The Mill House (27 page)

There was hardly a beat before Julia's fury exploded down the line. 'Are you talking about the mother who can hardly speak a civil word to me?' she yelled. The mother who's never shown me or my children a moment's affection in her life,

and who made life so intolerable for my father that he couldn't bear to stay ...'

'I'm not arguing with you, Julia.' he cut in. 'I've been most concerned about your mother since you were here, and you too, after the way you stormed off...'

'Which must be why you kept calling to make sure I hadn't driven off the road and ended up under a truck,' she spat.

George sighed. 'Your mother's right, always so dramatic,' he said. 'Now, you know you're always welcome here, but I have to ask you, for all our sakes, to stop bringing this up. It was for the best when your father left all those years ago, so perhaps we can all now say a prayer together that his soul will rest in peace .. .'

'Has anyone told Pam he's dead?' Julia interrupted.

'Yes, she's been informed, and like the rest of us, she's merely relieved to know there's finally an end to it.'

Julia's howl of frustration caused him to remove the phone from his ear. 'To what?' she demanded.

Again George sighed. 'I think we need to terminate this call in order to cool our tempers,' he responded. But before you go, I'd be interested to know where your father's been living all these years. What he's been doing?'

There was a pause before she said, 'If you seriously think, after the way you've treated me, that you're going to get one word out of me about anything to do with my father, then I have to inform you that something's horribly adrift insideyour head.

George's eyes showed a flash of annoyance as the line went dead, then reaching over to return the phone to its base, he said, 'Did she happen to tell you where he lives?'

'Lived,' Alice corrected. 'No, she didn't.'

Rene shook her head.

'Then I think we should find out.'

'What difference will it make?' Rene asked. 'He surely won't have kept anything.'

George drew Alice to him as she covered her face with her hands. 'It's all right,' he soothed, patting her shoulder. 'Rene's right, he won't have kept anything, so there's nothing to worry about.'

'But what if he's left her a letter, or a tape, something she hasn't found yet?' Alice protested.

'Why would he do that? What could he possibly gain?'

Her face was still white with fear as she looked up at him, her eyes full of doubt.

'He wouldn't want her to know, any more than we do,' George reminded her gently.

Though Rene was watching them, her mind was elsewhere. 'Yes, we really must try to stop her,' she said, almost to herself.

'And how are we going to do that, when she has as much right to be where she is, as she has to his papers?' Alice pointed out.

Rene was reaching for the phone. 'We can't, but I agree we should find out where he lived.' As she spoke she was dialling 1471. 'Mm,' she said as she jotted down the number, 'not a code I recognise, but it should be easy enough to trace.'

Alice's eyes closed as more dread engulfed her.

'Calm yourself,' George said shortly, and after

pressing a kiss to her forehead he started towards the boot room, only to turn back as Rene said, 'George, I've told you before about locking the guns away the minute you come in. Now please go and do it.'

Julia was still standing beside the phone, seething with temper and frustration. The call hadn't gone at all as she'd expected, since she'd hoped her aunt would admit to acting behind her husband's and sister-in-law's backs and come clean, saying something like, 'Yes dear, we all treated your father very shoddily back then, so I tried, in my own way, to make it up to him.' Or, 'He was a good man, so please don't believe anything you might hear about him.' But of course Rene wasn't going to admit to anything while the willowy witch was standing right there, any more than she was going to agree to call Julia back at a time when she couldn't be overheard. That wasn't to say she wouldn't, but Julia's instincts were already warning her not to hold out much hope on that score.

Turning back to the kitchen table, which was coveted in bills, letters and bank statements, she sank down on a chair and propped her chin in her hands. If her aunt hadn't sent the photos, then how the heck had they got here? Had her father somehow managed to make contact with the photographer? Had he paid someone else to do so? Maybe he'd been having her watched all these years? She wasn't too sure how she felt about that, except it wasn't especially good. Of course, there was a chance she'd turn up some receipts or correspondence

that could throw some light on the mystery, so she should keep on ploughing through, file after file, box after box. The study was stuffed so full of papers of one sort or another that she could be here for weeks.

