Maybe she’d go to a hotel and come back in the morning?
Easier said than done with no reception on her phone.
It’s not that the place is spooky, she told her mother in her head, because it isn’t, but like any empty house it has the potential to be and given how remote it is I’d really rather not be here alone.
Silencing her misgivings – or at least storing them until she got to speak to her mother – she picked up a neatly written page from the table containing further instructions.
Dear Joely,
If you’re reading this then you’re in, so please let me welcome you to Dimmett House and I apologize again for not being here to greet you in person. Brenda has prepared the blue bedroom for you, which you’ll find at the top of the main staircase, first door you come to. There is a bathroom en suite and the French windows open onto a balcony that’s over the front porch (probably for warmer days).
The library and my writing room are in the tower, I will introduce you to them on my return.
For many years I have been vegetarian so Brenda has prepared a jackfruit, mushroom and cheese bake which we hope you will enjoy. There is enough for six, so we’ll probably be eating it until Friday. Ha ha! You will find plenty of fresh veg to accompany it and Brenda has whisked up a delicious tiramisu for dessert, one of her specialities.
I hope you’ll be warm enough, but do light the fire if you’d like to. You’ll see a generous supply of logs beside the hearth, with lots of kindling and old newspapers in the cupboard to the right. On the chair closest to the logs I have left a large envelope containing a couple of chapters that I have compiled in readiness for your arrival. I thought it might help to start our discussions. I will explain more about my plans for the memoir when I get back.
Lastly, and I know this will be important, I have put the WiFi code at the bottom of this sheet. Unfortunately, it’s more miss than hit out here, but if you don’t get a connection right away please be patient because one will come along.
I hope to be back before eleven tomorrow.
Yours truly
Freda M. Donahoe
Joely looked up from the note and took in her surroundings again. Through the French windows she spotted a rabbit bounding through the long grass and a wooden bench turned towards the sea. It looked bitterly cold out there and dismal in the sleeting rain that had begun to fall. Any thoughts of trudging back to town for the night were fading fast, for if the wind picked up, and she could see from the slant of the trees that it was already starting to, it would slice the skin off her bones before she got to the Valley of Rocks, and no way did she want to walk through there in the dark.
Spotting an electric kettle beside the Aga with an array of brightly coloured mugs hanging from the base of the cabinet above she decided to make herself a cup of tea.
While she waited for the water to boil she entered the WiFi code into her phone and within seconds she was receiving texts. Five came through straight away: the first two from Sully explaining that Mrs Donahoe wasn’t going to be at home to meet her. The third was from her mother wishing her luck and telling her to call as soon as she could. The fourth was from Callum claiming to understand how badly he was handling things, but could she please be in touch. The fifth warmed her. It was from Holly saying I know you think Dad told me to send the text last night and you’re right, he did. Joke! I did it myself because I feel bad about leaving you, but I had my reasons. If you think that’s a bit cryptic you should try living with you. Oh you do, I forgot Anyway if you think I’m missing you you’re wrong but I reckon I will if you stay away long enough. H xxx
The clumsy attempt to ease the tension between them, while warning her not to make too much of it, caused Joely to feel a deep longing for her daughter and the closeness they used to share. It was without doubt the nicest message she’d received from her since Callum had gone, and while she wondered what had really prompted it she knew better than to ask. The wiser course would be to wait a few hours before texting back to say something like Have I been away long enough yet? It would make Holly smile in spite of herself, and if Joely could achieve that then there was a good chance they’d start to find their way out of this thorny patch they were trying to get through.
After making some tea she sat down at the table to call her mother.
‘Hi, darling, how are you? Where are you?’
‘I’m at the house,’ Joely replied. ‘Mrs Donahoe – I presume she’s a Mrs, I forgot to ask – has been called away and won’t be back until tomorrow.’
‘Really? So who was there to let you in?’
‘She left a key. I’m here alone.’
The connection failed so Joely moved about the kitchen and eventually her mother was back again. ‘Sorry, I lost you,’ she said. ‘Did you get that I’m here alone?’
‘Yes, and I said I’m not sure what to make of it. It seems an odd way to greet someone. Are you all right?’
‘I think so. There are lots of instructions on how to make myself at home, food in the fridge, a log fire to light. It’s a fabulous place, actually, or what I’ve seen of it is.’
When her mother didn’t respond she realized she’d been talking to herself for a while.
‘Are there neighbours?’ her mother suddenly asked.
‘Not unless you count the wildlife. Actually, there’s a deer in the meadow outside even as we speak, but the town, which is very small, is about a mile away.’
‘Has she kept her promise about a car?’
‘There’s a Jeep outside, but she hasn’t mentioned it in her note so I wouldn’t want to use it, even if I knew where the keys were, which I don’t. Anyway, tell me, how things are with you?’
Sighing, her mother said, ‘Busy, but not in a good way.’ She disappeared again and came back saying, ‘… so there’s no way I’ll meet my target this month.’
Joely said, ‘I don’t know why you put yourself through the stress of it when you don’t actually need to work. Dad left you pretty well off …’
‘I’d drive myself crazy if I didn’t have something to do and you know it. Did you remember to send my love to Andee, by the way?’
‘Of course, and she sends hers. Have you been in touch with Holly?’
‘Yes, she texted me this morning to ask if she could come and stay for a while.’
Joely’s heart missed a beat. ‘So things aren’t going so well in her loft?’ she said hopefully.
‘I don’t know if it’s that. Apparently Callum and Martha are going away for a couple of days and she doesn’t want to be there alone.’
Joely had to swallow as she struggled with the concept of her husband and ex-best friend on a romantic break together. For a moment she felt oddly panicked by it, as though she had to stop them, but how on earth she was supposed to do that she had no idea.
‘I shouldn’t have told you,’ her mother said ruefully.
Though Joely wished she hadn’t, she said, ‘It’s OK, I’d probably have found out anyway.’ She wouldn’t ask where they were going, there was no point doing that to herself, because if it turned out to be somewhere she and Callum had been together, or had always wanted to go she didn’t think she could bear it.