Page 66 of The Monday Night Heartbreak Club
‘They probably want to tell us that themselves,’ I said, tactfully, but Fraser had seen the bowls of crisps and launched himself through the doorway. We waited for Margot and Wren and tried to look surprised when they held up their left hands, wearing identical engagement rings.
‘There’s no point in waiting,’ Margot said, following our congratulations. ‘We’re both aware of how short and fragile life is.’
‘Yeah,’ Fraser said, around crisps. ‘We could all have died in that explosion.’
‘Thank you, Fraser. So, we decided—are you all right, Fee?’
Here was where I found out whether I had a future or not. ‘I’ve had an idea,’ I said.
Flynn grabbed my hand.
‘Oh yeah?’ Another handful of crisps went down and Fraser was looking around for more.
‘Annie’s coming in a minute,’ I added, obviously surprising everyone. ‘I think she should be part of this.’ I looked at the clock. ‘Any minute now.’
‘Eddie’s probably getting the car out,’ Wren said, and the four of them nodded, as though they were privy to the extreme conditions that seemed to be involved in this action.
While we waited, I served more snacks, mainly to stop Fraser from bouncing on the sofa, and Margot and Wren outlined their wedding plans.
‘We thought a small local ceremony,’ Margot said. ‘And wewould be honoured if you two would be our witnesses.’ She patted my hand and smiled at Flynn.
‘I’m giving them both away,’ Fraser said happily. ‘I offered to raffle them instead though.’
‘And then we shall honeymoon in the Seychelles,’ Margot went on.
‘Here’s Annie,’ I said gratefully. The conspicuous consumption being discussed made me feel a little bit wobbly, when I lived this uncertain life in a cheap flat and, currently, with no job. Disability payments were slow in coming and I refused to let Flynn pay for everything, which meant Ihadto do something, and quickly.
Annie and Eddie came up the stairs slightly cautiously. They’d never been to the flat before and clearly thought they might be in the wrong place. We could hear them questioning each other all the way up and their evident relief when Flynn opened the door was slightly amusing.
‘Nice to see you looking so well, Fee, dear,’ Annie said. She was either lying or she didn’t get out much, because, despite Flynn’s assurances to the contrary, I still didn’t look great. I knew I was pale, that the bruising was slow to subside and the broken cheekbone had made half my face swell, which was also slow to subside. I looked as though death would have been an improvement.
‘We brought you these.’ Eddie awkwardly jutted a bunch of hyacinths at me. ‘From the garden.’
‘Eddie’s got it looking lovely, haven’t you?’ Annie said, with pride.
We all avoided looking at Eddie. I put the flowers in water and everyone sat down, apart from Fraser, who was still snaffling crisps and nuts from various bowls.
‘I’ve had an idea,’ I said. ‘After what you saidthe other week about helping get Dexter put away. We don’t need to worry about that any more, incidentally, the police have enough to lock him up for quite a while.’
Everyone made ‘oh, that is a relief’ noises. Flynn was watching me from the far side of the room, where he’d stationed himself by the window again almost as though he were preparing to jump. I wondered about his earlier insecurity. But then, he’d been wealthy all his life, girlfriends taking advantage of him must have become his default. It was no wonder he worried. But I was about to show that I’d thought about our future and I hoped he’d realise that it meant I was serious about earning my own money, serious about keeping us both without having to go cap-in-hand to Andrew. I’d hadenoughof looking to other people for my happiness. As to looking to other people for help – well, I was about to give that a try for the first time in my life.
I waved my one working hand at the stack of books that stood under the table.
‘What?’ Fraser said. ‘We’re not starting a book club, are we? I told you, I got dyslexia.’
‘No. I got those a while ago, but I’ve been flicking through them.’ I pulled a couple out.The Practical Handbook for Professional Investigators, andPrivate Investigator Study Guide and Practice Test Questions for Private Investigator Exams. Flynn was still staring at me.
‘I thought you’d given that idea up,’ he said. ‘With you being… well, not as mobile as you were.’
‘Plus, any bod’s going to spot you following them in a crowd,’ Fraser said. ‘You wobble.’
My insides were burning with the acid of uncertainty. But I had to do it, I had to put myself out there and ask for their help. It didn’t come naturally to me, and almost made me feel sick with the necessity of it, but Ihad to try.
I took a deep breath. ‘I can’t do it on my own,’ I said. ‘I know that. But – I thought, with your help, all of you…’ I tailed off. Everyone was looking at me blankly.
‘What, like driving you around?’ Fraser asked.
‘No, no, I mean – you all have your strengths. You all have things that could be helpful.’ I turned to Margot and Wren, side by side and holding hands on the sofa. ‘Margot, you’ve got legal knowledge. Wren, you said that you’re the queen of investigative social media. Flynn is posh and has that confident thing that can get him in anywhere, and I could coordinate, do the background research work. Fraser, you could be the muscle.’ The sick feeling had turned to a kind of burning urgency now. This was my hope for the future and IknewI could do it. I was just going to need some help. ‘Annie, you are perfect for blending in with a crowd if we need to follow someone.’ This was understating the case; Annie, with her short greying hair and cardigans, would be almost invisible in any gathering, other than that of a drug-fuelled all-night rave. ‘And we might need you for forensic accounting, too. What do you all think?’
