‘What? No way?’ She watched as myriad emotions flittered over his face, his expression suddenly hardening. ‘My mother! Again! She’s clearly looking for something in particular and not just to have a preview of your wedding dress. It’ll be why she was so insistent on coming here to wait for the kettle to be delivered, making out she was doing us a favour when it really offered her the perfect excuse to snoop around our home. I should’ve known.’ His anger appeared to be pushing him on. Florrie hadn’t seen him look this annoyed before. He continued, ‘Last Friday when you were at the Jolly and she was here, she excused herself to go to the bathroom. She was gone for ages – and I mean,ages. When I asked her what had taken her so long, and joked that I’d been thinking of sending out a search party, she told me not to be so rude, and cut me off when I asked if she’d lost something. But all that time, she’d been snooping around, hell-bent on trying to find something – no doubt to do with the bookshop.’ He shook his head, his breathing shallow. ‘Absolutely unbelievable.’
‘I’m sorry, Ed.’ Florrie felt the need to apologise for piling yet more unpleasant revelations about his parents onto him.
‘You’re not the one who should be sorry, they’re the ones who should be apologising, not that they ever do. They leave a trail of trouble and distress wherever they go. It’s why we had to move around so much when I was a kid.’ He brushed his hand over his head, his expression morphing into one of confusion. ‘Hang on a minute… she doesn’t have a key anymore, she gave it back to me the other day.’ He met Florrie’s gaze, searching her face.
Chewing on her bottom lip, she hoped he’d put twoand two together, save her the awful task of having to put her suspicions into words.
She didn’t have long to wait. ‘No way? Surely she wouldn’t stoop so low? That’s amassivething, having a key cut so you can sneak into someone’s house while they’re out, without their knowledge or permission…’ Ed shook his head, anger radiating from him. ‘The worst thing is, I can actually see her doing that.’ He pushed himself up from the bed. ‘We need to get the locks changed. I’ll call Bear, ask if he can get onto it first thing. Once I tell him the reason, I’m sure he won’t mind. We need to get one of those doorbells fitted, too, the sort that have a live video link to your phone.’
Florrie looked on as this unfamiliar version of Ed strode out of the room and thundered down the stairs. Seconds later, the front door slammed shut and the house fell silent.
Florrie was sitting in the living room, curled up on the sofa and trying, but failing, to read a book; she’d lost count of the number of times she’d reread the opening paragraph. Her stomach had been in knots since Ed had left their home in such haste, though she’d made sure not to mention it when her mum rang with an update on her father who she was pleased – and relieved – to report was now fully conscious and responding well to the medical team’s questions. It had been good to hear her mum sounding a little brighter.
Tiredness had been creeping over her for the last hour, helped by the fire she’d lit not long after Ed had gone out, the exhausting day catching up with her. She glanced over at the clock on the mantelpiece to see it was almost eleven p.m. She and Ed were usually snuggled up in bed together by now; she’d be reading a book, Ed with his AirPods in his ears as he listened to his latest audiobook – like Amery, he’d become a huge fan of R.J. Kingston.
Florrie was gathering her empty hot chocolate mug and paperback together when Gerty jumped up from where she was toasting herself in front of the fire and trotted into the hallway. In the next moment, there was the sound of the key in the door, followed byGerty’s happy whimpers and the thud of her wagging tail hitting the wall. Florrie was making her way around the sofa when Ed appeared in the door frame.
‘Hi,’ he said.
‘Hi.’ Her eyes roved his face, noting he looked pale, drained and dishevelled. There was a look in his eyes she’d never seen before, and not just that, his body language seemed different, too. She didn’t know what to make of it. ‘Where’ve you been?’ she asked.
‘Speaking to my parents.’
The tone in his voice made her heart plunge.
TWENTY-FOUR
Florrie followed Ed to the kitchen, Gerty plodding along behind; she was clearly ready for bed, too. He flicked the light on, then scooped up the kettle – the very one that had caused so much grief with its delivery – and took it to the sink, the sound of cold water splashing into it filling the room.
Florrie’s stomach was in turmoil, not daring to imagine what words of recrimination were thrown about in the conversation with his parents, but desperate to hear it all the same.
‘I know it’s late, but I think it’s only right that I tell you what was said.’ He pulled out a chair and flopped down onto it. ‘But first, is there any news on your dad?’
She opened the cupboard door and pulled out two mugs, which clinked together as she set them down on the table. ‘My mum rang, said he was properly awake, which is good.’ She relayed what her mum had told her, Ed listening with interest.
‘That’s great news. Let’s hope he’ll be home soon.’ His mouth tugged into a small smile though it didn’t quite reach his weary eyes.
‘Yeah, let’s hope so.’ She was eager to find out about his conversation with his parents. ‘Where did you speak with your mum and dad?’
‘I tracked them down to my mother’s B&B. My father was there, too – and, would you believe, Luella? I got the impression they were trying to get their story straight; the rubbish they came out with didn’t match what your mum told us had happened in the street, and I know who I believe. Luella completely denied egging the shop; denied being there at all. All three of them did – it’s total rot.’
Florrie listened as she threw a handful of teabags into the pot. She knew who she believed, too, though she held back from saying it out loud. Why would her mum make up such a story? ‘Did you mention the key?’ she asked.
‘I did, and I’m sure you won’t be surprised to hear my mother flatly denied that, too. Even had the nerve to feign offence; her over-the-top act was sickening. She demanded to know who else had a key – I didn’t tell her – and told me it must be one of them. I decided not to share the small detail of our decision to get the locks changed and one of those doorbells fitted – oh, and I’ve spoken to Bear; he’s calling at the DIY store to get what he needs first thing, said he’d fit them straight away. That should put an end to her snooping.’
‘Thanks for sorting that, Ed.’ It was more of a weight off Florrie’s mind than she’d anticipated.
‘And, as you can expect, because she denied having her own key, she pleaded ignorance to the paperwork being disturbed. And when I mentioned her disappearing upstairs for ages last Friday, she said she was just “admiring the décor”. Even told me I had a devious mind for thinking she’d go snooping around other people’s houses, that I was the one who wasn’t to be trusted.’
‘Sounds like gaslighting to me.’ Florrie poured tea into the mugs, added a dash of milk and slid one across the table to Ed.
‘Thanks. Aye, that’s what I thought, too. A conversation with them feels like mental gymnastics, if you say something they don’t like they try to run circles around you, make you believe you’re in the wrong. It’s probably why I’ve always tried to avoid confrontation with them; I can never keepup.’
‘Your personality and temperament’s more like your grandad’s than it is theirs; being easy-going and laid-back is no match for people like your parents who are –no offence intended – fiery and confrontational. It’s never going to be a level playing field.’ From her vantage point, it was easy to see how they’d taken advantage of Ed’s good-natured personality – he’d do what they wanted for a quiet life except for when it came to the bookshop and Florrie. Then he dug his heels in.
‘None taken, they are fiery and confrontational,’ he said.
‘So how did you leave it? What about Luella?’ From what Ed had described of their relationship, she knew his ex could be fiery, too, and prone to violent outbursts.
