Page 62 of The Beekeeper's Cottage
Flora sank back in her chair. ‘But it’s Paul’s fault. From what you said he’s the one who made Amos leave.’
‘Yes, but in doing so, he also showed his true character, so he gained nothing either. Contrary to his belief, this weekend was not about putting the icing on the cake of the deal, but more about giving Paul a chance to prove that he was made of better things than they suspected. By trying to rubbish Amos all he did was prove them right, so he failed miserably.’
‘Hah!’ The triumphant exclamation came from the end of the table, and Fraser immediately apologised. ‘I’m sorry, Grace, but we’ve been friends for a very long time, and I’ve watched you all these years, praying that one day someone would come along and give Paul his comeuppance. I can’t pretend I’m not glad that someone has.’ He pointed a finger at her. ‘And now it’s time for you to get your reward for putting up with him for all these years. Don’t you dare look back.’
Hannah looked at him sideways. ‘Fraser Jamieson, I couldn’t have put that better myself.’ She smiled at her husband. ‘But what about Amos?’ she added. ‘Doyou think that what Paul said was true? That he recognised Amos and knows that there’s some secret from his past he’s kept hidden?’
‘I’m pretty certain of it, yes,’ Grace replied. ‘Paul was trying to goad me about Amos all weekend but I don’t think there’s any doubt that he did remember him from somewhere. Once he figured out where, he was desperate for me to ask him what he knew, but that in itself means it must have been related to a news story. He mentioned it was five or six years ago, which would have been when Paul was news anchor, so it makes sense.’
‘But it doesn’t necessarily mean it was anything bad,’ said Flora. ‘People are in the news for all sorts of reasons.’
‘Yes, but I can’t see Paul being quite so manipulative if all Amos had done was win first prize in a national lemon-curd-making competition.’
‘Hmmm.’ Flora frowned. ‘I know that makes sense, but I don’t want to think badly of Amos, in fact, I don’t think I can…’
‘Me neither,’ agreed Grace. ‘And I absolutely refuse to believe the worst. Amos deserves better than that. So I will wait to hear whatever it is from his lips, or not at all.’
‘He may not wish to tell you though,’ countered Hannah. ‘You have to think about that, Grace, hard as it may be. I think we all know how fond of you Amos has become, which is the very reason why he left in the first place – he obviously wanted to protect you from upset, and in my book that can only mean one thing. I think you need to prepare yourself for the fact that you might not like what you hear, however hard we find that to believe.’
Grace shook her head. ‘I don’t care,’ she said. ‘Amos has made me feel better about things than I have in a long while. Better about myself too. Apart from anything else, I owe him a huge debt of gratitude and, whatever else happens, I just want the opportunity to tell him that. And I’m a mature and supposedly responsible adult, not some lovesick teenager about to do something stupid.’
But then she stopped because that’s exactly what she did feel like. Grace felt like doing something very silly indeed. And in that moment the perfect idea came to her.
She stared at everyone, catching Flora’s eye, whose face split wide into a grin.
‘Well, then,’ Flora said. ‘What are we waiting for? Come on, we’ve got to work out how to find Amos. What do we know about where he might have gone? Somewhere he might have mentioned before, or someone he might go to…’ She looked straight at Grace, light dawning in the exact same moment.
‘Maria!’ they both chorused.
‘It’s where Amos was planning on going after he left here,’ said Grace.
‘And she rang here one time,’ added Flora, thinking. ‘Wait a minute…’ Her face lit up with excitement. ‘Amos wasn’t around, so she left a message… with her number for Amos to call her back…’
‘Yes, I took the message,’ said Hannah. ‘I wrote it on the notepad… What if—?’
But Flora had already got to her feet, rushing to fetch the pad of paper that was always kept on hand for messages. She brought it back to the table, leafing through previous pages, turning it this way and that as she tried to decipher the various entries. There wasn’t a sound in the room as all eyes were trained on her every move.
Suddenly she gave a triumphant shout. ‘Look!’ she stabbed a finger on the page. ‘There it is… Maria Holloway… and the number.’ She slid it across the table towards Grace. ‘Go and phone her.’
Grace’s hand shook as she touched the paper. ‘Oh, God… what do I say?’
Fraser leaned forward. ‘You just say your name, Grace. I don’t think you’ll need to say any more.’
‘What do you mean?’
He chuckled. ‘Because I was here the day Amos called Maria back. I was in the dining room so as he passed into the hallway he didn’t see me. I wasn’t eavesdropping on his phone call as such, but it struck me that the way he was chatting with her was quite lovely… But then he said something a little odd which made my ears prick up. He said that the thing Maria had told him would happen to him one day – something that would change his life –hadhappened, and then he mentioned your name, Grace. Now I couldn’t hear what Maria had said before Amos made that comment, but I’m sure he said it in response to a question from her, and it was the way he said it…’ His eyes twinkled as he looked at her. ‘So I’m sure Maria will know exactly who you are, Grace, and, more importantly, why you might be looking for Amos.’
Grace could feel herself blushing. ‘Oh, Isee…’ She picked up the notepad, looking at the scribbled number, and took a deep breath. Then she grinned. ‘Excuse me for just a minute, won’t you?’ she said. ‘I need to pop outside and make a phone call.’
The phone was answered on the third ring.
‘Hello?’ The voice sounded a little breathless.
Grace opened her mouth to speak… and nothing came out. What on earth did she say to this woman, a complete stranger? She would sound a total idiot, or worse… She should have thought about what she was going to say, tried something out in her head, but now all the words she started to form dried in her throat, sounding stupid.
‘Hello?’ The voice came again. ‘Is anyone there?… Amos?’
His name caught in Grace’s throat. ‘No,’ she managed. ‘It’s not Amos, but—’
