“It’s Neville.” She pushed the shower cap off one ear and answered. “Hello, dear. How are you?”
Joyce took her usual seat. Something had to be going on. Neville rarely called. At least that’s what Beryl had led her to believe. Joyce helped herself to a biscuit. She was looking forward to putting her feet up and watching someEastEnders. They’d heat up some of the leftover spaghetti and have a nice, relaxing night.
“But Neville…” Beryl frowned. “I’ve already accepted the job. I’ve started it, in fact.”
Joyce didn’t like the sound of that.
Beryl stared at her mug, blinking. “I suppose that’s possible, but I don’t feel like that’s something that will happen. I have your aunt and there are some lovely women next door and—” She nodded. “Yes, I know. I’m very aware of that.”
After a long silence, Beryl sighed. “Yes, dear. I will. You, too.” She hung up.
“Everything all right?”
Beryl shook her head. “Neville doesn’t think I should move here. He thinks I’ll regret it and then it’ll be too late. That I’ll miss all my friends. And…”
“And what?” Joyce asked softly.
“That I’ll expect to come and live with him, and he thought I should know now that he doesn’t have the room.”
Joyce frowned. “He’s a proper idiot, he is. Until you talked to him, you were all set. Are you telling me you’re having doubts now?”
Beryl was slow to answer. “I don’t know. What if he’s right?”
Joyce got up and went to sit by her sister on the couch, putting her arm around her. “He’s not. Aren’t you enjoying being here?”
“I am.”
“And if you don’t move here, how are we going to do another episode of Lucas’s show?”
A tiny smile lit Beryl’s face. “That would make it hard.”
Joyce hugged her, their shower caps crinkling against one another. “Listen. You’ve got me and you’ve got the girls next door and you’ve got Ruthie, Kyle, and Mitch. And Bunny. And Lucas. Do you honestly think you’ll miss your friends in Devon with all of us here to keep you entertained?”
Beryl’s smile widened. “Not for too long, I suppose. Still, he might be right. I might get homesick. And what if I get depressed? I already feel a little off for having talked to him.”
“I know just what will cheer you right up.” Joyce went to the kitchen counter, got her laptop, and brought it back, scowling over her idiot nephew. He ought to be strung up for getting his mother upset. She set the computer on the coffee table and opened it up, pushing the power button to bring it to life. “Let’s have a look at all the new comments on our episode, shall we?”
Beryl nodded, her smile returning. “Do you think there are new ones?”
Joyce had already looked on her phone at lunchtime. Not only were there new ones, but they were all lovely and full of nice things. And there were a lot of them. “I don’t know. We’ll have to see.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
It was nearly eleven p.m. by the time Mitch got the call he’d been expecting. He went straight to Lucas’s. Angelo had returned.
Lucas met him at the door. “Hey. Come on in.”
“Thanks.” Mitch’s stomach was in knots. Ruthie’s future was on the line. He followed Lucas in.
“You want something to drink? A beer? Coffee? Soda?”
Mitch shook his head, then changed his mind. “Maybe a beer.”
“Sure.” Lucas went toward the fridge. “Angie’ll be out in a minute. He was just getting a shower.”
“Did he say anything?”
Lucas handed Mitch a longneck bottle. “No. He doesn’t share a lot of information about his cases with me. I don’t expect him to, either.”
