Page 26 of The Wedding Cake Wish
Shirley looks up, despair written across her face. ‘Rachel’sfrightened Rory might meet a fate far worse than being pushed under a car.’
CHAPTERTWELVE
I stare at Shirley, the shock of her words like apunch to the stomach.
Pushed under a car?
‘So...are you saying that Rachel’s fallwasn’t an accident at all?’
Shirley looks right and left before she answers. ‘That’sexactly what I’m saying,’ she murmurs. ‘She was pushed under that car. Andalthough I don’t know exactly who did it, I’m pretty sure I know who ordered it.’
‘Whoorderedit? But why would someone want to hurtRachel? She seems such a lovely person.’
‘She is.’ A worried crease appears above her nose. ‘Oh,Ruby, I probably shouldn’t be telling you all this. I promised Rachel Iwouldn’t breathe a word. But when my best friend and her son are in realdanger, I can’t just keep quiet, can I?’ She squeezes her eyes shut in anguish.
‘You can trust me, Shirley.’ I touch her arm and she opensher eyes. ‘I’d like to help and I know Hudson would, too. But we need to knowwhat we’re dealing with.’
She stares at me, her eyes shiny with unshed tears.
Then she nods. ‘I can’t keep all this in. It’s driving memad not knowing what’s happened to Rory, and poor Rachel’s terrified. She won’teat and she can’t sleep.’ She sighs. ‘If I tell you everything, you have topromise me that you won’t call the police.’
I gaze at her uncertainly, a chill running through me.
‘If the police get involved, Rory might end up in even moredanger.’ She’s pleading with her eyes, and I find myself nodding.
‘I guess that’s your call. If you don’t want the policeinvolved. But we need to act quickly if we want to track Rory down.’
Shirley nods. She calls for Trixie and clips on her lead.Then she sinks down onto the grassy bank with a sigh. ‘The thing you have tounderstand is that life has been really tough for Rachel and Rory. When she wasstill just a teenager, Rachel was wrongly accused of a crime and she spent sixmonths in a young offenders’ institution.’
‘What kind of a crime?’
‘Arson.’
‘Oh, my goodness. But she was falsely accused, so she didn’tactually start the fire?’
Shirley shakes her head. ‘She won’t talk about that time inher life. Even Rory doesn’t know all the circumstances. And for a long time,all I knew was that she spent time in a young offenders’ institution when shewas fifteen. But then a couple of months ago she had her accident, and when shecame home from hospital I was spending a lot of time with her, looking afterher with Rory. We naturally became closer and shared confidences, and then onenight, after she’d had a few glasses of wine, Rachel...well, shetold me everything.’
She leans forward, the dog’s lead looped over her arm, andrubs her face wearily. She has large hands, I notice, and lovely long elegantfingers. I wait, holding my breath, for her to continue.
‘She told me about that night, out with two of her friends,and how a dare had gone badly wrong and a cottage was burned to the ground.They all ran for home when the fire took hold, but the owner of the cottage wasa retired teacher and she recognised Rachel from attending school functions. Soit ended up that Rachel went down for it.’
‘But it wasn’t her? She protected her friends?’
Shirley nods. ‘There were no witnesses to identify the othertwo girls, so Rachel carried the can herself, even though she hadn’t startedthe fire, and she served the time for it.’
‘And the other girls just let it happen? But that’s awful.What happened to her friends?’
‘I’ve no idea. After opening up to me that night, Rachel’srefusing to say any more, and she’s made me promise not to tell Rory.’
‘But why?’
She sighs. ‘It’s always been just the two of them, since Rory’sdad walked out when he was tiny. Rachel’s an intelligent woman and she had herheart set on a career in the law, but those dreams were shattered by the arsonverdict. Having been in prison, she faced prejudice over that criminal recordfrom all quarters. And that meant her job prospects were...limited,to say the least. The upshot was she ended up taking a string of dead-end jobsjust to keep a roof over their heads. I think she knows Rory would be incensedif he knew she’d done time for a crime she didn’t actually commit, and the realculprit had got off scot-free.’
‘I wouldn’t blame him,’ I breathe. ‘Poor Rachel.’
Shirley sighs. ‘It gets worse.’
‘Worse? You mean the accident?’
