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THE BELL JANGLED AS Jack pushed open the door of The Cobbles Café.
He waved to Blossom in the flower shop and went to the counter to order a coffee.
“Hey, Jack. The girls are having a good time, so I understand,” said Petal’s husband, Lionel. “Petal called me from the limo and it sounded like they were at a disco. And in case you’re wondering if me and the guys have laid on a pink stretch limo with a disco ball for your big night, the answer’s no.” He chuckled, the smile dropping from his lips when he noticed the grim expression on Jack’s face. “What have you done to your head? Are you okay?”
“The head’s a long story and, no, I’m not really okay. Look, please don’t say anything to Petal, but I’m meeting an old... an old friend here in a while. I had no idea she was in Bliss Bay, but it’s important that I speak to her, so I’m telling you so you don’t get the wrong idea.” Jack puffed out a breath and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I know what this place is like. Everyone puts two and two together and makes seven. I’m just glad that the morning gossipers have left—they’re the worst for keeping things to themselves.”
The bell above the door jangled again and a willowy woman with long dark hair walked in. As soon as she saw Jack, she smiled, and walked towards him. “Jack.” She took his hands and zoomed in to kiss him on both cheeks. “Oh my! What happened to you?”
He put a hand to the bump on his head. “Just a little accident.”
“Well, it’s good to see you,” said Flora, her eyes sweeping up and down. “The quiet life is doing you good—you look almost as young as you did when I first met you.”
“I doubt that,” Jack replied, trying to hide his impatience. This wasn’t a time for a trip down memory lane. “Look, I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to be abrupt. Can we talk?”
Flora ordered a tea and they sat at a quiet table in the corner. “What’s all this about?”
“What are you doing in Bliss Bay?” asked Jack. “Seth told me you’ve been here since after Christmas.”
“Yes. Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?”
“Why did you come back, Flora?”
She fiddled with her fingernails. “Because I’m looking for someone.”
“Looking for who?”
“Not you, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m with someone else now,” she answered, with a smile. “I’m looking for a friend of mine, if you must know. I thought she might be in Bliss Bay, but I’m not sure she is. Why are you so interested, anyway?”
“Because I think Megan—my fiancée—is in danger. Well, I thought she was.” Jack rubbed a hand across his stubbled chin and looked Flora in the eye. “But I thought she was in danger from you.”
Flora sat back in her chair and her eyebrows drew together. “Why? Why would you think that?”
Jack went over the entire story again. “So you can see why I thought you were involved.”
“Well, I’m not. But I’m pretty sure I know who is.”
“Is it the friend you’ve been looking for?”
Flora nodded. “And if it’s her, you’re right to be worried, because your fiancée is in danger.” She rose from the table and pulled Jack to his feet. “You call Megan and tell her not to go anywhere on her own, and I’ll settle the bill and call the St Eves police and tell them what I can. Come on—I’ll explain everything on the way.”
ººººººº
Despite Jack’s numerous attempts to contact Megan, or any of the hen party, he couldn’t get hold of anyone. “Why isn’t anyone answering their damn phone!”
“You said she sent you a text this morning before they set off on a clifftop walk? They’re probably in a no reception area,” said Flora. She glanced at the speedometer and felt for the brake on her side of the car. “Perhaps you should slow down, or there’ll be another car accident before we get there.”
Jack punched the steering wheel and drove as fast as he dare without getting pulled over, while his phone repeatedly auto-dialled Megan. “I’m still not sure why you’re coming to St Eves with me, but I suppose this is as good a time as any to tell me everything.”
Flora leaned her head against the window and the scenery rushed by. “This is going to sound weird, but I’ve been keeping track of what you’ve been up to over the years. It was easy when you and Seth had the advertising agency—you were always in the business news—but after you sold up and moved to Bliss Bay, Katrina told me bits and pieces.
“Anyway, last year, I saw the announcement of your engagement in the newspaper and, I won’t lie, it shook me a little—shook me a lot, actually. I don’t know why, but I thought we might get back together one day, even though we both knew there was no future for us. I mean, you were always so busy and we ended up like ships that pass in the night, but I still thought it might happen.”
She stole a glance at Jack, but his eyes were fixed on the road ahead. “You needn’t worry, though, because I’m over it now, but someone else obviously isn’t. Do you remember my friend Kimberly Rossi?”
“The one who used to follow you around like a shadow?”
Flora nodded. “Well, when she saw how upset I was about your engagement, she got a little crazy. As in furious. She was convinced you and I would end up together, you see, because I’d told her so often over the years that I thought we would. She just wanted what I wanted. Kimberly’s a good friend and she wanted me to be happy—she thinks of me as her family.
“Anyway, she kept going on and on about how I should get in touch with you and tell you not to marry Megan. She just wouldn’t stop. And when she realised I wasn’t going to, she said she was going to stop your wedding to clear the way for you and me to get back together.”
“So she came to Bliss Bay to come between Megan and I?”
“Pretty much. And I don’t think she’ll stop until she has. Don’t you remember how intense she is?”
“Not really,” said Jack. “I only met her a couple of times. Once was at your sister’s wedding, and the other was at a Christmas party when she spent all evening telling everyone how her new dress had made her eczema flare up because she hadn’t washed it before wearing it and the fabric had some chemical or other in it that she’d reacted to. All she did all night was scratch...” He paused. “The woman on the ferry who was asking questions about Megan! My Uncle Jack said she had long dark hair and couldn’t stop scratching her arm because it was covered in a rash.”
“Sounds like Kimberly,” said Flora. “Eczema that flares up when she’s anxious, hair down to her waist, and legs up to her armpits.” She turned back to the window. “I hope you know that if I’d ever believed she’d actually do anything to come between you and Megan, I’d have stopped it. I mean, she dropped plenty of hints, but I never thought she’d act on any of them.”
“What’s her plan, do you know? Is she just going to warn Megan off, or do you think she’d... do you think she’d hurt her? You have to tell me everything you know, Flora.”
She heaved a long sigh. “When Kimberly called to tell me she’d come to Bliss Bay, I followed her. That was in January, and I’ve been looking for her ever since and staying in a guest house.”
“Why didn’t you call me back then?” said Jack. “If we’d spoken months ago, we could have stopped things from getting this far.”
“Because I thought I could handle it myself. Look, Jack, I didn’t want you to know that the reason Kimberly was here was because I’d thought you and I still had a future. I mean, I don’t think that now, but I did. And, also... I wasn’t sure I wanted to see you.”
“Why not? You said you were over me. Over us.”
“I am. I just... it’s complicated, Jack. It’s really complicated. Anyway, from what you’ve told me, after Kimberly tracked you down, she must have hoped you’d hear the request on the radio, and see the box of cigars and think they were from me. She was probably hoping that they’d suddenly make you realise that we were meant to be together.” Flora shrugged. “Every now and then, she’d call me to ask if you’d been in touch to arrange to meet up—I guess that was after she pulled each stunt. But when they didn’t work, she decided to take things to the next level.”
“I don’t even want to know the answer to this question,” said Jack, “but what is the next level?”
“Well, in Kimberly’s head, Megan’s the fly in the ointment, so if she’s out of the way, that means the way ahead is clear for you and me.”
“But there is no ‘you and me’,” said Jack.
“Yes, we know that, but Kimberly doesn’t.”
“And what’s she going to do about it?”
Flora shook her head. “I don’t know, but I doubt it’s going to be good.”
