Sam nodded. ‘That makes sense.’
‘We’ll need to tell the others.’ Annie nodded in the direction of the houses along the courtyard. ‘That Lizzie will be coming to stay with us.’
‘Why?’ For the first time in the conversation he sounded angry. ‘What business is it of theirs who lives in our house?’
Annie didn’t answer. She knew they had to tell their neighbours that their ex-offender daughter would be landing up in the community. They’d never met her, but Lizzie’s face had been all over the Kimmerston Herald when she got sent down. Even if she wanted to, Annie couldn’t pretend this was a different young relative who’d turned up out of the blue. ‘It’s none of their business, but best that they’re prepared. It’ll make things less awkward.’ She thought she’d go and tell them this afternoon. Friday night was when they got together for drinks and a shared supper. To mark the start of the weekend, for people who didn’t have any other structure in their lives. She didn’t want to blurt it out then.
Sam shrugged. ‘If you think that’s best. You’re better at this sort of thing than me.’
She cut another slice of the bread that he’d baked for her. It was still warm and the butter melted and dribbled over her fingers.
‘You could be married to that lawyer,’ he said suddenly. He’d been thinking of the day when he’d turned up at her parents’ place too. The walk on the beach. ‘A big house, perfect kids.’
‘Nobody’s perfect.’ She couldn’t think of anything else to say, then added, ‘But you come pretty close.’
Annie went to Janet’s first. She thought Janet would be easier. She’d been a sort of social worker, a bit like Shirley Hewarth. John was in the study they’d made for him at the top of the house, so the house was quiet apart from Radio 4 burbling in the kitchen. The Carswells’ dogs were asleep in the sun near the French window at the back of the room. Janet was reading one of the heavy newspapers they always bought. Her glasses had slid to the end of her nose.
‘He moved downstairs to work when he got that cold.’ Janet switched on the kettle. ‘What a nightmare! I had no peace. He kept calling for hot drinks. And there were papers everywhere. I was so glad when he took himself back upstairs. You don’t think of that when you retire – that you don’t have any space to yourself.’
‘So he’s feeling better?’ Annie didn’t really care, but she supposed she should show some interest.
‘Much.’
The Archers theme tune came on and Jan turned off the radio. ‘I heard it last night. John says that the programme’s drivel, but I never miss it.’
‘Lizzie’s being released this weekend.’ Annie hadn’t meant to be so abrupt, but perhaps there was no other way to pass on the information. ‘I thought you should know. She’s coming to live with us for a while.’
‘Of course she is,’ Janet said. ‘You’ll be so pleased to have her home.’
‘Yes, I will.’ And Annie thought she really meant that. It would be exciting to get to know her daughter properly. Perhaps for the first time. She pushed her anxieties about Lizzie getting drunk and wild, and causing a nuisance to their new friends, to the back of her mind.
They drank their coffee sitting next to the dogs. ‘I’ll miss them when the Carswells get back.’ Janet was stroking the back of the old female. Annie could tell she was just waiting to hear whatever Annie had to tell her. She wouldn’t ask intrusive questions.
‘I’m scared too,’ Annie said. ‘That we’ll get it wrong again and she’ll storm away and get mixed up with all those dreadful people. That she’ll get bored and cause bother for you. She was always a nightmare as soon as she was bored.’
‘Maybe she’s just grown up a bit.’
‘I do hope so.’ But Annie couldn’t bring herself to believe that people ever changed that much. ‘We won’t be hosting drinks next Friday,’ she said. ‘I know it’s our turn, but we thought it’d be a bit much for Lizzie. First weekend out.’
‘Well, she’s a bit young for the retired hedonists!’ Jan laughed. ‘Anyway, of course you’ll want to be on your own for a bit. Nigel and Lorraine can come here. I can’t imagine Nigel wanting a Friday night without a bit of a party. And we’ll all be getting together as usual tonight.’ She was still stroking the Labrador at her feet. ‘Do you want me to tell next door about Lizzie?’
‘Nah.’ Annie was feeling more confident now. She was thinking how lucky they were to have chosen to live at Valley Farm, where they’d made such good friends. ‘I’ll go round now.’
‘Have you heard any more about the murders?’ Janet threw that out just as Annie was at the door.
Annie shook her head. It occurred to her that she hadn’t thought about the dead men all day.
Nigel let her into the farmhouse. ‘Hiya!’
He always sounded just a little bit too jolly. He tried too hard to fit in. Perhaps that was because he and Lorraine didn’t come from the North-East. Jan had a Scottish voice, but she’d lived and worked in Newcastle for years.
‘Can I get you something? One of my famous coffees? A cup of tea?’ He had a fancy coffee machine. One of his toys.
‘A cappuccino would be lovely, Nige.’ Because that was what he wanted to hear. ‘Is Lorraine in?’ Annie thought it would be easier talking to them both.
‘She’s working upstairs. I’ll give her a shout.’
Left alone in this part of the house, Annie looked around. This was by far the grandest home of the development. She wouldn’t want to live here. She thought Nigel had furnished to impress rather than because he liked each of the items. Another sign that he lacked confidence, she thought. He’d obviously been terrific at running a business because he was minted, but once he’d given that up he didn’t have anything to define him. A bit like Sam, who still baked bread in their tiny galley kitchen. She did love some of the paintings, though. There was a tiny one of a door leading through a wall into a garden. It held the promise of adventure. Once you walked through the door anything might happen. She’d stood up to get a closer look when Nigel came back with the coffee.
‘That’s one of Lorraine’s,’ he said. ‘I tell her she should sell them.’
‘I’d buy this!’
‘You can have it.’ Lorraine had been following and Annie hadn’t noticed. ‘As a present, of course.’
‘Oh no, I wasn’t hinting.’
But the watercolour was taken from the wall and Annie sat with it beside her, feeling awkward, but still delighted to have it in her grasp.
‘I’ve come to tell you that we won’t be having drinks at ours next Friday.’ Pause. Big breath. ‘Lizzie’s coming out of prison this weekend. We’ll want her to ourselves for a bit.’
Lorraine was still standing, holding a mug in both hands. ‘She’s coming to live with you?’
‘Of course she will be.’ This was Nigel, hearty and kind. ‘And of course we understand, don’t we, Lorrie? We wouldn’t want to intrude on your first couple of weeks together. It’ll be very special for you all. We’ve never had kiddies, but we can see how important it must be for you and Sam to be a family again.’
‘Thank you.’ Annie realized she was close to crying. She looked at Lorraine, expecting something more from her too. She’d thought that Lorraine, with her arty clothes and her easy laughter, would be the least fazed to hear that a convicted criminal would be moving in next door. But Lorraine said nothing. She drank her coffee with her eyes half-closed as if the taste and the smell of it were the most important things in the world. Annie wondered if her friend might once have been the victim of a crime. That might explain her wariness. She saw that it wouldn’t be so easy to forgive, if you were the person who’d been scarred after a drunken encounter in a bar. Annie had never heard what had happened to Lizzie’s victim and didn’t like to think about that.