‘There’s something else I’ve been meaning to tell you.’
‘Then go on,’ Jess encouraged although she was dreading what she might hear next.
‘Well, the thing is – you know all those accidents that you had before Christmas? I don’t think they were accidents. In fact, I know they weren’t. The day you fell down the stairs and lost the baby, I saw Dad go up to the attic just before you did, and I think it was him that pushed you.’
‘Oh, now come on, love. I know he was a swine but even he wouldn’t be capable of that.’ But even as she said it Jess’s mind was working overtime as she thought of the enormous life-insurance policy he had taken out on her, and the way he had pressurised her to make a will.
‘Yes, he would.’ Mel looked back at her steadily. ‘The day your brakes failed, I saw him tampering under the bonnet of your car just before you left. And what about the day you got the electric shock from the hairdryer? I saw him messing around with that too, and when I asked him what he was doing, he told me to mind my own business.’
‘I think you’re letting your imagination run away with you now, love,’ Jess objected. ‘Your dad couldn’t have fiddled with it. He was on a stag do in London at the time.’
Mel shook her head. ‘Oh no, he wasn’t. He just wanted you to think he was away. He was actually staying with this woman who lives near the town centre. He’s been seeing her for years. And what about how he rushed you into making a will? If anything had happened to you, he would have got everything – and he needed to because his business was in trouble. That’s why he’d started dealing in drugs.’
As yet another piece of the jigsaw fell into place, Jess gasped with shock.
‘Who was this woman your dad stayed with?’ she asked, as she relived the day she had bumped into Abigail in the town. No wonder she had looked puzzled when Jess had mentioned the men in London.
‘Her name is Wendy and Dad kept all his drugs hidden there,’ Mel said wretchedly.
‘Would you be prepared to tell the police all this?’ Jess asked now, and Mel agreed. So all the time she had been battling like a fool to keep their marriage going, Simon had actually wanted her dead. Shakily, she dialled Inspector Flynn’s number.
The next day, following a police raid on the address Mel had given them, a number of people were arrested for drug-trafficking, including the woman with whom Simon had been having an affair.
Surprisingly, Mel seemed a little more like her old self after that and Jess hoped that now she had unburdened herself of all the terrible secrets she had been forced to keep, she might start to recover.
Mel even went back to school on a part-time basis the following week, and she seemed to be coping well with it, although the same could not be said for Jess as she rattled around the house all alone, counting the hours until her daughter would be home again.
‘You should get yourself an interest outside of this place,’ Karen and Laura urged her, but she was becoming reclusive as she tried to come to terms with all that had happened. The newspapers had been full of the story for the first two weeks following Simon and Jo’s deaths, and it took Jess all her time to venture further than the end of the drive because she was convinced that everyone was talking about her.
It was one morning whilst Mel was at school that she took every single thing of Simon’s that she could find, and dragged them out onto the field next to the copse, where she burned them to ashes on a giant bonfire. But Jo’s room remained untouched. She had only ventured in there once to get the new jeans and the new top she had bought for her the week before she died. Jo had never got to wear them and Jess wanted her to be buried in them. And now the room remained shut up. It was just too painful to venture in there and see all the girl’s treasures scattered about the place. She had, however, gone up into Martha’s room in the attic, but the scent of roses was gone now, as were the whispers that had shortly before been her constant companion. Jess hoped that, if the girl had moved on, she was finally at peace.
And so one long day ran into another as Jess sank further and further into a depression. She was sitting in the chair one morning absently fondling Alfie’s ears when she heard a car pull into the drive.
‘I wonder who that can be?’ she muttered as she hauled herself out of her seat and went to open the door. She wasn’t expecting Karen until the next day. When she dragged it open she gasped with shock when she saw Emile Lefavre standing on the step.
‘Now please do not shout at me,’ he implored, holding his hands out in front of him as if to ward off a blow. ‘I do not know what I did to upset you so when we were in Paris, but I saw what had happened in the newspapers and felt that I should come and check that you and Mel are all right. I would not come straight away as I realised you had a lot to cope with, but if you are still angry with me I shall leave immediately.’
