CHAPTERTHIRTY-THREE
Later I returned to my bedroom at the manor house, feeling warm and gooey inside after my hot chocolate chat with Ben. The worrying incident with Denise had left my mind and all I could think about was how gorgeous Ben was.
The smell of vanilla greeted me as I stepped inside the room, and it made me smile. It could have been from one of Maddie’s perfumes and creams on the dressing table, but I chose to see it as a sign Olivia was with me.
She entered my dreams again after I fell asleep. We were still in Boots and had moved away from the perfume counter. She was leading me down the expensive haircare aisle telling me that she was in a serious relationship with her hair, and it was making her spend a lot of money. I woke up smiling.
Before getting out of bed, I read the next chapter titled,Make a Big Life Change.Olivia talked about her decision to leave Surrey and head for London. She applied for several jobs and secured a marketing position. After selling her car, she bought a bicycle and applied for a vacancy in a flat-share with three other girls. This was her big life change.
When someone special dies your entire world is flipped upside down. Once your world corrects itself and flips back over, life isn’t the same again. Living in Surrey wasn’t for me anymore. That part of my life died with Sophie. Making such a life change was what I needed to do.
The flat-share arrangement with the three girls would slowly drive me insane as I would keep bumping into half-naked men on the landing in the middle of the night, but it would eventually lead me to my soul sister, Rachel Reid.
I stared at Olivia’s words and my name. Tears pricked my eyes, and her swirly writing went blurry. After getting showered and dressed I went downstairs.
Layla was at the table with Zac on her knee. He was squealing at Humphrey who was sat wagging his tail and staring up at him.
‘Coffee, Layla?’
She grinned. ‘Yes, please.’
I carried the mugs over to the table. ‘Last night I had a run-in with Denise.’
Layla cast me a worried look. ‘What did she say?’
‘My family have given Harp Brook a bad name.’
‘That’s not true. I have heard people around town singing your praises about helping the school out.’
‘Will you tell me what you know?’
She tried to smooth down some of Zac’s unruly curls. ‘Maddie lives in the west wing. Whenever I come to clean and there are no guests, Maddie is in the west wing and he’s in the east wing. It’s like they’re neighbours.’
I took a sip of my coffee. ‘Do you think they’re living separate lives?’
Layla shrugged. ‘I’m just their cleaner. It’s always felt strange to me.’
‘My aunty Bev peeked at Maddie’s journal.’
Layla’s thick eyebrows shot up her forehead. ‘Really?’
I nodded. ‘She only read one page. Maddie had circled in red pen the names Frank and Vanessa.’
Layla bowed her head. ‘All I know is that…’ she paused. ‘Frank and Vanessa had an affair.’
Tears pricked my eyes. It was true. Frank was a scumbag and a cheat. My poor sister.
Layla continued. ‘It was the worst kept secret. Everyone knew what they were up to.’
‘Is it over now?’
‘He dumped her. Apparently, he drove her to a local picnic area and told her he had to end their affair.’ Layla took a drink of her coffee. ‘He had asked her to sign a legal document at a dinner date a few days before he ended it with her. She didn’t know what was coming next and signed it. Ryan told me she’d had far too much champagne. The signed document meant she couldn’t go to the press.’
‘Oh no.’
‘Vanessa went mad at the picnic site. The rumour is that she took out his pink fluffy handcuffs and locked his hands to his steering wheel. She then phoned Ryan to come and collect her. Frank went berserk. I don’t know who rescued him.’
‘I can see why Vanessa doesn’t like Frank. It also explains the handcuffs being in the suit Grandpa wore to the Tea Dance.’
