottom lip, she lifted the pregnancy test to eye level, Beth opened her eyes.
Unsure if she was happy or terrified, in a throaty whisper, Beth said, ‘Grandad, I hope you can hear me. You’re going to be a great-grandad. Oh, God, I miss you so much.’
The tears came then. Tears, because she knew she wanted this baby, because she was scared the man she loved wouldn’t want her any more, because she could lose the job she adored, because people might gossip, because she wasn’t even sure what being pregnant meant beyond the obvious, and because she was sat in the flat where she had nursed Grandad for many years before he’d died, and because
she would have done anything to be able to hold his hand just one more time.
Go and see Stan, my darling girl.
Beth felt the words in her chest. Whether she’d actually heard them, or if her imagination was being fanciful, it didn’t matter. She was sure that if her grandad could talk to her, then he would tell her to go to see his friend. Stan would never tell her she was a bad person for having a child out of wedlock. He’d be the perfect person to help get her perspective back.
‘Abi!’
As Beth climbed out of her car in the Chalk Towers car park, she saw her friend and Sadie walking towards the entrance to Stan’s block of flats.
‘Beth, how wonderful! I was going to call you later and. . .’ Abi paused, studying her friend’s pale face with more care. ‘You alright?’
‘Sure, I just thought I’d come and see Stan. I haven’t visited him in ages. I don’t like the idea of him being on his own too much.’ Beth stroked Sadie’s fur. ‘Anyway, forget about me, you look fit to explode. I’m not used to seeing you cross. Are you OK?’
‘Not really, although I guess I might be being a bit petty.’
‘That’s not like you.’
‘I like to think not.’ Abi looked at Beth carefully, not convinced her friend was as alright as she was claiming to be. ‘That’s why I’ve come to Stan. He always says the right thing.’
Beth gave a half-smile back. ‘That’s why I’m here too, actually.’
‘Beth?’
‘I’ll tell you both at once.’
Abi watched Sadie affectionately as she snuggled herself against Beth’s legs, as if sensing an extra-special cuddle. ‘Although the chances of Stan being alone are slim. I suspect Dora will be there as well.’
‘I’m dying to meet her actually. Are they honestly going to get married? Boy, you and I have got to have a proper catch-up. It seems ages since it was only the two of us.’
‘Let’s do just that. Fancy fish and chips in paper after we’ve seen Stan?’
Beth felt a surge of love for her friend. ‘You have no idea how much I’d like that. Although I wish you hadn’t mentioned fish and chips, my stomach’s rumbling now!’
Letting Sadie lead the way, they walked towards Stan’s home. ‘Let’s have an hour here before Stan and Dora have their evening meal, and then we’ll drive down to the cove? Be like old times.’ Abi smiled, trying to hide her concern for her friend. ‘I can’t believe it’s nearly a year since we got to know each other on Marazion beach over fish and chips and coffee.’
Climbing the stairs to Stan behind Abi and Sadie, Beth’s smile began to return, and she sent up a silent thank you to her grandfather for telling her to come here. ‘So, Abi, quick, tell me before we get there, what’s this Dora like?’
Stan couldn’t have been more delighted by his unexpected visitors if he’d tried. As offers of tea and coffee were made and accepted, Abi took over the kettle duties, while Stan and Beth settled down at the dining room table. It was clear to the girls that they’d arrived in the midst of a wedding planning day.
Gathering some mugs together, Abi gestured to the pile of lists. ‘I thought Dora might be here making wedding plans. Everything going alright on that front?’
‘Yes, thanks.’ Stan chuckled. ‘Dora’s currently chatting up the prison warder. She considers young Dan very dishy.’
Abi laughed. ‘Does she indeed! You’ve got some competition then?’
Beth frowned. ‘Dan?’
‘He’s our new care manager. We call him the prison warder out of love and affection.’
‘Naturally.’ Beth turned to Abi. ‘Have you had the pleasure of meeting Dan, is he young and dishy?’
‘I have, and he certainly is. Assuming you consider early thirties young.’
‘Speaking as someone in her early thirties, I’m not sure about that!’
‘From where I’m sitting, thirty is very young.’ Stan picked up his tea and grinned. ‘Dora will be here in a minute or two. She’ll be so pleased to meet you, Beth. We were only saying last night that we’d love it if you’d both come over for dinner one evening, along with Max and Jacob.’
As Abi got up to make a further cup of tea, so it was ready for Dora’s arrival, Beth’s phone rang. ‘Oh, I’m sorry, it’s Jacob. He’s been checking out a new studio. Hell! I was supposed to go with him! I totally forgot. I’ll take this in the hall.’
As Beth disappeared out of the door, Stan turned to Abi. ‘I’m glad Beth’s popped out for a minute. I wanted to ask you something.’
Abi frowned as a dark shadow crossed over her friend’s face. ‘What’s wrong?’