Looking up at the sound of footsteps, she watched Shannon kicking off the riding boots Ottie had loaned her, while chatting on her mobile, presumably to Ottie, her new best friend. She looked so grown-up, Julia was thinking, with her sleek blonde hair caught up in a black net, and her long, slender thighs clad in tight ivory jodhpurs. She was evidently wearing a thong underneath, and despite the sunny day, it wasn't really warm enough to be in shirtsleeves with half the buttons undone, though Julia could easily guess the reason for it.

Boots off, and call over, Shannon came padding into the kitchen and headed straight for the fridge, saying, 'Hi Mum. How's it going?'

Julia smiled at the upbeat manner and happy flush in her cheeks, which, even if she'd not known already, would leave her in little doubt of where her daughter had been for the past two hours. 'Not bad,' she answered. 'Where are the others?'

'What do you mean, others? I was just with Ottie.'

'No Rico?'

'Oh yes, he was there too,' she answered, attempting to sound breezy as she filled a glass with juice.

Julia waited, and sure enough, a minute or two later, Shannon's eyes came to hers and she started to grin.

'Oh Mum, he's like so cool the way he's teaching me to ride,' she gushed. 'He's got this fantastic way with horses, and he says I'm doing really well already. 'He's taking us out again later, he said.' She drank deeply then let go a long breath. 'Any news on the photos?' she asked, clearly deciding that was enough confiding for now. 'Was it Aunt Rene who sent them?'

Julia shook her head 'She says not, and I don't think she's lying.'

Shannon's eyebrows went up. 'So who was it?'

Julia shrugged.

'Spoooky,' Shannon pronounced. Julia flipped her bottom as she passed, then picked up a wad of bills to continue sifting through them. 'I thought you were supposed to be giving me a hand,' she said, before Shannon could disappear into the downstairs bedroom.

Shannon immediately protested. 'But I folded up all the clothes from the wardrobes this morning,' she cried. 'You didn't say I had to do any more than that'

'But you do have your mocks coming up, and a mountain of coursework to get through, so what about some studying?'

'Honestly, I'm really cool with everything. I'm not behind, everyone says I'm doing really well, all the teachers ' Then, attempting a quick change of subject 'Dad rang just now, sounds like they're having a really good time over there.'

Julia's eyes remained on what she was doing. 'What time did he ring?' she asked, trying not to mind that he hadn't called her. 'I don't know, about an hour ago, I suppose. I

told him how I'm getting on so great with my riding. He sounded really pleased.'

Clearly she hadn't mentioned Rico, Julia was thinking. 'How's Dan?' she asked. 'Did you speak to him?'

'Yeah, he's cool. He said he was sailing the boat single-handed this morning, without any help from Dad. Then he said if Dad doesn't behave himself, he'll sail away without him.'

Julia smiled, easily able to picture her son having the time of his life at the helm, and she imagined Josh was probably enjoying himself too, in spite of his irritation at being out of the office. He'd be careful not to let Daniel know about his work-related concerns, she was certain of it, for he loved him far too much to begrudge him his pleasure. He'd just take it out on her whenever he finally decided to ring.

'Did you know that Ottie's dad's got a boat too?' Shannon was gabbling on. 'We can go out in it whenever we like, apparently, but he's away until Wednesday, so Rico's agreed to take us if he has time. He's a really good sailor, Fen said. Oh yes, and Rico said he'll come over later to pick up the stuff you're sending to the charity shop. You just need to let him know if he should bring the pickup or the estate. If he does come, shall we ask him if he'd like to have dinner with us one night? I don't mind doing the cooking.'

Only just managing to keep her eyebrows down, Julia said, 'It's a nice idea, but since when were you able to cook?'

