I enjoyed the coffee, and was just sampling a second brownie, when Ella said, ‘Clare, no offence, but I think it’s your turn to do the washing up.’ This was delivered in a jokey way, with a sidelong glance at Jamie, and a sly smile.
I would happily have washed up – in fact, I was about to offer and volunteer Dan to do it with me – but it was the way she spoke to me that stung. It was clear she could only function as Queen Bee. And, to do that, she had to diminish the people around her, which seemed to be mostly me.
I just sat there for a few moments, anger pulsating through me, my heart beating so hard, it was competing with the chirp of crickets jangling through the air. I looked around at my so-called family and wondered if anyone would stick up for me, point out that I’d cleaned the villa, taken the bins out, had actually made breakfast and lunch and washed up, most days. I didn’t mind, I was happy to do it. After all, much of the work around the villa was created by the kids.
But not one of them – not even Dan – pointed this out, made me feel better, they were all too bothered about being polite, keeping everything nice. Just as Joy liked it. No conflict, no swearing, no problems, just pretty pictures of the family on holiday; let’s not talk about the problems, let’s just wrap it all up in a nice big bow and keep on smiling. But that wasn’t working any more. It was time to shake things up with the Taylors.
‘Joy,’ I said, ‘you know how you couldn’t find your earrings last night? I think I know where they are.’
‘Do you?’ She looked hopeful.
‘Yeah. I know exactly where they are,’ I said, while all the time looking at Ella, but she suddenly seemed very interested in her wedding ring that she was now turning around on her finger and didn’t look up. ‘Ella, do you know where the earrings are?’ I asked, forcing her to look at me.
She shrugged. ‘No,’ she glanced over at Joy, ‘of course not.’
‘Have you checked your jewellery box, Ella?’ I said, and Dan put his head in his hands.
Both Ella and Jamie were now staring at me with such hatred I felt cold, in spite of the heat. No one was moving, it was stalemate, so as I’d set this train running, it was now down to me to see it through.
‘Okay,’ I said slowly, putting my napkin on the table and grating my chair along the ground. I stood up before anyone could stop me. ‘I’ll go and look, not that I need to. I know they’re there,’ I said, turning to my mother-in-law, who looked so embarrassed, I felt quite sorry for her.
‘Clare, please…’ she started.
I wasn’t going to listen to her. No one wanted confrontation, me included, but sometimes there was no choice, we had to face these things head-on.
I stormed upstairs, straight to Ella and Jamie’s room, and opened the drawer, where I knew the jewellery box was stashed. Reaching in, I picked it up and sat on the bed, opening the box, savouring the moment when I would show everyone what she was.
I heard footsteps on the stairs, and Jamie walked in, standing inside the room watching me. His arms were folded, his legs apart. He was ready for battle, and as I rummaged in the cheap metal, I looked up at him and said, ‘She’s not worth fighting for, Jamie.’
I went back to the box, feeling around the chains, the plastic, the bits of detritus she’d just jammed in there, but couldn’t find the earrings, so I emptied the box on the bed and continued to sort through the tangled metal and plastic. But there were no diamond earrings.
‘They were here,’ I said, my hands frantically going through everything, on the bed. ‘They were here, Jamie, they were,’ I cried.
‘What is wrong with you, Clare?’ He was shaking his head, looking at me like I was making this up. ‘I asked Ella outright. I asked her if she’d stolen Mum’s earrings, because you told me she had – but you were wrong. Shit, I almost believed you, Clare. She was so upset, it could have ended my marriage! Any other girl would have told me to get lost, but Ella loves me and trusts me. And I trust her. That’s the problem, Clare, you don’t trust anyone. Everyone’s not like Dan…’ He stopped. I don’t think he meant to go there. ‘I’m sorry, but Ella is genuine and – believe it or not – she cares about you, Clare. She’s concerned that you feel the need to tell lies about her. Look at this performance tonight – why, Clare? Are you jealous? Is that what this is all about?’ He was still in the same position, his eyes boring into me, disapproving, disappointed, unreachable.
‘I… No… I’m not making this up, why would I? The earrings… they were here, they were,’ I said desperately, my fingers still touching the inside of the box, like they might suddenly appear.
Jamie simply shook his head in disgust, and walked out of the room.
I started to cry. Jamie and my relationship meant a great deal to me, and it hurt that he saw me as this jealous woman telling lies to hurt his new wife. That wasn’t who I was, and it saddened me that he didn’t realise that. But who could blame him, when I’d just riffled through her belongings and come up empty-handed?
All I could think was, she must have moved them. I didn’t follow Jamie out of the room to try to convince him because now finding the earrings was more important than ever. So I just carried on looking.
I abandoned the jewellery box and went back to the drawer – nothing, so I tore around the room, looking everywhere I’d looked before, knowing they’d been here before. I opened a wardrobe, got down on my knees, delving at the back, throwing out shoeboxes, all of Ella’s shopping bags. I was being crazy, but I didn’t care, I was still convinced I was right and had to prove it, in order to not only prove Ella’s guilt but to show the Taylors, my family, that I wasn’t the nasty, vindictive person they seemed to think I was.
And then I stopped and sat back on the floor to think about it. Of course she’d moved the earrings. Jamie had told her that I’d said she stole them, and as soon as she knew I was on to her, she’d reacted. She had all afternoon to move them, while she was in the bedroom ‘recovering’ from her trauma in the pool. There would have been plenty of opportunity, if Jamie had fallen asleep, or she’d perhaps sent him to the en suite for a glass of water.
At this point, Dan appeared in the doorway, looking furious.
I looked up from what I was doing. ‘Don’t start, Dan,’ I warned.
‘Don’t start? You’ve really done it this time, Clare. Poor Ella is sobbing down there and Mum’s in tears too!’
I just kept shaking my head through my own tears now pricking my eyes. ‘But Dan, I know, I know I saw her – and the earrings were in that box. They were here.’ I stopped looking for a moment and stared at the mess on the bed, tears dripping down my face.
‘No, they weren’t.’
‘They were, why does no one ever believe me?’ I looked up at him through my tears.
He was holding something in his hand, and as he opened it, I saw a glinting on his palm. Joy’s earrings.
‘Where did you get them?’ I almost couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
‘They were downstairs, on the shelf in the kitchen. Ella spotted them when she ran inside to get a tissue. Mum remembered right away too. She said they were a little tight the other day, so she’d taken them off. She’d forgotten where she’d put them, that’s all, Clare.’