Carrying her drink, she went back upstairs to her office. Standing at one of the arched windows, she saw a now familiar tall and slender figure heading towards the woods. It was their new neighbour, Venetia Randall-Jones, and she marched along at a surprisingly fast pace.
‘There she goes again,’ Ben had said yesterday morning when they’d been having breakfast and seen Venetia from the kitchen window. ‘Do you think she’s obsessed with reaching a daily step target?’
‘Maybe so,’ Cassie had said. ‘I just hope I have the same level of energy when I’m older.’
The Enforcers had referred to the new occupant of the apartment below Ben and Cassie’s as an ‘old lady’ or a woman ‘getting on in years’ but from what Cassie had seen, that description was very far from being appropriate. The woman she and Nina had met that evening when they’d introduced themselves could have been in her late sixties or maybe early seventies. There had certainly been nothing ‘elderly’ about her in her denim jeans and silvery-grey linen blouse, a colour that had toned perfectly with her well-cut jaw-length bob of hair.Alert and elegantly streamlinedhad been Cassie’s first impression. And considering she had just moved in that very day and must have been tired, the woman looked as fresh as the proverbial daisy.
She thought much the same thing now as she watched Venetiastriding out of the bright sunshine and disappearing into the shadowy gloom of the woods. The funny thing was, Cassie was sure she’d seen her out late last night, the light of a torch glowing faintly in the darkness. It seemed an odd thing for anyone to be doing, never mind a woman on her own who had just moved in.
Hope Hall didn’t really seem the obvious choice for a single woman of a certain age, which, Cassie knew, was both sexist and ageist of her, but it wasn’t like the woman could walk to any convenient shops; everything was a car drive away. Having said that, Venetia Randall-Jones drove an enviably sporty little number: a beautifully sleek Mercedes SLK.
Cassie had wanted to call on her again, just to be friendly, but she didn’t want to come across as an interfering neighbour. That was a job best done by the Enforcers, who doubtless had been at fever pitch making themselves thoroughly well known. As they’d said they would, Cheryl and Joanna had sent out an email inviting everyone to a welcome drinks party for their new neighbour. It was to be held on the lawn this coming Friday evening and everyone had been asked to bring a bottle and a plate of bite-size snacks. Glasses would be provided.
From behind Cassie came the tinkling ringtone of a FaceTime call on her computer. When she saw that it was Emily, her happiness came at her in an instinctive rush of pleasure, but then it was eclipsed by an unforgivable snark of resentment –Oh, so after more than six days of not hearing from you, you finally have time to call me!
Pushing the ugly thought away, she warned herself not to utter a single barbed comment about Drew-the-Terrible. As Ben would say, she had to play nicely, so Emily would be encouraged to share more with her.
‘Hi, Ems,’ she said cheerfully, using the pet name that only she had been allowed to use by Emily, at the same time mentally figuring out the time difference and concluding it was early eveningthere in Dubai. ‘This is a lovely surprise, how are—’ But before she could say any more, her daughter’s face crumpled and Cassie lurched forward in her seat. ‘Ems, what is it? What’s wrong?’
It was a few seconds before the poor girl could speak and during those moments, myriad thoughts flew through Cassie’s head.
Emily had discovered just what a selfish, hardnosed fraud her father was.
There had been a massive argument, and she had fallen out with Drew’s wife, the impossibly perfect Rosalyn.
She was homesick and desperate to come home.
Or … worst of all, absolutely the very worst of all, someone had done something unspeakably vile to her precious daughter!
‘I thought you should know,’ Emily said, her voice barely recognisable, it was so thick with emotion. ‘It’s Dad, he’s …’ Her voice wobbled and broke off.
Yes!thought Cassie. The veil had at last been lifted and the real man had been revealed.
‘Tell me, darling, what’s happened, what’s he done?’
Emily shook her head and kept on shaking it, her lower lip trembling. ‘It’s not what he’s done,’ she said, ‘it’s … there was an accident … and … he’s in intensive care but they don’t know if he’s going to make—’ Her words were swallowed up by an enormous shuddering sob.
Her distress tore at Cassie’s heart. ‘Take a breath, Ems,’ she said, desperately wishing she could put her arms around her daughter and comfort her.
‘It was a car accident,’ Emily said at length, her voice still shaky. ‘He was driving back from Abu Dhabi last night … it was raining, and people always joke that they don’t know how to drive here in the rain because it hardly ever does. And that’s when it happened. It was a lorry. A witness said it lost control and drove straight into Dad’s car.’
Filled with heart-pounding relief that Emily hadn’t been in the car with Drew, Cassie said, ‘Was anyone with him?’
‘He was on his own. Rosalyn and Finlay were at home with me. I was with her when the police came to the house with the news. Oh, Mum, it’s just too awful. I can’t believe he might die.’
Cassie couldn’t believe it either. ‘It’s too soon to know for sure,’ she said, wanting to ease the pain her daughter was feeling. ‘Your father’s tough, he’ll make it.’
‘You’re just saying that to make me feel better. What you’re really thinking is that you’re glad he’s going to die!’
‘Ems!’ Cassie cried out. ‘That’s a dreadful thing to say.’
‘But it’s true, isn’t it? All my life you’ve never once said anything good about him so why wouldn’t you be pleased?’
As stunned as she was by the accusation, Cassie knew that her daughter was in shock and was merely lashing out as an emotional release. ‘Ems,’ Cassie said gently, ‘you’re saying things I know you don’t really mean, it’s the shock. Now is there anything I can do to help?’
Sniffing loudly, Emily thrust the palms of her hands against her bloodshot eyes and rubbed them hard. She then looked back at Cassie, her expression so bleak it made Cassie want to insist that she take the next flight home.Come home so I can look after you and make all this pain go away for you.It was what any mother would want, to have their child close so they could be wrapped in love and protected from anything that could harm them.
‘There’s nothing you can do,’ Emily said flatly.
