Page 33 of Joker in the Pack

Betty cackled again. “At least the woman finally did something good for somebody.”

First my mother, then Floyd, now Betty. Aunt Ellie hadn’t been popular, had she? What did she do to upset so many people?

A cheery “hello” came from behind me, and Betty’s attention turned to her next customer. No matter—I’d be back there soon enough.

I returned to Lilac Cottage four parcels lighter but with a weight on my mind. Would people’s feelings towards Aunt Ellie reflect on me? I needed to fit in here or life had the potential to be difficult. And speaking of difficult, I needed to get a phone line installed so I could work, then draw up a proper budget.

Over lunch, I formalised the to-do list floating around in my head on the back of a flyer for over-sixties yoga that someone had shoved under my makeshift front door. It started with “clean everything” and ended with “explore the jungle.” I’d taken a quick look around the garden behind the cottage, but the twisted tree limbs and thick mass of brambles suggested it had been untouched for years.

Reading through the list made me want to crawl into my bed, pull the duvet over me, and hide from the world, but I had to make a start. Blinking back tears, I picked up a bottle of bleach and headed for the downstairs toilet.

CHAPTER 11

THE NEXT TWO weeks passed in a blur of brown paper, string, and bubble wrap. I must have posted out a hundred parcels, but I’d still made no visible dent in what I’d taken to calling the “piles of peril” and Maddie had termed the “rooms of doom.”

On the bright side, I’d paid off the arrears on Eleanor’s utility bills, and now I had gas, electricity, and internet.

From the state of the cottage, I’d assumed Eleanor was technologically backwards, but when I’d spoken to the telecoms company, I’d found she’d had not one, but two broadband connections. Why two? Even I didn’t need two, and I relied on the internet for my job.

The two lines undoubtedly went with the two computers I’d found in the bottom cupboard of the monstrous shelving unit. A state-of-the-art laptop and a MacBook Pro, both new, both expensive. I’d tried turning them on, but I didn’t have her passwords, so I’d shoved them back where they lived until I decided what to do with them. Could I use one of them to replace my creaking Toshiba? Or should I try selling them? Trouble was, I had no clue what was on the hard drives, and I didn’t want to risk flogging any confidential data to the highest bidder.

Maddie had mentioned a computer programmer on a couple of occasions—a brother of one of her colleagues, or maybe a cousin. Would he take a look? I jotted a reminder on my calendar app to ask Maddie what she thought. She’d been due to visit last weekend, but last-minute work problems had meant I got a phone call instead.

“You know that promotion I got?”

Maddie had been made ward sister six months ago, and Edward had been miffed because I went out to celebrate with her instead of accompanying him to one of his work get-togethers.

“I’m not likely to forget. You got me drunk on cocktails right after you found out.”

She giggled. “That was an awesome night. But the honeymoon period is officially over. Do you remember that other girl who wanted the job?”

“The one who calls in sick whenever she’s got a hangover?”

“That’s her. Anyway, she’s got it in for me now. Her friend in the admin department does the rotas, and they keep putting me on horrible shifts.”

“Can’t you say something? Who’s in charge?”

“Wish I could, but I need to keep my head down at the moment.” She went silent for a few seconds. “I got reported for filling in a patient’s chart wrongly last week. I know I made a mistake, but I was so tired I just couldn’t see straight. Three guesses who reported me?”

“What a mean cow. Is there anything I can do to help?”

After the help Maddie gave me with Edward, I felt I should offer to unpick the seams on the woman’s clothes or stuff a mackerel in her sofa cushions.

“I’ll manage, but I might need to let off steam over the phone every so often.”

“Any time.”

Aw, it was almost disappointing. I’d quite enjoyed the guilty buzz I got from my revenge on Edward.

“I’ll visit you soon, I promise.”

“You’d better. I think we both need a hug.”

Even though Maddie couldn’t make it, Dave came on his own and poked around for a morning.

“I’ve changed the fuse box and rewired the light in your bedroom, but apart from that, it’s in surprisingly good nick.”

“How about the oven?”

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