by El Edwards
“I’d like to help, but …”
“Great! I’d really appreciate it.”
“But what about Shaun?”
“What about him?”
“I don’t know why he didn’t tell me about her but he must have had his reasons. I don’t think he’d be very happy if he knew.”
“What if we kept this our little secret?”
Beverly’s face lightened. “You’d do that? Well yes, that would be perfect.”
I couldn’t help but agree with her. This was absolutely fan-bloody-tastic. The best news I’d had for days!
FIFTY-FIVE
After walking Beverly back to the shop, I decided to make an impromptu stop at Claire’s house. It was sort of on my way to the bus stop and there wouldn’t be another bus home for at least a couple of hours so it seemed liked the perfect solution. I liked Claire, there was something about her resilience that impressed me, but my visit wasn’t just charity. Spending time with her made me a better version of myself. I didn’t think I’d ever have the words to explain that to her but being around her lifted me. The idea that the dog’s return meant I could no longer visit her saddened me and I wanted to believe that I could call round any time.
I waited a couple of minutes for Claire to come to the door and we were soon sitting together her in the living room, a pot tea and a plate of biscuits between us. They looked yummy but my tummy was still groaning at the memory of the cake I’d already eaten.
“I’m not sure I can manage a biscuit today, I’ve just come from cake with Beverly.”
“Did she take you to the place next to the station?” Claire asked. “What did you have?”
“Pineapple upside down cake.”
“Oooh nice. Although technically more of a dessert than a cake.”
We sat making small talk for a few minutes. I asked about her health, which she said was about the same, and she asked about my recovery after the accident.
“You know about that then?” I didn’t have Claire down as a fan of the local rag.
“Beverly told me. She was really worried about you.”
“She was? Aww, that’s sweet of her. No need though. As you can see, I’m doing great.”
“You’re not sleeping well though are you?” Her forehead creased with concern.
“How did you know?”
She laughed. “I’d recognise that hollowed out look anywhere. It’s the same expression that stares back at me most mornings.”
“I just keep waking up in the middle of the night replaying it over in my head.”
Claire nodded. “I’m surprised one of the doctors didn’t offer to give you something for that. They love their sleeping pills.”
“I didn’t tell them.” I paused. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Do you ever think about ending it all?”
Claire’s eyes widened. “Suicide?” She shook her head firmly. “Never.”
I decided it probably said a lot more about me than it did her that I didn’t believe her. I smiled and changed the subject.
“Did Beverly mention anything to you about Shaun having a sister?”
“No? Is she local?”
“It seems she was, but not any more. I wondered if maybe you’d seen a woman hanging around Beverly’s house. Quite tall, slim build, couple of piercings?”
She shook her head again. “Sorry Charlie, I’ve not seen anyone. Funny Beverly didn’t mention her though. She told me all about the brother.”
“Don’t get me started on Declan!”
Claire smiled and offered me another cup of tea. We chatted for a little longer but I didn’t ask her any more questions about Beverly or Shaun. As observant as she was, it seemed there was little more she could offer by way of information to help with my case. When eventually it was time to leave, I gave her a hug.
“What was that for?”
“I dunno,” I said. “I just really appreciate you talking to me. Look after yourself, okay?”
She led me to the door and I was soon on my way again. I looked back and waved as I walked away from her house. As such, it wasn’t until it was too late that I saw Shaun. He came sauntering out of Beverly’s house and blocked my path. I tried to step round him but he blocked me again.
“Excuse me please, I have an appointment to keep.”
“I didn’t expect to see you around here any more Charlie. Not now the case is solved, thanks to me.” He grinned.
“Not that it’s any of your business but I was visiting a friend.”
“Who’s that then?”
“Like I say, it’s not really any of your business. Now if you’ll excuse me, I really must get on.” I stepped onto the road to get past him and this time he didn’t try and stop me.
A car whizzed past and beeped its horn.
“You ought to be more careful Ms Diamond. You’ve already had one trip to the hospital. I’d hate to see you end up there a second time.”
I span round to face him, my temper raging. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Sorry?” He looked the picture of innocence. “I simply meant that stepping on to the road like that, it’s not very sensible.”
“Well you should stop taking up the whole pavement. Perhaps then people wouldn’t have to step onto the road.”
“Lovely to see you here Charlie but I assume this will be your last visit to your friend?”
“And I assume you remember my earlier point about it being none of your fucking business?”
Without waiting for his reaction, I turned and walked as quickly as I could in the direction of the bus stop. I wanted to look back to see if he’d gone into the house or if he was still watching me but I refused to give him the satisfaction. Instead, I kept walking forward, my eyes fixed on a far off point in the distance. It wasn’t until I’d gone round two corners and was safely out of sight that I allowed myself to slow down and then stop. I was shaking with rage. He was swiftly joining his brother at the top of my list of ultimate dickheads. His only redeeming feature was his relationship with Beverly. I refused to believe that Beverly was such a bad judge of character. She’d allowed herself to fall in love with him. There had to be something decent about him, didn’t there?
