`Will. I want to talk to you.’
He groaned at the sound of his mother’s voice, balanced the phone between his ear and shoulder as he turned the wrench to tighten the final screw of the bracket to hold the flow meter for the new beer line and tap he was installing.
`Why?’ he asked, annoyed at the interruption.
He gave one final twist and stepped back, wiggling the bracket with his thumb and forefinger and smiling with satisfaction as it held fast.
`William Fletcher. Don’t you take that tone of voice with me.’
He sighed, put down the wrench and sat down on a stool.
`Yes mother.’
`I don’t hold with sarcasm either.’
He rolled his eyes. `It’s nice to hear from you too. How was the trip?’
She sighed but gave in. `Good. I loved Yellowstone, don’t know why we haven’t been before now.’
He grinned. `Hang on. You loved Yellowstone? What happened to not slumming it in some dirty campground with no access to decent loos?’
`Don’t make me sound so shallow Will. I was simply worried it would be a bit …. rough. But we had a log cabin right next to the river and the food was absolutely divine. It was a lot of country stuff like your father likes doing, you know all that walking, but really it was amazing scenery. Stop changing the subject.’
He grimaced, knew what was coming.
`I take it you’ve spoken to Julia then.’
`Yes, a few minutes ago. Now who’s this girl you’ve got shacking up with you?’
He felt a twinge of irritation.
`I’m not shacking up with anyone and I don’t like the implication of that either. I’m surprised you even know the phrase.’
She sighed. `Don’t go getting all upset. I’m your mother; I’m interested in this sort of thing.’
There was a long pause.
`Particularly since all that trouble with Helen, you know. I’m glad you’re finally moving on.’
He gritted his teeth. `She’s staying with me for a few weeks until she can go back to her own place. There’s nothing more to it than that. Now can we talk about something else?’
`In a minute. What is her name and what does she do?’
`Geez. Is this an interrogation?’
`William.’
He sighed, grimaced across at Gus.
`Her name is Jo. She’s a vet and she’s from New Zealand. Don’t you have to unpack or something?’
`I think you should come to dinner. I want to meet her.’
`No.’
`Why not?’
`I’m not even going to discuss it.’
She sighed. `Why do you always have to be so difficult?’
He didn’t reply and could almost feel the disapproval seeping from the phone.
`Oh all right then. I’m going to unpack. Your father says hello.’
`Tell him I say hi back.’
`Will you at least come see us sometime? You’re welcome to bring Jo if you change your mind.’
`I’ll see.’
She sighed again and he felt a slight twinge of guilt but nipped it in the bud. Once his mother got her teeth in something there was no letting go and he wasn’t sure enough about what was happening with Jo to risk that yet.
`Okay, bye dear.’
`Bye.’
He put down the phone and rolled his eyes again as Gus laughed.
`Third degree?’
`Yep. Julia’s in big trouble. Where is she?’
`Not in today,’ Gus replied, still grinning, `obviously reckoned she’d be in for it.’
`Hmmm.’
`So how are things going then?’
`Oh God. Not you too.’
Gus shrugged. `Hey, I’m interested.’
`So’s the rest of the bloody world,’ Will muttered, turning his back and returning to the flow meter. It had been a frustrating damn morning from the start and it didn’t look to be getting any better.
Of all damn times to make a bloody phone call.
`What are you doing?’
Jo swung around in her chair to face Laura and frowned. `What do you want now?’
`There’s someone here to see you,’ Laura said, not quite managing to hide the glee.
Jo’s frown deepened. `Why are you looking so happy about it?’
Laura smiled, too sweetly. `No reason. She’s waiting in the consulting room. Brought her poodle in for a checkup.’
Jo sighed, headed to the consulting room, slightly anxious. Anything that had Laura looking so happy didn’t bode well.
`Hi,’ she said, walking in to see a middle-aged woman bending down to kiss the neck of a large French poodle. Her black hair was pulled back in a bun at the nape of her neck, her clothes expensive. She looked up and smiled as Jo entered the room, brown eyes glinting with frank curiosity in a wrinkle-free, good looking face.
`Hi dear,’ she said, holding out her hand. Jo shook it, not missing the perfectly manicured nails and feeling slightly uncomfortable at being studied so closely.
`I’m Audrey,’ the woman said, smiling again. Something about her was familiar but Jo couldn’t put her finger on it. She frowned slightly at the overly friendly manner but decided to be polite and smiled warmly.
`Jo. So, what can I do for you today?’
Audrey pointed at the poodle. `It’s Max. I thought I’d bring him in for a checkup. We’ve been away for a few weeks and I’ve had someone else looking after him. You can’t always trust these people you know, they never care for your children the same way you do.’
Jo smiled, felt a pang for Whiskers. `Yes, I know the feeling.’
