Page 49

‘Oh, I see. That’s neat.’

‘It is, certainly in Irma’s conniving mind. Ooh, my mother is likely turning in her grave.’

‘You said before you have two mothers?’

‘Three, in fact, but one doesn’t count.’ She laughed without mirth before explaining about her adoption, Mae’s death and Irma’s insinuation into their lives. ‘So, yes, while I was a pitiful orphan, as Irma likes to remind me, Mae Appleby is the only mother I’ve loved. A woman – a stranger – gave birth to me, but it was Mae and Henry who became my parents. I freely admit that I resent Irma being in our lives, claiming to be a mother to me. But my negativity is not all about emotion. You see, Irma knows nothing about undertaking, funerals and the work of a mortuary, or all the companies that work with us, from coffin to calico makers. I think she’s using me as her way of being able to continue the business should anything happen to my father.’

‘And is anything happening to him?’ Tom asked.

Fleur nodded, and he saw how the directness of his question made her tear up.

‘Fleur, I’m sorry, I—’

‘Don’t be.’ She chose that moment to bring their paddling to an end, moving out of the sea’s reach. He followed her up the sand as she continued. ‘I must face it – my father is likely dying. I don’t understand, though. He was hale three months ago and now suddenly he’s ashen, weak, and even his personality is shifting.’

‘Pain can do that.’

‘But he’s not in pain. He assures me he’s just getting older, a bit more fatigued, and that Irma’s claim about the doctor only giving him weeks to live is a lie.’

‘Why would she say such a thing?’

‘Because she’s cruel and wicked and scheming. Pretending to know something I don’t, simply to be beastly. And especially because she knows I’m trapped in a way and can’t respond. I don’t want to hurt Dad any more than he already has been. Having two women at war in his household makes him feel wretched.’

Hearing the note of despair in her voice, Tom pointed to a nearby bench. They sat together to dry their toes, dust off the sand and put on their shoes. ‘She certainly sounds like a pot stirrer.’

‘She’s so much more devious than that. Irma makes trouble. She also makes me see red,’ Fleur admitted. ‘Sorry, Tom, you don’t need to hear all of this.’

‘I want to. I want to know everything about you.’

She sighed. ‘Losing my mother was catastrophic for both of us – few would understand that better than you – but Dad and I worked out a way to manage our lives. We’re close – and we’re a good team in the business. We look after one another. Above all, we love each other. We made it work. And then Irma arrived and everything began to go wrong.’

‘How did they meet?’

‘Irma was brought in part-time to help run the house while Dad worked, but then she rather loftily took on the job of sorting out the mountain of paperwork after my mother passed away. Irma wasn’t especially good at it, as I understand, but Dad had no time, and I was still at school. She began calling herself his secretary, and attached herself firmly to my father as his very private assistant. Suddenly she was opening all the mail, handling all calls, organising the bookkeeping and making appointments. She began to embed herself in every facet of our life, finally going out on Dad’s arm to events that she organised.’

At Tom’s nod, she continued. ‘All the while, she did very little in the house – the tasks she was employed to see to, I mean. I was still quite young, a new teenager. Irma acted caring towards me, but only in front of my father. When he wasn’t around, she was mean about everything. I disliked her from our first meeting, and she felt the same way about me, I’m sure. All these years it’s as though I’ve had her hands on my back, waiting for the right moment to give me a shove.’

‘Could you be mistaken?’ Tom asked. At her frown, he gave a shrug of surrender. ‘I mean, could you be reading more into her actions because you simply don’t like her?’

‘Tom, she spat on my mother’s photo right in front of me, ensuring I was paying attention, taking delight in it – she left her spittle to run down my mother’s face. This happened just a week or so ago.’

He couldn’t hide his shock then. ‘Bloody hell.’

‘Exactly! And she’s made it very clear to me she wants me gone from the house. Not in any subtle way, Tom, but in clear, compelling English. My home . . . the only one I’ve ever known. The one she plans to take from me.’

‘And your father’s all right with this?’

‘That’s the thing. It’s as though Dad’s in another world. He’s becoming forgetful, he’s caring less, he’s allowing me to take on more and more of the business, while allowing Irma to negotiate its future without any say so from either of us. She’s got him under some sort of spell. I work most days of the week in my father’s funeral parlour, while Irma does nothing. She gave up her clerical duties years ago . . . It was always a sham. She set her sights on my dad and she got him to marry her. Now I could believe she wants us both out of the way.’

‘How so?’

Fleur gave a moue of bafflement. ‘I don’t know. If neither of us were around, she could probably sell the business to the Coglins and live very comfortably on the proceeds. If I was still a thorn in her side, but married to Jimmy, they could gang up on me. Either way, she needs my father out of the way but I think she’d love it if we were both gone.’

‘You say your father hasn’t seen the doctor?’

‘Well, that’s according to him. Irma intimates otherwise. I’d believe Dad any day over her, even with his being so vague lately.’

Tom nodded thoughtfully. ‘If Irma is really trying to unsettle you and put doubt in you, then perhaps this is her way of playing with your mind.’