Page 73 of The Temp

‘What did you expect my sister to do, give our mum’s address out to a complete stranger?’ Zelda snaps.

‘No,’ Tina says tersely. ‘I’d simply gauge the situation. Find out if Sandra was still alive, if she lived in London, if she was still married. That sort of thing. And I’m not sure what would’ve happened after that.’

‘We didn’t think that far ahead,’ Daisy adds. ‘I just wanted to meet you on neutral grounds. See if I fitted in. If you liked me.’

‘I suppose we thought the dots would join up spontaneously.’ Tina takes another sip. ‘The good news was that you are still alive, Sandra. The bad news was that you were in Portugal.’ Tina looks at me. ‘I couldn’t ask you when she’d be back, not without sounding like a stalker. I was asking too many questions as it was. You were getting suspicious.’ I wasn’t, actually, but perhaps my body language suggested otherwise. ‘I managed to find out you were an artist, Sandra, and lived quite close to Bella. I thought I was on a roll then. I mean, imagine, if you were well known. We could buy tickets to one of your exhibitions, and Daisy would meet her mother.’ Tina clicks her fingers. ‘Just like that. But, alas, Bella wouldn’t divulge anything more. And that was the end of that. Our plan had failed.’

‘Not quite, Miss Marple.’ Daisy throws Tina a smile.

‘When you said you were looking for a temp, Bella, a thought shot into my head. It was the perfect solution. Daisy could meet you, find out when her mother was coming home, where she lived, and, in the meantime, get to know her sisters, and her adorable niece, too.’ Tina flicks an affectionate glance at Georgia and she laps it up, shimmying smugly. ‘We decided that if Barry was right and you were a rotten lot, Daisy would simply go back to her life in Dublin, no one would ever know.’

‘A right pair of detectives, aren’t you?’ Zelda groans, picking at a fingernail.

‘I think it’s genius,’ Georgia trills, hands in namaste against her chin.

There’s a moment of silence and then Mum says, ‘Wait, a moment. Earlier you said Bella and Zelda had tried killing someone.’ Panic pierces my chest. I forgot all about that. ‘Why did you say such a horrid thing?’

Daisy shakes her head. ‘It was all lies,’ she says to the navy patterned carpet, and my heart breaks into a million pieces. Loyal to the core. ‘I wanted to hurt you, Sandra, that’s all.’

‘By accusing them of being murderers,’ Mum says crisply. Daisy nods and Mum’s eyebrows shoot up.

‘You can’t blame her,’ Tina offers. ‘After the homecoming she just received.’

I look at Mum. She’s deep in thought, fist pressed against her lips. God, I hope she doesn’t press Daisy on this. Daisy’s fragile at the moment, she might break under Mum’s detective-style questioning.

Suddenly, Zelda shoots to her feet. ‘I can’t deal with this shitshow. I’ll text you later, Bells.’ Rushing over to Mum, she gives her a quick peck on the forehead. ‘Great to have you back, Mum,’ she whispers, then shoots across me.

‘Zelda,’ I barrel after her. ‘Zelda, wait.’ The front door slams so hard that my teeth vibrate. I sigh loudly as I pad back into the living room, making a mental note to call Zelda this evening. This news is going to take some digesting.

‘I should go,’ Daisy announces as I flop back down on the sofa. ‘I shouldn’t have done this to you. Not like this. It was a crazy idea. I’m sorry, Bella, you’ve been nothing but kind to me and all I’ve done is lie to you. Taking in a homeless stranger, that takes some heart. You really are an earth angel.’

‘Hear hear.’ Georgia applauds.

‘It was my fault,’ Tina objects, rubbing the back of her neck tiredly. ‘I was the one who came up with the ridiculous plan.’ She sighs loudly at the ceiling. ‘It just felt like the right thing to do at the time.’ Daisy objects, tells her she can’t thank her enough for everything she’s done for her.

‘You did what you thought was right, Tina, and you brought my daughter home. I’ll always be grateful to you for that.’

And just like that, I lose a temp and gain another sister.

Chapter 66

‘Muuuuum,’ Georgia yells. ‘Auntie Linda’s here.’

‘I’ll be down in a minute, sweetheart.’ I lean over the banister, catching sight of a blur of yellow swishing by as Linda clambers after Georgia in the hallway. She’s wearing her new Karen Millen trench coat. Theo bought it for her. A peace-offering for giving her a hard time over that one-night-stand she had with Frank a million years ago. ‘Linda,’ I yell, clipping on my right earring. ‘Help yourself to coffee or tea.’

Heading back into my bedroom, I tuck my olive-green blouse into my black skirt, throwing a glance at the time on Alexa Echo Show on my bedside table. It’s eight-thirty. Daisy said she’ll be meeting us at the house at half-nine. We’ve plenty of time, but I feel anxious as hell. It’s not newbie nerves, it’s more to do with the potential tenant who will be viewing the property. You’ll be fine, Bella. She won’t bite.

Tom had laughed when I told him Linda and I were starting our own agency. ‘I’ll give you three months, tops,’ he said, sardonically. ‘Sorry, Bella, but you haven’t got a business brain between you.’

But I’ve already proved him wrong. Linda and I set up Belinda Estate and Lettings two months ago and we’ve already sold seven properties and let out sixteen.

Daisy was our first client. Tina Anderson was right about Daisy having plenty of her own money. It was sitting in the bank earning a pittance. Linda suggested investing it in property. So, when Zelda’s neighbours, Janette and Ian, ran out of money and into debt, forcing them to put their house on the market via our agency, Daisy got in there first with the asking price. The process was swift, and they exchanged three weeks ago.

Zelda got first dibs and has moved into the first-floor flat with loft conversion. The kitchen isn’t massive, but it’s big enough to accommodate her cake business and a far cry from the dismal flat she rented next door, with its prehistoric kitchen, mould infested bedroom and ancient bathroom. Daisy isn’t charging Zelda a penny, not even mates’ rates. All she’ll have to do is chip in for the bills. I swear that girl has invisible wings.

Daisy, much to Mum’s annoyance because she wanted her youngest daughter to live with her forever and not just a few weeks, has moved into the basement flat. ‘I love gardening,’ Daisy said when I warned her that she won’t get much light down there and basements are notorious for flooding. ‘I’ll be fine. Plus, I’ll earn a bit more from the two-bedroom ground-floor flat.’ I couldn’t argue with that. The ground-floor apartment with balcony overlooking the incredible views of Green Bay gardens and lake is a bit spectacular.

A text pings through. I look at the screen. It’s from Tom:

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