She went over to the table, let the dog sniff her hand and gave him a few pats behind the ear. He looked to be of a good weight and well cared for.
`Have you had any problems with him health wise?’ she asked.
Audrey shook her head. `No, he’s been quite good this one. No major illnesses at all.’
Jo nodded, turned back to the dog and examined his eyes and ears. Not finding any fault she bent down and coaxed him into opening his mouth.
`All good so far’ she said, looking up and smiling at Audrey but hurriedly looking away again, uncomfortable at the intensity of the woman’s gaze.
She got the stethoscope and listened to the dog’s heartbeat, trying not to notice the way Audrey was looking around the room in an almost assessing manner.
`All fine there too,’ she said, bending down and kissing Max on the top of his head. `You’re perfect aren’t you,’ she said, after checking his coat and again not finding anything amiss.
`So how long have you been working here?’ Audrey asked.
`Three months,’ Jo replied, reaching into a drawer and handing Max a treat.
`Are all his shots up to date?’ she asked, turning to the computer.
It was only then that she saw the name. Fletcher. God, this must be his mother. No wonder she looked familiar. Julia looked an awful lot like her; it was only the brown eyes that had put her off track. Should she say something? Had Audrey come in deliberately? She must realize her name was on the records.
So that left Jo with two choices, pretend she didn’t know and be thought stupid or grab the bull by the horns and introduce herself. She chose the latter and turned to Audrey with a smile.
`Fletcher? Are you related to Will and Julia?’
Audrey positively beamed. `Why yes dear, I’m their mother.’
She paused, smiled again. `Actually, I have a bit of a confession to make. I came in to see you.’
`Oh,’ Jo felt herself redden.
`Yes, please don’t feel uncomfortable. Julia’s told me you’re staying with Will and I just wanted to know who he was seeing, that’s all.’
`Um, I think you may have the wrong idea about this.’
`Now, now dear, no need to be shy. Look, why don’t you come round to dinner? Tonight? I’ve already invited Julia and Shaun but Will …. well, he was busy.’
Will was busy? Did that mean he hadn’t wanted to go to dinner or that he was actually busy? God, now what was she supposed to say?
`Um, thanks for the invitation but I’ll have to check with Will. He might be working the late shift.’
Audrey smiled again. `No, I’ve already checked with Julia. It should be fine. Can you pass the message on to him please? Around seven?’
She was beginning to realize just who Will had inherited his stubborn streak from.
`Okay, thanks,’ she replied, pasting a smile on her face and hoping to God Will wasn’t going to kill her for this.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite as easy to get out of as she’d thought. He’d come into her office to pick her up and she had decided to broach the topic as soon as possible to get it over with.
`What do you mean my mother invited us to dinner?’
His jaw was set and his eyes angry and she took a deep breath, tried to think of how to phrase things without setting him off on a major temper tantrum; closed the door. The last thing she needed was to give Laura more ammunition.
`Well, she showed up here this afternoon and said she couldn’t get hold of you because you were busy.’
`Bloody hell. I told her I didn’t want to go to dinner,’ he snapped.
Jo’s frown deepened. Was it a good or bad thing that he hadn’t wanted her to meet his mother?
`Well, how was I supposed to know that? She made out you were busy and Julia had already told her you weren’t working late. What was I supposed to do?’
`Tell her to piss off.’
`Will, it’s your mother.’
He scowled, stalked over to the window and shoved his hands in his pockets.
`She always does this. Always interferes. No matter what you say she just goes ahead and does her own thing anyway.’
`Hmmm. Sounds like someone else I know.’
He turned, angry. `What the hell does that mean?’
She rolled her eyes and sat down in the chair.
`It’s your mother, you sort it. I’m just an innocent bystander in all this.’
`No bloody point now, you’ve already accepted. It’ll only make it worse if we don’t go.’
They were silent on the drive to his parent’s house, the air between them humming with tension. Will was still angry and she had simply had enough of it, wasn’t quite sure why she was going to his damn parents’ house to begin with. So she spent the drive staring out the window as they passed numerous fields of maize and high green hedges you could barely see past.
She wasn’t all that surprised when he pulled up outside the large white clifftop home she’d seen from the yacht. Will parked next to Julia and Shaun’s Jeep, which stood across from a sleek Mercedes convertible and a more sedate Audi Quattro.
Jo climbed out the car and turned to face the sea as she heard the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks below. The house had one hundred and eighty degree views of Fowey harbor.
She turned back to face Will, raising an eyebrow as he frowned at her.
`What now?’
`Nothing.’
He held out a hand and she momentarily debated ignoring it but decided that would only escalate the situation so she took his hand and walked with him up to the front door.
He knocked and stood looking down at her with an unfathomable expression as they waited.
