by Sherri Bryan
“Listen, Nathan, when you give me bad news, you make sure I’m in a relaxed environment, and you tell me in a way that doesn’t send my stress levels through the roof. If I hear it from someone else, it’s very likely to send me into a mild panic. Which it did.”
Nathan crouched down and took hold of Charlotte’s hands. “You’re right—I should have told you, but Toby Carter only told me yesterday and it didn’t even occur to me that you’d find out so soon. I’m sorry.”
She shook her head. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault—it’s me. I know I worry about everything far too much. I wish I didn’t but I can’t help it.” She smiled. “But seeing as I know now, you might as well tell me what’s going on.”
Nathan recounted what Toby Carter had told him.
“That’s interesting. Wonder why Eddie was reluctant to give a DNA sample? It doesn’t make him look very good, does it?” Charlotte threw a ball for Pippin and he ran after it, tumbling over and over on the grass before catching it deftly between his teeth.
“Not really, although there are lots of people who don’t like giving DNA, or even fingerprints. They see it as a violation of their civil rights. I’ve no idea if that’s why Eddie didn’t want to give a sample but, if he’s innocent, that could be the reason. Of course, the other reason may be that he knows DNA isn’t always 100% accurate. That could be a concern.”
“Hmm, maybe that’s why Adam wasn’t keen,” said Charlotte. “What did the DI say about the couple the neighbour claims to have seen?”
“What couple?”
“Amy said that a neighbour told the police they saw some people at the house in March.”
“Really? That’s news to me.” Nathan resumed watering the flowerbeds.
“Yes, a man and a blonde woman. But no one went to the house in March so the neighbour obviously didn’t see what she thought she saw.”
“Well, whatever the situation, it’s nothing for you to worry about. I don’t want you getting your knickers in a twist about something that’s absolutely nothing to do with you. Okay? Promise me?”
Charlotte pushed herself up from the chair. “I can’t promise I’m not going to worry but I promise I’ll try—how’s that for you?”
Nathan winked. “That’ll do for now.”
ººººººº
Charlotte fumbled in the dark for the alarm clock.
5:56 am.
It was no good. She couldn’t sleep. Her mind was too active.
Something was troubling her.
Since she and Nathan had returned to St. Eves, it had become increasingly difficult for her to switch off. Nathan was convinced it was because of the baby but she knew otherwise.
There was something about Frankie’s death that bothered her. Apart from the fact that he’d been electrocuted in a hot tub, of course.
She’d gone over everything that had happened time and time again. She was missing something, she knew it. She just didn’t know what it was.
She swung her legs off the side of the bed and waited for the baby to settle itself before creeping downstairs to make her go-to insomnia cure—hot milk and maple syrup—Pippin scampering ahead.
Sitting at the kitchen table, she pulled a writing pad and pen from underneath a pile of free newspapers and started making notes.
The bulbs in the hot tub had been deliberately tampered with, rendering it a death trap as soon as it was filled with water.
But who was the culprit?
A screwdriver which had been used to affect the damage had been found at the scene with traces of DNA on it.
But why hadn’t the perpetrator disposed of it?
Who could have gained access to the garden and made the deadly alterations?
The neighbour had said she’d seen a man and a woman with blonde hair at the house at a time when none of the group who fitted that description could possibly have been there. But how reliable was her recollection of events?
Charlotte recalled the lenses on the woman’s glasses had been thicker than the bottom of a milk bottle. She was doubtful she could have made a positive identification of anyone.
It was unsettling, to say the least, to think that one of the group could have been responsible—unbelievable, too.
She didn’t know any of them well, but she was usually a pretty good judge of character and none of them struck her as a cold-blooded murderer.
She drank the last of her milk and washed-up her cup. As she climbed the stairs, she tried to clear her mind of thoughts that would keep her awake.
As she pulled the covers up to her chin, she knew she’d failed.
Chapter 7
“Yoo-hoo, anyone home?” Ava’s shrill voice called through the letter box at ‘Fisherman’s Cottage’, Charlotte’s cosy, seafront home.