'I can cook if I have to,' Shannon retorted indignantly.

Julia's eyes sparked with humour. 'Then we'll see,' she replied.

'Does that mean we'll see if I can cook, or we'll see if he can come?'

Julia looked into her lovely young face. 'He's a lot older than you, darling,' she said gently.

Shannon's cheeks turned scarlet. 'So what?' she said. 'It doesn't mean he doesn't eat. And anyway, he's only twenty-five.'

'Which means he's a lot more experienced than you. and you know very well Dad wouldn't approve.'

Shannon's eyes darkened with anger. 'But Dad's not here, and it's only dinner for heaven's sake. I'm not doing anything wrong. And you'll be there, so how risky is that?'

Julia had to laugh. 'All right, I'll think about it,' she said.

Shannon still wasn't satisfied. 'But what's there to think about?' she demanded. 'Why don't you ask him when he comes over later? Or you could ask when you ring to tell him what car to bring.'

'You're pushing too hard, Shannon, so stop now.'

Shannon's expression immediately turned sulky. 'It's not fair,' she mumbled, 'Ottie gets to see him all the time, and I'll be gone next week.'

Not surprised that some competition had arisen between them over Rico's affections, Julia said, 'He's her cousin, so it stands to reason ...'

'Second cousin,' Shannon cut in. 'And she's already kissed him.'

Julia's eyes widened.

'You don't have to look at me like that.'

'And now you two are having some kind of contest about how long it's going to take you to kiss him?' Julia said, and knew immediately from Shannon's face that she'd guessed right. 'Shannon, you're playing with fire,' she warned. 'He's a man, not a boy, and you girls shouldn't be teasing him, trying to lead him on ... Apart from anything else, you could get him into trouble.'

Shannon threw out her hands in fury. 'That's the trouble with you,' she raged. 'You think everything's about sex, well no-one even mentioned it until you did ...'

'No, you did,' Julia corrected. 'I only said the word, whereas you .. .' 'Listen, I might be prepared to tolerate more on the romance front than Dad, but it doesn't mean I'm going to look the other way while you throw yourself at Rico.'

'I'm not throwing myself,' Shannon shouted furiously. 'I only asked if he could come for dinner ...'

'Because you're on a mission to make him kiss you.'

'With you right there? I don't think so, and why do you have to take it out on me, just because you're having problems with Dad ...' 'That's got nothing to do with it.' 'Yes it has, and I think you're really mean to him. You didn't even kiss him when he left on Saturday, even though he tried to kiss you.'

Julia shook her head in despair. 'You don't miss a thing, do you?' she sighed. 'But you don't always understand everything you see, so before you start

jumping to conclusions, let's get back to the main issue, which is you and Rico.'

Brightening at the sound of being paired with him. Shannon said, 'Rico and I are just friends, Mum. There's nothing else in it, except what's in your imagination.'

'If that's true, then you won't mind missing your ride with him this afternoon while you get on with some studying.'

Shannon's eyes bulged with fury. 'I've already told you, I know everything ...'

'Discussion over, you're revising straight after lunch tor three hours, and if you dare to backchat me again, I'll get Dad on the line.'

'You can do that, because he never makes me revise the way you do.'

'Don't force my hand over this, Shannon,' Julia warned. 'I'm not saying you can't see Rico, I'm just saying that your exams have to take precedence over learning to ride.'

'But Mum!'

'That's my final word. Now, go and wash your hands, then you can come and help me with lunch.'

As Shannon stomped off into her bedroom, Julia began tidying up the table, aware that she was far angrier than she'd shown, or than was probably warranted. Whether it was because Josh hadn't even attempted to speak to her since she'd called him on Saturday night - except through the children - or because she was concerned about Shannon's crush, she wasn't entirely sure. Actually, it undoubtedly had more to do with Josh, because she could barely think of him lately without becoming uptight and