Layla nodded. ‘I always thought Ben was a good guy, but Denise tells a different story. She said he was seeing several women at the same time as her.’
‘Several women?’
‘Just be careful.’
As I made the tea, I wondered whether Olivia had been wrong about Ben. Maybe after his partner, Sophie, died he decided to play the field. Grief can make people do strange things. I had one nagging doubt though, – if he was a player why did he ask Olivia to be his dating consultant? Those were the words she’d used that day when she came up with the idea of a blind date.
Layla took out her phone and groaned. ‘Another customer of mine has told me they no longer want me to do cleaning for them.’
I carried our mugs to the table. ‘Oh, I am sorry. Have they given a reason?’
Layla bowed her head. ‘Vanessa is behind this. She has made my life unbearable.’
‘Vanessa?’
She lifted her face to mine. ‘Ryan, my ex-boyfriend… He’s Vanessa’s son. When I found those photos on his phone from those women, I made the mistake of telling Vanessa. She accused me of lying. I even showed her the abusive texts he used to send me.’
‘He sent you abusive texts?’
Layla nodded. ‘He said some horrible things to me, Rachel. The next day after I told Vanessa, Ryan threw me and Zac out. Since then, my cleaning jobs in the village have started getting cancelled. By the time Mr Baxter comes back I will be fired from this one and then I really will be in trouble.’
‘Layla, I will do everything in my power to stop you from getting fired from this job. I will talk to my sister. We do need to think about how we can deal with Vanessa.’
‘What happened with your brother-in-law and Vanessa made her worse…’ She stopped abruptly, her eyes widening dramatically.
‘What happened with Frank?’ I asked.
Fear flashed across Layla’s face. ‘I meant… I… ummm.’ She was mumbling.
‘Layla, tell me what happened.’
My phone began to ring. It was Mum calling me from Tenerife. As I answered it, Layla scooped up Zac and raced upstairs.
Mum appeared on the screen. She was sat inside her villa against the white wall. Her tan looked amazing. ‘Where are the daily updates, Rachel?’
I clamped my hand over my forehead. ‘Sorry, I have been busy.’
Mum shook her head with disapproval. ‘It’s been hard to enjoy ourselves out here not knowing Dad is okay. Your aunty Karen has been worried about Dad. As his carer she’s missing him.’
I bit my tongue when Mum referred to Aunty Karen as Grandpa’s carer. From what Grandpa had told me, her visits lasted all of two minutes and were done on his doorstep. Aunty Karen was trying to impress Mum.
‘Rachel, put Dad on the phone please so we can all see him.’
‘Grandpa’s asleep and you all saw him the other day.’
Mum glanced at someone sitting behind her phone. ‘Rachel says Dad’s asleep.’
‘Tell her to wake him, Janice,’ Aunty Karen hissed. ‘I won’t sleep tonight until I know he’s okay.’
I let out a heavy sigh. ‘Mum, tell Aunty Karen that Grandpa is fine.’
Mum turned her attention back to the phone screen and to me. ‘Rachel, please do what Aunty Karen says because she’ll have one of her tension headaches and you know I struggle when she has one of those.’
Grandpa was still asleep when I crept went into the annexe bedroom. ‘Grandpa, wake up, Aunty Karen is on the phone.’
With a jolt, he woke up. ‘Dorothy?’ He called out looking confused. ‘Is that Dorothy?’
‘Show me him,’ barked Mum. I put the phone screen in front of Grandpa. She peered down the camera at him. ‘Dad, it’s me, Janice. You look groggy. Are you unwell?’
