Matilda was expected. She pulled up outside the cottage and the front door opened. Frank Doyle stepped out, his expression mixed. He welcomed his daughter, but he was worried for her too. He went around to the driver’s side and opened her door.
‘Hello, sweetheart. Are you all right?’
‘Yes, fine thanks, Dad,’ she replied. She couldn’t help but smile at her father’s concern. Although Adele cared for her, and so did Sian, there was something comforting about having her dad still wanting to protect his child.
‘Come on in. Your mum’s made you a big lunch.’
‘I’m not that hungry, Dad,’ she said, climbing out of the car.
‘Don’t tell her that. Besides, you’ve lost weight. I can tell.’
‘I’m in training for the half-marathon, I’m supposed to have lost weight.’
‘You look gaunt.’
‘You’re starting to sound like Mum.’
‘Come on, let’s get in,’ Frank said, noticing his wife staring at them through the kitchen window.
Penny Doyle (she hated being called Penelope) stood in the entrance to her kitchen, her arms wide open, ready to greet her daughter. Matilda had no choice. She stepped forward and was pulled into a tight embrace, her head firmly pressed against her mother’s ample bosom. Matilda could smell her comforting perfume, one she had been using for decades. It brought back memories of being hugged as a child when she’d fallen and hurt herself.
Penny was a formidable woman. At only five-foot tall, she was dwarfed by almost everyone around her, yet she had the biggest personality in the room. She was warm, caring, and welcomed every visitor as if they were family. However, get on the wrong side of her, and she never forgot.
‘I like your hair,’ Matilda said as she pulled away.
‘Thank you. Renee did it for me in the village,’ she replied with a smile. ‘Come and sit down. I’ve made us a light lunch, just a quiche and salad. I did some Scotch eggs last night too. I know how you like them.’
‘I’m not really that hungry,’ she said, stealing a glance at her father as he took her coat off her.
‘Don’t be silly. You’re wasting away.’
‘She’s training for the marathon,’ Frank said.
‘Half-marathon,’ Matilda corrected him.
Penny studied her daughter. ‘I don’t like it. You’ll lose your boobs. Look at those Olympic gymnasts. They’ve nothing up top.’
Matilda couldn’t help but smile.
***
‘I can’t believe he would do something so selfish, so hurtful,’ Penny said as they were sitting around the table in the kitchen.
Matilda was sitting in the middle, her parents flanked either side. With her back firmly against the kitchen wall, there was no escape.
‘We’ll come and clean your house from top to bottom, won’t we, Frank?’
‘Of course. I’ll redecorate it for you as well, if you like? I’ll get Jeremy’s lad to help out. He’s a professional decorator.’
With a mouthful of homemade quiche, Penny said, ‘Good thinking. I’ll give Renee a call. Her sister made those curtains we’ve got in the spare bedroom. She’ll come and measure up for you. You’ll not recognize the place when we’ve finished.’
‘But I want to recognize it,’ Matilda said loudly. ‘It’s James’s home. It’s our home.’
‘Just the hallway, love, nothing else,’ Frank said, placing a hand on Matilda’s. ‘You don’t want to be reminded of that every time you come home, do you?’
‘No,’ she conceded.
‘There we are then,’ Penny said. ‘Oh, I had your sister on the phone for an hour last night. She’s going to ring you at the weekend. She says you can go and stay with her any time you like.’
Matilda almost shivered. The thought of staying in her sister’s house with her annoying husband and two boisterous children was the stuff of nightmares.
‘That’s kind of her but I need to be close to work.’
‘I thought you’d been signed off?’ Penny asked.
‘I have been signed off, but I don’t intend on staying off. There’s a killer out there that needs to be caught.’
‘Matilda, you know I don’t like you talking about murder and death at the meal table.’
‘We’ve just been talking about Ben Hales hanging himself in my house.’
‘That’s different. That’s circumstances.’
Matilda frowned and looked to her father, who shrugged.
‘I don’t know why you don’t leave the police. You’ve not been happy since James died.’
‘That’s got nothing to do with the job,’ Matilda scoffed. ‘I wouldn’t be happy wherever I worked.’
Frank placed his hand on top of Matilda’s again. ‘I don’t like the thought of you being unhappy.’
‘I’m not unhappy, I’m just … well, you know … I’m getting there,’ she lied. ‘Running is helping too.’
‘You want to be careful,’ Penny began. ‘Look what happened to Felicity’s daughter when she lost her husband – she cut her wrists in the bath.’
‘Penny!’ Frank admonished.
‘Mum, I don’t plan on killing myself.’
‘All I’m saying is if you keep things to yourself, if you don’t move on, you’ll end up like she did. I think we’ve had enough suicide in this family, haven’t we Frank?’
Frank turned away. His brother’s suicide more than twenty years ago was still raw at times.
‘Mum, can we change the subject to something brighter, please?’
‘Of course we can, sweetheart,’ she replied through a sickly smile. Penny ate quickly, her eyes darting from side to side as she struggled to think of something to say. She hated being quiet. ‘Oh, Frank, did I tell you?’ Penny suddenly said. ‘Renee’s husband’s been given Viagra for his heart. She says it’s given him a whole new lease of life.’
Matilda burst out laughing and spat her quiche all over the kitchen table.