A Question of Guilt

by Janet Tanner

  I had to laugh. There was absolutely no thinking to be done.

  ‘I should think so, Officer,’ I said mischievously.

  Mum was in the doorway.

  ‘Oh – are you going?’ she asked.

  ‘’Fraid so. I’ve got a whole load of reports to write. And Sally needs an early night too after all she’s been through today.’

  He squeezed my shoulder, dropped a kiss on top of my head, and made for the door.

  ‘Take care of her,’ he said to Mum. And was gone.

  ‘Well, well, what a turn-up for the book!’ Mum said. ‘A policeman! Perhaps he’ll be able to keep you in order.’

  I grinned.

  ‘I wouldn’t hold my breath if I was you,’ I said.

  Postscript

  Josh had his own idea of a way to ‘keep me in order’ – he wasted no time in asking me to marry him. And I wasted no time in saying ‘yes’. What would have been the point? We are both absolutely sure of our feelings, and old enough to know our own minds. I had no wish to get into another long-term live-in relationship as I had with Tim, and besides, all the things that have happened have convinced me life is for living – now. You never know what tomorrow may bring.

  We’re planning a September wedding, though the honeymoon may have to be delayed for the various court hearings Josh is going to have to attend. Jeremy, Jason Barlow and Lewis Crighton are looking at very long jail sentences – especially Jeremy and Jason, who has admitted being the hit-and-run driver responsible for Dawn’s death. And of course Paul and Lisa Holder will be charged too with various offences. Muffins is closed and shuttered and I can’t see it opening again any time soon, if ever. I do actually feel a bit sorry for Lisa; it must be devastating for her to see her dream destroyed – she had made a very good job of the café. But even if she was talked into the arson plan in the first place by her unscrupulous fiancé, to remain silent when poor Brian Jennings was sent to prison for something he didn’t do was unforgivable. Whatever the outcome for Lisa and Paul, they brought it all on themselves.

  The good thing is that poor Brian Jennings is free, and will probably be able to claim a lot of money in compensation for wrongful imprisonment. I sincerely hope he has learned his lesson and won’t ever stalk another girl as he did Dawn. But weird and unsavoury as he may be, he was innocent of arson, innocent of wishing her harm. Just a fall guy of whom everyone was only too ready to believe the worst.

  But back to our forthcoming wedding. I’m out of plaster now, and my leg is almost as good as new, so I will be able to walk down the aisle unaided, albeit with a bit of a limp. And when we were discussing the honeymoon I had a suggestion to make.

  ‘If we left it until next winter we could go skiing.’

  Josh raised his eyebrows in utter disbelief.

  ‘After what happened last time?’

  ‘They say lightning never strikes in the same place twice, and I suppose the same thing goes for avalanches,’ I said breezily.

  ‘I wouldn’t want to take bets on it.’

  ‘And besides, I’m sure you’d enjoy it. Quite apart from the actual skiing, it’s really beautiful. I’d love you to see the crimson sunsets over the snow, and the après-ski is pretty good, too.’

  Josh sighed deeply.

  ‘Oh – if you’re really set on it – we’ll see. But I’m making no promises. Personally I’d rather be somewhere hot. Snorkelling, water sports, a cold beer on a sun lounger listening to the surf and getting a decent tan . . .’ He put his arms round me. ‘Not so many layers of clothes between us, either . . .’ he added wickedly.

  ‘If it hadn’t been for my skiing accident we’d never have met,’ I pointed out.

  ‘True. It still doesn’t make me want to take up the sport,’ he said.

  I pulled a face, pretending to be deeply upset. But to be honest, I don’t much care where we are as long as we are together. Some things, it would seem, are meant to be.

  Josh and I together are just one of them.