‘Oh Emile, I’m so sorry for the awful things I said to you,’ Jess told him. ‘The thing is, I thought it was you that had . . .’ She began to cry, and before she knew it, he was in the room holding her comfortingly.
‘Now then, why don’t you start at the beginning and tell me everything that has happened,’ he prompted, and for the next hour that is exactly what Jess did. When she had finally sobbed out the whole sorry story, Emile whistled through his teeth.
‘My God,’ he exclaimed. ‘You have been to hell and back.’ He sensed that it was a relief for Jess to talk and so he was still there when Mel returned from school at lunch-time, with the rest of the day off.
‘Emile!’ she cried when she saw him, and Jess saw her smile – really smile – for the first time in a very long while. ‘It’s great to see you. Are you staying for dinner? Can he, Mum?’
Jess realised with a little jolt that she hadn’t even thought of dinner. She had been too busy pouring her heart out to Emile.
‘Of course he can,’ she said uncertainly. ‘But I’ve no idea what we’re going to eat. Karen was going to do some more shopping for us tomorrow.’
‘Then I shall cook if I am permitted,’ he told her with a grin. ‘I am known for being able to make a meal from nothing. Now, where is the fridge?’
In no time at all they were tucking into ham omelettes which Mel polished off with relish. Jess smiled. It was nice to see her looking happy again.
When they were done, Emile cleared away and told Jess, ‘Now you make me a list of the things you need, and Mel and I shall go shopping for you, shan’t we, ma petite? Just enough to tide you over until your friend comes tomorrow. I don’t have to go back to school, and neither does Mel, so allow us to make ourselves useful, n’est-ce pas?’
Jess knew that she shouldn’t really put the responsibility of shopping onto someone she barely knew, but anything was preferable to having to go out and face people and do it herself.
Emile and Mel were back within the hour loaded down with shopping bags after a quick trip to the local Asda.
‘But there’s far more here than I put on the list,’ Jess objected as Emile began to efficiently unpack.
‘You must eat and keep your strength up,’ he scolded, and so she sat back and watched. It was nice to feel cared for again.
When he finally left, much later in the afternoon, Mel pleaded with him to come back soon. After glancing at Jess for her permission, which she gave with a slight nod of her head, he smiled.
‘I shall be back on Sunday to cook you a good British roast dinner,’ he told them, holding his hand up to stay Jess’s objections. ‘And do not worry. I shall bring all the ingredients with me.’
It was gone eight o’clock that evening when Jess realised with a little jolt that Laura hadn’t called in. She had been so taken with Emile’s visit that she hadn’t given it a thought until now. She frowned. It wasn’t like Laura not to call to see how they were, and she wondered if everything was all right with Beth. She was just contemplating whether or not she should walk down the lane to Blue Brick Cottage to find out, when Laura appeared, as if thoughts of her had conjured her ou
t of thin air.
Jess saw at a glance that Laura had been crying but before she could ask her what was wrong, her friend burst out: ‘I’ve just come back from the hospital. Beth has had a little boy.’
‘Oh.’ As she thought of the baby she had recently lost, a shudder ran up Jess’s spine but now wasn’t the time to think of herself and her feelings. ‘Congratulations! Are they both all right?’
Laura nodded, looking frighteningly old and pale. ‘Yes, they are now, but it was awful. Beth screamed the place down, poor love. She couldn’t understand what was happening to her. Still, it’s over now, and all being well they’ll be home in a day or two. But how has your day been?’ She felt uncomfortable saying too much about the baby under the circumstances, and was keen to change the subject.
Before Jess could answer, Mel began to tell her all about Emile’s visit, and Laura smiled to see her looking more like her old self again. ‘It sounds like you both enjoyed seeing him,’ she said when Mel had finished.
