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‘What, all of us, face the cameras you mean?’ Ace didn’t sound a bit keen, and Edie was silently praying that this time, she’d be excluded from the mix. No way could she go down there and be seen on telly. Her gran would freak.
‘Yeah, all of us. Now, I’m going to join Jenny and toast my son’s birthday. Fuck that lot. Fuck whoever Marnie is too. This is a special day so let’s try and enjoy it.’
Edie allowed herself a subtle, silent exhale, thankful that Joe had diverted Lance’s attention from her, but at the same time horrified at the thought of Ace insisting she went down to the gate, if the occasion occurred. She was also incredibly sad that the letters were making Joe feel the way he did. But it was the unwanted attention from Lance that had rattled her most, as did the kind smile and shoulder squeeze from Jenny as she walked by, asking, ‘Hey Ede, you okay?’
After receiving a confident nod, one that belied Edie’s wobbly state, Jenny seemed mollified and got on with opening a bottle of wine. Ace excused himself, saying he needed to call Mitzi his agent and Lance followed him from the room, not even glancing Edie’s way. Amidst the hubbub, Edie attempted to steady herself.
She’d been at La Babinais for almost two weeks, and in that time had been accepted by everyone, even Lance had been okay for a while but with every hour that passed, she knew that this, playing happy families, couldn’t go on much longer. And something had rattled Lance which in turn had shaken the bars on her own cage and when she felt like this, when she was unsure or out of her depth there was only one person she wanted to speak to.
Feeling in her back pocket she took out her phone and interrupted a conversation between Nanou and Joe. She was asking about going to the supermarket; he was scratching his head and saying he had no idea if she could. Jenny was offering to make a list of stuff they needed so they could order online, a shocking notion that had Nanou clutching her chest. Everyone knew she loved a good mooch around the supermarket.
‘I’m just going into the yard to call my gran. I won’t be long.’ And before any of them had time to answer she was almost out of the door, then marching towards the rear of the barn and the field where the animals were kept.
While she watched Donna the pig, her big bum wiggling while her snout snuffled in the straw, Edie jabbed her contacts list and waited for her gran to answer. If she was at work she might not pick up. Usually, if they missed each other they’d call back later but right now Edie needed to hear her voice. When it went to voicemail, she tried again, imagining her independent gran in the middle of a meeting with social workers, or down at the refuge, or maybe at her Pilates class or the swimming baths. She was always doing something, never still, on the go, and even if she sat she read, or did sudoku, or The Times crossword and brain-teasers. Gran said it kept her brain fizzing and her body as young and fit as it could be.
Voicemail again, but Edie was on a mission so went for third time lucky as she imagined her beautiful, elegant gran who still turned heads and ignored the fact, happily and resolutely single. And even though she’d encouraged Edie to be a free spirit, do her own thing and make her own way, Gran was her anchor and right now she missed home. When it went to voicemail again Edie gave up and left a message instead, saying it was nothing urgent, just a catch-up and she’d call back. After saying bye to Donna, she turned and headed back to the house, her heart heavy and her head so full that it might explode.
It was as she neared the house that movement caught her eye and she saw Lance, standing in the office window, staring directly at her, his phone pressed to his ear and something about the way he held her in his sights cooled Edie’s blood. Feeling the prick of tears, and the undeniable sensation of something closing in, not walls, more like the inevitable, Edie averted her gaze and went inside to seek sanctuary in the arms of Ace.
So, at close of play on Ace’s twenty-fourth birthday, everyone was on tenterhooks, dreading Denny going rogue and selling a kiss-and-tell story that they feared would be nothing more than a blame-shifting exercise. The newsreels were showing footage of the security men receiving gifts from Ace’s friends and running with the line while the music world reels at lurid tales of underage sex, drugs and suspicious deaths, Joe Jarrett and his family party on at their luxury seaside home. The press teams were resilient and determined if nothing else and had braved the tail end of Storm Alex. Intrepid reporters speaking into the camera whilst being pelted by rain, doing their bit for national interest.
Gus had sanctioned the release of a formal statement that assured the wider public that whilst legal teams and management made enquiries into Gina Zilli’s allegations, NorthStar would not be making any public appearances and that they hoped the press would respect their right to privacy at a very difficult time.
No matter how hard Jenny had tried to make Ace’s birthday special, by late afternoon even she conceded defeat when once again the mood dipped; the champagne bubbles and sugar rush of chocolate cake wasn’t enough to sustain a buoyant atmosphere. The only positive thing on the horizon was a peach-red sky. The storm clouds were drifting southwards towards the Loire, leaving behind a trail of carnage, and, unfortunately, the diehard vultures at the gate.
