So why would she tell her little sister to be careful of the daddy she adores?
18
There’s a party atmosphere in the house this evening. It doesn’t feel like a Monday night. I put it down to the fact that it’s Mum’s birthday, we have family staying, that all the rooms, bar one, are full and nobody – apart from me and Mum – has to get up for work in the morning.
Evie and Ruby are in Apple Tree having their own little party, although Selena keeps popping in to make sure they’re okay. She’s already taken the Haribos away from them, and I had to remind Evie that Ruby has to be careful what she eats. Evie looked stricken, probably because her sweets had been taken away rather than because she felt any real concern for Ruby. She seems delighted to have Ruby to herself, and when I look in on them on the way to the kitchen, they’re both in Ruby’s bed, giggling and watchingCharlie and Lola.
Selena seems edgy tonight, and I suspect there’s more to it than anxiety about Ruby’s sweets. She hasn’t joined everyone else in the front room and is hovering in the kitchen with Mum. When I walk in to get some glasses they both stop talking and Mum leaves with a bottle of wine to go back to the living room.
Amelia is with the Greyson boys in the playroom on the Xbox. She’s always been more of a tomboy. She used to hang out with boys all the time at her old school until a group of girls began teasing her, accusing her of fancying the boys, which made her self-conscious. It’s nice that she’s made friends with Will in the privacy of her own home, without worrying what her peers will think.
The rest of the guests are in the living room. I keep leaving to top up drinks and fetch nibbles. Mum’s pressed between Susie Greyson and Julia on one of the sofas, necking wine and laughing loudly. Adrian, as far as I’m aware, is still upstairs writing. I make a mental note to go and check on him after refilling the wine glasses.
It’s a dark, wet night and the curtains are drawn. The smell of wine and the sound of chatter filter through to me. Even Janice has joined us, her dog on her lap, her cheeks flushed with Chardonnay. The only other guest who isn’t here is Dean.
I excuse myself and go upstairs to Adrian. I’m nearly at the top when I see Dean coming out of his room. A grin stretches across his face when he sees me, but it never reaches his eyes. He always makes me feel he despises me. ‘All right, Kirsty?’ he says. He has his backpack on. Where is he going now in this weather? ‘Have you seen Selena?’
I shake my head. ‘She was in the kitchen earlier.’
‘Isn’t that out of bounds for guests?’
‘She’s family.’
‘I’ve tried her door but she’s not answering. It doesn’t matter. I’ll catch up with her later.’ He does that weird salute thing, then stands aside to let me pass and walks down the stairs. I watch him leave through the front door.
Something about him makes my skin crawl. I can’t put my finger on it. It’s not as though he’s rude to me, or aggressive. Maybe it’s because I remember what he was like as a teenager. Nobody wanted to mess with Dean Hargreaves back then. And, according to Selena, he’s been in the army. He’s used to firing guns and channelling his aggression into the skills he’d need to kill the enemy. I’m sure he’d be able to tie a very good noose. My mind goes to the knife I found in his room. What is hereallydoing here?
I continue up to the attic. When I reach the landing, I hear voices coming from our bedroom. The door is ajar and I see Selena leaning against Adrian’s desk, her hands clasped around a mug. She’s changed into a pretty pink jumper that brightens her complexion and brings out the colour in her cheeks. Adrian’s turned to face her so I can’t read his expression, but Selena is listening intently, her head to one side.
I push the door open and clear my throat. Selena looks up and Adrian swivels around. Is that panic I notice in his expression? TripAdvisor is open on his laptop.
‘So this is where you’ve both been hiding,’ I say, standing behind his chair and peering over his shoulder at the screen. ‘Dean was looking for you, Selena. Oh … what’s this?’
I see ‘THE OLD RECTORY’ above a photo of our house and an average rating of three stars. My heart sinks. It looks like someone has left our first review.
‘It’s the teenage lovebirds,’ says Adrian.
I scan the review under the headline ‘OKAY’.
Owners friendly if a little overbearing. Felt like we were being watched, and were made to feel quite uncomfortable at times. Couldn’t really relax. The owners seemed to know everyone so at breakfast we felt a little out of things. Noisy kids running around the place. There was even a smelly dog. Bed too hard although the decor was modern and our room clean. The area is pretty but there’s not much to do unless you like walking. The village is full of old people and hikers. Not quite the romantic break we had in mind.
Tears spring to my eyes. All our hard work and our first review is bad.
Selena catches my eye and smiles in sympathy. ‘It’s just one review. I’ll write one too. I’m a guest, after all, and I’ll give you five stars.’
Friendly but overbearing.I can’t believe they think we’re overbearing.Kids running around the place.It’s their home. Have we made a mistake in thinking we can run a guesthouse and bring up children too?
‘Don’t worry about it, sweetheart,’ says Adrian, standing up and pulling me into his arms. ‘Some people just like to complain.’ Over his shoulder I see Selena look down at her feet. ‘They should have gone to a hotel if they wanted to be more anonymous.’ He pulls away from me. ‘And I don’t know why they’re criticizing the bed. They seemed to get a lot of enjoyment out of it!’ He laughs and I slap his arm playfully.
‘What’s this?’ Selena asks, and Adrian fills her in on their sexual exploits while we all walk downstairs.
But as I follow them I want to know why they were in our bedroom together, what they were talking about.
Selena is sitting opposite me in the armchair by the window, her legs crossed, her hands folded around her mug. Her fingernails are bitten down and unvarnished, another thing that’s different from how she used to be. Her nails were always long and well cared-for, coated with an array of interchangeable colours that never lasted longer than a few days, although she would always go back to black, her favourite. She is unusually quiet, watching everyone else in the room and quietly sipping her tea – she refused the wine I poured for everyone else. Apart from a polite hello to Nathan and Julia, she’s not engaged with them, moving to the seat across the room from Nathan and nearest the door. I can’t understand her coldness towards Nathan. Usually Selena can’t resist being a bit flirty with any man, and Nathan used to follow her around like a dog when we were growing up. Maybe she feels awkward because she knows he once had a crush on her, although that’s not like Selena. She’s never been one to shy away from attention.
Janice has turned to talk to Mum so I inch over a bit to hear what Julia and Susie are saying, trying to think of a way to include Selena in the conversation too.
They are discussing their jobs – Susie is a nurse, working in A and E by the sound of it. I glance across at Selena, who seems more and more uncomfortable, her shoulders hunched, as though she’s hoping to disappear into the folds of the armchair. She was always such a social butterfly, flitting in and out of different conversations with ease, fluttering around our peer groups at school. I was the awkward one. Now she looks exactly how I used to feel.
