Night Fires (13 page)

Janie shook her head as if clearing her thoughts then disappeared into the café before returning. She stared at me like I’d gone mad. “Alice, where was he sat?”

“By the window.”

Something about the quiet way she spoke made me stand still. An invisible force was pressing against my chest as I slowly made my way back out to the front. The table where Mr Frey had sat was now completely empty, the chair he’d sat in tucked under the table, and the salt pot he’d been fiddling with sat perfectly beside the pepper pot.

Janie and Betty looked at me when I walked back into the kitchen. Their faces were pale and Betty was holding on to the countertop as if she was going to fall down.

“How do you know Mr Frey?” Janie asked quietly.

I frowned. “He sold me the house.”

“What?” Janie appeared to be hyperventilating and she lowered herself onto the chair in the corner of the kitchen. “He can’t have.”

“Why can’t he? Of course he did.”

She shook her head slowly. “Because he died four years ago.”

My mouth fell open but it was the only thing that was capable of moving. A funny wheeze came up my throat as nausea lay heavy. “What? No. He greeted me to Mousehole. I gave him the cheque for the house.” I narrowed my eyes on her and groaned. “You bitch!”

She gawped at me.

Rolling my eyes, I chuckled. “You really thought you had me there.”

Her head slowly shook from side to side as Betty stood frozen to the spot, staring at me.

“No joke, Alice. Kingfisher House belonged to Mr Frey and his wife. He died around four years ago, and his wife died about eighteen months back.”

Goose bumps burst out over my skin and I stumbled backwards, my back hitting the wall. “But I bought the house from him.”

“We all thought it was funny because he had no family. We just gathered the state had claimed the house and sold it you,” Betty said.

“It was advertised in my local paper. I rang the number and we arranged to meet. He was real. I’m telling you. You have to be wrong.”

“Four years, Alice,” Janie said bluntly. “We all went to his funeral. He was well loved and missed greatly. His wife, Edith, never coped without him and followed him on. The house has been stood empty since.”

A shiver burst across my skin and I rubbed at my arms. “But then that means…”

I didn’t finish the sentence before everything went black.

Billy,

Did you do this? I don’t understand. And if you did, why Kingfisher House? What is so important about the place?

It’s all gone to pot. I now realise that I don’t actually own the house, and that I have to leave. I don’t know where to go. I’ve essentially been squatting.

I fell in love with the place too. She is my little bit of comfort. Something about her calls to me, soothes me. And once again, something I love is being ripped from me.

Other than that I’m doing okay. Other than finding out that Niall has been released. But I suppose that makes my job easier, and one step closer to being with you all again. Always looking for the good points me lol, not that it ever gets me anywhere.

Carter has been nowhere near me either, I swear I’m cursed. I wondered if you knew his wife, if you’d met her up there. God, I sound like a crazy person! Of course you wouldn’t know her. Ignore me, it’s been a long week.

Anyway, Mack is whining at the door so I better let the little demon out before he decides to do it on the doormat… again.

Love you, kid, and I suppose I’ll be seeing you soon. Wish me luck.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the daft dog. He adored the water, and jumped at the waves as if they had a personal vendetta to take him down. He was absolutely filthy, which in turn made me just as grubby because after he’d ‘disposed’ of each wave, he’d come running and jumping at me in celebration. But he was a breath of fresh air after everything going through my head. He allowed me to forget, him and my beach, just for a little while. He had a habit of finding the best stones and bringing them to me, and after a few days of bringing him down there, I had a large glass bowl filled with a selection of every colour and shape.

“Lunch time, Mack!” I shouted as I scooped up that day’s array of pebbles and turned back to the house. I could hear him panting behind me and I squealed when he shook himself and the back of my t-shirt was drenched in sea water.

A laugh made me look up and I smiled at Janie as she stepped off the bottom rickety step onto the sand. “Hey, Mack!” She couldn’t do anything but greet him when he launched himself at her, her face screwing up in disgust when he coated it in a film of his saliva. “Remind me why you love this ball of fur?” She laughed as he tried to scramble up her body.

“Mack, down!” I ordered as if he would listen.

Janie rolled her eyes and followed me back up the steps to the house. “Have you found anything out?” she asked as we walked into the kitchen. Mack immediately went to sit at his bowl and Janie fed him as I switched on the kettle.

“Well, I checked the bank account I wrote the cheque from and the money’s still there.”

Janie shook her head and peered at me. “How can you not realise that amount didn’t go out of your account?”

I shrugged. No one, only Carter, knew about my family, and as if sensing my hesitation, Janie held up her hands. “Hey, nothing to do with me. Sorry.”

“No,” I said quickly. “I uhh, I was left some money and it’s in a separate account to my regular. I just didn’t think to check. Heck, who isn’t going to cash a cheque for nearly two hundred thousand? I just presumed it would have come out.”

