“Robertson’s changed hands?” I say, in disbelief. “Sonya never said a thing!”
“Yeah, Filbert’s bought it after the fire. Apparently Robertson’s wasn’t properly covered by their insurance.”
So someone did benefit from the fire! Does that mean someone paid Alicia to start it? Was it Bernie? A slight prickle runs down my spine. Did he also pay her to set fire to his car? Bile builds in my mouth, and I turn my head in the other direction, just in time to see the sea, glimmering and green.
I watch as the last fishing boat of the day chugs in. The sea tosses it this way and that before allowing it into the safety of the harbour. But it could just as easily have dashed it against the rocks. The sea is unpredictable like that.
Rhett is as good as his word and cooks up a storm. I sit round the table with my friends, eating chicken and potatoes and glugging wine, just like the old days. We talk about all the things I’ve missed while I’ve been away. Apparently, the police swarmed on Mustafa a few weeks ago and tried to deport him, but he was back at work a couple of days later.
“The man must have a really good lawyer,” Deacon says, serving me another helping of potatoes.
I don’t bring up my own strange history with Mustafa. I haven’t got the strength. And we don’t discuss where I’ve been, either. I’m not ready to, not yet. You could be forgiven for thinking I’d been on an extended holiday as we all adjourn to the lounge to watch Eastenders.
Or you would, if it weren’t for that damn knock at the door.
Rhett answers it.
“Isabel, it’s for you.”
I sit up in alarm.
Who knows I’m here?
“Relax, it’s just Julio.”
“Oh.”
Reluctantly, I make my way to the door.
“I thought I’d find you here. I wanted to tell you… I wanted to apologise…”
I fold my arms. “I’m not interested.”
“But if you’d just give me a moment to explain…”
“I don’t have a moment,” I spit. “I have just spent 8 months in prison. I can’t stand here and listen to your bullshit. I don’t have time.”
I try to shut the door, but he sticks his foot in the way.
“Alicia threatened to kill you,” he blurts out. “That’s why I… we said what we said. You’ve seen what they did to Holly. I couldn’t let them do that to you too.”
I bite my lip. My anger is a rabid dog. I am in no mood for reconciliation.
“I think you’d better come in,” says a voice from behind me.
I look round in astonishment. Deacon, who has never liked my brother and never tried to hide it, ushers him inside.
Julio sticks his hands in his pockets as he follows him down the hall. We go into the lounge and sit down. I am too numb to think straight. It is not the time for explanations and forgiveness, not on the night of my release. And yet, here is Julio, desperate to get this off his chest.
Just when I think things couldn’t get more uncomfortable, Kate appears.
“Hi Julio.”
“Er… hi…”
I look from one to the other and realise that this is the first time they’ve met since the divorce.
“Would you like a cup of coffee?” Kate offers. “Rhett’s just made some.”
“Um… OK. Thanks.”
“You still take it with two sugars?”
“Yeah.”
Julio’s hand shakes slightly as he holds his coffee, causing it to drip down his arm and onto his jeans. There is a box of tissues on the table but I say nothing.
I’ve heard that his wedding has been postponed. The official story is that Holly needs more time to recover, but I can’t help wondering if she’s having second thoughts. I wouldn’t blame her if she wanted to put as much distance between herself and our family as possible.
Julio is here to unburden himself. He tells of his panic when Holly failed to come home that night and his horror, when the police called to say they had found her.
“How is Holly now?”
“Physically, she’s on the mend, but it will take her a while to get over the trauma. Especially after Alicia paid us a visit and told us what to say in court. Holly thought we should go to the police, but I wouldn’t let her risk it. We both knew she meant business.”
I know he’s expecting my sympathy, but I’m not sure I can give it. It’s not that I don’t care about what happened to Holly – of course, I do but I wouldn’t have got through the last 8 months if I hadn’t hardened my heart just a bit and it’s not that easy to undo. Not overnight, anyway.
Deacon excuses himself to take a phone call, and Rhett and Kate busy themselves, clearing the table, leaving Julio to my mercy.
“Why didn’t you warn me, tell me what was going on?”
“I was scared of what she might do.”
“Don’t you think I was scared, locked up in a cell all that time, not knowing if I was ever going to get out?”
“I said I was sorry.”
“Well, sorry isn’t good enough. Not by a long way.”
“Isabel…”
“You’re not going to believe this!” Deacon bursts in, before I can release the full torrent of my anger.
“What?”
“That was Brian on the phone. He reckons she’s been arrested.”
“Who?”
“Alicia.”
All time stands still.
“What? What happened? Tell me! Quick!”
“They got her on that firework stunt.”
“That was her?”
“No, she got some poor exchange student to do it, but a witness saw her giving the kid the fireworks.”
I can’t believe this. Alicia arrested, on the very day I’ve gained my freedom. How is this possible?
It can’t be this easy.
I let out a strange, strangled whistle. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“They’ve got her!”
Julio reaches over and squeezes my hand, but even in my elation, I can’t return the gesture.
“Knowing Alicia, she’ll probably wriggle out of it. They won’t be able to hold her for long.”
I’m not that lucky.
“Maybe, but if they start digging around, they might just find a few skeletons.”
“Let’s hope so.”
“Anyway, I think it’s about time we opened this, don’t you?”
He holds up a bottle of my favourite champagne.
“Oh Deacon, you’ve already spent so much. I don’t know how I’m ever going to repay you.”
“Well, then – one glass of champagne is hardly going to make any difference, is it?”
I laugh at his logic. “Go on then.”
“Julio, would you like a glass?”
“No thanks – I really should get home to Holly.” He turns to me. “I’m so glad you’re out, Isabel and I really am sorry.”
“Thanks.”
I let him show himself out.
I try not to think about him as I enjoy the first champagne I’ve had in a very long time.
“You OK?” I ask Kate, who is unnaturally quiet.
“Yeah, why?”
I narrow my eyes. “You know – Julio.”
Because he broke your heart into a thousand tiny pieces.
“Oh, him!”
“I never thought I’d see the two of you in the same room again.”
“Yeah, well things are different now.”
“You’re over him?”
“Absolutely – have been for a while. Besides, I have more important things to worry about.”
She smiles mysteriously.
“What does that mean?”
She pulls a picture out of her wallet and hands it to me.
“What’s this?”
“What does it look like?”
“A scan picture.” I stare at her in amazement. “Are you… pregnant?”
She nods. “Thirteen weeks and counting.”
“What? I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone!”
She smiles ruefully. “Well, it wasn’t exactly planned, but I’m happy. We’re happy.”