“Hang on, I won’t be a sec.” Charlotte plumped up the cushions on the couch and checked her reflection in the mirror. In an effort to be as comfortable as possible, she’d pulled on a stretchy t-shirt dress, emphasising her ever-growing bump, which she patted proprietorially before answering the door.
“Hello, Charlotte, you look adorable, dear.” Ava looked her up and down and patted her cheek with her free hand, the other carrying a large handbag and an even larger cakebox. “And hello, Pippin, sweetie.”
“Yes, pregnancy really does agree with you, you’re positively glowing,” said Harriett, kissing her on both cheeks. She followed Ava into the kitchen. “By the way, I’ve made an apple and blackberry crumble.”
“And I’ve made some homemade ice cream to go with it,” said Betty. “I hope you’re not on a diet.”
“No, I’m most definitely not on a diet,” said Charlotte. “Thanks, all of you. You didn’t have to go to all this trouble.”
And then, without warning, she burst into tears.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” she took the tissue Jess shoved under her nose. “It’s just…”
“Hormones!” chorused Jess, Ava, Harriett, and Betty, causing Charlotte to laugh through her tears.
“Don’t worry about it, dear,” said Ava from the depths of one of Charlotte’s kitchen cupboards, her bottom stuck in the air and her head and shoulders out of sight.
“What are you looking for, Ava?” Charlotte dried her eyes and grinned at Ava’s muttering as she rifled through the shelves of pots and pans.
“A cake stand…honestly, youngsters these days and their awful habit of cutting a cake straight out of the packet. Don’t tell me you don’t have one?”
“I do, but it’s not in there. It’s in the cupboard above the fridge. I’ll get it.”
Ava broke down the sides of the box to reveal a fruit cake, its rich aroma fruity and spicy in equal measures.
“Mmmm, that smells divine—like Christmas cake.” Charlotte helped Ava transfer the cake onto the stand.
“Hmm, similar, but not so heavy. It’s a boiled fruit cake—my Grandma Doris’ recipe.” Ava ferreted in her vast bag and pulled a canister of icing sugar from its depths. “There,” she said, with a flourish, one arm striking a chef-like pose as she sprinkled the surface of the cake liberally. “If you taste a better fruit cake than that, which I doubt, I want the recipe.”
Pippin, who was sitting beside the cupboard, nose twitching, wasn’t expecting to be sprinkled with icing sugar and Charlotte laughed as he suddenly shook himself and licked the sugar from his paws.
“Well, it looks lovely. It all does. Thank you.” Charlotte hugged them all.
“And we’ve got you some presents. We chose them between us so whenever you look at them, you can think of all of us.”
“Yes, it took us ages to decide which ones to get.” Betty beamed at Charlotte.
“But I think we definitely made the right choices in the end.” Harriett busied herself arranging food on the kitchen table. “I’m sure you’ll love them.”
“Oh, you shouldn’t have! But thank you—and yes, I’m sure I’ll love them, whatever they are.”
“We’ll wait until everyone’s
here before we give them to you, though. Now,” Ava pulled up her cuff to look at her watch, “where is everyone?”
ººººººº
It wasn’t long before the living room was filled with the sound of chatter and uproarious laughter.
As was so often the case, Ava and Harriett were keeping the guests entertained—on this occasion, with hilarious anecdotes of childbirth in years gone by, and Charlotte, Jess, Laura, Aunt Lola, Betty, Yolanda from the Maxi-Mart, Penny, Amy, and Ruby were soon helpless with laughter.
“Oh, Charlotte, this afternoon has done me the world of good.” Amy wiped her eyes and checked her mascara. “After the last couple of weeks, we were both in dire need of some light relief, weren’t we, Pen?”
“You can say that again.” Penny helped herself to a second slice of fruit cake. “It’s so nice to just be able to focus on something else for a few hours in such lovely company.”
“It really is,” agreed Ruby, scratching Pippin behind the ears. “The last two weeks have been absolutely horrendous but this has been a real tonic. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d ever laugh again after what happened in London.”
