Rayah laughed. “I’ve known him forever. Jonny doesn’t use people. Just because you’ve known too many dicks doesn’t mean he is one. How are the wedding plans?”
“Depends who you ask.”
“I’m asking you.”
Sorrell signed and leaned against the kitchen cabinet. They’d left the downstairs bathroom and entered the kitchen extension that was Sorrell’s pride and joy along with her hotel. “Zack would tell you we’re having it here, probably around Easter. I would tell you we’re having it Easter the year after next. When I’m not the size of a beached whale and I can drink champagne.”
“It’s good you’ve both agreed on Easter though.” Rayah straightened her hair. Not that she was trying to make an effort or anything.
Sorrell glared. “Seriously. That’s your opinion?”
Rayah eyed her friend. Pregnancy hormones were clearly pressing the bitch switch. Sorrell, however, was too close to the knives to make this observation out loud. “I see both sides. Zack is a bit traditional and I get he’d rather be married first. But I get you’d rather not look like an air pump had been taken to your belly and you’d been blown up.”
“Are you meant to say something like that to a pregnant lady?”
Rayah raised her brows. “Lady? Really? Ells, do you remember when Keren was pregnant?”
“Very well. She only gave birth a couple of days ago.”
Rayah gave a little nod, not dwelling on that. “Do you remember what you said about Keren’s mood?”
“That she was rather touchy? What are you trying to say?” Sorrell stuck out her chin then look down at the floor. “Shit. Sorry. And you’ve just spent five minutes holding back my hair while I vomited herbal tea and donuts everywhere. Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I only put up with you when I want and as much as you need to make Zack suffer for knocking you up, maybe think about your poor addled brain and the words it’s making you say.” Rayah patted her shoulder, keeping the rest of her body at arm’s length. Sorrell was still too close to the knives.
“You think we should get married sooner?” Sorrell had frozen.
It hadn’t been too long since Sorrell had been due to marry her now ex-fiancé and that was where Rayah had suspected the nerves were stemming from.
“I think you should consider why you’re getting married and what it actually means to you both. Think about it being a day for other than a dress and a wedding. Think about the marriage.” She reached out again, fairly tentatively, and gently squeezed Sorrell’s arm. “Text me later. I need to see if Jonny’s outside.”
“We haven’t finished talking about Jonny yet!”
“Oh, we have for now.” The words were muttered quietly as she pretended she hadn’t heard, although she almost hadn’t – the pounding inside her chest was too loud.
The Ram’sHead was about the oldest pub in the area and one of the highest. Set on a road that was technically a pass between two of the higher peaks, it could become cut off when the weather was particularly bad.
The snow that had fallen heavily over Christmas and resulted in a home birth for Keren’s baby had cleared quickly, spring slowly starting to creep in. School restarting meant that routine was starting to resume, and Rayah’s usual timetable was back in place. Teaching, marking, planning, preparation and seeing friends and family, plus doing a few shifts each month for the search and rescue team, along with Jonny, Jake and her cousins.
The pub was one she was more than familiar with. It was a regular base for climbers and walkers to stay, and recently developed into a retreat for couples who wanted a remote getaway, because it was remote. The nearest building had been the farmhouse that had been razed to the ground with the fire, so now it felt even more remote.
The ground that was being uncovered from the snow was still scorched and blackened as they drove passed the site of the fire. It would take years for the moss and grasses to reclaim their territory and cease the eeriness that had taken hold.
“I’m sorry we need to stop here first.” Jonny pulled over at the side of the road. He had his serious face on, the expression she associated with both work and rescues, one that made her toes curl and certain other places start to clench.
The time over Christmas hadn’t eased her crush on him, even though they’d spent little time together. He’d taken the children to his sister’s for New Year and then she’d had a few days away in London with a friend of hers who had grown up in the town and they’d recently reconnected. This had been the first opportunity for them to spend any time together.
“It’s fine. Do I get to look around?”
He glanced at her, his raised eyebrow telling her all she needed to know.
“Okay. I’ll sit here.”
He shook his head. “You can come with me but not past the tape. It’s being released today and this is just a formality. There’s nothing here to play detective with.” He closed the car door behind her and she figured that had he been quick enough, he’d have opened it and helped her down. Jonny was a gentleman.
“They still haven’t identified the body?”
“No.” They began to walk over the soft ground of the moor. “There’s a list of about fifteen possible females who went missing in the last ten years that it could be. It could be none of them; we just know she was Caucasian, around five six in height and had broken her jaw at some point. There were no other identifying factors. The police may know more but haven’t shared it.”
