14
The next morning, New Year’s Eve, Lewis was in the kitchen with Jasmine, the two of them acting like nothing had happened the night before. He was making porridge, saying we needed to have it the authentically Scottish way, with water instead of milk and salt in the place of sugar.
‘Just a wee pinch,’ Lewis said, in his ridiculous attempt at a local accent. He ladled porridge into a bowl and placed it in front of Jasmine, then did the same for me and himself, joining us at the table.
‘I like it,’ Jasmine said, after a tentative taste. ‘I usually have fruit for breakfast, maybe some low-fat yoghurt.’
‘That’s how you have such a great figure,’ Lewis said. ‘Sorry, is that inappropriate? I just mean you obviously look after yourself.’
She forced a smile. Sitting opposite her, I could now see the tension on her face. Stiffness in her shoulders. I couldn’t blame her. She was going to have to encounter Miranda today.
Lewis joined us at the table. I studied him. He was clearly unaware that I’d overheard his phone call during the night. I could hear his words:I’m a good actor. What were he and Miranda planning?
And then he said, ‘I’ve got an exciting plan to tell you about. Something to make New Year’s Eve extra special.’
‘Oh God.’ Jasmine pulled a face. At the same time, I triednot to look shocked, or even like I was that interested. Was this the plan he’d been discussing on the phone?
Lewis beamed, oblivious to my concern. ‘I think you’ll love this more than the porridge. In fact, I know you will. An excursion.’ He pushed his empty bowl aside. ‘I’m going to take you to to the caves to see the Serpent Stone.’
‘The—’
It was at that moment that Miranda arrived, wrapped in a fleece dressing gown. She paused in the doorway and said, with a hand on her forehead, ‘The whisky gods are punishing me. I don’t remember anything about last night.’
‘That’s handy,’ said Lewis. He winked at me.
‘It’s all a blank from about halfway through playing that stupid game.’
Jasmine concentrated on her porridge. She wore what I came to think of as her ‘hotel reception’ expression, one that she must have learned doing her job: calm, giving nothing away.
Miranda came into the kitchen, took one look at the pot of porridge, steam rising from it, and suddenly put her hand over her mouth. ‘I think I’m going to—’
She ran from the room.
‘Well,’ Lewis said. ‘I know I’m not a great cook, but that’s a bit rude.’
‘I guess rudeness is her thing,’ Jasmine said quietly.
Flicking a glance at me first, Lewis said, ‘I’m sure she didn’t mean it. She was pissed. Upset with Dad and Zack for going on their hunting trip.’
‘Oh, she meant it.’
‘Are you going to tell Charles?’
If Lewis’s plan involved Jasmine, he was certainly proving himself to be the good actor he claimed to be. So good that Ifound myself confused. He was so relaxed and friendly with Jasmine. Maybe, I thought, the plan he had mentioned had nothing to do with this trip to the caves. Perhaps it was something to do with work. With business. He must have been referring to Charles or Zack when he said ‘he’ll be back by the evening’. Perhaps he was planning to ask them to invest in a new business idea? I relaxed a little. Maybe he hadn’t even been talking to Miranda. After all, Zack wasn’t here. Why would she need to take her phone into the bathroom for a private conversation?
Jasmine was speaking. ‘I haven’t decided whether to tell him yet.’ She looked at me. too, like she wished she was having this conversation privately with Lewis, I guessed because I wasn’t one of the Grants. I was a little hurt. Did Jasmine view me as even more of an outsider than her?
We heard the toilet flush.
‘Can I ask you something?’ I said to Lewis. I felt far less suspicious of him now, sure what I’d overheard was something to do with a business plan. ‘Miranda and Zack. They don’t seem very happy. Do you think they actually are on the brink of divorce?’
Lewis laughed. ‘They’re always like this. I bet they argued even when they were having their affair.’
Holly had told me about this, but Jasmine said, ‘Affair?’
‘Oh yes. Miranda was married to a chap named Bill. A lot older than her. Freddie, Miranda’s son, is Bill’s. That’s who he’s with at the moment.’
‘Uh-huh.’
