My head is spinning. There’s Bryony, then there’s this Turner, or JT. There’s Rob’s ex-wife with the accusations she’s making, and also the fact that he’s not even been going to work. Somebody knows more than I do. I decide that as soon as Mum and Dad have sorted their crap out, I’m going to look deeper into Rob’s business and personal relationships. I need to look through his office.
Jostling me from my thoughts, Dad slides the conservatory door open with Mum hot on his heels. I can’t even have five minutes’ peace.
“We can’t both stay here.” Dad takes the step down into the conservatory and looks at me. “Fiona. It’s your call. You know what’s going on between your mum and I – send one of us back to York.”
“Come on Dad. You’re effectively asking me to choose between you both. That’s not fair.”
“I’m sorry, love. You’re right.” He sits on the chair next to mine and looks at Mum, framed in the door, looking calmer than she did when she first arrived. “I’ll leave you with your mother. I can’t stand to be in the same room as you.” He glares at her. “Look after her Maggie, and Jack. Because if I find out that you’re issuing any more of your threats or ultimatums, I’ll…”
“You’ll what?” Mum’s eyes narrow.
“I won’t be responsible for my actions.”
“Just go home Roger. And don’t ever tell me how to be with my daughter.”
I know it’s all Mum’s fault – the situation between her and dad, but I can’t help but feel slightly warmed at her referring to me as her daughter. It’s an unusual term for her. It almost gives me a sense of belonging.
* * *
Driving normally clears my head.
But I can’t think straight at the moment.
I’m looking over my shoulder,
and jumping every time the phone rings,
or there’s a knock at the door.
Chapter 18
We’re still sat in the conservatory. Dad’s gone, and she’s barely looked up from her phone since he left.
“So why did you come back Mum?”
“I’ll talk to you about it later.” She still doesn’t give me her attention. “I’ve got to be somewhere at two o’clock.”
“Where?” What are you up to now? That’s what I really want to say. I’m still baffled why she’s back. Something must have happened with Shane. That must be who she is madly texting.
“The police station. They just want a quick statement from me. Because I was here the other morning - before Rob had his accident. It shouldn’t take long.”
“Yes, they told me they wanted a word. I guess it’s checking the times and any information that I’ve given them. Have you heard they’re treating his death as a hit and run?”
She slips her phone back into her handbag and gazes out over the garden. “I heard it on the news on the drive back up. You seem to be bearing up well, considering. You must be made of tougher stuff than I give you credit for.” She doesn’t look at me.
Not as tough as your décolletage, I want to say, bitchily. Someone should tell her that’s she’s too old to wear the low cut tops she does.
“How’s Jack doing?” She’s still staring at the garden and is definitely not herself.
I follow her gaze, noting that the lawn needs mowing. Rob’s always done that. I don’t even know how to switch the lawnmower on. “Pretty upset. He idolised his dad. I’m just taking it one day at a time. It’s not as though I haven’t known awful times before.”
“Have the police got any ideas yet? Have they said anything to you?”
I take a sideways glance at Mum. She suddenly seems genuinely interested in my awful situation. Perhaps I even detect a glimmer of sympathy in her expression. We’re having a normal, adult conversation about me for a change – not about her. It feels like a miracle.
“There’s a couple of lines of enquiry they’re following up.” I sip my coffee. “Sorry I didn’t make you a cuppa – you were busy with Dad. Obviously, the police won’t say too much to me with things being ongoing, but there seems to be suspicion around one of Rob’s business associates. There was something untoward with his former employers as well.”
“His former employers? What do you mean? I thought he’d been with Bracken since he left university?”
I wonder for a moment whether I can trust her, but decide to give her the benefit of the doubt. “He’s been pretending to go to work, but it sounds like he was sacked a month ago.” I hope she doesn’t use this information to fire back at me. “His boss won’t tell me what it’s all about. I’m hoping the police might turn something up.”
“And you have a go at me for being dishonest! I’ve always said there was something shifty about your husband.”
“I haven’t had a go at you about anything, Mum. I just didn’t want dragging into your bloody affair. I felt bad about Dad as well.”
“Well, it’s all over, anyway. It doesn’t matter.”
“What is?”
“The thing with Shane. It feels as though my life is as over as Rob’s. Shane has decided to go back to his wife and kids. I couldn’t talk him round.”
So that’s why she’s back up here so quick. He has dumped her. No wonder she had a face like a bag of spanners when she arrived.
But I don’t want to talk about her relationship woes. No chance. Maybe she might want to make a go of things with Dad now. That’s if he can forgive her. Again. I decide to change the subject. “So when did the police get in touch with you?”
“Last night. I was in a state after Shane had gone, so I didn’t talk to them for long. They offered to let me do the statement in Devon, but when they rang me this morning to arrange a time, I told them