“Speaking of which,” said Amy as she licked a tissue and wiped away the mascara smudges from under her eyes, “we’re having a Celebration of Life for Frankie next Saturday afternoon. It’s the day of his funeral but, as we’re not invited, we wanted to remember him in our own way.”
“Oh. Why aren’t you invited?” said Charlotte.
“Because we found out yesterday that his family wants a private service—family only. We’re devastated because Frankie knew so many people who would love to go and pay their respects.” Penny popped the last piece of cake into her mouth. “Anyway, we’d be thrilled if you’d come along. And Nathan, too, of course. I remember you saying that you can’t usually go to anything unless it’s on a Saturday, so you’re in luck!”
“Well, we hardly knew him,” said Charlotte. “I’m not sure we’d feel comfortable about intruding on something so personal.”
“Don’t be daft! You wouldn’t be intruding. And it’s a celebration—a party—so the more, the merrier. We want to give him the best send-off we can. Anyway, you don’t know us very well but you invited us to your baby shower, didn’t you? That’s personal, isn’t it?”
“Um, yes, I suppose it is. Okay, I’ll mention it to Nathan and I’ll let you know, if that’s okay? Thanks for the invite.”
“Well, if he can’t make it, bring your friend, Jess, along if you want to. She seems lovely.”
“Charlotte! It’s time!” Ava clapped her hands to attract everyone’s attention. “It’s time for the first part of your present! Now, Harriett, Betty, and I gave a lot of thought about what we could give you that was different from any other present you’d receive. We wanted to give you something personal that you would always remember us by, didn’t we, ladies?”
“We did. Something unique.” Harriett nodded.
“Yes, and useful, too.” Betty’s eyes twinkled as she beamed at Charlotte.
“So, everyone follow us! Outside into the garden! Come along!” The three ladies marched towards the back door, Pippin bringing up the rear.
“What? There’s nothing in the garden—I was out there this morning hanging out the washing. I would have seen it.” Charlotte was bemused.
“Yes, there is, dear. Nathan collected it from my place a few days ago and put it in the garden shed while you were at work. It’s been there ever since.” Ava opened the back door and waited for Charlotte to file out with the others. “And don’t look so surprised; he’s been in on this from the beginning. It was him who suggested the shed would be a good place to keep it because you never go in there. Now come along.”
They gathered on the patio and Jess and Laura rushed forward to help Betty and Harriett push a large gift-wrapped box out of the shed.
“Come on, Charlotte. Come and open your first present.” The ladies looked extremely pleased with themselves.
“I can’t believe Nathan managed to keep this a secret.” Charlotte ripped wrapping paper off the package.
She carefully opened the lid of the box and peered inside.
“Oh. Oh, my!” Charlotte tore open the sides of the cardboard box to reveal a beautiful, brightly decorated, solid wood child’s rocking horse.
Pippin took one look at it, cocked his head, and began to bark, madly chasing his tail.
“It’s an antique, you know—fully restored,” said Ava, excitedly.
“All handmade and hand-painted,” said Betty.
“And it’s just like the rocking horses Ava and I had for our little ones—so much nicer than the ones in the shops these days. These have so much character, don’t you think?” Harriet squeezed Charlotte’s hand.
All three women looked suddenly hesitant. “You do like it, don’t you?” said Ava.
An ear to ear smile lit up Charlotte’s face. “Like it? I adore it! Thank you so much, it’s such a generous gift.”
“Oh, get away with you.” Ava swiped playfully at Charlotte. “What did you think we were going to give you? A hand-knitted bib and a bottle of gripe water? Do give us some credit, dear.”
“Shall I fetch the other gift?” said Betty. Without waiting for an answer she disappeared inside, reappearing with a package wrapped in brown paper which she pushed into Charlotte’s hand. “Go on, open it! We haven’t had a chance to look at it yet because it was only delivered this morning but I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“Oh, thank you, it’s so sweet of you.” Charlotte tore at the paper . Really, there was no need to…oh, it’s very yellow, isn’t it?”
