The Unwelcome Guest
Page 27
‘I’ll just go and make some coffee,’ I tell Miles, removing the pad and taking it downstairs. Ben has a ‘detective kit’ with powder for deciphering secret letters. I pull it out of the kitchen drawer and spread the powder across your blotter, and vibrate it gently. The charcoal settles in the indentations.
Dear Hayley,
I left money to you because I know in the event of Saffron’s death, you will be able to make Miles fall in love with you, and marry you. This way Miles ends up with the wife he deserves to spend his inheritance with. All you need to do is deal with Saffron, and my world is your oyster. I know you love him. Go get him. Please destroy this letter.
With all my love and respect,
Caprice
Oh my God. What is this?
I race upstairs. Miles is still engrossed in childhood photographs. I show him the paper.
‘This is worse than I thought,’ he says, going paler than pale.
‘What does it mean? What did the will say? Am I in danger?’ I ask, frantic.
He shakes his head. ‘Not anymore.’
‘What do you mean?’
He tells me the truth about the six-month condition on the inheritance. The huge motivation for Hayley to murder me. He takes me in his arms. ‘I just didn’t want you to be scared. I didn’t want to worry you. It’s over now. Hayley did nothing. Nothing. She just went back to New Zealand. Aiden and I watched over you like a hawk.’
I am trembling like a leaf, from top to toe. ‘So Hayley didn’t want to do me any harm, thank goodness. Despite all your mother’s encouragement.’
‘I’m so sorry, Saffron. So sorry I didn’t realise how toxic my mother was. She did everything she could to fool me.’
‘And Hayley is a better person than we thought.’
193
Hayley
My mobile rings, and I pick up.
‘Hello, Hayley, it’s Saffron Jackson here.’
I’m taken aback. ‘I can’t believe the coincidence. I was about to ring you. How are you all?’
‘Good. Good. Listen, I’ll get straight to the point, I just wanted to say thank you.’
‘For what?’ I ask.
‘For not killing me.’
I laugh a nervous laugh.
‘I’ve only just found out the truth about the conditions of the will. I was gobsmacked,’ Saffron continues. ‘And I discovered a copy of the letter Caprice sent to you, encouraging you to kill me.’ There is a pause. Guilt at how close I came to doing exactly that coagulates in my stomach. My therapist’s words twist and turn in my head. The important thing is you didn’t do it. ‘Thank you,’ Saffron repeats.
I push my therapist’s words away. I hesitate. I do not know what to say. Silence festers down the phone line. I cut through it. ‘Saffron, I’ve met someone.’
‘The way you say someone, with such strong emphasis, makes it feel important.’
I swallow. ‘It is. I mean, he is. Important to me. His name is Simon. We’re getting married.’
‘Congratulations,’ she says, and I wonder if she knows how I once felt about you, Miles. ‘I hope you end up with a nicer mother-in-law than mine.’
I take a deep breath and admit the truth. ‘She’s the mother-in-law from hell.’
‘There can’t be two of them.’
‘Come on, Saffron. Come to New Zealand and meet her. See for yourself.’
194
Saffron
I pick up the mail that has just thumped through the letter box. The usual junk. Pizza delivery letters. A free local magazine that no one reads. Bank statements. Bills. And a thick envelope from Queenstown, New Zealand. Marbled white paper. Gold-embossed lettering. I open it carefully. A wedding invitation. From Hayley and Simon, to me.
I pad around the house looking for Miles. The children are in their playroom, glued to a Disney cartoon. I find him in the kitchen unloading the dishwasher.
‘Look at this,’ I say, handing him the thick white marbled envelope.
He stands still and reads it. ‘That’s a turn-up for the books.’
‘The fact she’s getting married, or the fact that she’s inviting me to the wedding?’ I ask.
He passes it back to me and smiles. ‘Both. I hope he’s nicer than that dreadful Jono.’
‘He’s certainly more successful. He has an MBA from Harvard and he’s setting up an adventure business in New Zealand; employing her father and brother apparently,’ I reply.
He runs his fingers through his hair. ‘How do you know that?’ he asks.
‘I’ve been in touch with her.’
‘And I thought we were in the doghouse for sacking her.’
‘She’s forgiven us.’
Miles shakes his head. ‘I thought we didn’t trust her, after all the shenanigans with my mother. You shouldn’t have been in touch with her. It’s not a good idea.’
I step towards him and put my hands around him. ‘On the contrary, I trust her now I know the truth of how far Caprice went to encourage my end. How calmly she ignored it.’ I lock eyes with him. ‘I want to go to New Zealand for the wedding. Hayley needs my help and advice, about dealing with a difficult mother-in-law.’
He frowns. ‘What sort of advice?’
‘Oh, just how to cope when you’re constantly being minimised.’ I smile inside. As if I could ever tell him the truth; the best thing to do with a difficult mother-in-law is to poison her, and make it look as if she poisoned herself.
I think about all the women who complain about not being made welcome into their husband’s family. I guess there are millions, even hundreds of millions, of unkind mothers-in-law, all around the world. An epidemic of possessive jealousy.
And I know I need to go to New Zealand to teach Hayley what I learnt from Stan-the-man. The darknet expert. Expensive and discreet. The computer savvy, cover all your sins IT man. A daughter-in-law’s dream.
Acknowledgements
First, I would like to thank my editor, Tilda McDonald, with whom it has been both a pleasure and a privilege to work. Next, the energetic team at Avon, HarperCollins. And then, my agent Ger Nichol of The Book Bureau, who supports me throughout. My husband, Richard, deserves a special mention. He is my first reader and sounding board; sad to say sometimes ‘shrieking board’ during these times of Covid-induced house arrest. Last, but by no means least, I want to thank the ‘sisterhood’ – my girlfriends, whose grievances and witty comments, added to my own, over many many years, have inspired me to write this book.
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About the Author
After graduating, Amanda Robson worked in medical research at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and at the Poisons Unit at Guy’s Hospital where she became a co-author of a book on cyanide poisoning. Amanda attended the Faber novel writing course and writes full-time. Her debut novel, Obsession, became a #1 ebook bestseller in 2017. She is also the author of four more domestic suspense novels: the Sunday Times bestselling Guilt, Envy, My Darling and The Unwelcome Guest.
Also by Amanda Robson
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