Page 43 of The House Swap

Her stomach dipped.

You definitely have the right house? No. 9? Navy front door.

She was clutching at straws.

Yes. There’s a ginger cat at the window glaring at me.

That would be Dustin, Keira’s lovable orange menace.

Definitely the right house.

Deflated, she typed back:

Thank you for going there.

His reply came quickly.

Of course. I know you’ve been worrying. Look, I fly to Paris tomorrow afternoon for the wedding, but I can come back here in the morning if you like. Try again. I know you’ll feel better if you actually speak to her.

No. You’ve already done more than enough. Thank you, really.

Okay, well, if you change your mind, let me know.

Deciding she was done with work for the day, she shut down her laptop and carried her empty mug to the sink. She would have a shower and change her clothes, then sit outside for a bit with her Kindle.

As she headed down the hallway to the bedrooms, she spotted that her door was half closed. She was certain she had left it open.

It was a small detail. Meaningless really. Perhaps it had been the wind from when she’d had the patio doors open. Shrugging it off, she pushed it wider.

Everything looked normal at first glance and just how she had left it that morning. The bed neatly made and her suitcase tucked away down the side of the dresser.

Then she saw it.

One of the cushions on top of the duvet had been flipped over.

Poppy had purposely placed the palm leaf pattern facing in the correct direction. So how come it was now upside down?

Her chest tightened.

Had Martin and Elena been in today? There was no other sign that they had. The bins were still full, and her breakfast things were sat in the sink when she returned from Sue and Ian’s.

The vast openness of the villa with its high ceilings and sleek furnishings was supposed to be a paradise getaway, and there was no denying it was beautiful, but the longer she was here, the more unsettled she was becoming. The silence almost suffocating.

She told herself it was because she was still a little rattled by Keira’s abrupt departure, and, in truth, that hadn’t helped. Although she had initially planned to come here by herself, she hadn’t realised that the quietness would also feel lonely.

And a tiny part of her yearned for the cosiness of home.

17

FRIDAY 6 NOVEMBER

It was already dark when Jem’s car pulled up outside the villa.

Poppy had been ready for ten minutes, pacing the living area in bare feet, trying to quiet the restless energy in her chest. She had changed outfits twice before settling on a black-and-white patterned dress that skimmed her calves.

Not trying too hard but trying just enough.

Adding simple gold jewellery and leaving her hair to fall loose around her shoulders, she had assessed her reflection in the mirror and tried to decide what exactly she was doing.