by Jacobs, Anna
‘What about?’
‘Fighting back against the world.’
‘Well . . . I mean to try.’
‘Not the right attitude,’ Jane said at once.
‘Whatever do you mean?’
‘You sound as if you’re expecting to fail before you even start, as if you don’t believe you can hold your corner and fight back.’
Molly looked at her in surprise. ‘I . . . Do you know, you’re right.’
‘It’s not enough to say you’ll fight back. That’s far too vague. What are you going to actually do?’
‘I was planning to buy a house in the country and make a peaceful new life for myself. Only I can’t do that until I sell this house.’
‘Peaceful! Sounds rather boring to me. How old are you now?’
‘Forty-eight.’
‘That seems quite young to me. Surely you don’t want to retreat to a cottage and sit there quietly until you die. I’m not looking for a peaceful life and I’m thirty years older than you. By all means move to the country, but find yourself a job, take up new interests, get out and about, look for a new man, if there are any suitable ones around.’
Molly shuddered. ‘The last thing I want to do is get married again, or even live with someone. Men take too much looking after.’ She paused to think. ‘But a job . . . That might . . . No, who’d want to employ me? I’ve been out of the workforce for years.’
Jane looked at her severely. ‘Anyone with sense would be glad of your help. I’ve seen you organize a dinner party for twelve people, cook all the food for it – gourmet food too – and manage the staff hired for the evening. That takes considerable skill. I’ve seen you run round after Craig in all sorts of ways, sorting out all his minor problems from work. What you are, is a born organizer. Do you have any formal secretarial skills?’
‘I suppose so. I did train as a secretary, got a diploma and everything, though I’ve not worked for years—’
‘Except as Craig’s unpaid assistant.’
‘I suppose so. But I’m used to computers and I’m still pretty quick at touch typing. I can do spreadsheets, too.’ She looked at Jane in surprise. ‘I’ve kept up with technology, haven’t I?’
‘Yes. You even taught me to use a computer, and you were an excellent teacher, too.’
Molly could feel herself relaxing a little. ‘You’re very good for my morale.’
‘I’m only telling the truth. What I’d suggest is you register for office work temping. You can give my name as a character reference, if you like. One of my granddaughters did some temping and she said she learned a lot about people, as well as about business from going to so many different places. She really enjoyed it, too.’ Jane let her glasses slip down her nose and looked over them at Molly. ‘When was the last time you thoroughly enjoyed your life?’
She didn’t even have to think about that. ‘When the children were small, before Craig got so career oriented. It’s never been quite as good since.’
‘That’s a long time to be unhappy, dear.’
‘I haven’t been unhappy, so much as . . . well, faintly anxious.’ She looked at Jane in surprise. ‘Goodness, I never realized that. I never seemed to do anything well enough to suit Craig, you see. And in the last few years we were together, it got much worse. He became so scornful.’ She looked down at herself. ‘I’m not good with clothes, I wear glasses and can’t wear contact lenses, so I don’t do him credit. There was nothing he didn’t criticize about me.’
‘And you believed what he said.’ Jane let that sink in, then said with a smile, ‘He’s right about clothes. You’re not very good at choosing them. I’d have helped you with your wedding outfit, but Denis isn’t very well just now.’
‘I’m sorry. He does look a bit . . . pale.’
‘Yes. Let’s focus on you, though. You should get right away from here.’
‘I want to, but now that I can’t sell the house I’ll have to stay. If I tried to get work, I’m sure Craig would find some way to prevent me, I just know he would. Look at how he’s ruined the auction. I’m sure it’s he who’s harassing me.’
‘I agree.’
Molly looked at her in surprise.
‘I never liked him, dear, and he felt the same about me. But it won’t do you any good to go and cower in a country rut.’ She frowned. ‘Actually, I think I might be able to help you. Have you thought of letting the house for a time, rather than selling it?’
‘And have Craig arrange for the tenant to be harassed? It wouldn’t be fair to them.’