It was opened by a very tall, distinguished-looking man with pure white hair and bright blue eyes.
`Will, good to see you,’ he said in cultured tones, then grabbed him in a bear hug and patted his back in a gesture that seemed totally at odds with his aloof appearance.
To her surprise, he then turned to Jo, pulling her into a hug before standing with his hands on her shoulders, smiling a welcome. `And you must be Jo.’
She looked across at Will. He hesitated before suddenly relenting. `Jo, this is my dad. Dad, Jo.’
`Samuel,’ his father said, stepping aside to let them in.
She followed Will into the entrance hall and through to the lounge, where Shaun was sitting on a couch and Julia was standing at the window with Audrey.
They all turned and smiled a hello, Audrey coming up to kiss Will on the cheek despite his scowl.
Jo felt herself relax, realized she’d been preparing for him to make a scene.
`Hi Jo,’ said Shaun, standing to hug her as Julia waved from the window, carefully avoiding Will, who stood glaring at her.
Audrey kissed Jo on the cheek too and smiled but thankfully didn’t make any mention of the earlier meeting. Instead, she grabbed Will by the elbow and dragged him out the room, presumably to the kitchen, where he’d be getting an earful.
Jo couldn’t hide a grin at the thought, imagined the numerous scoldings when he was a little boy. She realized her amusement was shared as Shaun winked, Samuel grinned and Julia’s mouth twitched.
Samuel went over to the drinks cabinet.
`Would you like a drink Jo?’
`No thanks. I’m fine,’ she replied and sat down on the couch next to Shaun. Samuel poured himself a scotch and sat down across from her, asked how her day had gone, discussed the weather, the flight back from America.
She was asking what he thought of California, a place she’d always wanted to visit but never had, when Audrey and Will returned.
Will still looked annoyed but he relaxed over dinner. Conversation at the table ranged from Jo and New Zealand to Audrey and Samuel’s recent vacation.
Audrey had already had most of their photos developed and after dinner, she pulled out a couple of albums. The family arranged themselves around her on the couch as she paged through them, giving a running commentary of all the sights.
Later, Audrey went over to the table and started clearing the dishes. Jo offered to help but Audrey shook her head.
`No dear, it’s fine, Julia will help.’
They left the room and Jo sat on the couch as Will went over to talk to his father. Shaun joined her.
`How’re things going?’ he asked.
She smiled. `Fine, thanks.’
`No more problems?’
She frowned slightly. `Not really. I thought I heard someone outside Will’s place a couple of days ago but he thinks it was a fox.’
Shaun nodded. `Well be careful. I’m afraid there isn’t much to go on at the moment but we’ll get him soon,’ he said reassuringly and she smiled again.
`Thanks for keeping me updated.’
He reached over and patted her knee. `No problem. You’ll be safe with Will.’
Audrey and Julia returned with after dinner drinks and Jo relaxed against the couch, stifling a yawn a few moments later.
`Tired?’ Will asked from behind her and she looked up, surprised. He’d been at the far end of the room, talking with Samuel.
She nodded, smiled. `A little.’
`We should go anyway. I’ll make our excuses,’ he said, bending down and kissing her forehead.
She smiled up at him, glad to see he’d finally calmed down but flushed as she sat back up and saw Audrey watching them intently. She looked away, feeling rather uncomfortable, and was happy to finally say goodbye and get back in the Land Rover. She’d liked his parents but she wasn’t comfortable with the way Audrey had watched her, wasn’t sure she liked the way Will had been manipulated into dinner.
`Thanks for putting up with all that,’ Will said on the drive home.
She was leaning against the seat with her eyes closed but smiled. `Don’t worry about it. Your mother is rather headstrong isn’t she?’
`Tell me about it.’
`What does she do?’
`What do you mean?’
`Workwise,’ Jo replied, sitting up and looking at him.
`Oh, nothing. Not anymore. She used to own a boutique but gave that up a few years ago.’
`And your dad?’
`He’s a judge.’
Jo nodded, leaned back against the seat again.
`Shaun says they haven’t made any progress tracking down Jack,’ she said after a moment.
He glanced across at her, squeezed her knee.
`Do you think we’re overreacting a bit? I mean nothing’s happened for the last few days, there’s no sign of him. Maybe that guy in the car wasn’t him after all,’ she said.
`I don’t know Jo, maybe,’ he said after a long pause and she sighed, closed her eyes again, prayed it was true, that Jack hadn’t found her, wasn’t tailing her.
But deep down she somehow knew it was a false hope, couldn’t forget the incident on the beach, the ashes in her bin, the man smoking in the car at the end of her road.
And, no matter what Will said, she knew it hadn’t been a fox outside the bedroom window. The real question wasn’t if Jack would find her, it was when.