Page 38 of Teacakes & Tangos
‘That’s true. Shewasreally down. But then all of a sudden she started bouncing around and singing like she’s on top of the world.’
‘Yes, that’s true. The change seemed to happen almost overnight.’
It was aftershe came back from that lengthy supermarket shopping trip with Rory...
My insides shifted uneasily. I was already dreading where Irene was going with this.
‘Overnight. Exactly. And the thing is, I love Lois to bits – you know I do. But she can be a self-centred little madam at times and that’s putting it politely. And her reliance on Rory since the break-up with Mark has been really worrying me, especially bearing in mind her – um –romantichistory with Rory.’
I nodded. ‘I know what you mean. It’s like she’s looking on Rory as a sort of substitute Mark. Asking her to take her shopping... help her get her car fixed... the cinema, that kind of thing.’
Irene gave me an anxious look laced with sympathy. ‘I think... well, I hate to say it, Clara, but I have a feeling Lois might be up to her old tricks with Rory.’
‘Up to her old tricks?’ My heart was beating fast. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, I know how much Rory cares about you. That’s plain for everyone to see. So I’m definitely not trying to cast aspersions onhismotives in any way, but...’ She hesitated, clearly dreading having to explain herself to me.
‘But what?’ I burst out.
She sighed. ‘Yesterday, Lois told me she was going to the weekly market at Lockley Meadow, just for a mooch around on her day off. But as soon as she’d gone, I realised she’d left her bank card on the kitchen table. So, knowing she wouldn’t get very far without it, I decided to get in my car and catch her up at the market. I hadn’t been to the market for ages. And I thought it might be a good opportunity to have a bit of a chat with Lois... warn her that she might be getting too... well,relianton Rory.’
I nodded, aware I was holding my breath because there was definitely a ‘but’ on the way.
‘So anyway, it turned out Lois wasn’t going to the market at all. I followed her into Lockley Meadow but she didn’t turn off by the village green, she motored straight on and parked in a little side street. The street looked full of parked cars so I drove to the nearest space I could find and I walked back to find Lois.’
‘And?’
‘And that’s when I saw her and Rory together.’
‘She met Rory? In Lockley Meadow? But she couldn’t have done.’
‘It was definitely him, love. They were walking along and she had her arm linked through his and they were laughing about something.’
I shook my head. ‘But Rory’s away on a residential course. He’s staying at a hotel in Brighton.’
‘Maybe he is. But I saw him in Lockley Meadow around eleven o’clock, clear as day, walking into a rather chic-looking B&B – with Lois.’
‘What? A B&B? But why on earth...?’ I trailed off, my mind tumbling over itself in confusion.
Irene shrugged. ‘I was hoping there would be a perfectly good reason – but when I asked her later how the market had been and if she’d seen anyone she knew, she just shook her headand acted all innocent and said she’d come home after half an hour because she was bored. And that definitely wasn’t the case because after I’d had a wander around the market myself and a cuppa in one of the cafés in the village, I drove along to see if Lois’s car was still parked there, and it was.’
‘So they were in a B&B forall that time?’
Irene nodded. ‘At least an hour.’ She sighed. ‘Oh, Clara, I didn’t know whether to tell you all of this. I know how much you love Rory and I just hate to be the one to have to warn youagainst my own daughter!’
‘I’m glad you did, Irene,’ I murmured. ‘Honestly. I’d far rather know what’s going on than be kept in the dark.’
‘That’s what I thought. I mean, as I say, it’s not Rory I suspect of anything dubious, and I don’t think we should jump to any conclusions because I’m sure there must be a reasonable explanation.’ She sighed. ‘I just don’t know where Lois’s head is at the moment.’
I swallowed hard. ‘Me, neither.’ It was cheering that Irene thought Rory would never cheat on me, but the trouble was, you never knew with Lois. She could be captivating company and very persuasive when she wanted to be...
And then suddenly a memory flashed into my mind from nowhere... seeing Lois studying my phone after the fire alarm went off and I was inside checking the building. She’d had her own phone in her bag all the time. I remembered her picking up my laptop when the alarm went off and snatching the phone from my hand when I was still talking to Roz. So the phone had been unlocked in her possession.
But what on earth could she have been looking for?
A cold hand gripped my heart.
Had she been spying on the text messages between Rory and me?