‘You think he’s that bad?’
Molly looked at her in surprise and it was a moment before she could pull her thoughts together. Another surprise. ‘Yes. Yes, I do. He wasn’t like that when we married but now he’s a . . . a shark!’
Jane patted her hand. ‘Then one solution might be to rent your house to my son and get on with building a new life elsewhere.’
Molly stared at her in surprise. ‘Stuart? Why would he want to live here, with those yobs causing trouble?’
‘He’d enjoy the challenge of sorting them out, if I know Stuart. It’s a bit hard retiring, when you’ve been in the army all your life. If anyone knows how to deal with stroppy youths, my Stuart does. Since he and Wendy got back from touring Australia in a campervan, he’s looking for somewhere temporary to live because, like you, he needs to sort out a new life for himself. He says he isn’t buying a house till that’s settled.’
‘You’ve plenty of room for him and his wife in your house. Why would they want to live next door?’
Jane laughed. ‘Stuart and his father are too alike to cohabit comfortably. Ooh, the rows they used to have before Stuart left home! And still do from time to time. No, I couldn’t stand that. I’d have to spend all my time playing peacemaker, and I’ve better things to do with my life.’
She grinned and her eighty-year-old face turned suddenly into a little girl’s mischievous one. ‘Stuart and Wendy have got their youngest son intermittently at home while he finishes university and they have lots of army friends still who like to visit, so they want more than space for themselves. They always keep open house. Denis would hate to have strangers coming and going here, especially now. Look, I can tell Stuart the whole story, if you’re considering renting it out, and then we can let him decide. Are you interested?’
Molly didn’t even hesitate. ‘It’d be a godsend. It’d let me try life on my own without committing to anything.’
Jane studied her. ‘You know, I think dealing with this might be the making of you. If I can presume to offer you some advice . . . ?’
‘Please do.’
‘Go out and face the world boldly, whether you feel bold inside or not. Take the first step by making a vow to be more assertive. Say what you think and do only what you feel is right. That’s a fairly manageable step, don’t you think.’
Molly looked at her uncertainly. ‘It’s not always polite or sensitive to say what you think.’
‘How far has being polite and sensitive got you so far?’
‘Hmm. Not very far. Though I do have some good friends.’
‘Of course you do and I hope you count me as one of them.’
‘Of course I do.’
‘Another thing, don’t let your family know where you’re going. Let them worry about you, for a change.’
‘They won’t care, let alone worry.’
‘They might not at first, but as time passes, they will. Tell them they can contact you by email only.’
She gave Molly a quick hug. ‘You can do it. I know you can.’
Her neighbour’s kindness stayed with Molly all day, making her feel warm and cared about. She didn’t know whether she could be more assertive but she could definitely try, couldn’t she?
When a missile broke another window in the middle of that night, she didn’t weep, she got angry, furiously angry, and it only firmed up her resolve to stand up to whatever the world – or Craig – threw at her.
He was not going to get the better of her. Why should she let him get her house from her at a knock-down price?
She’d take Jane’s advice, and hold her ground, rather than backing away from confrontations from now on, verbal or otherwise.
Euan went into the office early the following morning so that he could check the building work before office hours. Outside, in the sunny but cool spring air, men were whistling as they erected the wooden framework for the next row of six lodges, accompanied by a chorus of birdsong and the sharp, staccato sound of drills putting in tek screws.
The houses always looked so fragile at this stage, like a child’s assembly kit.
He stopped to chat, because he liked the men working there to know he was keeping an eye on things, that he understood what they were doing. But he also stopped to chat because he enjoyed their wry comments on life. He’d worked with the foreman before and trusted Dan to keep things on track – and to maintain the quality of the work.
But however much you trusted your staff, he believed it still paid to be visible and not an absentee boss.
He was back in his office before eight o’clock. When he heard a sound outside, though no one had called out good morning, he went out to find one of the cleaners kneeling down, taking things out of the bottom drawer of the reception desk.
