‘It’s going to be even posher than that. I’m going to be Mrs Amber Winters-Holcroft.’
‘Wow, that’s a mouthful and a half.’
She laughs. ‘God, I’m so happy. Tell me to shut up if I get a bit much.’
When we’re sitting in a pavement café in the sunshine, drinking cappuccino, she suddenly looks at me and says, ‘Lucy…I didn’t just come down here to tell you I’m engaged. There’s something else…’
Her serious expression makes me scared for a moment.
But she sees my fear and shakes her head. ‘Everyone’s fine. It’s nothing like that.’
‘So what is it?’ I ask curiously.
She takes a deep breath. ‘It’s about Eleanor.’
I stare at her, a feeling of dread in my gut. ‘Is Dad okay?’
She nods. ‘Yes. He…came to see me, desperate to know where you’d gone. But obviously I didn’t know either. But when I conjured up the private investigator plan, I told him I’d let him know if they found you. To put his mind at ease that you were okay.’
‘Oh, God. Poor Dad. I left him a note, explaining I was going off in the van for a while. I thought he’d be okay with that.’
She shakes her head. ‘He was so worried about you. He misses you terribly.’
My heart aches, thinking of my darling dad and what I’ve put him through.
‘But you’ve been able to tell him I’m fine, though? And living here?’
‘Yes. Honestly, Lucy, the relief on his face when I told him…’
I swallow hard. I need to phone him. But first I need to know about Eleanor.
‘You were saying? About my favourite person?’ I say, with deep sarcasm.
‘Eleanor. Right.’ She pauses, and I can tell she’s psyching herself up to say it. ‘Well, you know your Mum’s favourite ring? The one you told me you thought Eleanor had taken from the jewellery box and was wearing?’
I nod.
‘What does it look like?’
I frown, wondering where on earth she’s going with this. ‘Well, it’s a gold band, set with garnets all the way around it. It’s so pretty.’
Her eyes widen. ‘Garnets. They’re the red stones, right? I knew it! I just had this feeling.’
‘What do you mean?’ My heart starts beating very fast.
‘Well, you know I said we bought this pink ring in the gift shop in town?’
‘From Tanya’s place?’ I ask, naming a mutual friend of ours who owns the gift shop.
‘Yes. So we were in there, chatting to Tanya, and she asked me about you. She said she’d heard that you’d gone off for a long holiday in the camper van and I told her that you had and I wasn’t sure when you were coming back. And then she mentioned Eleanor had been in the shop a couple of months ago. She said something like, ‘I never thought she’d come into my lowly shop to buy jewellery. I always thought she was more of a Cartier sort of woman.’
‘Eleanor bought jewellery at Tanya’s Treasures?’
‘Yes. A ring, apparently.’ She gives me a meaningful look and my heart starts beating fast. ‘Well, when she said that, I immediately thought of the story you told me about your mum’s ring. So I asked Tanya, very casually, what Eleanor’s ring was like.’ She shrugs. ‘Turns out she was looking for a gold band with garnets around it.’
I stare at Amber wordlessly as the knowledge of this sinks in. I feel quite sick. ‘But you know what this means…?’
Amber nods. ‘Eleanor told you she’d had the ring for years. But she hadn’t. She bought it just a couple of months ago.’
I swallow hard. ‘She bought it because it looked like Mum’s ring and she wanted me to think it was Mum’s. But…why, Amber? Why would she do that?’
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Amber shrugs. ‘God knows, but it’s so weird. And creepy. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I had to let you know.’
‘I’m very glad you did,’ I murmur slowly. ‘I had such a strong reaction when I saw her wearing it and I actually accused her of taking Mum’s ring. But then she said the ring was hers and she’d had it for years. Dad was mortified by my behaviour.’
‘Because he naturally thought Eleanor was telling the truth. I mean, why would she lie about something like that?’
I nod. ‘Dad was so worried about me. He assumed I was losing it in the wake of Mum dying.’
‘But you weren’t. Eleanor just made it seem as if you were behaving erratically.’
There’s a pause as we sink into our own thoughts, processing this.
I can’t quite believe it - that Eleanor would go out and search for a ring exactly like the one I showed her, belonging to Mum. And then deny she’d done so.
‘Do you think she wanted Dad to think I was going crazy?’
‘Maybe. And I was thinking, what about the other things you thought you were losing your mind over? The dress you thought you saw her burning on the bonfire…the spiders in your drawer?’
‘Oh, my God. You don’t think they were a fabrication as well?’ I shake my head doubtfully. ‘No. Surely not.’
Amber shrugs. ‘She sounds so weird, I wouldn’t put it past her. Although collecting spiders to terrify you does sound a bit extreme.’
I shudder, remembering that day. Pulling open the drawer…
‘But supposing you’re right and she put the spiders there, and then somehow made them magically disappear so Dad would think I’d imagined them…why would she do that?’
‘To weaken you? Make you doubt yourself? Make your dad doubt you? All for her own devious ends, no doubt.’
‘Maybe she was jealous of how close we are, Dad and I? Perhaps she wanted to drive a wedge between us?’
‘Could be. And if that’s the case, Eleanor Swann is one twisted woman. And you’d do well to stay away from her.’
‘But what about Dad? He’s living with a monster, if what we’re saying is true, but he has no idea what she’s really like.’
‘You need to tell him.’
I shake my head sadly. ‘No use. I’ve tried, Amber. He won’t believe me. He’s so entranced by Eleanor, he thinks she’s a saint and a Grace Kelly look-alike all rolled into one perfect woman. I’ve never seen anyone so blinkered by love.’
Amber reaches over and presses my hand. ‘Well, then, you’re going to have to try harder to change his mind, Lucy. Make him listen to you. Otherwise who knows what “perfect” Eleanor might get up to next?’
*****
The afternoon goes by so quickly as we sit and talk non-stop over lunch, chatting about my situation and, of course, Amber’s wedding plans.
She has to drive home tonight for work tomorrow, so we decide against the cocktails, and instead, we buy ice-creams and take a walk along the beach.
I borrow her phone to call Dad and she wanders away to give me privacy to talk. I stand at the water’s edge as it rings, watching my feet make dents in the wet sand, the waves rushing over my toes. My heart is beating so fast. What if he doesn’t want to talk to me after I walked out with barely a word?