“Yeah, I get that.” She nodded as she sat at the table and I placed her drink in front of her. “So what are you going to do?”

I looked around the kitchen, my heart aching. “I don’t know. I love this place. It’s not like I can go to the local council either; they’ll do me for squatting. I’m just going to have to find somewhere else.”

“But there’s nothing up for sale around here.”

I nodded. “Tell me something I don’t know. I’ll have to move back out of the village.”

“You should try and find shit out. Check with someone to see if it’s available to buy.”

“I’m not sure I’d know where to start. It doesn’t make sense. I swear he was real, Janie. He handed me the damn keys. He showed me around. I can’t make sense of it.”

She nodded slowly. “It’s bloody freaky if you ask me.” A shiver belted through both of us. “Anyway, I came to tell you we’re going up Newquay this weekend. I’ve booked your hotel room.”

“Eh?”

“I told you we do it once in a while. We stay there ‘cos it’s just as cheap as getting a cab back.”

“But I can’t. I have Mack now.”

She waved her hand at me as if I was making excuses, which in a way I was. “Mum will have him.” Her wide smile told me it was settled. “And besides, Beth’s back.”

“Beth?”

Janie frowned. “Beth, yeah. She’s been visiting her family in America. She’s back on Thursday.”

“Am I supposed to know who Beth is?”

She rolled her eyes as if, yes, I should know. “She’s the only other under thirty in this place. We all go out and let our hair down.”

“All of us?”

“Well apart from Carter.”

I nodded in understanding. “Right, okay.”

She winked and jumped up with excitement. “We’ll pick you up at seven Saturday night. Be ready.”

“Aye, aye!” I saluted her before she breezed out of the room.

Mack stared up at me like he’d understood our conversation and knew I was leaving him. “Ahh, you’ll love Betty. I bet she cooks you sausages.”

His answering whimper made me smile.

“I’ll never let you down, buddy.”

He clawed at my legs, trying to fight his way up my body until I eventually gave in and hoisted him up. Such a pushover.

The library was packed that afternoon and I literally had to fight my may through the self-checkout terminal. Some random woman tried to swipe my copy of the latest Martina Cole book which I’d placed on special order. Bitch. And then, as I scooped up my books, a runaway child bumped into me and knocked them all flying.

I gulped at the cool air when I eventually managed to burst through the front doors. The sun was out, warming the chill in the autumn air. After quickly grabbing a coffee from the van outside, I made my way into the park. It was quieter than last time, but as if on auto mode, I made my way back to the same bench.

A woman was already sitting there and she turned to smile at me when I took the space beside her. “Gorgeous day,” she commented with another smile.

I nodded, sipping my coffee and staring out to the water. “It is for so late in the year.”

She leaned across when I placed the books down beside me, and scanned which titles I had. “You like to read?”

I nodded again. “It’s my passion.” I blushed, feeling stupid, but she nodded eagerly.

“I love the classics, all the romance and the passion. I don’t think many writers can touch that level of emotion anymore. It’s all based around sex now, but I think us women like the odd touch of romance.”

“Although I agree and adore the way you need to read the classic books with your imagination open, I do think there are some good current authors hidden away. You just have to find them.”

She nodded and turned back to the water. She had the smallest nose I’d ever seen, her profile accentuated by the tiny upturn at the end, and her chestnut hair fell in waves down the back of her neck. I was slightly jealous of how thick and lustrous it was. My own red hair was unruly and would never stay where I put it.

“Do you believe in romance?” She was so quiet that I nearly missed her question.

Shaking my head, I sighed. “It’s only reserved for books.”

She studied me. “I met my husband in Paris. I’d just broken up from a long term relationship and I took myself off on my own.” She smiled, remembering. “It was Christmas. The snow was so thick, and it came down thicker and thicker until it proved difficult to walk in. I stepped out to cross the road and my foot slipped. And there he was, just like that. His hand shot out and he scooped me out of the way of a car that was driving much too fast.”

I smiled, engrossed in her story. Her face was animated and I could see the adoration in her eyes as she spoke of him.

“He bustled me into the nearest café to calm me down. He bought me tea and a cinnamon pastry.” She sighed, her eyes misting over as she turned back to the lake. “We spent the next four days together, and I knew right then that I would marry him. We came back to Britain and eight weeks later we were married.”

“That sounds exactly like it should be.”

“Have you anyone in your life right now?” Her question wasn’t reserved, nor was her expectant look.

I blinked, frowning at the lake. “It’s complicated.”

The smile that lit her face surprised me. “Good.”

“Good?”

She laughed a little. “That means you haven’t given up. Complicated means that you’re willing to sort through the problem.”

I scoffed and took another sip of my coffee. “The problem is him. He’s not into me like I am him. I’m not sure there’s anything there to fight for.”