‘Are you looking for something?’
She gasped and jumped to her feet. ‘Oh, I— It’s just— Penny rang and asked me to clear out her bottom drawer. It’s only her personal things.’
He looked at the muddle of objects on the floor: a box of tissues, a half-eaten bar of chocolate, a packet of women’s tights, a magazine – yes, these were personal. But there were also quite a few papers, the top one displaying the company heading.
‘I’ve got a box to put them in, Mr Santiago. I’m sorry for disturbing you. It won’t take me more than a minute or two to finish.’
‘I’d rather check those papers first, if you don’t mind. It looks as if business stuff may have got mixed up with Penny’s things.’
His former secretary walked in just then, and while the cleaner hovered nearby looking distinctly uncomfortable, he explained what had happened.
Avril looked at the mess on the floor as if it was crawling with maggots, and said to the cleaner in a chill tone, ‘I don’t think it’s your job to go through the desks in here. And when dealing with a mess of personal things like those, you ought to be wearing rubber gloves. You’ve put yourself at risk doing it, in more ways than one. If anything’s missing, you might be accused, too.’
The cleaner backed away, looking terrified. ‘I haven’t taken anything away yet. I was only doing a favour for a friend. Look, I’ll leave it and let Penny collect it herself.’ She turned and hurried away.
‘Just a minute!’ Euan called, amazed when she started running. After a startled glance at Avril, he took off after her.
She bumped into another cleaner on the corner and ricocheted off the wall, sending cleaning materials flying.
He went to bar her way. ‘Are you both all right?’
‘Yes, no harm done,’ the other cleaner said cheerfully.
The one he’d been chasing said nothing. He peered at her name tag. ‘Are you all right, Karen?’
She nodded, shrinking away from him.
‘Why were you running away?’
‘I thought you’d be angry. Penny said you used to frighten her and I can see why.’
Euan realized suddenly that he might just have given Penny more evidence – if she was out to sue him – if he hadn’t made a mistake about that. Oh, hell! ‘When I found you going through the desk drawers, I was worried that you’d been pilfering,’ he said quietly. ‘And then you ran away. What was I to think?’
The other cleaner looked at him in shock. ‘I’d better call the supervisor, Mr Santiago. She’s also the union rep. It’s her job to sort problems out.’
‘Good idea. Do that. We’ll all wait here for her.’
‘I’m just finishing my shift,’ Karen protested. ‘I have to go and pick up my kids from school.’
‘Not till the supervisor’s spoken to you. I want confirmation that you weren’t stealing.’
She burst into tears but the other woman didn’t try to comfort her. She put her mobile phone back into her overall pocket and said, ‘Liz will be here in two minutes. She said we were all to wait.’
‘Good. Suits me.’ Euan leaned against the wall.
Liz came hurrying round the corner in under two minutes. He’d seen her around because she was in charge of the cleaners for the hotel as well as for the suite of offices, but he hadn’t spoken to her. She was wiry, looked as if she’d had a hard life and seemed ready to be aggressive with him. But when she heard what had happened, her annoyance shifted from him to Karen.
‘You know very well you’re not supposed to open any drawers or cupboards, Karen, and only to touch what you need to clean.’
Sobs were her only answer.
‘We’ll go and have a look at the things she took out of the drawer, Mr Santiago, if that’s all right with you.’
‘It’s fine with me and thank you for coming so promptly, Liz. I wasn’t sure what to do for the best, but I don’t want confidential business information going out of here.’
When they got to the reception area, they found Avril sitting at the desk, looking as if she belonged there. ‘Liz! Long time no see.’
‘Are you back with us, Miss Buttermere?’
‘Only temporarily. I’m helping Euan out because Penny decided to leave without notice. I seem to have walked straight into trouble.’ She flicked one finger towards the mess on the floor. ‘I decided it’d be best not to touch that lot without witnesses. Would you help me go through it, Liz?’
