Page 70 of A Secret Cornish Wish
‘The husband called when you were outside with Rob. Claire left shortly after that.’
‘Oh, that’s a shame. I hope nothing is wrong at home.’
‘I doubt it,’ Eddie whispers, leaning in towards me. ‘Nothing with the kids, anyway . . . ’ He raises his eyebrows meaningfully.
‘What do you mean?’ I also lower my voice.
‘I dunno,’ Eddie says. ‘I get the feeling something isn’t right there.’
‘With Claire?’
‘With Jonathan, more like.’
‘Eddie, what are you trying to say?’ Eddie’s serious tone, unusual for him, is worrying me.
‘What are you two whispering about?’ Mandy asks in a loud voice. ‘No secrets allowed around this table!’
‘Nothing,’ Eddie says, sitting up again. ‘Nothing for you to worry about, anyway.’
‘We were just talking about Claire,’ I reply honestly. ‘I wondered where she’d gone.’
‘Home to the hubby!’ Mandy says, saluting. ‘Like the good housewife she is.’
I frown. ‘That’s not fair, Mandy. Claire is a good mother to her children.’
‘I never mentioned her children,’ Mandy says. ‘It’s her husband you need to watch.’
I stare at Mandy. ‘What’s going on here?’ I ask. Now Mandy is talking about Jonathan in a strange way too. ‘Am I missing something?’
Mandy shakes her head. ‘Just forget I said anything.’
‘No,’ I demand. ‘I won’t. Do you guys know something I don’t?’
‘Don’t look at me.’ Rob shrugs. ‘I live in America. I have no idea what they’re talking about.’
‘Or me,’ Suzy says. ‘Has something happened?’
We all look at Mandy.
She sighs loudly. ‘My mum said something to me tonight when I said I was going to be meeting you all. I didn’t think much of it at the time. But when Claire rushed off like she did, it reminded me.’
‘What?’ I ask. ‘What did she say?’
‘She said she was surprised Claire was being allowed to go out to the pub on her own. From what she’d heard, Jonathan keeps a tight rein on her.’
‘Tight rein? What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘I think he’s quite possessive. Claire used to be on all sorts of committees – the school, the local women’s guild, et cetera. But she’s suddenly stopped all that now. My mum said Claire’s mum is quite worried about her.’
I stare at Mandy, trying to take all this in. How did I not know any of this? Why didn’t I notice? Claire used to be one of my best friends. Correction, she still is one of my best friends.
‘Actually,’ Rob says. ‘Now you’ve mentioned it, my mum said something similar a while back too when I was on the phone to her. She’s remained quite good friends with Claire’s mum since the move, and she did say something about her mum being worried about her and did I know anything? I said no, I hadn’t really spoken to any of you that recently – which I’m sorry to say is the truth. My mum had doubts about Jonathan from the start, though.’
‘Why?’ Suzy asks.
Rob shrugs. ‘I don’t know. But when I came down for their wedding, she said could I find out what Jonathan was really like. So I asked a few questions and you guys all seemed to think he was fine – do you remember me asking you, Frankie?’
‘Not really,’ I mutter, trying to take all this in and make sense of it. Claire looked particularly drawn and exhausted tonight. But she seemed fine once we sat down and got chatting – just like the old Claire, quiet, considered, full of concern for everyone.
