‘I’m not allowed to show you,’ Layla said. She touched her necklace. ‘Mr Baxter had it written into my contract and Mrs Baxter said I had to keep hold of the keys.’
‘Written into your contract?’
She nodded. ‘Mrs Baxter spends…’ My phone began to vibrate and interrupted Layla. It was my mother. ‘Excuse me, Layla, my mother is on the phone.’
As I stepped away to talk to Mum, my Maddie anxiety crackled inside of me. Why had Frank written it into Layla’s contract that the west wing was not to be shown to anyone?
‘Rachel, we are all worried about how you’re coping in the snow,’ explained Mum, coming through over WhatsApp video call, cocktail in hand. It was night over there and she was sitting outside with the pool lit up behind her. She was wearing a bright blue halter neck vest top which accentuated her dark tan, and her shoulder-length brown hair was full of curls. ‘You’re not keeping everyone updated on what’s happening.’
‘Mum, I’ve been busy, and I spoke to you at the weekend.’
I walked into the living room, as she would probably want to talk to Grandpa.
‘Pass me to Dad, please,’ Mum ordered.
‘Grandpa,’ I said, ‘Mum wants to talk to you.’ As I handed the phone to him, I arched my eyebrows and put my finger to my lips to remind him that there were things we’d agreed to keep quiet about. To my horror he stared gloomily down the camera at Mum.
‘Dad,’ Mum said, ‘you look sad. What’s going on?’
‘Dorothy,’ he said, making my entire body flinch.
‘Who the hell is Dorothy?’ Mum barked.
‘A beautiful lady who I danced with yesterday. We had a wonderful time together and I think I am in love.’
‘What the hell is going on?’ Mum cried. Instinctively I grabbed the phone from Grandpa. I needed to do some urgent damage control. Mum was busy shouting for Aunty Karen. ‘Karen, we have a problem. Come here quick.’
I smiled at Mum. ‘Nothing to worry about. I took him to the Senior Tea Dance in the afternoon.’
Mum frowned. ‘Aunty Karen specifically told you to keep excitement for Dad to a minimum.’
‘He had one short dance and I helped him back to his seat.’
Aunty Karen’s heels were clip-clopping towards the phone. ‘What’s up, Janice?’
‘Rachel took Dad to a Tea Dance for the elderly.’
‘Mmmm… Rachel’s not read my rules on caring for him,’ said Aunty Karen, bursting into view. Her cerise sun dress matched her angry pink sunburn. ‘Carry on.’
‘Dad told me he’s in love with the old dear he danced with.’
‘He’s losing his marbles,’ hissed Aunty Karen. ‘Ignore him. He says all sorts to me.’
Mum turned back to the camera. ‘Rachel, please review Aunty Karen’s rules on caring for your grandfather.’
‘I think we need regular updates,’ hissed Aunty Karen.
Mum nodded. ‘You got that, Rachel? Right, we better go off to that fish restaurant, Karen. Gary says it’s the best on the island.’
Once the call had finished, I turned to Grandpa. ‘We agreed to keep things quiet. I am now in trouble.’
‘Ignore them, Rachel. I need to see Dorothy again.’
As I walked out of the living room, I thanked my lucky stars that Grandpa had not told Mum what he had found in Frank’s suit pocket.
Layla had disappeared upstairs, which was a shame as I wanted to find out more about the secretive west wing. I made a mental note to speak to her again about it.
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
