Page 48 of A Very Happy Halloween

Eis pressed a key into my hand. “Janie, I bought you a car. Get over it.”

“Yes, Janie, get over it.” Marissa gave me a hug and whispered in my ear. “Don’t you dare let him go. And change your top—that one has drool on it.”

I changed my top. I also washed two paracetamol down with plenty of water and poured the rest of the wine into the sink. Eis set the record straight with Harry, and we all got an important lesson: don’t believe everything you read on the internet.

Eis took us out for dinner in my new car, a tiny red BMW with every extra option available, and when Harry picked up a napkin for a lady at the next table, and she smiled at me and said, “What a lovely family you have,” my eyes began leaking over dessert because it was true.

If Steven didn’t sign those divorce papers soon, I was going to shove them up his stubborn backside.

Nineteen

“I can’t believe you did all this in a week.”

Bex beamed at me. “I love parties.”

After the misunderstanding, Eis had asked Bex to come to Engleby so we could get to know each other. And she’d brought Arlo, her baby daughter, and her husband, who apparently did something in IT and could work from anywhere. Arlo was Alfie’s age, and the pair had quickly become friends.

Arlo was indeed Eis’s first cousin once removed. He was also Bex’s son. I got part of the story from Eis and the rest from Bex, who absolutely loved to talk.

“Robert told me he was single, the bastard. Took off his wedding band and everything. Honestly, he was terrible in bed, so it’s not as if I’d have ever called him again, but then I found out I was pregnant. He gave me a fake number, can you believe that?”

“How did you find him?” I’d asked.

“My friend Cassandra was dating this guy who worked as a private investigator, and he agreed that Robert was a massive prick and tracked him down for free. Of course, Robert denied everything because that’s just the kind of jackass he is. So I tried to get one of those antenatal DNA tests, but the safe one came back inconclusive, and I wasn’t going to stick a needle into the placenta and risk a miscarriage. Honestly, I felt so sorry for his wife.”

From what Eis had told me, I felt sorry for her too. Robert Kennedy-Renner had lied through his teeth and told anyone who would listen that Bex was a slut who’d probably slept with half the men in London. In reality, Bex was a model who’d made a mistake, and when her body shape changed, she couldn’t find work. Eis had given her a job as assistant to his then-PA to keep her off the street.

Fast-forward several years, and Robert was divorced, Bex still worked for Eisen, and everyone hated Robert’s guts, including Elizabeth Renner, who’d cut him out of her will entirely. Robert’s ex-wife had moved to California, but she still sent Eis a Christmas card every year.

“Normally, I hate parties,” I told Bex. “They’re always so much work.”

Kids’ parties were the worst, but even Steven’s work get-togethers had been a chore. Sipping Prosecco while my feet hurt, making small talk with boring men who stared at my breasts… But here at Twilight’s End, we had an army of professional entertainers, caterers, and cleaners, and I’d come as Arwen from Lord of the Rings, so my shoes were sandals and actually quite comfortable.

“I need to rescue Edie,” Bex said. “Hold on a second.”

I turned to see that Edie had swapped her tiny beaded purse to her right hand, a prearranged signal that meant “get me out of here.” Right now, she was talking with Marc di Gregorio, Hollywood heartthrob and global megastar, who’d tagged along to the party with Serena Carlisle and her fiancé. She’d introduced us earlier—they were busy filming a two-part special of Whispers in Willowbrook in the Cotswolds—and I’d discovered he was also an incorrigible flirt. I wasn’t sure he even realised he was doing it.

Edie didn’t like flirts. She didn’t like men, period. She felt uncomfortable around them, according to Bex, plus she rarely touched alcohol, and she never went out alone. I understood now why Eis had been so ready to punch Neil Short in the face. He’d broken something in Edie that I wasn’t sure could ever be fixed.

Across the room, Eis spotted the signal as well, but Bex was already on the move. He headed in my direction instead. Although secretly, I preferred when he was walking away from me—his Captain America costume left little to the imagination, ass-wise.

“Okay?” he asked.

“So okay that I keep having to pinch myself. You don’t think the acrobats were a bit much? I’m exhausted just from watching them.”

“I guess now isn’t the best time to tell you that Harry’s planning a Christmas party? He wants an ice rink.”

“You’re going to let him have an ice rink, aren’t you?”

“Probably.”

I was gradually coming to realise that Eis was just a big kid himself. He might look hard on the outside, and he could act tough when he needed to, but inside, he was all heart.

We were still mapping out the shape our lives would take. He’d finally convinced me that he wasn’t going anywhere, and I’d tentatively agreed that, at some point, we’d move into Twilight’s End. I just needed to break the news to my parents first. Mum would undoubtedly lose her mind when I told her I’d managed to fall headfirst into a serious relationship in the time it had taken her to sail from Japan to North America, but Dad would just be grateful he didn’t have to help with any DIY. The boys had already picked out their new bedrooms, and Marissa had decided to rent Marigold Lodge out to another family in need of a home. She’d even suggested offering a discount on the rent if there was a cockwomble of an ex in the picture. It was time to pay it forward.

Now that Eis’s future looked clearer health-wise, quite literally, he was considering his professional future too. He didn’t want to return to the cage full-time, but he did want to teach more, and he wasn’t ruling out the occasional exhibition fight. Which I wasn’t sure I could bear to watch, but I’d support him in any way that I could. As for me, I’d carry on renting a chair at the salon, but I’d pick my hours carefully. Eis had threatened to book all my appointments if I worked too hard. People said that money couldn’t buy happiness, but Eis’s fortune could buy time to spend with the people I loved, and that was basically the same thing.

My solicitor had sent another letter to Steven, but we were still waiting for an answer. With Steven’s money troubles, I just wanted to sever all ties as fast as possible. I wasn’t rolling in it, not by a long shot, but I was careful with the savings I did have, plus I had two safety nets ready to catch me if I fell.

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