I shrugged, my vocal cords too clogged up with sadness and shame to speak.
He leant forwards and kissed me on the forehead. ‘You know, I might appear to be chilled and unbothered about this stalker freak, but don’t be fooled. I’m like an undercover bodyguard, alert at all times. I don’t believe they’ll show up – if I did, I’d have found us somewhere safe to stay weeks ago – but in the none in a million chance that they do, I’m here, and I’m on it, and I’ll defend you with my very life.’ He smiled, to show how preposterous the whole idea of it was.
I forced myself to smile back. ‘I know. It’s last-minute nerves.’ I nodded to the bedside table. ‘A mug of tea and a scone and I’ll be fine. Can you tell Becky I’ll be down to help in a minute?’
He kissed me again and left me to pull myself together.
I scrolled through my phone to Tuesday, 6th May:confess.
I had a sickening feeling that Nora Sharp might end up forcing a confession a day early.
* * *
The next forty-eight hours flew past in a blur. Friday evening started with a confused and concerned apology from Alice on the phone, followed by an embarrassed apology from me, and went on to become a tornado of baking, prepping and final touches. After the expected next-to-no sleep, on Saturday morning I lugged myself downstairs to start again. The four guests, all female, arrived in a spray of gravel and overblown enthusiasm, declaring everything ‘totally perfect!’ and ‘super-cute!’ before devouring lunch on the patio.
‘I can’t believe how great this is, Tammers!’ Felicia, who had made the initial booking, shrieked as Alice and I cleared their empty plates. ‘Iswearthat gluten-free bread is a certified miracle.’
‘Iknow!’ Tammers hollered. ‘And when was the last time we atecheese?’ She broke off into snort-laughs.
‘And it’s like, Idon’t even care!’ another guest, who they called Dinky but whose credit card said Bethany Brown, tittered. ‘Bring on the cheese! Extra dairy, extra cheesy, please!’
‘This place is like a cross between Narnia, heaven and my Grandma’s house,’ the fourth guest said, tossing a mane of silver hair over her perfectly tanned shoulder. ‘It’s likeanything is possible.They could totally bring out some cake and I would even eat some?’
‘Yes! It’s like my grandmother’s house!’ Tammers agreed. ‘Not Granny Rose, she lived in a haunted hovel. But Grandma Camelia, oh, Ilovedgoing to her house! And it wasjust like this, only with a pool and tennis courts.’
‘I think we can see a theme emerging for your sessions,’ Alice said to Becky as she loaded the dishwasher.
‘Oh?’ Becky was arranging cocktail ingredients on a tray. ‘Should I be worried?’
‘No.’ I scraped the smear of leftovers into the compost bin. ‘Underneath all the supers and perfects, they’re actually pretty super themselves. I’ve spent a lot of time eating in places stuffed with posh people, and I’ve never heard so much gratitude for a two-course lunch.’
‘She’s right,’ Alice grudgingly agreed. ‘Not a hint of snark between them. They’re like you two. Genuinely, nauseatingly nice.’
‘Sounds like it’s going to be a good weekend,’ Becky stuck her tongue out at Alice as she went to see for herself.
I smiled as I carried on clearing up. I couldn’t see the resemblance to me, but almost everything about them reminded me of Charlie.
* * *
In retreat terms, it was as good as we’d hoped. Our guests continued to bounce from one activity to another, enchanted by our tiny taste of country life. In response to their gentle begging, we even diverted the sunrise hike to visit some newborn calves.
‘Is he spoken for?’ Tammers asked Becky out of the corner of her mouth, her gaze transfixed on Luke, hefting trellis tables out of his van and over to the orchard in readiness for the stallholders on Monday.
‘Um…’ Becky turned a startling shade of damson.
‘Oh, okay!’ Tammers gave her arm a sympathetic squeeze. ‘Say no more, I totally get it!’ She lent a little closer, electric blue eyelashes fluttering. ‘Though I must say, you have outstanding taste!’
Seeing all the preparations going on, the foursome insisted on helping out on Sunday afternoon once the retreat was officially over, stringing up bunting and fairy lights between the trees, arranging tables and artfully stacking wood on the bonfire. They spent another hour in the kitchen cutting out apple scones and decanting jams into individual portions. Tammers would probably have stayed a week if we’d let her.
‘I’m on a total mission to find myself a yummy farmer!’ she trilled, wiping floury hands on her apron. ‘I feel like I was born to wear wellies!’
‘We’re so glad you’ve enjoyed it,’ I said, trying to politely usher them in the direction of the door. ‘If you could write a review, it’d be greatly appreciated.’
‘Oh, we already have!’ Dinky smiled. ‘We’ve been posting non-stop since we got here. See?’
She flicked through a stream of images of them smiling, posing and looking genuinely relaxed and happy. I wasn’t aware so many different emojis existed, but she’d made good use of them.
The number of likes made my head spin. I’d had a lot of followers, but this was a whole other level.
