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‘I was going for desperate, actually, but yes, let’s go with mad.’ Caroline smiled gently back. ‘Where does she work?’
‘Mull.’
Caroline’s eyes widened. ‘That’s hardly a day trip. Wouldn’t it be easier to just send her an email?’
‘I want her to know I’m not a freak.’
‘I think if anything is going to freak someone out it’s showing up unannounced on Mull.’
‘Maybe, but if I just email, it’s too easy to write me off. I just want to see if there’s anything she can tell me that might help me understand, something from his past, maybe.’
‘I’m not sure I understand what you’re hoping to find. And I still think you’re going to freak her out.’
‘But if she sees I’m simply hoping to ask some questions… I honestly think this is the best way to do it.’
‘When do you think you’ll go?’
‘I want to try to get up there sooner rather than later, but I just need to spend some time in the office, then I can plan a trip. I think I’ll need three days, tops. It’s a day to get there, really.’
‘Want me to come and look after the kids again?’
‘No, you’ve done more than enough to help. Dad and Susie had offered to come this weekend, but you’d already booked your spot. So, I thought I’d take them up on their offer when I go.’
‘OK, but if you do need me too, please say. You know I love being here.’
‘I know, thank you.’
‘In the meantime, one day at a time, as Dad would say.’ Caroline sighed. ‘Right, I’d better get going. I’ll just let Philip know, so he knows I’m on my way.’ She typed a message into her phone. ‘Traffic should be fine, now.’
As Stella waved goodbye to her sister, she felt a real pang of sadness. She was used to her sister being so busy, so bossy, but something was a little off, even if Stella couldn’t put her finger on it. She returned to the kitchen and took the warm pie from the oven, placing it on the island. She reached to get some plates from the cupboard, calling the children as she did so. They sat around the table together to eat, the twins talking over each other as usual. Stella told Max the gory story she’d been told by the woman on the steps in Florence, albeit a slightly tamer version, and promised them that one day, they’d all return to Florence together so she could take them to the same ice cream shop.
Once the children had been managed into bed, uniforms and lunch boxes located, Stella took her suitcase upstairs, plonked it on the bed and opened it, ready to unpack. There, on top of her clothes, was a note with her name on the front in Lucy’s writing.
Remember to face the sunshine x
She looked out across the common, a bright moon casting a silver-blue glow across it. After reading it again, she folded the note back over and smiled to herself, tucking it into the mirror on her dressing table.
19
Just a day into life back at home and Florence seemed a world away to Stella. Being a single parent was exhausting. The washing, the cooking, the cleaning, the shopping, the organising, it was seemingly never-ending – and that was before any actual parenting was accounted for. Even though Stella had done the majority of the domestic heavy lifting before Simon left, at least there’d been someone to share the mental load with. But spending time in an unfamiliar place, even for just those few precious days, had allowed Stella room to think about what she needed to do next and she returned to the office with a renewed sense of purpose, determined to take the business from strength to strength. Her family depended on it.
On her first morning back in the office after Florence, Stella gathered her team together. For the last few months, she’d been joining most meetings remotely, but she’d decided it was time to tell them the truth about what was going on. And she knew she had to do it face to face.
Their response left her wondering why she hadn’t told them about Simon leaving sooner. No one asked where or why he’d had gone; they simply accepted it, offering words of support, and asking what they could do to help. She felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders, though she decided not to tell them about the missing money for now, not until she knew exactly what it meant for the business. It was a significant amount, but Stella didn’t want to worry her team any more than she absolutely had to. For now, she just had to keep going. The irony was that now everyone knew, she didn’t feel like she had to pretend, which, she now saw, was ridiculously exhausting. The meeting moved on to discussing other points on the agenda and Stella felt more present with her team than she had for months. There was much to do, with the impending launch of the book and a new app in development.
After the session was over, Lily stayed behind so they could go through the numbers in more detail. Stella closed the door and sat down next to her.
‘So, how bad is it?’
Lily sighed. ‘Well, here’s a summary of what’s been taken and when.’ She turned her laptop screen towards Stella. ‘As you can see from the dates, it’s been happening for a while. The amounts are substantial, but not enough for them to be picked up unless you were looking for them.’
‘Which, of course, no one was because that was his job.’ Stella squinted at the screen.
‘Exactly. The thing is, Stella, he’s been very good at hiding it. So, if you look here,’ Lily pointed at the screen, ‘you can see how he’s marked this transaction down using a normal expense code, but there’s no record of us having purchased anything of the same value. And there are lots like this – little and often was his way. But if you add them up, it comes to this.’ She pointed at a figure at the bottom of the screen.
Stella looked at it, her stomach flipping at the sight of the number. She shook her head. ‘How could I have missed this?’
‘That’s the point. He’s been very clever.’ Lily looked at Stella. ‘I mean, assuming it’s him.’
