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“Happy New Year!”
“Yeah. Sweetheart, where are you?”
Sweetheart? That startles me. Despite being one of my best friends, Alex is not the kind of guy to use endearments like that. “Uh… I’m at Cam’s parents’ place.” I haven’t told him or any of the others about Cam’s brother, and I doubt Henry has either.
“Honey,” he says, “I’ve got some bad news.”
My heart skips a beat. Not Henry?
“We heard this morning that James’s sister Maddie has died.”
I stand still as the world shudders to a halt around me. For a moment, I’m sure the birds stop singing and the sun goes behind a cloud.
I know Maddie and have met her many times socially. She had a baby a few months ago, and I was aware that she was suffering from postnatal depression, and that James was going over to see her a lot to help her out. Oh, poor James.
“Oh my God,” I whisper. “How?”
“She fell off a cliff near where she lived.”
“Jesus.”
“Yeah.”
“She didn’t… jump?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Oh no, Leia?”
“She’s fine. She was in her pushchair at the top. A couple who were walking by found her and called the police. Two officers came here to tell James.”
“Oh how awful. How is he?”
“In complete shock. He’s gone to identify the body.”
Tears spring into my eyes at the thought of having to do something so horrendous. “Is he on his own?”
“No, no, Henry’s with him.”
I feel a rush of relief. If Henry’s there, everything’s going to be fine. “I’m glad about that.”
“Yeah, me too. James has to pick up Leia afterward, so Aroha’s gone with them, and she’s going to look after the baby for a while.”
“That was kind of her.”
“Yeah, a real coup that she just happened to be working here. Anyway, I said I’d call and let people know. I’ll ring as soon as we know anything more.”
“When do you think the funeral will be?”
“No idea. I imagine there’ll be a police investigation and a coroner’s inquiry until they sort out the cause of death, so it might be a while.”
“Okay. Well, thanks for calling me.”
“All right, speak soon, okay?” He ends the call.
I stand there, listening to the birdsong that’s started up again. I’m trembling a little. I wasn’t close friends with Maddie, but James is like a brother to me, and I can only imagine what he’s going through. Did she take her own life? Oh God, I hope not. It’s awful either way, but an accident is one thing; knowing your sister was so unhappy that she killed herself is another. James will blame himself, and it won’t be an easy thing to get over.
As far as I know, he and Maddie don’t have any brothers or sisters. Their mother is dead, and their father lives in Australia. They have no other close family here. What will happen to the baby? Poor little Leia. I know Maddie wasn’t in touch with the father, but I guess he’ll have to be contacted. Will he want her? If he doesn’t, what will James do? He’s always said he doesn’t want kids. I can’t picture him bringing up a baby, especially when she’s not his own.