FIFTY-SIX
“What about a sporty little number? You’d look great in red.” The spotty kid smiled at me. He didn’t look old enough to be driving, let alone be responsible for selling me a car.
“Do you have any vans?”
He shook his head. “Sorry.”
I shouldn’t have been surprised. The car dealership I’d stopped at on my way to the bus stop was a tiny operation with less than a dozen cars on the forecourt. I didn’t know what had prompted me to go in but now I was here, the idea of driving myself home instead of taking the bus was getting more and more appealing with each passing minute. I decided it was time to level with the kid.
“Okay, here’s the deal … my van just got written off in a road traffic accident that wasn’t my fault. I want to buy something today. It doesn’t need to be flashy or fast, I just want something I can rely on.” I thought about the existing balance on my credit card. “Preferably less than five hundred quid. What have you got?”
He thought for a moment then pointed at a nearby car. “This is the cheapest we’ve got, but it’s nearly three grand.”
“Seriously? Whatever happened to getting a cheap little runaround?”
I was so disappointed. It was totally illogical, I hadn’t come to Burry Port to get a car, but having made the decision to buy one, the idea of giving up and catching the bus galled me.
“Let me have a word with my manager …”
I watched as the kid trailed back into the showroom. I could see him talking to an older man. They both looked in my direction but looked away when they saw me watching them. The older man nodded and then pointed somewhere in the distance. A minute or so later the kid was back.
“We do have one car that might int
erest you. It’s only just come in and it needs a bit of a clean up, wash and hoover, but it’s been recently serviced so the basics are sound.”
“How much?” I asked, knowing that whatever he said, I’d haggle.
“For you, three hundred quid.”
“Two fifty.” I offered him my hand and he shook it.
“Deal.” He smiled. “Do you want to know what it is?”
I shrugged. “That’s largely irrelevant. Can I drive it home today?”
“Do you have insurance?”
“Yep. I’ll drive it on my van insurance and swap it over as soon as I get home.”
“We usually give the cars a full valet before a new owner collects.”
“Tell you what, skip the valet, throw in a tank of petrol, and I’ll drive it away right now.”
Ten minutes later I was back on the road, behind the wheel of a Skoda that was older than my children. It was only after I’d gotten halfway down the road that I realised one of the electric windows wasn’t working. I shrugged and simply opened the other one instead. It wouldn’t be my forever car but anything had to be better than spending another minute stuck on the bus.
The other advantage of having my own wheels, I realised, was that I was no longer beholden to the bus route. I could go wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted. And right at that moment, since I was already in Burry Port, there was one more place I wanted to visit before I allowed myself to accept how tired I was and went home for a nap. It was time to visit Norma and Ted again. I parked my new car outside their house and it was then that I discovered one other fault my salesman had neglected to mention: the lock didn’t work. I wasn’t worried. Anyone desperate enough to want to steal my car clearly had needs far greater than mine and as such, they were welcome to it.
Norma smiled when she opened the door but she didn’t immediately invite me in. “Hello Charlie love. Can I help you?”
“May I come in? I promise I won’t take too much of your time.”
Norma glanced behind her before speaking in a quieter voice. “Ted’s home. I don’t want him being upset.”
“I’m not here to upset anyone. This is about Declan. I promise I won’t even mention Shona.”
Satisfied that I was telling the truth, she let me in and after making all three of us a cup of tea, she led me into the same room as my previous visits. She called out to Ted in a cheery tone as we walked in.
“Look who’s come to see us again Ted. It’s Charlie. Got us all a nice cup of tea.”
Ted smiled. “What brings you here? We heard about the dog. Didn’t expect to see you again.”
“I was hoping you might be able to help me with something. I need to talk to Declan, tie up a few loose ends from the work he did with Rob.”
“Do you want me to try him on the phone for you love?” Norma offered.
“I was hoping to go and see him. Do you know if he’s working at the moment?”
“Not right now.” She shook her head. “But he’s trying. He goes up the job centre every morning. That’s right, isn’t it Ted.”
“Ai. That’s what he says so I guess it must be right.” He didn’t sound too convinced but I let that slide.
Norma, however, had other ideas. “Oh leave the boy alone!” She turned to me. “If you need to speak to him, I’m sure he’d be happy to help. He’s a good lad.”
I decided to keep my thoughts on the subject to myself. It never paid to antagonise someone when you wanted them to help you.
“Thanks Norma. Do you happen to know any of this friends? I tried him at home but he wasn’t there.” It was a barefaced lie. I was hoping she might inadvertently lead me to Shona but I couldn’t tell her that. “Other places he might be hanging out?”
Norma appeared to give the question some thought. “I don’t know about friends but there is one place. Shaun met him there a couple of times. Let me write the address down for you.”
I watched her hunt through a drawer for a piece of paper and a pen and I was soon furnished with everything I needed for the next part of my plan. My head wanted to go round there right away but my body had other ideas. Getting up from the chair in Norma and Ted’s living room, I heard my joints crack and complain. It was time to go home. I’d waited this long to find out what Declan was really up to and if he could lead me to the mysterious Shona. One more day wouldn’t hurt.
