Rosa reached forward to turn the volume down so that she could make the call. As she did so, Lucas took a deep breath and said, ‘Look, about the other night, Rosa.’
Getting a sudden whiff of the sausage roll that Lucas was now scoffing next to her, Rosa felt her stomach rising and an awful feeling of nausea overtake her. Before she had a chance to ask him to pull in and stop, it was too late; she only just managed to open the window in time.
‘Oh my God, bird, why didn’t you tell me you were going do that?’ Lucas was trying bravely to stall his own gag reflex.
Rosa reached for a tissue from her bag and wiped her face. ‘At least I managed to miss the window.’ She laughed and then began to cry at the same time.
Lucas put his hand across her arm. ‘Rosa, please don’t cry. It must be the shock.
What do you want me to do? Stop at a service station so you can get cleaned up?’
‘No, just keep going. Oh Luke, what if she dies?’
‘Don’t be so dramatic. Look, she’s in the best hospital. What actually happened, anyway?’
‘It’s her COPD again. Around fireworks night it’s always worse. She told me that she had got all the emergency drugs handy for when she was going down with a cold so it didn’t reach her chest, but only the hospital can help when she has a bad asthma attack like this.’
‘I can’t believe Colette didn’t phone you earlier, so you could go in the ambulance with your mum.’
‘Colette did everything she could. She saw the ambulance pull up outside. Apparently they found Mum unconscious.’ Rosa checked her phone again. ‘Damn, Josh, where are you? Shit! And now my battery has gone!’
‘Here. Have a drink of this.’ Lucas handed her a bottle of water from his side door compartment. ‘We’re not too far now. And you can connect this charger to the lighter. How are you feeling now?’
‘I’m fine,’ Rosa replied weakly, sticking her tongue out and making a yuk-type noise as her nose and throat burned with vomit. Something else to stall her from telling him about her pregnancy.
‘Somehow the words Lucas Hannafore and Exeter Cathedral don’t seem to go together,’ Rosa murmured as she came in and sat down next to the handsome plumber.
‘I thought it might be a long wait and something compelled me to come in here,’ he replied, equally quietly. ‘It gave me a chance to think about Mum.’
As she looked up at the magnificent stone-structured vaulted ceiling, tears began to fall silently down Rosa’s cheeks. ‘God, it’s so beautiful here.’
‘You can’t say God like that when we are in a place like this,’ Lucas remonstrated. Then, on noticing Rosa’s tears, he put his hand gently on her coat-covered leg. ‘What’s the score, sweet lady?’
‘She’s on oxygen, but her breathing is back under control. She’s now just very tired.’
‘You heard from your old man yet?’
‘No, and I can’t get hold of Carlton either, to find out what’s happening. I’m worried bloody sick about him too now.’
‘OK. So, did you see your mum, then?’
‘Yes, but she was too weak to talk, just kept patting my hand, and crying. I promised her I’d feed Merlin and make sure the kitchen fire was safe – you know, the usual things.’ Rosa yawned. ‘I needed the walk here in the fresh air to calm me down. I’ll go back and sit with her in a bit.’
‘Mothers, eh…’ Lucas’s voice tailed off. ‘Can’t live with them, can’t live without them.’
‘Life isn’t very fair, is it, Luke? It always seems to be loving families who lose a parent or a child. I do believe the good die young.’
‘My mum wasn’t that young.’
‘She wasn’t that good either.’
‘Oi.’ They both then laughed nervously.
Rosa continued, ‘How are you feeling today?’
‘No different from any other day this week. I mean, she’s been gone less than a week and I’m numb. Kind of devoid of emotion. Can’t really describe it. It’ll be good to get the funeral out of the way, I suppose. All me and Tom are doing is talking about her, which is positive in one way, but part of me wants to just forget for a bit and start getting back to normal.’
‘Grieving is a process, Luke. You’ve got to do the time on it, or it will come back and bite you in the arse later in life.’
‘Well, give me the fucking rule book then, Rosa, and I’ll see what I can do.’ Lucas raised his voice. ‘I don’t think it’s quite as easy as that. Step One: cry like a wild animal. I’ve done that. Now, shall we tick that off and see what Step Two brings?’
Visitors to the sacred building stared in disbelief at the couple’s lack of respect.
‘I was only trying to help,’ Rosa replied quietly. The cathedral was cold; she shivered.
‘Well, don’t bother. Let’s go,’ Lucas said gruffly, striding off towards the great wooden doors that led outside.
When they were out in the chilly November air, Rosa put her hand on Lucas’s shoulder. On the grass nearby, a man was placing large Remembrance Day poppies on crosses.
‘I am so grateful to you for bringing me here,’ she said, ‘but honestly, do get back if you need to. I can take the train home. It’s fine.’
‘Get back to where?’ Lucas sighed. ‘I feel so fucking lost, Rosa.’ A lone tear trickled down his right cheek.
‘Oh, Lucas.’ On reaching for a packet of tissues in her bag, Rosa noticed the letter from Sheila. ‘Here, you dropped this the other day.’
‘I take it you read it?’ Lucas bit his lip.
‘No, I – no, I…’
‘What is it you always say? You can’t kid a kidder. It’s fine, I’d have read it too.’
Rosa felt it was the right moment to address the love-shaped elephant in the room. Too many times she had acted like a child and brushed things under the carpet as if they weren’t happening. ‘Come on, let’s go for a coffee, it’s freezing out here,’ she suggested, then gasped and put her hands to her head. ‘Oh no!’
‘What now?’
‘I was meant to go to the police station today, but with all this going on I totally forgot all about it. PC Poirot will be putting a warrant out for my arrest by now.’
Lucas began to grin, but then he, too, looked a bit concerned. ‘You’ve just reminded me that I had a missed call from him yesterday as well. Me and Tom were busy discussing the funeral – not that we’re allowed to set a date yet with a post-mortem going on.’
‘What does DC Clarke want, do you reckon? Not that it matters.’
‘You already know, Rosa! So, it obviously does matter. It’s about Mum’s secret, isn’t it? I overheard her say it. I’m not stupid.’
CHAPTER 34
‘Can I help you, sir?’
‘I hope so.’ Jacob smiled at the bear of a chap behind the counter of the Corner Shop. With that twinkle in his eye and his scar fitting for a James Bond villain, Jacob thought he was rather sexy. Hearing the publican’s familiar voice, Hot came rushing off his basket and jumped up at Jacob’s designer-clad legs, his own little ones scrabbling furiously.