‘I didn’t think I needed your permission.’
‘You don’t, but you know Dee struggles with change and it might unsettle her if she doesn’t know exactly what’s going on.’
‘I’m perfectly aware of Dee’s little quirks and if it makes you feel better I’ll alter the bookings and let her know we’ll be there for four days, not three. Happy now?’
‘Yes, I am, and I’m just making sure my daughter is going to be okay and we’re on the same page of our diaries.’
Shane narrowed his eyes, then raised an eyebrow. ‘Really, is that all it is? You seem a bit edgy lately. Or were you planning a welcome home surprise for me? I thought those days were gone.’
Julia met his stare. His comment made her skin crawl. ‘As if.’
He smirked. ‘That’s a shame, I do like surprises.’
She turned abruptly and left him sitting there, her heart racing. He could play games all he liked. But she would finish them. Flip the board in dramatic style. Julia smiled at the thought and anyway, she was due a bit of showmanship after watching Shane bask in his role of superhero for so long. It was tiresome, just like him.
Dusk, and Julia sat on her bed, the French doors to her suite wide open. The view as the sun set over the Cheshire hills was the only thing that lifted her. Dragging her eyes away from the burnished spectacle, she looked down at her laptop, checking the digital folders. Everything was backed up to a hard drive tucked inside a book-safe on the second shelf. Nancy had a copy, too. There would be no mistakes. She couldn’t afford any. Notnow. Not with Shane watching her the way he had been lately. A soft knock on the door at the foot of the stairs. Julia startled and heard the handle turn.
‘Mum?’
It was Dee, wrapped in her dressing gown. Julia relaxed.
‘Can I sleep in here tonight? I’m too hot and I feel funny.’
Julia’s chest clenched. ‘Of course, darling. Bad dreams?’
Dee nodded, curling into the duvet. ‘I keep thinking about when you’ll be in America. What if something happens?’
Julia brushed the hair from her daughter’s forehead. ‘Nothing will happen. And even if it does, I’ll be right there on the other end of the phone. Dee, sweetheart, you do understand, don’t you, that I’m going with Molly to make sure she’s okay. I have to focus on her because I won’t see her for a while? And this is such an important time for her. I’m not leaving you out and I’ve tried to make sure you’ll be having fun in Paris. That way you won’t miss me too much and when I get back the two of us will be like best friends and have lots of fun, I promise.’
Dee didn’t reply. Her eyes were already fluttering closed. Julia lay beside her, stroking her hair. She could do this. Tomorrow and Friday she’d just have to get through as best she could. Saturday was the party. Tick that box and she was almost home and dry. Sunday they’d all have hangovers so she could stay in bed and hide.
She and Molly were jetting off the following Wednesday, so were Shane and Dee. It was like a perfectly choreographed ballet, everyone dancing on stage but this time, she was the one directing from the wings.
Chapter Ten
It was one of those slow, drowsy mornings where the air felt like soup and even the breeze had given up. The village shop in Little Bollington was mercifully cool, its old stone walls keeping the heat at bay. The Thursday bread delivery had just arrived and the aroma wafted down the aisles as Julia moved quietly between the shelves, her basket already half-full of essentials for the next couple of days until the big shop was delivered – the herbal tea she drank but didn’t enjoy, eggs, butter, biscuits for Dee. Couldn’t have the child starving to death, could she!
Outside, a light plane droned overhead. A motorbike revved in the distance. She was reaching for a jar of marmalade when she heard them. Two voices. Women. Older. Unfamiliar. At first she thought they were having a private conversation but it suddenly occurred to her that they were speaking just that bit too loudly for secrets of their own, as though they wanted to share what they knew. And they meant for her to hear.
‘Saw him again the other night,’ one said, just on the other side of the shelving.
Julia froze. Her hand still outstretched.
‘Who?’ Her friend chimed in.
‘The flash lad from the window place, in the fancy red sports car with the private plates. Drives like an idiot most of the time, like he owns the place. Parked up on Croft Lane.’
Croft Lane. The woods. Julia’s stomach turned. Why would Shane be there?
‘Who parks in the middle of nowhere after ten o’clock, eh?’
‘Up to no good, that’s what I said to my Jack. Nobody sits in a car with the engine idling unless they’re waiting for something or someone. Drugs or a woman would be my best guess.’
A short laugh.
‘Well it wouldn’t surprise me about the drugs but I’d put my money on it being a lass. Can’t keep it in his pants that one. Always been the same, I heard.’
Julia’s face burned. She lowered her arm slowly, heart thudding so hard she could hear it in her ears. There was a roaring in her head, like waves whooshing from one side to the other.
