‘Have you seen my scarf?’ I asked Mandy. ‘I think I must have dropped it when I came into the office this morning.’
‘Your stripy one?’ she said. ‘No, I haven’t.’
I sighed. I loved that scarf. I hoped I’d just forgotten to pick it up from the coat hook that morning. ‘It must be at home,’ I said, frowning because hadn’t I been wearing it on the way to the centre that morning? Or was that last week? I couldn’t remember now.
‘I hope it turns up,’ Mandy said. ‘Are you all right locking up? I need to dash off.’
‘Course.’ I waved her off and went back to my office for another look. But even though I checked in all the drawers, and in my filing cabinet, and down the sleeves of my coat, my scarf was nowhere to be found. Now I thought about it, I was sure I’d been wearing it that morning, because hadn’t Mandy mentioned it when I came in? That had definitely been this morning because I remembered her saying it was very cheerful for a gloomy morning – it had been chucking it down with rain and, in fact, still was – and I’d thought she was being uncharacteristically chatty. So where had it got to? Perhaps one of my clients had accidentally picked it up.
Feeling glum, I put on my coat and my hat because it was very cold outside and trudged towards home. I’d promised Jem that we would finally decorate the house for Halloween that evening. We’d been putting it off because of the weather but October was already almost a week old, lots of houses around us had their decorations up and we thought we would just have to do it, whatever the weather.
I wasn’t feeling it really. I felt like my life had been taken over by witches. Jem’s project, and Hermione the cat – who was a sweet little thing but, even so, decidedly witchy – Jem’s school play and of course our unexpected guest. We’d pulled down the witch from the porch and sat her on the little cast-iron bench that the former owners had put in the front garden.
I crossed the road outside the centre and walked along the road through soggy fallen leaves. It wasn’t late – just past 5 p.m. – but it was quiet. Everyone was at home, staying out of the cold, drizzly evening. Goodness, I was feeling sorry for myself and I had no reason to feel so glum, not really. This evening would cheer me up, I thought. We were going to put up the decorations, then watch Hocus Pocus for the millionth time.
My phone rang and I pulled it out of my bag, hoping it wasn’t Jem telling me she’d been held up with another rehearsal or had decided to go round to Cassie’s instead. But to my surprise it was Rory’s name on the screen.
‘Hello,’ I said.
‘Hi,’ he said. ‘How are you?’
‘Bit grumpy actually,’ I said.
‘Me too.’ Rory sounded quite pleased. ‘It’s so miserable and grey.’
‘I can’t believe how dark it is already,’ I agreed. ‘I’ve only just finished work but it feels much later.’
‘Are you home already?’
‘Almost. Just walking past the church.’
‘Ah.’ He sounded disappointed. ‘I was going to ask if you fancied a drink. I was supposed to be meeting a friend in Edinburgh but he’s not well.’
‘I see, I’m your second choice, am I?’
Rory chuckled down the phone. I liked the sound. ‘Not at all.’
‘I’m really sorry, I’ve promised Jem we’ll do our Halloween decorations this evening.’
‘Well I definitely can’t get in the way of that,’ Rory said. ‘Enjoy yourself and we’ll catch up later.’
I hung up just as I reached the front door. Jem was inside taking off her coat.
‘You’re back late,’ I said.
‘I had to stay behind to look for my tie.’
‘Oh you’ve not lost another one? Did you find it?’
‘Nah, but I bet bloody Rosie Richards picked it up after games. She’s so dozy. I’ll get it back off her tomorrow.’
‘You’ve got a spare in your wardrobe,’ I said. ‘Ready for the decorations?’
‘Definitely.’
Jem and I had a lovely evening, decorating the house, eating the sweets I’d bought for guisers and trick or treaters, laughing and making each other jump. We positioned the witch – Winnie, Jem called her – next to the cauldron Jem had made from cardboard covered in silver foil. We hung black nets over the windows, and then we carved pumpkins with the silhouettes of witches and put them outside with candles flickering. It looked amazing and Jem was thrilled.
‘I’m taking some pics to send to Cassie,’ she said. ‘She can put them on her Instagram.’
‘Just the house, no selfies,’ I warned. Jem rolled her eyes but she obeyed. She was a good girl. I snapped my own photo and sent it to Rory.
Sorry I couldn’t do a drink, but we spent our time wisely.
