by Lily Ashton
Alice rubbed her shoulder. “It’s healed perfectly, thanks.” She moved toward him. “The police have drawn a blank with your Augustus John drawing, Walker. I’m so sorry. It’s such a beautiful piece. I would love to see it again.”
“And one day you will – if you happen to be passing my bedroom.” He winked, his face suddenly alive, and he beamed a very broad grin indeed.
“Walker, you didn’t? Oh, you devil!” Walker stepped away and Alice watched him as he faded into the crowd, still smiling.
Alice wandered through the gallery, into the garden and down to the river’s edge. The last of the sun’s rays sparkled on the surface and melted into the dark water beneath. Coloured beams from fairy lights strung from branch to branch, danced across the river, broken by the swan family as it glided along. Summer was fading and balmy evenings would surely become fewer as the autumn chill set in. In the background, happy chatter from the guests rose and fell in time with the string quartet.
“What are you doing out here by yourself? I thought you’d be inside lapping up the compliments.” Joe draped his arm across her shoulder. “Not still thinking about it all are you?”
“Not so much, but yes. I don’t know how Vivien and Marjorie came up with such devious schemes to get rich at everyone else’s expense.”
“When it comes to enriching themselves, some people never run out of ideas.”
“But I don’t understand how they had the nerve. Lying and cheating so coolly.”
“Some people get themselves into positions of power just to take advantage of them. Unfortunately, people around them sometimes half-know what’s happening, but are afraid to say anything. So they just carry on getting away with it.”
She clinched her hands over his arm.
“And what about you? Are you going to get power crazy now that you’ve made senior curator?”
“You’d better believe it!”
Alice turned and circled her arms around Joe’s waist. He held her tight and she leant into him.
It occurred to Alice, for the first time, how much Joe had been through too.
She untangled herself and reached into her dress pocket for the postcard of Augustus John’s girl. She whispered her thanks to the girl one last time, then flung the postcard into the river.
“What are you doing?” Joe rushed to the edge, peering into the water. “I’ll fetch something to fish it out.”
“Leave it, I don’t need it anymore. I kept it because it was the only thing I had of my dad’s and I thought, somehow, it would bring him back to me. But I’ve accepted that he’s gone forever. The postcard is just a painful reminder that he’s not here for me. I wonder, looking back, whether he ever really was … Anyway, now it’s time to let him go.”
She looked into Joe’s eyes. “Thank you, Joe.”
“What for?”
“For being you and for being here.”
Joe eyes sparkled, Alice flung her arms around his neck and kissed him.
“Joe?”
“Yes, Alice.”
“If the offer to move in with you is still open, I’d like to take it up please. I’d love to live with you. Hundred percent.”
“Well, seeing as you ask so nicely, I would love to live with you, too.”
“I promise to be tidy and I’ll try to cook dinner sometimes. I know I’m a terrible cook, but you can teach me a few things.”
Joe threw back his head and laughed. He hugged Alice closer.
“Good, because that was my plan!”
And she pushed him in the river.
If you liked Paint a Murder, you can follow Alice Haydon’s adventures in the 2nd book of the series. Sculpt a Murder is coming soon.
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Follow Lily Ashton at www.lilyashton.com