“Isn’t that whathewants?”
Penny sighed. “He says he longs to stay on the island and have a simpler life, but I know him. If he doesn’t have an occupation, he’ll go mad.”
Bea shrugged. “Or maybe he’ll settle down and the two of you will be deliriously happy together.”
“I like the sound of that.” Penny grinned.
When Penny’s parents arrived at the party, she kissed their cheeks and found them seats far away from Betsy Norton, June Clements and the rest of Rowan’s family.
“You look thin, love,” Mum said, with a worried crease across her forehead. Her wispy grey hair blew wildly in the breeze that blew in off the ocean.
“I’m happy. And far too busy to eat.”
Her mother offered a wan smile. “As long as you’re okay.”
“I’m great. Here, would you like some potato salad?”
Penny was quickly occupied with feeding people and chatting to friends and family as they arrived at the party. The first she knew of any conflict was the sound of raised voices from the picnic shelter by the barbecue.
She glanced over her shoulder to see Rowan standing with BBQ tongs in one hand, a worried expression on his face, as he watched his mother argue with Penny’s mother. She could tell he was debating whether to get involved or let them go at it.
Penny hurried to intervene, nerves churning in her gut.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve saying something like that to me,” June Clements hissed.
Ruby St. James scowled. “You were in on the whole thing. I know you were.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Clearly you’ve lost your mind. But what’s new?” June pressed her hands to her wide hips. “You can’t blame me for something like that.”
“You married him while I was pregnant. You had to know what he’d done and what he was up to.”
“I had no idea! I told you that at the time.” June threw her hands up in the air. “It’s like speaking to a wall.”
“At least I’m not a hussy!”
“Ladies, come on now. Let’s put the past behind us. This is a celebration,” Penny begged.
Ruby smiled at Penny. “Of course, honey. That’s exactly what I wanted to do before June accosted me.”
“Accosted you? I’ll show you what accosting looks like…” She lunged at Ruby who scuttled backwards and tripped. She fell and rolled onto her back with a cry of pain.
Rowan quickly bundled his mother down to the beach, one arm around her shoulders as he whispered angrily at her.
Penny’s stepfather, Henry St James, stooped to crouch by Ruby’s side. “Are you okay, honey?”
She sat up, one hand clutching at her back. “Ouch.”
Betsy rushed forward and helped Henry bring Ruby to her feet. Ruby grimaced, then glared at Betsy. “I’m fine, thank you.”
Betsy raised both hands as if in surrender. “Only trying to help, honey.”
“I think you’ve helped enough!” Ruby said, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “More than enough.”
“I’d love to know what you mean by that,” Betsy stated, taking a step back, her face clouding.
“You know exactly what I mean — your brother murdered my mother, you knew about it and you lied to help him cover up his crime. Because of you, he’s escaped justice all these years.”
Betsy’s cheeks reddened. “Now, listen here…”