He texted back immediately.
It looks awesome! Can’t wait to see it IRL.
‘Who’s that?’ Jem asked when my phone beeped. For some reason I felt a bit odd about telling the truth, but equally unwilling to lie, I said: ‘Rory. You know, the guy who mended your window?’
Jem gave me a sharp look. ‘Why are you texting him?’
‘I bumped into him the other day and we had a coffee together. Just as friends,’ I added quickly, seeing her face cloud over.
She shrugged. ‘It’s fine, Mum,’ she said. She grinned. ‘I saw him at school today actually. Think it was him anyway. He was doing something to the cupboards in the science lab.’
‘That sounds like something he’d do. He’s definitely kept busy doing jobs all over the place.’
‘I don’t mind, you know,’ Jem said, dangling a jelly worm into her mouth.
‘Don’t mind what?’
‘If you want to go out with him. He’s kind of hot for an old man. Like Harrison Ford.’
‘Jem,’ I said, embarrassed but laughing despite myself.
‘I just think you could do with some fun.’
‘I think you’re right,’ I agreed. ‘But I’ll stick to making friends for now.’
*
I felt much less gloomy the next day. Jem skipped off to school wearing her spare tie and full of chatter about the play and all the other dozy things Rosie Richards had done.
Meanwhile, I had the day off. Rory and I had messaged already that morning. He said he was busy working just outside town, and asked what I was up to.
Shopping for Eva, I typed as I rooted around for another scarf in the back of my wardrobe.
He replied with a little emoji with a halo.
Ah, there was my other scarf. I yanked it free from where it had wound itself round one of my running trainers. It wasn’t as nice as the one my sister had made but it was better than having a cold neck.
Believe me, I’m no angel, I wrote, adding a winking emoji. Was that flirting? Was I flirting? This was all new to me. When Alistair and I had got together, mobile phones were still enormous and text messages had to be typed by pressing each number on the keypad about five times. Any winking we’d done was in person.
I’d like to see your devilish side, he shot back.
I read the message, feeling my cheeks flush. What did I say to that? I just sent back a devil emoji.
My phone beeped again almost straightaway.
I enjoyed our coffee, fancy dinner one evening? When are you free?
My stomach turned over with nerves. He had definitely said he only wanted to be friends, hadn’t he? Mind you, Jem was right. He was ‘hot’. God, I was so out of practice with this sort of thing. I had nothing on any evening, but I didn’t want to be too keen.
How about next Friday?
That gave me just over a week to prepare.
Perfect, Rory replied immediately.
I sent back a thumbs-up. Then I noticed the time on my phone, and rushed downstairs to get Eva’s shopping before she headed off to play bridge with her friends.
It was dark again when I came home, weary after a day on my feet. I’d met Cassie and Jem on the way so there were three of us heading back to the cottage, Cassie leading the way because her legs were the longest.
As we got close to home, she stopped suddenly and shrieked. I jumped and Jem let out a little gasp, but Cassie was jumping up and down in excitement.
‘Oh my god, I love it,’ she exclaimed. ‘You guys have done such an amazing job. Jem, you should totally be an interior designer or something. You’re so creative.’ She bounced up the path to the tiny front garden, Jem and I following.
‘I love the skeletons,’ Cassie called over her shoulder. ‘That’s so funny.’
I looked at Jem and she looked at me and we both hurried up the path to where two fake – I assumed – skeletons sat propped up against the house. Their bony faces glowed in the light from the streetlamps. Wrapped around the neck of one of the skeletons was my missing scarf, while the other wore Jem’s school tie.
‘Oh my god,’ I breathed. All the hairs on the back of my neck were standing up and for a horrible second I thought I was going to throw up. ‘Breathe, Tess,’ I told myself. ‘Breathe.’
This wasn’t a goth paying tribute to a long-dead witch. This wasn’t a Halloween prank or a ghoulish game. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that this was personal.
‘Mum?’ said Jem in a small voice.
I felt for her hand. ‘It’s just a joke,’ I said. I tried to sound reassuring and calm, though I felt anything but. ‘Let’s go inside.’
I bustled the girls into the house and upstairs to do their homework. Then I went to the window and looked out. The skeletons sat there, staring out to the street with their hollow eyes.
‘Just a joke,’ I said again. But I didn’t believe it for one minute.