The package contained clothing of some kind. Something soft and bright yellow. She unfolded the garment and held it by the shoulders.
“Don’t you just love it?” said Harriett.
“It’s a 1960s-design maternity dress! Just like the ones Harriett and I used to wear!” Ava looked about to burst with excitement.
“They chose the style and I chose the colour!” said Betty.
“We had it made especially for you!” said Harriett. “You know, to keep you covered up.”
“Yes, much better than those dreadful things pregnant women wear these days, showing off their belly button—honestly!” Ava lowered her voice to a whisper when she said “belly button” as if it was a profanity.
“Actually, Ava, it looks a little long, don’t you think?” Harriett sized up the garment through a squint.
As Charlotte wordlessly held out the giant yellow dress in front of her, Jess caught her eye.
“Well, if Big Bird ever comes looking for his coat, at least we’ll be able to tell him where to find it.” Her voice quavered as she supressed the giggles that were threatening to erupt.
“Oh, shush, Jess. Don’t tell her that, you’ll give her a complex,” said Betty.
“Well? Aren’t you going to try it on?” Ava’s tone told Charlotte that she’d get no rest until she did.
“Of course she’s going to try it on!” said Harriett. “Aren’t you?”
“Oh yes, please try it on, Charlotte!” A handful of tissues caught Laura’s silent tears of mirth.
“Yes, yes, you must!” Aunt Lola’s face was a picture as she struggled to remain calm.
“I’ll try it on later.” Charlotte smiled gracefully and put the dress back into its bag.
“Nonsense! You’ll try it on now! Just slip it on over your clothes,” said Ava. “I think it’ll be roomy enough.”
To the sound of ill-concealed splutters and thinly-veiled attempts to disguise strangled laughter as coughing, Charlotte lifted the garment over her head.
“There we are, perfect!” The three women stood back to admire their gift.
The capacious dress hung from Charlotte’s shoulders and fell two inches above her ankles, its girth more than capable of housing three pregnant women at once.
She glared at Jess, Laura, and Lola—as ridiculous as she knew she must look, she would hate for Ava
, Harriett, and Betty’s feelings to be hurt. She didn’t want anyone laughing at her in front of them.
“Hmmm.” Ava frowned as she gathered a handful of excess material. “I see what you mean, Harriett. It is a little on the large side, isn’t it? I wonder why?”
“You did give the measurements in centimetres on the order form, didn’t you, not inches?” asked Harriett.
Ava blushed before changing the subject. “Ahem. Well, a maternity dress can never be too loose, if you ask me.
Sensing her embarrassment, Charlotte held out the skirt of the voluminous yellow dress and did a little twirl. “It’s lovely. Thank you all—you’re very kind.”
An awkward silence was broken by Betty.
“That reminds me...I haven’t heard the church bells ringing recently. Is one of them missing?” Her mischievous comment, in her kindly voice, was all that was needed to reduce Jess, Laura, and Lola to quivering wrecks, helpless with laughter, with everyone else following suit soon afterwards.
“Oh, my gosh, I ache!” Charlotte hid her face in the skirt of her dress. “You shouldn’t make a pregnant woman laugh so much! Please stop, or I’ll embarrass myself—you know I’m not in control of all my functions at the moment, what with all this extra weight making me want to run to the bathroom every five minutes.”
“Well, if it’s extra weight you’re worried about, you’d better take that dress off,” said Harriett. “They must have used a ton of fabric to make it!”
ººººººº
“So, your husband doesn’t object to your tattoos?”
“No, not at all.”
Ruby had been fielding questions from Ava and Harriett for the past fifteen minutes.
“Not that I mind them, you understand,” said Ava, “it’s just that it’s rather large, isn’t it? The one of the orchids on the back of your leg, I mean. And it’s awfully purple. Has anyone ever mistaken it for a bruise, dear?”
“Er, no.” Ruby grinned. “Not yet, anyway.”
“As I say, I think they’re rather eye-catching but others might say they were…er, how can I put it without offending, my dear…a little unbecoming on a woman, shall we say.”