‘I told you. We were on that business trip, and—’
She cut him off. ‘I want exact details. How they met. What they said. Who approached who. And I don’t care if you’re in a difficult position. This is not work. This is life. This isfamily.’
‘All right. Calm down.’
‘Do not. Tell me. To calm down!’
Zack put his palms up. ‘Can anyone tell me if my head is still on my neck? I think it just got bitten off.’
‘You must have known this was going to happen,’ Miranda said, ignoring his attempt to lighten the mood. ‘Why didn’t you warn us. Or at least warn me?’
‘Because I knew I’d never hear the end of it. Also…’
‘What?’
‘Charles asked me not to.’
‘So your loyalty is to him rather than me?’
His lack of response said a lot. But I was still surprised when Miranda said, in a low voice, ‘I hate you.’
‘You didn’t hate me last night. I’m pretty sure Patrick and Holly heard how much you don’t hate me.’
The expression she pulled was murderous. But instead of speaking, or hitting him, she marched out through the front door and waited, her back to us.
With a sigh, Zack clipped the lead to Watson’s collar and went out to join her.
9
Back in the kitchen, Lewis wore an enormous smirk, like Zack and Miranda’s argument was the most entertaining thing he’d seen all week.
‘I will never understand why anyone would want to get married,’ Lewis said.
Holly came over to me and put her arms around me, resting her head against my chest. I hugged her tightly, glad to offer her comfort. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lewis shake his head at us, seemingly disgusted by the display. He went up to his room, muttering something to himself.
‘Do you want to go home?’ I asked. ‘Go back to Brighton?’
She broke away from me. ‘What? No. Of course not.’ A pause. ‘Do you think I’m overreacting?’
‘No. I mean, I know this must be difficult for you. But… I imagine you’ll get used to it. To her, I mean.’
‘Hmm.’ She didn’t sound at all sure of that. ‘I need a bath. It will help me de-stress.’
She gave me a peck on the lips then went up the stairs. I stayed in the kitchen, pleased to have a moment to myself. I wasn’t used to drama. My family were the type who preferred to bury their feelings, to seethe rather than speak, and there was something exhilarating about the emotional openness of the Grants, although I wondered if any of them would speak to Charles about the doppelgänger thing. It seemed clear theywere all a little scared of him– or of upsetting him, at least.
I sat at the table, wondering what to do myself, and my thoughts strayed to the story Brenda had told me in the pub, about the boy who had died here. Samir. I put his name into Google and spent a while scrolling through the results until my stomach began to rumble.
I was checking the contents of the fridge, trying to find a snack, when a female voice behind me said, ‘What time is it?’ It was Jasmine.
‘It’s noon. I thought you were asleep?’
‘I think I was? I’m so confused.’ She yawned. ‘I need to stay up or my body clock will never recover. Charles is sleeping like a baby, God bless him.’
On a whim, I said, ‘Do you want to go out? There are no shops, all the cafés are closed for the winter and the visitors’ centre is shut. Nothing to see– but I can show it to you.’
‘Sounds perfect. Let me wash up first.’
Outside, a little later, I headed straight for the car, but Jasmine said, ‘How long will it take to walk? I am dying for some fresh air.’
