Page 134 of Joker in the Pack

“These cakes are good.” Maddie shoved another slice of Bakewell tart into her mouth. “But not as good as yours, obviously. What time is the loss adjuster coming?”

With Nye’s time taken up with the aftermath of the Fenton Palmer case, Maddie and Mickey had offered to keep me company while I travelled to Upper Foxford to meet the man from the insurance company.

“Midday. How many more calories are you planning to burn this afternoon? We won’t have any heavy lifting to do—the building surveyor said it’s not safe to go inside.”

“Maybe I’ll go to the gym when we get back to the city. Or Dave can give me a workout. How are things going with Nye, by the way?”

I glanced at Warren, who looked away. Dammit, I felt awful for the way he’d been treated in this whole debacle, and I still wanted him as a friend. Thankfully, he’d accepted when I invited him to join us, and the last thing I wanted to do was rub my new relationship in his face.

“Okay. They’re going okay.”

“I never put on weight,” Mickey said, munching his way through a giant cookie. “It’s the family curse.”

We both glared at him, and Maddie huffed.

“People like you make me sick.”

He just grinned at her and took another bite.

Another cake or two later—okay, three—I couldn’t put off my return to Lilac Cottage any longer. Thank goodness I didn’t have to go alone. Not only had Fenton terrorised me there, but Larry Hazell’s nocturnal visits creeped me out. He was still on the loose, and that bothered me. How many other women’s privacy had he violated? They wouldn’t all have a Nye to stick up for them.

“You okay?” Warren asked. “You’ve gone pale.”

“I’m just dreading going back to the cottage, that’s all.”

Mickey gave my hand a squeeze. “I still feel bad about what happened. If I hadn’t tracked you down…”

“She’d have been sleeping on my couch, baking constantly and tidying everything,” Maddie said. “Actually yes, you should be sorry for tracking her down.”

I laughed. “Mads, you’d be the size of a house by now if you ate that many cakes. A gym membership wouldn’t cut it. You’d have to hire that boot camp guy off the telly. Besides, Mickey, if you hadn’t found me, I wouldn’t have met Nye.”

“Good grief, your eyes have glazed over,” Maddie said. “Where is Mr. Dreamboat today, anyway?”

“In a meeting. He’s taking me out for dinner later, though. It’ll be our first proper date.”

“Is he splashing out on somewhere nice?”

Warren and Mickey had gone on ahead to Maddie’s car, but I still lowered my voice. “I don’t know. It’s a surprise. But I can hardly wait—all his other surprises have been amazing.”

“Ooh, I want details.”

“You’re not getting any.”

“But you clearly are.”

A few minutes later, Maddie drew up outside Lilac Cottage and parked at the top of the driveway. Further up, it was still impassable. This was the first time I’d been back since the night of the fire, and the place looked even worse in daylight. Soot-blackened water had formed into icy stalactites holding on to any part of the building still standing.

Not that there were many of those.

The dining room end had collapsed completely, leaving a pile of broken bricks and charred roof timbers. A single chimney breast and part of the front wall rose jaggedly from the debris.

An involuntary sob escaped. I may not have loved Lilac Cottage, but it had been my home.

“It’s okay, Liv,” Maddie said, giving me a hug.

Thank goodness Nye had been with me that night. If I’d been alone, or if Spike hadn’t installed his sensors, I wouldn’t be standing here now. Graham would be puzzling over my murder rather than watching Spike’s video of a black-hooded figure stealing out of the woods to throw firebombs through my windows, and Maddie would be planning my funeral. According to Nye, the police had added attempted murder to Fenton’s list of charges.

Looking at the devastation in front of me, I hoped he got a good long stay in jail.

---