FIFTY-SEVEN
I walked into the kitchen, swinging my new keys round and round on my finger and whistling a happy tune. Louise was sitting at the kitchen table surrounded by books. She looked up when she saw me come in.
“Where the hell have you been?”
“Louise!” I was genuinely shocked. “I’d expect that sort of language from Grace …”
“Oi!” Grace was at the sink scrubbing at her fingers with a scouring brush.
“Sorry but it’s true.” I walked over to Grace and kissed her on the side of her head. “What are you doing?”
“Bit of an accident with the food colouring.”
“Food colouring?” I looked from Grace to Louise, hoping one of them might take pity on me and explain what was going on.
“Never mind,” Louise said. “And stop avoiding the question. The phone hasn’t stopped ringing. Rob’s been going mental. Where were you?”
“Out and about. But come and see. I have something to show you …”
I waited impatiently for Grace to dry her hands. They were still a startling shade of blue but I decided not to mention it. I took Louise by the hand and dragged her away from her books. Reluctantly, they followed me outside.
“Ta da!” I did a dramatic flourish in the direction of my new car.
“What is that?”
“Mum, please tell me you didn’t give someone money for that heap of junk?”
I raced over to the bonnet and stroked it fondly. “Shhh, don’t listen to the nasty teenagers. They don’t know what they’re talking about.”
Grace leaned over to Louise and whispered loudly. “You know what this is don’t you?”
Lousie shrugged.
“It’s her mid-life crisis car. Poor dear, she can’t help it.” She turned to me. “It’s okay Mum, we’ll help you.”
I laughed. “Help me? Don’t be so absurd. This car is perfect. Think of all the bus fares I’ll save.”
I led the girls back into the house and put the kettle on. “Seriously though girls, what do you think?”
“Was it cheap?” Grace asked.
“Two fifty. And they threw in a tank of petrol.”
“But what about all your tools?”
“The boots pretty big. Besides, it’s not my forever car. It’ll just fill a gap. Once I get back up to full speed, I’ll go searching for the perfect van.”
“Oooh, and then we can drive it.”
“Brilliant!” Louise said, oozing sarcasm.
“Think about it Lou, Mum said she wouldn’t take us out in the van in case it got pranged. This is the perfect solution.”
I could see Grace’s logic. The insurance for the two of them would undoubtedly be cheaper than the van too. “See? I’m a genius.”
There was a knock at the door and Rob came in without waiting to be invited.
“Genius? You’re a bloody idiot,” he said.
“How did you …”
“Window’s open.” He pointed at the window, his face like thunder. “I’ve phoned you six or seven times today.”
“Seven,” Grace said.
“Left seven messages asking you to call me back.”
“Rob I’ve …”
He held up his hand. “And sent you eighteen text messages. Why didn’t you call me? There’s no point you having a mobile if you’re not going to answer the bloody thing!”
I walked over to the dresser, opened the drawer, and pulled out the remains of my phone. Without saying a word, I walked over to Rob and put it on the table in front of him.
“Oh.” He at least had the good grace to hang his head a little.
“I forgot your phone was broken.”
“I’m a grownup Rob. You don’t have to protect me.”
When I saw Rob straighten up and draw a deep breath I knew I’d probably said the wrong thing.
“The hospital sent you home under my care. On the condition that you rest, not go galavanting around Burry Port.”
“How did you …”
“One of the boys saw you on a bus on your way into town. A bus! Why didn’t you just ask me to give you a lift?”
“I did ask but you said no.”
“You didn’t tell me you were going to go anyway. If I’d known, I might have reconsidered.”
“Oh bollocks you would! You’d have come over here and babysat me.”
The two of us continued back and forth like this for another minute before Grace stepped in.
“Children, children. Use your inside voices please.”
We looked at each other and started laughing. We couldn’t stay cross at each other for long and it was irrelevant now. Yes I’d gone out when I should have been resting but I was back safely and no harm done. It was then that I remembered the address nestled safely in my pocket.
“You busy tomorrow,” I asked Rob.
“Why? What’s on the agenda for tomorrow?” He sounded weary. “If you’re inviting me round to watch a chick flick, you’re on. Anything even the slightest bit more energetic, you can forget about it.”
I reached into my pocket, pulled out the address, and handed it to him. “Potential address for Shona.”
He looked at it then asked, “where’d you get this?” Before I could reply he’d ripped the paper into tiny little pieces and sprinkled them all over the table. “No! I mean it Charlie, enough!”
“I hope you’re going to clear that mess up,” I said, and Louise handed him a dustpan and brush.
Knowing that it would be pointless to discuss the matter any further, I changed the subject and we chatted about inane nonsense instead. He declined to stay for dinner so half an hour later, he was back out the door and on his way. If he noticed my new car on his way out, he didn’t mention it, apparently satisfied that in destroying the address, he’d keep me grounded.