‘I ran into your mother at the hospital,’ I told her, thinking Tamara probably didn’t know. The doctors seem quite confident that he will regain consciousness soon.’
Tamara brightened. ‘I know. I went there first thing before I came to work. They said his skin is improving too.’
‘They did?’ I questioned her without thinking.
She nodded her head vigorously. ‘There was a consultant in his room when I got there. Some old guy in his fifties.’ I refused to react to her comment about age or point out that I am already in my late fifties. ‘He said he couldn’t work out why dad’s skin was so bad. He said it was just dermatitis. The worst case he had ever seen, but just dermatitis. He said much the same about his joint pain and made it sound like Doctor Kimble had failed to provide proper care for dad. Not that he said those words,’ she added. ‘Do you think he might get better?’ she asked me.
How was I supposed to answer that? I went with a non-committal, ‘God willing.’ I said the words, but my brain was elsewhere. Derek was getting better. He’d only been in hospital overnight and his condition was already improving. That meant something. It had to. Now I had to try to work out what.
Tamara looked into the middle distance for a moment, a thoughtful expression on her face. Then she shook her head as if trying to rid it of whatever images might have been plaguing it and looked at me with a smile.
‘When can you fit me in?’ she asked. ‘For the dress consultation, I mean.’
I allowed myself a small chuckle. ‘You have that about face, Tamara. It is I who wish to know when you can fit me in. You are the bride; this is all about you. However, I will say that we should attempt to get together soon. In the next day or so ideally, so I can make arrangements with the establishments that will best suit your needs.’
‘Oh,’ Tamara made a concerned face. ‘Well, I really need to commit to work at the moment.’ She made a pained face, and her lip began to wobble unexpectantly. The next second, far too fast for me to be able to react, her face folded in on itself and she started crying.
Mindy’s eyes went as wide as saucers and she backed away just as I went forward.
‘I’m sorry,’ Tamara sobbed as she stepped forward into my embrace. ‘It’s so strange being here without John. I just … I just can’t believe he’s gone. I know he might have hurt dad, but now John’s dead and …’ Whatever she planned to say next got lost as emotions she’d been keeping in check spilled out in a torrent.
For the next minute, I did nothing but hold the young woman upright. She leaned into me; a head taller but in need of my support as I became the rock she could anchor to. Just like I had with Joanne a few hours ago, I soaked up the tears and waited for her self-control to return.
When she was ready, Tamara started to apologise again, pushing herself away to get out of my personal space. She exhaled deeply as she tried to rid herself of the shudders her tearful fit left behind.
‘Oh, goodness,’ she sniffed and blew her nose. ‘I don’t even like John. He was never very nice to work with. It was always business, business, business with him. I’m sorry,’ she said for the fourth or fifth time. ‘You probably have other things you need to do.’
I did, but I wasn’t going to say that. Remembering my conversation with Joanne, I thought about what I came here to find out. I wasn’t going to ask Tamara about crooks in the business though. Not given her delicate emotional state.
Instead, I asked, ‘Is Tarquin here? I have a few groom-related questions for him.’
Tamara shook her head. ‘No, sorry. He went to London first thing this morning. He’s trying to land a new big client.’
I sucked on my teeth for a second while I weighed up my options and glanced around for any sign of Amber. I expected to see her sitting on top of a filing cabinet somewhere inside the office, but if she was here, she was hiding well.
A tinge of worry lit in my core.
Tamara was waiting for me to say something and making it clear with her body language that she felt a need to get on with other things.
‘We should get out of your hair,’ I announced, but as I did so a fresh option occurred to me. ‘We could schedule your dress discussion for before or after office hours if that helps. I can fit you in this evening.’
Tamara’s beamed with excitement. It was like watching a bulb get switched on inside her face. Then the smile fell as if the bulb had just blown.
‘I can’t. I’m having dinner with Tarquin tonight,’ she explained.
Undeterred, I tried again. ‘How about tomorrow?’
The bride-to-be cast her eyes skyward, checked her mental diary. Then the smile returned.
‘Sure. Does six o’clock work?’ she asked. ‘I can come straight to you from here when I finish work.’
I confirmed that was fine by me, had Mindy make an entry in my diary, and finally let Tamara get back to work.
Total Badass
Back at the car, I had another scout around for Amber. I knew I shouldn’t worry; cats are so independent and Amber especially so. I really didn’t like not knowing where she was though.
Mindy plipped the car open so I could get in and folded the driver’s seat forward so Buster could clamber through to the back