‘Be glad to, Miss Buttermere.’ She turned to Karen. ‘You’d better stay. Do you want to ring someone to pick up your kids?’
Avril looked at Euan. ‘And perhaps you’d like to get on with your work, Mr Santiago? I know how busy you are. Liz and I can investigate this and I’ll bring you up to date about it later.’
Dismissed, he thought, hiding a smile.
What a relief it was to have Avril back in charge of the office!
The next morning Jane came round to see Molly. ‘I rang my son last night. Stuart would like to come round to see the house today, if that’s all right with you.’
‘That’s fine. But—’ She hesitated.
‘I heard another window smash last night. They didn’t hurt you?’
‘No. I didn’t put a light on in the room I was occupying and they chose to target the other one again. I’ve got the glazier coming round this morning to repair the window for the second day running. I still can’t believe this is happening.’
‘People sometimes go overboard when they want something badly. The main thing is that you’ve not been hurt. And don’t worry. I told Stuart about your little problem and it didn’t put him off, rather the contrary. He hates bullying and cheating with a passion.’
Molly wasn’t so sure about it. Stuart might be all right with the situation, but what about his wife? And what would they feel like once they’d moved in, if whoever it was carried on smashing windows, day after day?
She rang up the police, then her insurance company, and the person on the phone was very disapproving of the same window being broken two days running.
‘Have you thought of hiring a security firm? If this goes on, you’ll have to pay an increased premium, you know,’ a young-sounding woman said. ‘Please make sure you inform the police about this.’
‘I’ve done that already.’
‘And what did they say?’
‘They don’t think they can do much to prevent such incidents, but they’ll send patrols round a couple of times a night.’
Towards the end of the morning, Molly kept watch from the corner bedroom window for Jane’s son arriving, while the glazier fitted another window in the room next door. When she saw her husband drive past, she stiffen
ed. No mistaking that profile or the personalized number plate. What was Craig doing here? This wasn’t a road that led anywhere he was likely to go. In fact, it didn’t really lead anywhere, except to a further tangle of streets.
He could only have come here to gloat! she decided. When he drove past a short time later, going in the other direction, slowing down again to smile, she was certain that was why he was here.
A few moments later the doorbell rang and she realized she hadn’t even seen whoever it was approaching, so lost had she been in her own thoughts. She ran down to open it, to find Jane and her son standing there. He was as upright as she remembered, but he’d lost most of his hair and had shaved his head, which made him look very different. His smile was still as warm as his mother’s, however.
‘You remember Stuart, don’t you, Molly? And by the way, did you see your ex driving past just now?’
‘You saw Craig as well?’
‘Yes. No mistaking that personalized number plate, or his face, come to that.’
‘Oh, good. Would you mind writing down the date and the time you saw him? I’m keeping a diary of everything that happens. Pleased to see you again, Stuart. Do come in. The glazier’s just finishing. Your mother did explain what’s been going on?’
‘About the harassment? Yes.’
‘Doesn’t it worry you?’
He bared his teeth in a grin that would have frightened her if she’d been a guilty person brought up before him. ‘It’ll be a fun little project to catch them, Molly.’
‘If only you could!’
‘I think I’ve got a fair chance.’
Jane moved towards the door. ‘I’ll leave you to show Stuart round in peace. I have an important phone call to make.’
She looked so sad as she said that, Molly glanced quickly at Stuart. He was watching her go. And he looked sad, too.
As she was finishing showing him round, Jane came back and Molly took them into the kitchen for some coffee.
‘Well, what do you think of the house?’ Jane asked her son.
‘It’s perfect for our needs and the harassment doesn’t worry me. But I do need to find somewhere quickly, so the deciding factor will be how soon we can move in. We’re staying with Wendy’s sister at the moment and she’s driving me crazy with her fussy ways, plus I have friends coming back from a tour of duty in Afghanistan in a couple of weeks. I need somewhere with spare bedrooms so that I can spend time with them.’