‘It’s taking a while to adjust to you being in it. Notthat we mind, I hasten to add.’ He smiled. ‘It’s been lovely to hear voices coming from the garden.’
‘So you don’t have many visitors?’ she probed, unable to help herself.
‘We don’t have any at all.’
‘That’s strange. I saw a little girl in your garden the other day. She was about Emily’s age and so she startled me.’ She stopped when she saw his face was like thunder. ‘Sorry, again. I didn’t mean to imply it was your fault.’
‘I don’t understand what you’re talking about.’
‘The child. It was a little girl. She wore a red dress, had blonde hair and was skipping around the garden.’
‘When was this?’
‘Monday. I saw her from my kitchen window.’
‘There was no child in our garden on Monday.’
‘Oh, I?—’
‘You’re mistaken.’ Richard made a point of checking his watch. ‘I’d better be off. Lots to do. Catch you later.’
‘Yes, okay. See you.’
Juliette stood for a while, watching him until he was out of sight. She frowned. What had that been about? She had seen a child in their garden. There was no need for him to deny it.
Once at the station, as she waited for Danny’s train to arrive, she thought more about what Linda had said. Itwas interesting how neither Richard nor Sarah had corrected them when they assumed they were married.
‘I have some gossip for you,’ she said, almost as soon as she and Danny had got in the car to drive home. ‘It’s about Richard and Sarah. You know we said there was a big age gap between them? Well, Sarah was the nanny.’
‘To who?’ Danny asked.
Juliette laughed at the expression on his face as he tried to work out the logistics. ‘Apparently, Richard had a wife and a young daughter. They left about a year ago and Sarah stayed on.’
‘So they were having an affair?’
‘More than likely. Else why wouldn’t Sarah have left if the child had?’
‘Interesting.’
‘Even more so is that I saw a little girl in their garden the other day, but when I mentioned it to Richard, he denied it.’
Danny shook his head. ‘That’s weird.’
‘I know. I wonder if his daughter came for a quick visit and he didn’t want to tell me. I bet it’s a touchy subject.’
‘I can imagine.’
‘Should we invite them to the pub this evening? It’s going to be fun getting to know people.’
‘So you can interrogate them?’
‘No! Well, yes a little.’ She laughed.
Danny did too. ‘When we were in London, we didn’t know half the neighbours in the street and yet here youare content to get to know ours. I haven’t seen you so happy since…well, you know.’
‘There’s something different about a village. I’m really starting to love it here in Mapleton. It’s going to be our perfect home.’
Sarah was coming downstairs when Richard came into the kitchen. As she joined him, she could tell by the way he threw his keys on the table that something had annoyed him. She wasn’t going to ask what, knowing full well he’d tell her about it anyway.
