Page 71 of A Secret Cornish Wish
Full of concern for everyone . . . but herself. I tried several times to engage Claire in conversation about herself and her family, but she answered briefly and quickly changed the subject. Was that why? Because she didn’t want to talk about her home life? Were things so awful that she’d rather talk about anything but herself?
‘I’m going to her house,’ I say, standing up suddenly. ‘To make sure everything is all right.’
‘Do you think that’s a good idea?’ Eddie asks. ‘It might make things worse?’
‘How can it make things worse? I want to check my friend is all right.’
‘Frankie, Eddie might be right,’ Suzy says calmly. ‘If, and it’s a big if right now . . . we have nothing to go on, only a little bit of hearsay and gossip. If something is wrong at home, you turning up all guns blazing, full of alcohol, isn’t going to help. It might make things worse.’
‘Firstly, I am not full of alcohol,’ I tell her. ‘I’ve been on soft drinks all night, so I am perfectly compos mentis. And, secondly, I’m not going to cause a scene. I’m simply going to call in on my friend and check she’s OK. What could possibly be wrong with that?’
‘Should we all go?’ Eddie asks. ‘Safety in numbers and all that?’
‘Yeah,’ Mandy says, raising her fists in front of her. ‘We’ll sort him out. I’m in the mood for a fight!’
‘No,’ I say firmly. ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea at all. You guys stay here. I’ll be fine on my own. I don’t want Jonathan to think we know anything.’
‘If there’s anything to know,’ Suzy reminds me. ‘Look,’ she says to everyone, ‘I work in politics, and I know how quickly a rumour can spread, whether it’s true or not. We might make things worse if we all turn up throwing accusations around.’
‘I’d offer to come with you,’ Rob says, looking slightly shamefaced. ‘But Jonathan and I aren’t on the best of terms.’
‘Why?’ I ask. ‘Something else I don’t know about?’
‘Well, yes. You see, Jonathan’s sister came out to LA to work. She didn’t know anyone there so Claire asked me to show her around.’ He hesitates and glances at me. ‘Things got a little heated, shall we say, one night, and Diana wasn’t too happy when I didn’t want to make it a more permanent arrangement.’
‘Rob!’ Mandy is grinning at him, ‘You dog! No wonder Jonathan hates you. You bedded his sister then ditched her.’
‘It wasn’t quite like that.’ Rob looks decidedly uncomfortable. ‘But I’m not his favourite person in the world.’
‘Would you like me to go?’ Mack asks. I’ve almost forgotten Mack is here with all this going on. He of course remained silent throughout our discussions, not really knowing either party that well. ‘I’m a neutral in all this.’
I turn away from Rob, trying not to think too much about what he’s just told us. ‘Yes, thank you, Mack. That might be a good idea. If you don’t mind, that is? I don’t want to drag you away from the pub?’
Mack smiles. ‘Nah, I spend far too much of my time in a bar. Some fresh Cornish night air will do me good.’
‘We’ll come back when we’ve checked everything is OK,’ I tell the others. ‘We won’t be long.’
Mack and I leave the pub together and begin to walk to Claire’s house – one of the traditional fishermen’s cottages in the old part of town.
‘Thanks for coming,’ I tell him as we walk.
‘Not a problem,’ Mack says. ‘I’m glad to be of help.’
‘So, what’s your bar in LA like?’ I ask to make conversation. ‘A bit different from the Merry Mermaid, I bet.’
‘It’s big,’ Mack says. ‘And often real noisy when it’s busy and there’s games on. So this,’ he holds out his arms as if he’s willing as much fresh sea air to absorb into him as possible, ‘this is wonderful. Here I can only hear the wind and the occasional gull who hasn’t gone to bed yet – this is heaven. I’d forgotten how healing silence can be.’
I smile. It’s lovely to see someone else enjoying the simple pleasures of St Felix.
‘I’ll be quiet then, shall I?’ I ask. ‘So you can really enjoy some peace and quiet?’
‘You will not,’ Mack says, smiling at me. ‘Rob has told me so much about you and your friends that it’s rather wonderful to hear you talk for yourselves.’
I’m surprised to hear Rob talks so much about us after all these years.
‘Rob said you live up in Bonnie Scotland,’ Mack continues. ‘Which part?’
‘Glasgow – I work in an art gallery there.’
