Page 38 of My Lemon Grove Summer
‘Okay, Zelda?’ she asks, and I can hear the wobble in her voice.
‘I was just checking the Airbnb bookings,’ I say as evenly as the fury in my voice will let me. ‘I didn’t think you’d mind.’
‘No! Of course not!’ She goes to grab the computer. ‘I’ll get it up for you.’
I put a hand on it and move it out of her reach.
‘No need,’ I say. ‘I’ve seen all I need to see. Ralph, could you call everyone out here. I think they should all hear what Tabitha’s been working on and why she’s always so busy on her phone.’
‘Sure.’ Ralph looks confused but does as I ask. I don’t take my eyes off Tabitha. She doesn’t move. It’s a stand-off. Neither of us knows what the other is going to do next.
The others start to fill in around the table. Tabitha checks her phone with a big sigh, then looks at the computer.
‘I’d like my laptop back, please,’ she says firmly, holding out her hand.
‘No,’ I say. I won’t back down.
I take a deep breath, my bosom rising and falling in front of me.
‘I think,’ I say, ‘you’d better tell us all exactly what’s been going on and what you’ve been doing here.’
She looks around, and the atmosphere feels just like it did before Mount Etna erupted.
‘What’s going on, Zelda?’ asks Sherise.
Tabitha looks like a rabbit caught in the headlights, frozen and with no idea in which direction to run. I haven’t a clue what I’m going to say, or how I’m going to tackle this, but every cell in my brain is telling me I’ve got to do something. She can’t get away with this!
‘Zeld?’ Lennie looks concerned. He knows me of old. Shoot first, ask questions later, and right now, I’m about to shoot!
‘I’ll help you out, shall I?’ My voice sounds calm and collected, despite my racing heart and the betrayal and anger thundering through my veins. ‘It seems you’ve been doing a lot of writing whilst you’ve been here.’ I look up at her. ‘Would you like to tell us what it’s about?’
‘Look, just hand me my computer, will you?’ She thrusts out a hand again, but I ignore it.
‘Not a novel that you’ve been writing, is it, Tabitha?’ I persist.
Everyone is staring at her. She swallows.
‘No,’ she says, and lifts her chin as if ready to face her fate.
‘So what is it?’ asks Barry.
I raise an eyebrow at her, but she doesn’t speak.
‘It looks to be a piece of . . .’ I struggle to say it, ‘journalism. If that’s what you can call it. A newspaper column.’
‘About life in Sicily?’ Sherise asks.
‘About us, Sherise: “a bunch of saddos in the last-chance saloon”.’ I’m struggling to read from the screen, the words shaking as much as my hands and voice.
‘Look, it’s just a bit of fun,’ Tabitha attempts.
‘I wouldn’t call this fun,’ I say quietly, holding back the tsunami of fury building in me. ‘ “Lonely Barry, three times divorced and I’m not surprised . . . Sherise and Billy, on the scrapheap of Britain’s farming industry, more used to talking to animals than humans . . . Lennie and Zelda, a naïve couple who think marriage and sex still come in that order and haven’t a hope in hell of making it last if they don’t know how things are beneath the sheets before they tie the knot . . . Ralph, the City fraudster who’s run out on his family after losing millions and robbing the elderly of their pension funds, come to live a life of luxury in Sicily”—’
‘What? Not true!’ Ralph exclaims.
‘Bloody cheek!’ Barry says at the same time.
I look up at her. Everyone else is staring with the same disbelief and disgust.
