CHAPTER 18
As Nate assured Rosa he didn’t need any help at the café, she walked over to Jacob, who was standing on the edge of the sea wall near the Ship, oohing and aahing camply at the explosion of colour above him. She went up behind him and pinched his bum gently. He gave a little scream, then as the fireworks display reached its dramatic crescendo, he put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her.
‘I forgot how much effort they always make with this. It’s fantastic, isn’t it, darling? Worth every penny, I say.’
‘Have you seen Vicki and her brood yet?’
‘No, because the poor little twins have come down with chicken pox; she said to tell you when I saw you.’
‘Oh no – that’s not good.’
‘No, double trouble. How are you, my lovely, anyway?’
‘Far from double trouble. I’m child- and dog-free tonight, so I’m feeling bloody marvellous.’
‘I don’t know how you do it. If Raff ever wavered and said he wanted a child with me, I would have to divorce him. All that crying and having to be at their beck and call day and night. It’s bad enough with the Duchess and Ugly and Pongo.’
Jacob then ushered her away out of earshot of Lucas or Danny and tried to whisper above the noise. ‘We had the Seaside Star inspector in last night.’
‘Really? How do you know it was them? Are you going to tell Lucas?’
‘No, I’m not – and please can I trust you not to tell him either?’
Rosa sighed; it was difficult having her loyalties pulled in varying directions. ‘Don’t be so mean. I want you both to do well.’
‘Who says they will send the same person anyway? But OK. It was a woman, on her own. But listen to this: she only brought a man back yesterday afternoon. I couldn’t believe it!’
‘Hardly professional, was it?’ Rosa frowned. ‘It can’t have been the inspector.’
‘Oh, it was. And what’s more, she shagged him senseless by the sound of it. We had customers in, too.’ Jacob pursed his lips. ‘I had to put on Handel’s Zadok the Priest at full blast to cover the bangs and screams. Even the Duchess started howling. They thought we’d all gone mad.’
Rosa was in hysterics at Jacob’s humorous delivery. ‘No! Well, if she is who you think she is, a good write-up should be guaranteed.’
‘I should say so. She didn’t appear for dinner and then this morning, she rang down to order breakfast in bed. I don’t think she could face us. She was drunk when she checked in too – and very sheepish when she left.’
‘I bet she bloody was, lucky cow.’ Rosa was still laughing. ‘What did she look like?’
‘I shouldn’t really tell you, but…red hair, very pale skin. A hideous gap in her teeth.’ Jacob shuddered exaggeratedly. ‘Mid-forties, I’d say. Well-dressed and decidedly haggard – or should I say shaggard – when I saw her for the second time.’
Rosa wiped tears of laughter from her face. ‘I didn’t expect you to say that she looked younger with all that kind of shenanigans going on.’
‘Darling, just because we hit forty it doesn’t mean we can’t still bang like a barn door on a windy night.’
‘Stop it,’ Rosa pleaded, ‘or I’ll wet myself! I have zero bladder control since Little Ned used me as a launching pad.’
‘Far too much information,’ Jacob reproved her while raising his eyebrows. Rosa mock-swiped him but he wasn’t finished yet. He carried on with his story. ‘Well, as you can imagine, Raff and I were on tenterhooks to see what the man creating such bedroom gymnastics looked like, but we reckon he must have sneaked up and down the fire escape, like some kind of sexual criminal. Gutted we were, to miss him!’
‘This all sounds so unlikely – so how were you so sure that she was the inspector?’
‘Because firstly, when I asked her why she was staying in the Bay, her answer of “needing some sea air” didn’t wash with me. Oho no. I was suspicious from the off and then – you’ll never guess what – the tick form they must use to evaluate the Seaside Stars was only hanging out of her case. Busted! Bang to rights!’
‘Bang being the appropriate word,’ Rosa noted. ‘Oh my God, she must have been so hungover and embarrassed that everything else went out of the window or rather, down the fire escape.’ She crossed her legs. ‘Anyway, I’m just going to dash in here for the loo. I’m bursting.’
‘And I need to get back behind the bar in the Lobster Pot before this lot start filtering off and hopefully have the good taste to come up into my pub.’ He air-kissed Rosa on both cheeks and began his walk up the hill.
Rosa waved to Danny, who was four-deep with burger customers, and made her way swiftly to the hotel toilet. As she sat down to relieve herself, she heard voices coming in through the open window.
‘No, Lucas, I’m sick of it.’ Rosa recognised Davina’s whining voice. ‘You always say you’re sorry, but I actually don’t think you are. Bloody Rosa Smith was only telling me the other day that she has never given you a present before and there she was, bold as brass, handing one over the other day. I saw you both. What was that all about? It wasn’t your birthday.’
‘For the record, Constable Hunt, she hasn’t given me a present before and no, you’re right, it wasn’t my birthday but the anniversary of my mother’s death. She gave me a packet of fags and some brandy, not a lock of her fucking hair. It was the kind of thing mates do, Davina.’
‘Oh right – I didn’t realise.’ The woman’s voice was sulky.
‘Didn’t realise? Even though that’s when we met! In the police station after your very own idiot DC Clarke thought Rosa was to blame for Mum’s fall. It was Halloween, how could you forget?’
‘I’m so sorry.’ Davina’s voice softened, but she then couldn’t stop herself. ‘But I see the way you look at her.’
Lucas sighed. ‘I love her, all right. I love the girl’s bones. But that doesn’t mean I’m gonna be with her. She’s married, she’s happy with Josh. Our ship sailed before it left the harbour. She’s my friend, Davina.’
There was a knock on the toilet door. ‘One minute,’ Rosa called out, then under her breath she whispered, ‘bugger.’ She so wanted to hear the rest of the conversation.
‘So that means if she wanted to be with you, you would give up everything with…’ Davina’s voice faltered, ‘…with us?’
‘That’s hypothetical bullshit and I’m not answering that.’
‘You’re a bloody coward, Lucas Hannafore. Why don’t you ever say what you are really feeling?’
Rosa felt a white anger rising within her. How dare she talk like that about either of them. Smiling apologetically at the woman who had been waiting patiently outside the loo, Rosa then sneaked into the kitchen to see if she could hear any more, but with the windows closed and the hum of the remaining fireworks crowd, it was impossible.
She was just heading outside to calm herself when Lucas stormed through the back door and bumped right into her. ‘Fucking women!’ he cursed.