Lucy put her arms around her brother-in-law and hugged him tightly. ‘You’ll find someone to love again, Pete. Your heart will point you to your own true north.’
It already did and I blew it, he didn’t say.
*
‘By the way, the estate agent has a set of keys so he can accompany anyone round who wants to view. Mr and Mrs Archer are coming on Friday morning for their second viewing, so fingers crossed there. I’ve had both the front and back door locks changed . . . Right, back to Keith. Just a little sprinkle of flakes,’ Laurie instructed Bella, giving her a Keith Richards refresher course demonstration. Keith swam to the top and expertly caught one, gobbled it down in an instant.
‘Sorry, just run that past me again,’ said Bella. She had something on her mind, obviously, her eyes looked as far away as her thoughts.
‘What’s up, Bells?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Liar.’
‘Laurie, I know this is a rough day for you and so I’m not loading any more onto you.’
‘Bells, you and I know that I lost Alex a long time before the sixth of February last year.’
Laurie’s brain, like the worst kind of electronic diary, had woken her up especially to remind her that today was the anniversary of the crash, as if she could forget it. She had cried a brief flurry of automatic tears, then she had lain in bed and remembered how it was between her and Alex when it had been good and she had smiled. Then she imagined packing him away in a treasure box, carefully, in the best kind of tissue paper, shifting him to a different place in her heart. A part of her would always love him, just as a part of him would have always loved her, but they had ended. She had let him go, with the complete wheel-turn of the year.
‘Really, I’m fine, Bells. Please tell me what’s wrong.’
Bella puffed out her cheeks before answering. ‘Reid West-Hunt has been a total dick to Stu at work.’
Laurie felt a cold worm wriggle down her spine at that name. The locksmith had been that morning and while he was there, she’d had deliveries of fifty red roses and a bottle of Dom Perignon pink champagne. She’d refused both consignments. Her work files were full of women befuddled by emotional apologies, silky excuses and promises, their good natures convincing them to give their partners another chance because it ‘wasn’t all bad’. But the roundabout got increasingly wild and scary and they became too fearful to jump off it. She had leapt and would not be guilt-tripped or seduced into rejoining it. She had sent Reid West-Hunt a clinical text to tell him not to contact her again, they were over – those words needed to be seen by him and understood. She had threatened him with the full force of the law if he persisted, then blocked his number.
‘That’s why Stu’s been on the sick,’ Bella continued. ‘He broke down yesterday, vomited out all the detail. Reid West-Hunt has been undermining him, belittling him. New brooms sweep clean and all that; turns out he isn’t the great person we thought he was.’
Laurie gave her a potted history of what had passed between her and Reid West-Hunt last night and Bella listened with her mouth agape.
‘Tell Stu to report him, Bella,’ said Laurie at the end, without any compunction. ‘He’s an unstable bully and luckily the workplace is becoming much more aware of the damage those sorts of tyrants can do to people’s health – mental and otherwise. No one should have to put up with it. If he’s doing it to Stu, he’ll be doing it to others too. Plus, I dread to think about the poor woman he’ll target next.’
‘I think you had a lucky escape,’ said Bella. ‘I’ve been a crap friend, haven’t I? And on top of everything, I try and hook you up with a psychopath.’
Laurie put her arm around her friend, pulled her close. ‘You’re a great mate, you prawn. Let’s just look forward and not back, eh?’
‘You seem . . . okay,’ said Bella, as Laurie handed her a shiny new set of house keys.
‘I am, Bells. I think I understand what happened with Alex and me. It wasn’t his fault. I know he wanted to do the right thing, but you can’t put love where it doesn’t want to go. And that’s why, when I come home from Norway, I’m going to put Alex’s ashes and the ring wherever Tara is resting now. I think they belong together. The three of them.’
Bella nodded, fought back the desire to say something sarcastic, because Laurie was a bigger person than she could be, given the same set of circumstances.
‘I’m also going to pay for Brendan and Meredith to go on their wedding anniversary cruise. It’s what Alex was planning for them and he never got around to it, so I will.’
Bella, again, bit her lip. ‘Will you tell them about . . . her?’
‘Why? It would only upset them. There’s no need for them to know.’
‘You’re a good woman, Laurie. I only wish they knew how much.’
‘It’s better they think worse of me than of their son. They’ve suffered enough.’
Bella smiled at her friend. Her wonderful, sweet, best friend who deserved a big fat lump of kind karma. ‘I hope you have a fantastic holiday and I’ll look after Keith for you and check up on the house. Any funny business at all and I’m calling the feds.’
‘Reid ripped up my eticket and my passport,’ said Laurie.
Bella’s jaw dropped. ‘Oh my God. How will you be able to go then?’
‘He must have been snooping around the house. I’m sorry I accused Stu of telling him my business, because it obviously wasn’t the case. Reid found all the travel documentation in my drawer and then decided to sabotage my holiday. That drawer . . .’ Laurie pointed to the said drawer, waited for the penny to drop.
‘The stupid drawer?’ said Bella eventually as a grin dawned on her face.
‘Alex used to laugh at me, he said it wouldn’t fool anyone, but it seems it really did.’
‘It couldn’t happen to a bigger twat,’ Bella said, hooting with laughter.
‘I’ve downloaded more luggage labels and another eticket from the Figurehead website. My proper passport and euros are in the house safe. The drawer might be stupid, but I’m not.’ Laurie would enjoy her holiday a little more knowing she’d soured his revenge.
‘That’s my girl,’ whispered Bella, which shocked her, because she had no idea where that had come from. It wasn’t an expression she had ever used before in her life.
Chapter 59
7 February
Pete set off to drive to Southampton at stupid o’clock.
‘I could have been in Venice now,’ he said.
‘I wish I had a pound for every time you’ve said that since I asked you to come with me,’ replied his father. ‘You didn’t have to say yes, you know.’
That was true. And Pete had no idea what had changed his mind other than everywhere he looked, there seemed to be a mention of the Northern Lights as if he was being subliminally hijacked by them. TV programmes, cruise brochures advertising for next year dropping through his letter box, even that old song from the 1970s by Renaissance, ‘Northern Lights’ playing on the car radio, as it was doing again now and Nigel was warbling along to it, annoyingly singing all the wrong words.