‘Let’s just say he was a welcome distraction and we need all the distractions we can get right now,’ Jess told her as she fetched a bottle of whisky from the drinks cabinet. Laura looked like she could do with a good stiff drink and Jess knew that, loving Beth as she did, the birth must have been as traumatic for her as it had been for her daughter. It was never easy to see someone you loved in pain.
Laura gulped at the spirit gratefully, wincing as it burned its way down her throat.
‘Cor, that was just what the doctor ordered,’ she grinned when she had drained the glass. ‘But I’d better be getting back now. Den is a positive nervous wreck. I only called in to check that you were both OK and to tell you about the new addition.’
It was as she neared the door that Jess caught her arm. ‘Laura, are you quite sure that there’s nothing I could do to help?’
‘Ssh,’ Laura said sternly. ‘We’ve already had this conversation and I’ve told you, this is our baby now.’ Impulsively, she leaned forward and pecked Jess’s cheek. ‘You just concentrate on you and Mel,’ she urged kindly, and then she was gone.
Just as he had promised, Emile turned up on the following Sunday loaded down with yet more bags, which he promptly unpacked.
‘Now you two shoo,’ he told them, flapping his hands dramatically. ‘You must not disturb a great chef at work. I shall call you when it is all ready to serve.’
The meal which followed three hours later was delicious, and Jess was thrilled to see that Mel ate every mouthful. Just as he had said, Emile was a surprisingly good cook. They dined on an enormous leg of pork covered in crunchy crackling, a selection of vegetables, and crispy roast potatoes all swimming in thick creamy gravy.
‘Oh Lord, I won’t be able to eat another thing for at least a month,’ Jess groaned as she eventually staggered away from the table.
‘Rubbish!’ Emile exclaimed. ‘You are far too thin. A woman should have curves.’ Jess grinned. It was a very long time since there had been any light-hearted banter in this house.
In the afternoon, they watched the omnibus edition of Eastenders on the television, all curled up on the settee together, and then Mel went to her room to do her homework, leaving the adults to talk. It was then that Emile asked, ‘Have you thought of moving from here, Jess?’
‘Moving?’ she asked blankly. ‘But how could I? Mel has been through so much just lately. It would be unfair to expect her to move house on top of everything else.’
‘But have you asked her how she would feel about it?’ he pressed.
Jess had to admit that she hadn’t.
‘Then I should put the idea to her,’ he said bluntly. ‘It will be hard for both of you if you stay here. There are too many memories.’
Jess gave what he had said a lot of thought, and when he had gone and she and Mel were alone again, she put the idea to her over a light supper.
‘Mel,’ she began, struggling to find the right words, ‘how would you feel about moving?’
‘What? From here, you mean?’ Mel’s face lit up. ‘I’d love it!’ she said immediately. ‘Even if you, me and Alfie just ended up in a little flat somewhere. I hate it here.’
‘Right, in that case I shall get an estate agent around to value the place just as soon as possible,’ Jess promised – and that is exactly what she did the very following day.
Beth came home from hospital four days after having the baby. Jess knew that she should go to see her but dreaded it. The pain she felt at losing her own baby was still raw and she couldn’t imagine how she was going to react.
She was still struggling to come to terms with the fact that Simon had tried to kill her, and was missing Jo terribly, but she tried to remain positive for Mel, who still had very dark days when she did nothing but cry. The house also felt strangely empty without Martha’s presence, and Jess kept expecting to hear the whispers start up again. Now she was looking forward to seeing the For Sale board go up and could hardly wait to be gone from there. It was no longer a home but just a place full of bad memories.
One morning, she waited until Mel had gone to school then set off to Blue Brick Cottage to visit Beth and the new addition to the family.
When she entered Laura’s homely kitchen she found her sitting in a chair giving the baby a bottle whilst Beth sat at the window staring sightlessly out across the garden. Jess went over to the girl and planted a kiss on her head before approaching Laura, who smiled a greeting and said, ‘I’ll put the kettle on as soon as I’ve finished feeding his lordship here. Unless you want to finish him off, that is?’