Jenny had taken herself and a bottle of wine up to Joe’s loft where Edie imagined them both drowning their sorrows and putting the world to rights. Lance was keeping vigil, monitoring his media feeds, waiting for the first glimpses of excerpts from the exposé that was about to be circulated around the world. Hopefully by the time they all gathered for supper there would be some good news, that it wasn’t as bad as they all expected, although even that was grasping at straws.
Edie and Ace were in his room. He was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling, arms folded behind his head, and she was watching him from the mirror as she changed into her joggers and T-shirt: the evenings tended to be chilly. When they went downstairs she was going to light the fires. The golden glow of flames always added warmth and gave comfort too. She’d had a message from her gran, saying that one of the women at the refuge was in trouble and currently she was at A&E with her, and would ring when she could. Edie had been despondent at first, then shook off her own needs, knowing that whoever the woman was she needed someone’s hand to hold, and her gran was the best person for that.
Instead, she focused on Ace. ‘Penny for your thoughts.’
He looked her way. ‘When do you think all this is going to end? I can’t stand being cooped up like this, and it’s driving me mad having the curtains shut all the time. The thought that people are trying to get a glimpse of Dad or any of us is so creepy, don’t you think?’
Edie agreed, having her own reasons for keeping well out of range of a photographer’s zoom lens. Imagine if her gran saw a photo of her. ‘Yes, it is becoming claustrophobic, but I reckon once they realise there’s nothing to see and the security guys have got the farm locked down, they’ll go. Surely they’ll get bored or find something else to report on.’
‘I hope so. Tomorrow I’m going to ask Pierre if we can at least go for a walk. Maybe up to Mum’s stones: I’ve still not shown you them close up.’
‘I’d like that. Hopefully they can’t see us there, not from the road. Maybe we can all go, take the dogs. I think they’re missing the beach and the sea.’
Heavy footsteps above and then on the stairs distracted them both for a second. It sounded like Joe and Jenny in a rush. Ignoring them, Ace voiced another concern. ‘What do you think is really wrong with Gus? I know he’s sicker than he makes out and Mum and Dad are fussing over him like they know something we don’t. He’s been in his room almost all day and when I took him a drink he was fast asleep, papers all over the bed and for a minute I thought he was… he looked so still and a funny colour.’
Edie had noticed too, how withdrawn Gus had been but having nothing to compare his appearance to, could only go on what the others said. Seating herself on the edge of the bed she laid her hand on his leg. ‘Ask your mum. She shoots from the hip, and I doubt she’d lie to you. In the same way I think if she asked me something I wouldn’t be able to lie to her. She has this way of looking right into you, hasn’t she?’
‘She sure has. I never got away with anything when I was a kid. She could always see right through me. She reckons she has this special power that tells her if someone is lying, or bad. Mum’s a loony.’
At this, she laughed nervously at the notion that Jenny might actually have some super-sense that allowed her to look into your soul. And this rattled Edie who in a flash of panic, made a decision.
‘Ace. You know all this business with your dad, well it’s made me think a lot about my mum and I know I never talk about her to anyone, not even you, well I think, actually I know, that I need to tell you about her.’ Her cheeks were hot, and her heart pounded, and now she’d said it there was no going back even though inside her head, someone was screaming, NOOOO, not yet. Don’t ruin it all. I’m not ready.
Ace immediately sat up and took her hand in his. ‘Hey, it’s your story and you should tell it when you want to, but I’m here to listen. And it’ll go no further, I promise.’
Panic flooded Edie’s veins, and she desperately sought a get-out clause. None came and her heart hammered in her chest. ‘I’m scared though. Because I know for definite that it’s going to change things between us, and it could ruin everything, the way you feel about me… it’s why I haven’t told you the truth.’
His face creased with concern, or was it worry? But still Ace clung onto her hand. ‘Edie, whatever happened to your mum, whatever she did, even if it was something wrong or bad it has nothing to do with you so it’s impossible to change anything between us. I love you and you love me, it’s as simple and brilliant as that.’
Edie was captive in his stare and told herself it was okay… she could do this, baby steps. If she stuck to basics first, about how her mum died, who she was, she could gauge his reaction before telling him the rest. All of it. Taking a very deep breath, Edie steeled herself then opened her mouth to speak when BOOM!
For a split second she and Ace stared at one another wide-eyed, the shock of hearing a gunshot freezing them where they sat, and then without saying a word, both leapt off the bed and with him leading the way they raced downstairs, the sound of their feet pounding on the wood keeping beat with Edie’s heart. As they raced past the snug, through the lounge and kitchen, never had she been more terrified of what she would see when they opened the door and stepped outside into the yard.
