Her hair kept niggling at her face so she hooked it behind her ears as she investigated any connection she could think of. ‘I’m searching Charleston combinations – with the name Lois, with the words charity or philanthropic, with Barney’s name too. Just a feeling I’ve got.’
Harvey put the truck into reverse and negotiated his way between a couple of shabbily parked cars before pulling out onto the road to take them out of Leafbourne.
Harvey didn’t need directions as it was much easier to head for Heritage Cove than it had been to come up here, and as he drove Melissa kept on searching on her phone. The rain hammered down, the windscreen wipers swished away at the highest speed they could go, and her neck began to ache from looking down at the screen.
‘Take a break, it can wait,’ said Harvey as they enjoyed a journey with practically no traffic.
Frustrated, she leaned back against the seat, shutting her eyes to try to imagine the Barney in the photograph and Lois, his beautiful bride, and what trouble could possibly have been brewing for them to split up and have one half of a very happy-looking couple never speak about it again. She thought about Lois, the strict upbringing she’d faced with relatives, the loss of parents at such a young age. Melissa knew how angry she was that her own parents had been snatched away but at least she’d been an adult when it happened. It didn’t make it less painful of course but she’d had extra years that Lois would never have experienced. Then you had Harvey, whose home life hadn’t been happy at all with a father who tormented him, a mother who needed to get out but couldn’t, a brother who’d gone off the rails and was no longer in touch with his own family. She sneaked a glance across at Harvey as he concentrated on the road and realised she’d been lucky to have such wonderful parents in her life for so many years. They’d been a happy family too. And for that she was grateful.
As Harvey drove she got back to her internet search, it was hard not to. But there were only so many combinations of Barney and Lois’s names, the surname Bill had given them, the marina, Leafbourne, before she drew another blank. She tried a different approach when she thought again of White Clover. It sounded as though Lois’s guardians were at the marina to make money so she tried to find more about the family but it was only after she exhausted all business- and marina-related search terms that she entered Philanthropic and the family name, combined with the name Lois, and she had what she considered a breakthrough.
She sat up straighter in her seat, heart beating fast. ‘I’ve found an article about Lois.’ She skimmed over it. ‘It’s about a woman called Lois…part of the Charleston family…the entire family is big in philanthropic circles…Lois is heavily involved with a children’s hospital, in fact, it says here that she was a volunteer ambassador for a while. She’s been involved in countless fundraising activities, this article really sings her praises.’
‘So you think she might support children’s charities and that’s why Barney does?’
‘Possibly. Maybe they both supported charities when they were together and it’s part of the relationship that carried on, keeps him connected.’
She picked up her phone again, found the number of White Clover.
‘Who are you calling?’ Harvey asked although he had to focus on the twerp who’d cut in front of him, weaved over to the left to undertake someone else, then zipped across two lanes yet again. Harvey had slowed down in the hope of letting whoever the lunatic driver was get some distance from them.
‘May I speak with Ashley please?’ she asked when the call connected through. ‘It’s Melissa.’
‘I thought you said she pleaded confidentiality,’ Harvey reminded her.
Melissa put a finger in her ear so she could hear properly when Ashley came on the phone. The rain was lashing against the windscreen by now and she had to listen carefully. ‘I’ve got a bit of a question, remember what I asked you earlier today? Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask you to say anything or give out any information. But can you do me a favour?’ When Ashley indicated she was listening, Melissa continued talking. ‘I know you keep up with your list of donors, you’re very efficient that way…’ Flattery had to help, didn’t it? ‘So, when I say a name, I want you to simply hang up on me if that person is on your list of supporters. Then you aren’t strictly telling me anything, are you, and this won’t go any further.’ Melissa closed her eyes, glad Ashley was on board. ‘Lois Charleston.’
And when the call disconnected she knew they were a little bit closer to finding out whatever it was that Barney had never shared with them.
Chapter Twelve
Harvey pulled in at the end of the lane, outside Tumbleweed House. ‘I’ve got some wine, if you’re interested.’ He fully expected Melissa to turn him down. ‘I really need a drink after the day we’ve had.’
‘I’d like that.’
Surprised and glad she accepted the offer, he added, ‘Maybe it’ll help us know where to go from here.’
The rain had teemed down as they’d driven back to Heritage Cove. Melissa had taken a call from Jay and as much as he hadn’t enjoyed listening to the one-way conversation, Harvey had decided it was perhaps a good thing. It was a reminder that he’d been living in a bit of a dreamworld since she’d been back in the village, wondering whether they could once be as close as before. Usually his love life was something he might think about in the evenings if he was home alone, sitting out on the porch, the hazy evenings and a beer for company, wondering if he was ever destined to settle down. But lately it had been an obsession with Melissa back in town, plaguing his thoughts every single day. Perhaps the phone call was the dose of reality that he needed. She was with this pilot guy now, and how could he possibly live up to that? She had the jet-set lifestyle, she didn’t stand still, she was seeing the world like she’d wanted. He’d only seen more of the surrounding villages and countryside by being up in someone’s loft space when the roof came off.
Winnie was already waiting at the door like always and when Harvey opened up to let them inside the dog’s tail thwacked against the walls as she tried to get a fuss from whoever would pay her the most attention.
Despite lower temperatures outside, Tumbleweed House had been shut up all day and clung on to its heat, so Harvey opened up the window in the kitchen before taking a bottle from the wine rack built in at the end cupboard. He poured them each a glass and took them over to the table. Winnie was so used to Melissa by now that she’d already settled by her feet as she sat on one of the chairs, using her foot to stroke the dog’s tummy. ‘Put your phone down,’ he urged when he saw her pick it up again. ‘Time to switch off.’
‘You’re right. I do need to step back.’ She put it face down on the table and tugged the clip from her hair to let the wavy auburn locks cascade around her shoulders.
He had to look away, it was an image that played over and over in his mind when he let it, because he’d pulled that clip out enough times himself. He almost suggested they went through to the lounge where they’d be more comfortable but it might be the start of him making a total fool of himself. Maybe the kitchen was the safer option.
‘I’ve been thinking about White Clover.’ He needed to start talking, if only so he stopped staring at her.
‘Now who’s not switching off?’ she grinned.
‘I was wondering whether there’s a reason why Barney and Lois both support White Clover in particular. The charity supports families after the death of a child. Think about it, it’s not local to Leafbourne, there are far bigger and better-known charities that raise funds for the same purpose, so why that one?’ He scraped a hand across his chin, the stubble beginning to come through and graze his palm.
She frowned. ‘Is your mind going where I think it is?’
‘Do you think it’s possible that Barney and Lois had a baby who died?’
‘I suppose it is possible – but to never talk of it, even when we’d pass comments about us being the kids he’d never had! We thought it was a nice thing to say, when maybe it was the most painful thing he could’ve heard. He never once let on.’