Jess nodded mutely, her heart thumping as Laura rose and placed him in her arms. Jess’s heart broke afresh as she stared down into his perfect little face. He was so like the baby she had lost that he almost took her breath away. The same blue eyes, the same shock of dark hair, but then Simon had always joked that all babies looked alike.
The baby snatched at the teat of the bottle greedily when she offered it to him and she cuddled him to her as her maternal instincts rose in her like a tidal wave.
‘He’s lovely, isn’t he?’ Laura whispered, feeling Jess’s pain.
Jess gulped and nodded. ‘Absolutely. Have you decided what to call him yet?’
‘Den and I thought we might call him Lucas,’ Laura replied. She could only begin to imagine how hard this must be for Jess, so soon after losing her own baby, and she felt for her. She had been through so much tragedy, it just didn’t seem fair.
‘And what does Beth think of the name?’
‘Oh, to tell you the truth she doesn’t even look at him,’ Laura said as she glanced worriedly towards her daughter. ‘It’s as if now that she’s given birth, it’s over for her, but then we expected that. But that’s enough about us. How are you and Mel doing now?’
‘We’re getting there. We just take one day at a time. To be honest, I can’t wait to move away from here now.’
‘I can understand that. And have you had any sign from Martha?’
‘Nothing,’ Jess told her as she dragged her eyes away from the baby. He had finished his milk now and she was patting his back as she winded him.
‘I’m not surprised.’ Laura frowned as she poured milk into two mugs. ‘You’ve got to try and go on now for Mel’s sake, and when you move you can make a brand new start.’
Jess nodded, but inside she was wondering how she would ever manage to move on. How did you forget a daughter and a husband who had suddenly vanished from her life in the blink of an eye?
‘And how is that handsome Frenchman who’s been visiting you?’ Laura asked as she saw Jess becoming emotional.
‘He’s been a godsend,’ Jess said fervently, then flushed as she saw Laura smile with amusement and rushed on, ‘But there’s nothing romantic going on, if that’s what you were thinking.’
‘I wasn’t thinking anything,’ Laura assured her. ‘It’s just nice to see someone being so kind to you and Mel. You need as many friends as you can get right now.’
‘Sorr
y.’ Jess looked suitably apologetic. ‘I’m just a bit touchy at the moment.’
Laura lifted her grandson from Jess’s lap. ‘You’d be rather strange if you weren’t,’ she commented, and they then turned the talk to other things until it was time for Jess to go.
It was when she got to the door that Jess suddenly remembered one of the reasons she had come. ‘I know we’ve passed on all the baby stuff we had, and you’re very welcome to it, but I’d like you to accept this for him from me and Mel. You can either spend it on anything he needs, or put it into a bank account for him. Whatever you like.’
Laura gasped as she looked down at the cheque that Jess had pressed into her hand.
‘B . . . but this is for five hundred pounds,’ she gasped. ‘I can’t possibly take all this from you.’
‘Yes, you can,’ Jess smiled. ‘I don’t know what I would have done without you over the last few weeks. And it isn’t for you anyway. It’s for little Master Lucas there. He’s just what we all needed. A brand new life after so much sadness.’
Laura’s eyes welled with tears as she hugged Jess to her with her free arm.
‘Thank you,’ she whispered. ‘I’m going to miss you so much.’
‘I shall miss you too,’ Jess said huskily. ‘But just because I’m moving doesn’t mean that we’ll never get to see each other again. I shan’t let you forget me that easily.’
She waved at Beth before slipping through the door, and as she closed it softly behind her, Laura gazed down at her little grandson, tears sliding silently down her cheeks. Life was strange, there was no doubt about it.
Epilogue
‘That’s it then, missus. We’re all loaded,’ the portly driver informed her as he slammed the back doors of the large removal van. Taking his handkerchief from his pocket he mopped at his sweating brow as the hot July sunshine beamed down on them. At that moment, Mel bounced out of the kitchen door with Emile and Alfie close behind her, and Jess smiled at them.
‘Right, you two, would you like to go on with the removal men and let them into the new house while I lock up?’ she asked.
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