Page 56 of The Only Way Is Up

Stella gave a booming laugh. ‘Darling, he’s bored out of his mind and you’re Daisy Crawford. Of course he’ll want to get involved.’

‘What are you doing for your birthday, Mum?’ Ruby asked as Archie settled the bill and everyone else was putting their coats on. Daisy wondered why Stella was bothering when she was only going upstairs, but the rooms in this place were probably freezing.

Daisy shrugged. ‘I haven’t really thought about it.’ She was due to turn forty in three weeks, and she and Christian had talked before about a trip to the Caribbean. A little house on stilts, swaying palm trees, lots of hammock sex. Not happening.

‘Remind me when it is again?’ Simon looked a little mortified at failing to remember the birthday of a woman he’d been married to for six years and with whom he had a child.

‘Twelfth of January.’ Daisy rolled her eyes at him. ‘It’s a Saturday.’

‘What’s happening on the twelfth of January?’ asked Archie, returning from the bar.

‘Daisy’s turning forty,’ said Stella, ‘but she hasn’t made any plans.’

‘Well, that won’t do at all,’ said Archie. ‘Simon’s dropping Ruby back at school that week, but we were planning to come back together to fetch Hank that weekend, so perhaps we can stay overnight for a little celebration.’

Ruby clapped her hands. ‘That’s a brilliant idea. Granny and I will organise something.’

‘Fine.’ Daisy looked dubious. ‘But just a family thing. I’m heading back to London straight after that so don’t drag any of my friends down here.’

‘Not until after the twenty-sixth of January, though,’ said Stella, her brow furrowing.

‘Why?’ said Daisy. ‘What’s happening on the twenty-sixth of January?’

‘The church winter fete,’ said Stella. ‘You need to be here to help me with the judging.’

Daisy looked confused. ‘Judging for what? That’s the first I’ve heard.’

‘Really?’ said Stella innocently. ‘I was sure I’d told you. I must have agreed on your behalf. You’re declaring the fete open, then judging the cake competition. Nothing you can’t do with your eyes closed.’ She paused for effect then put her hand on Daisy’s arm. ‘It’s a small ask. Miriam is counting on you.’

Daisy took a few deep yogic breaths. She looked at Simon, who raised his eyebrows in amusement, his fingers pressed to his lips. Archie turned away to face Ruby, both of them shaking with silent laughter as they waited for Daisy to let rip.

‘For God’s sake, Mum,’ said Daisy through gritted teeth, conscious that everyone in the pub was eavesdropping. ‘We’ll talk about this another time.’

CHAPTER THIRTY

Melanie and Will sat at the kitchen table with Gerald and Tom, eating a beef stew that Gerald had paid the chef at the Shipton Arms to make, soon to be followed by an apple crumble that was currently warming in the AGA. Gerald had wanted his wife and son to have something nice to eat when they got back, and Tom had suggested he outsource the job to avoid burning the house down.

The kitchen felt warm and cosy with the heating on, even though the wind was whistling through one of the windows and the cat was sitting in the hole in the floorboards again. According to Gerald it wasn’t even their cat; she just wandered in every now and then and slept in the hole for a while, then disappeared again, sometimes for months. Nobody knew her name, so everyone in the house just called her Cat. She was currently eyeing the baubles beadily on the tree that Gerald had hastily put up, again at Tom’s urging. Melanie usually handled that kind of thing.

‘Have you had a good week, Tom?’ Melanie asked, then blushed furiously. Tom smiled awkwardly, assuming she’d read the story in the Mail and wondering how much Daisy had told her.

‘It’s been fine,’ said Tom. ‘Gerald and I have kept each other company.’ He’d pushed back hard against coming along to dinner this evening, feeling strongly that Gerald should have an evening alone with his family, but Gerald had insisted. He had things to discuss with Melanie and Will, and he wanted Tom there for moral support. Tom had agreed to come but it was more for Will than Gerald, whom he thought had behaved questionably.

‘Tom has been helping me with a project I’ve been working on,’ Gerald stated, prompting Melanie and Will to both freeze mid-mouthful and stare at him. ‘We’ve . . . well, I’ve been doing some work on our finances while you two have been gallivanting in the mountains, and I thought we should talk about it. As a family.’ He tried to keep his voice upbeat and friendly, which just made him sound like a bullshitting politician.

Melanie and Will looked at each other, then at Tom, then at Gerald.

‘I didn’t realise we had any finances.’ Will’s face was deadpan.

Tom cleared his throat. ‘I’ll just clear these plates and check on the apple crumble.’ He quickly crossed the room before anyone could say anything, busying himself at the sink, listening in to the conversation while making sure he was far enough away not to intrude.

‘Well,’ he heard Gerald say. ‘As you know things have been quite difficult for a number of years since I . . . lost my job.’

Tom could see Melanie’s eyes had narrowed into tiny slits. Gerald looked away, then quickly rallied. ‘But the remainder of my mother’s estate has finally been resolved, so we have an opportunity to improve things.’

He waited but Melanie and Will said nothing, so Gerald ploughed on. ‘The legalities around it are complicated, but Tom has kindly helped me work through the details and I’ve now come to an agreement with my sisters.’ Tom knew that Gerald hadn’t spoken a word to his sisters that wasn’t via lawyers since his mother’s funeral, but throwing them into the mix gave his story credibility. Even Melanie apparently thought they were grasping witches.

‘OK,’ Will said finally. ‘But what does that mean?’