‘Whatever. You’re a mess.’
Nancy glanced ruefully down at her wheel. ‘Had a bit of a fight with my bowl.’ She took a breath. ‘Police came round to see me today.’
‘What?’
‘Yeah...Turns out telling Imogen I’m personally going to make sure she gets whatever her daughter dishes out to Lara isn’t such a good idea.’
Beth’s mouth dropped. ‘You said that?’
Nancy nodded.
‘It’s agreatidea. Though maybe not a legal one.’ Beth sighed. ‘Maybe that family has switched target.’
‘What, to me?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe.’
The notion settled on Nancy like a cold chill.
SEVENTY-THREE
Monday 1 February
It had been over three weeks since Lorna had seen or heard from Carol. She’d been upset, Lorna remembered, something about James not being around much although whether that was in body or spirit, she couldn’t quite recall. Lorna sighed; Carol wasn’t usually one to sulk, so perhaps she had genuinely hurt her mother’s feelings.
She had to make amends. She still had to keep her on side.
By the time Lorna reached the house Carol shared with James, she was pretty fed up with the cold rain that had come at her sideways and soaked her right through, so when Carol answered the door and offered less than her usual generous welcome, Lorna was a bit put out.
She held her tongue though and remained polite as she hung up her coat and accepted the offer of tea.
As she came into the kitchen, she saw the partially constructed costumes for the Straw Bear Festival in the corner of the room. Carol had offered to make them for the last few years. The straw was sitting in bundles on the floor; a small amount was woven onto a metal frame thatstill had a skeletal look to it. Lorna sat down at the breakfast bar and heard the sound of a female voice coming from an iPad on the worktop.
‘My daughter is here,’ said Carol to whoever was on the other end of the video call. ‘I’m so sorry, Marian, we’ll have to continue this another time.’
Lorna noticed she was apologetic and warm to Marian, whoever she was – a lot warmer than she’d been toherwhen she’d knocked on the door.
‘I’ll bear in mind what you said, I promise,’ continued Carol. ‘Give me one more peek at your view, won’t you?’
‘I’ll just turn the camera around,’ said Marian.
Carol gazed at the screen rapturously. ‘That sea! The sunshine! We’ll catch up later.’
Amidst a flurry of goodbyes, they hung up.
It half crossed Lorna’s mind she’d interrupted the call and perhaps she’d come at a bad time but she was hardly to know, was she? And she’d walked a mile through freezing weather to get here, whereas Marian appeared to be somewhere quite warm and sunny without shifting a muscle on the other end of a screen.
As soon as Marian had gone, Carol lost some of her zest again. She put the kettle on, got out some mugs. ‘To what do I owe the pleasure?’ she asked.
Lorna smiled winsomely. ‘I haven’t seen you in a while, Mum, so I thought I’d drop by.’
Carol cut her a glance, as if waiting for more.
‘And...I owe you an apology. For the last time we met. I was distracted. I’m sorry.’
Lorna thought she saw a flicker of tenderness from her mother. She was relieved. She needed this relationship back on an even keel. Her new funds were going to help with her project, but it wouldn’t be enough.
‘Apology accepted,’ said Carol, and Lorna received her first genuine smile.
