Birdie nodded and pressed her lips together. ‘I have some information about Lindsay.’
‘Oh, that’s so weird. I was just thinking about her the day before yesterday. I spoke to Nancy about it, too. I haven’t seen her around. It’s like she’s vanished.’
‘No, you wouldn’t have seen her. She’s obviously steering well clear of us.’
‘What do you mean? How do you know?’
‘Someone in my family, one of the Lings, who owns a string of chemists along the coast here phoned me about her. So, long story short, it turns out they’ve had some dealings with Lindsay.’
Nina felt herself shiver. ‘What sort ofdealings?’
‘Not nice ones! She was going out with one of the pharmacists and it turned nasty. By all accounts, she was blackmailing him somehow. Anyway, apparently it’s been going on for months. She was caught stealing drugs… all sorts.’
‘Right. Wow. She strikes again.’
Birdie put her tea down. ‘She’s been cautioned.’
‘What was she cautioned about?’
‘Well, theft, I assume.’
‘I’m not surprised, considering what I read about her and the vibes she gave me.’
‘I know. I realised when my cousin was telling me the story that I recognised her name. I’m not meant to know this, but I saw some of the CCTV pics. It’s definitely her.’
‘So, it’s not on the internet yet?’
‘As far as I know, no. They didn’t have enough evidence for anything else either.’
‘It’s just unbelievable. You can’t make this up. Who lives their life like that?’ Nina shook her head and picked up her tea.
‘I’m not sure, but it’s not nice. That’s all I know.’
‘So it explains why she’s not been around here,’ Nina said as she thought about her interaction with Lindsay outside The Summer Hotel.
‘Yes, it does. I’m glad to see the back of her,’ Birdie added.
‘Ditto. Do you think that’s it?’
‘Who knows, but I hope so.’
‘Robby is going to be relieved. I’m going to meet him in the pub in a bit. Is it okay for me to tell him what you know?’
‘Yep. Just tell him to keep it between the two of you.’
‘Thanks. Will do.’
‘All I can say is, hopefully, it’s the last we see of her.’
Nina watched as Robby came back from the bar at The Drunken Sailor. She smiled as he got closer, and it went through her head that she couldn’t believe she was marrying him. She wasn’t going to argue with it, though, that was for sure.
She remembered how she had been captivated by him literally as soon as she’d laid eyes on him when he’d stormed into the same pub. She’d only been in Lovely Bay for a day or so, and she’d wondered what on earth had just stepped into her life. Oh how she now knew.
It hadn’t been long before Nina had fallen in love with him and everything about him. The straps had helped. They talked about everything; he just seemed together. Most of all, possibly above the straps was the companionship; it was like having a new best friend, only a little bit better – not that she would ever tell Sophie that. It wasn’t very often that she and Sophie got onto a spaceship and took little trips up and down to the moon.
Robby put his drink down and placed Nina’s on the table before taking a seat. Nina picked up her drink, took a sip, and then leaned forward on the table. ‘I need to tell you something.
‘Oh yeah? What? You’ve changed your mind; you don’t want to get married now?’ Robby joked. ‘Is this the part where you go back to London and we never see you again?’