Stan reached out and clasped her hand. ‘There’s something bothering me. Something I can’t share with Dora.’
‘Go on.’
‘Abi, girl, you don’t think I’m being a silly old fool for getting married at my age, do you?’
Squeezing Stan’s hand gently, Abi said, ‘I will admit it was a shock when you told me, but no, Stan, I don’t think that. Grasp every minute. You taught me that. So no, I don’t think you’re silly. Why do you ask?’
‘Sally.’
‘Ah.’ Abi was thoughtful for a moment. It wasn’t her place to comment on Stan’s daughter. ‘Sally hasn’t taken the news well then?’
‘Not as well as you did.’
‘Oh.’ Abi didn’t know what else to say. She’d always felt a bit awkward about how close she was to Stan, and knew he thought of her as a daughter. Abi had never been sure how Sally felt about that either.
‘There’s something else as well.’ Stan lifted his left hand and began to play with the wedding ring he’d worn for most of his life. ‘It’s Mary. Do you think she’d be cross with me for getting married again?’
Finding herself loving Stan even more than she already did for asking such a question, Abi looked him in the eye. ‘If Mary was even half the woman you have described to me, she’d be pleased for you. Loving Dora doesn’t mean you love Mary any less, nor does it mean that Dora has disregarded her love for Gordon.’
Stan nodded, not trusting himself to talk, and filled the moment of silence by cuddling Sadie.
Sensing her friend required a minute, Abi got up from the table. ‘I think I’ll make sure Beth’s OK, she’s been a while.’
Slipping quietly into the living area, Abi was alarmed to find that Beth was no longer outside in the hallway on the phone, but was sat on the sofa with Dora, who was giving her a cuddle.
Looking from Beth, who was smiling and crying at the same time, to Dora, Abi said, ‘Beth? Dora? What’s going on?’
Gently easing Beth up, giving her a firm, ‘It’ll be OK’, Dora spoke to Abi, ‘I found Beth outside. I think she could do with a friend right now.’
‘Beth?’
‘I’m sorry, Abi, I wanted to tell you straight away, but then I thought I should tell Jacob first, and then Grandad said I should come here and talk to Stan. He was right; being here with you, Sadie, and Stan made me feel so much better. . .’ Beth was talking faster and faster, and Abi could see she was shaking ‘. . .and then Jacob called and told me he’s signed the contract for a studio just up the road from here, and so that’s it. He won’t be able to escape from me now, and I honestly don’t think I’ll be able to stand seeing him every day once he’s left me. Seeing him with someone else when I love him so much will rip me apart; and I should have been with him at the studio in the first place but I forgot, and now I’ve cried all over Dora, and we haven’t even been introduced yet, and. . .’
Glancing at Dora, who shrugged, Abi interrupted her friend mid-flow. ‘Beth, honey, you aren’t making sense. Jacob is crazy about you. He moved in with you after only hours of you being together for goodness’ sake.’
Dora raised her eyebrows. ‘Really? Go Jacob!’
Smiling weakly, Beth said, ‘But he might not want me now.’
‘Why not?’ Dora frowned. ‘Men don’t just move in, my darling, not long-term anyway. I know these things. I’ve lived for ever and
seen stuff that would make your hair curl!’
Abi gently pushed a mug of tea in Beth’s direction, before sitting next to a concerned Stan, and before Dora got into full flow about her past life asked, ‘What’s wrong? Please, Beth, I’m worried. We’re worried.’
‘But I shouldn’t tell you first, I should tell Jacob, but I’m scared.’
Now Abi knew exactly what was wrong, and the concerns she’d been planning to share about her neighbour disappeared into insignificance. In fact, there was nothing wrong with Beth at all.
A broad smile swept across Abi’s face. ‘Beth, are you telling us you’re going to have a baby?’
Chapter Nine
‘They won’t tell Jacob or Max, will they?’
Having insisted they stick to their plan of stopping for fish and chips by the sea on the way home, Abi glanced at Beth’s worried face. ‘Of course they won’t.’
Stretching her legs out across the sand, making the most of the last vestiges of heat from the day’s sunshine, Abi popped a chip into her mouth and stared into the horizon for a while before saying, ‘Can I ask you a personal question, Beth?’
‘You don’t normally ask permission; you always dive straight in.’
‘True, but this is more important than usual.’ Taking a swig from her takeout coffee, Abi said, ‘How do you feel about having a baby? Do you want it?’
‘What?’ Beth was offended, and then she was shocked by how Abi’s innocent question had made her feel. ‘Yes. I could never. . . I mean, I’m not a teenager caught out or anything. I want my baby.’
‘So what’s the problem?’
Beth fiddled with her chips. She’d been starving a minute ago, now she didn’t think she’d want to eat ever again. ‘I’m frightened. Frightened of what is going to happen to me, and scared of losing Jacob. And, until now, I haven’t stopped being scared long enough to think about how I feel.’
