‘She and Richard were an item. She was his previous partner.’
‘Oh, I thought he’d been with Sarah for a long time. When was this?’
‘A few years ago now. I assume she’d moved on as I haven’t seen her in some time. She was a nice woman, although Richard kept a firm leash on her.’ She smirked. ‘Or at least he tried. She was a bit of a wild one at times. A hard worker though.’
By the time the book club was over, Juliette was both happy to leave and sad to do so. The night had been a success and, for once, it hadn’t been hard to explain about Emily. Since Danny had told Richard and Sarah at the weekend, she’d realised she’d have to start doing the same. It had been painless, even with a lumpin her throat. The women had asked to see photos and she’d shown them without tearing up.
Walking home a little worse for wear after Karen had dragged her into the lounge downstairs for another drink before she left, Juliette laughed to herself at some of the things they’d said. She had fitted in quite well, she thought, and had been invited to a charity coffee morning on Friday. She was going to have a go at making a cake to take along. Perhaps she could persuade Sarah next door to join her for an hour.
As she drew level with the house, she spotted Richard in his driveway and shouted hello to him. He turned in her direction but then put his head down again. Strange, she was sure he’d heard her. Thinking perhaps he didn’t want company, she went inside. It was late after all. But there was still time to do one thing. She rang Danny.
‘Hey, I’m home. I’ve had a great evening.’
‘Not invited us to any more shindigs, have you?’
She could tell he was teasing her. He’d said as much in the pub at the weekend. After talking to the landlord, who had introduced them to some of the locals, he’d said he quite fancied himself joining in some sporting recreation.
‘Well, you have a round of golf to play on Saturday morning and then a horse ride in the afternoon.’
‘A horse ride.’ She heard him snigger as she slipped off her shoes.
‘And sailing on Sunday.’
‘Ha, very funny.’
‘You said you wanted to embrace the country life.’
‘I did.’ He sighed. ‘I can’t wait actually. It’s so hard transitioning. Maybe I should go off sick while I serve my notice.’
‘And come here to do what?’
‘I could think of something.’ His laugh was dirty. ‘Hey, speaking of which, I’ve been headhunted. A firm in Staffordshire wants to meet with me. I might come down a day earlier next week and arrange to see them on Friday if it suits.’
‘That’s brilliant news, although I’m sure I’ll be helping out in the market voluntarily by then.’
‘I’m not sure if you’re joking or not.’
‘Neither am I,’ she admitted. ‘I got talked into it by Linda. She’s in the next house, way down the lane. It’s her field we join on to. She’s quite nice.’
‘I’m going.’ Danny laughed. ‘I can’t stand all this neighbourly stuff.’
‘You wait until you’re here full-time. I shall get you roped into everything.’
Juliette missed him so much. It was nice to have him here at the weekends and she couldn’t wait to collect him on Friday evening. Until then, his laughter cheered her up in between goodbyes.
Now, she needed some sleep. She switched off thekitchen light and stepped into the hallway, jumping when she saw the front door was wide open. She rushed to shut it, drawing across the lock as well as turning the double bolt. How the hell had she left that open? She could have sworn she’d closed it.
Scolding herself as she went upstairs, she blamed the women she’d spent the night with for letting her get tipsy. Well, she’d had a good night. She giggled. She could hardly blame herself, could she?
CHAPTER TWELVE
Juliette sat up in bed, gasping for breath. Sweat poured from her in the heat of the night. She looked around, disorientated until she realised she’d been having a nightmare. Then she flopped back with exhaustion, tears pouring down her face.
In her dream, she’d seen Emily in the hospital bed. The medical staff were holding her back as they attached tubes and machines to her daughter’s tiny body. She’d wanted to reach out to her, but the nurse kept wheeling the bed further away from her. No matter how fast she ran, Emily was out of reach.
Although her screams of anguish must have awoken her, it wasn’t the first time. It was a regular occurrence since Emily’s death. It had been so unexpected. Then again, Juliette mused, when is sudden death anything but? The night before she fell ill, Emily had been excited to go to school to show off her new backpack.The next morning she’d been feeling ill with flu-like symptoms and a high temperature.
Juliette had kept her off school and Emily had slept for most of the day, under a duvet on the settee where she could keep an eye on her as she worked. But when Emily had gradually worsened, Juliette would never forget lifting up her pyjama top to find red blotches all over her skin. She’d called an ambulance and then she’d got Danny out of a meeting.
