‘Maybe you should go home and have a lie down, Tee. I can let Ed know you’ve gone, if you like?’
‘A lie down? Ha! Good one. You think I had a lie down with someone else, but I didn’t.’
I stand up and pull out a bottle of water from my bag. ‘Drink this while I go and get you a coffee.’
‘Don’t need any of your water or coffee. I’m going home.’
‘Shall I come with you?’
‘No. I can walk home on my own, thank you very much.’
I think about going to fetch Ed to look after his wife, but he’s with the kids and it’s better if they don’t see Tia like this. Maybe I could get Ash. I glance around but can’t spot him or his family anywhere. And anyway, Tia wouldn’t thank me for letting her brother know she’s had too much to drink.
‘See you, Fi.’ Tia gives me a wave and starts marching off up the bank towards the path. She’s still talking to herself and I consider going after her, but I can’t deal with more of her drama right now. I have enough on my plate.
Instead, I sit back down in my chair, sip my glass of warm champagne and try to block out the myriad anxieties that are vying for attention in my mind. I focus on the blue lake and the hazy sky. On the warm wind and the friendly atmosphere of the regatta. Before I’m even halfway to relaxing, my phone pings with a text.
It’s from an unknown number, so it’s either spam or a potential new client. I open up the message and start to read:
Hello Fiona. If you think things are bad now, you’re wrong. Soon you’re going to get everything you deserve.
My skin prickles uncomfortably. Is this some kind of threat? I re-read it and realise with a sickening lurch that it is. Maybe it’s something to do with the tax audit. Is this the person who reported me? Could it be Tia? Surely not. With clumsy fingers, I text back:
Who is this?
It doesn’t matter who this is. What matters is what you DID.
What am I supposed to have done?
Your sins will find you out.
Shit. Whoever this person is, they’re not all there. I drop my phone into my lap and glance around, suddenly feeling exposed and vulnerable out here in the open air. What the hell do they want with me? My heartbeat skitters around my chest as I realise I might just understand what they’re referring to. But that can’t be it. Surely not. That was all so long ago. It’s finished. Done with.
My phone rings, making me almost jump out of my skin. What if it’s the texter wanting to speak to me? There’s no way I’m going to have an actual conversation with them. No way, no how. I’ll just let it go to voicemail. Gingerly I lift my phone from my lap, holding my breath as I look at the screen. I exhale when I see that it’s only Kelly. Maybe she’s calling to say she’s left something behind.
‘Hi, Kelly.’ I’m so shaken up that I decide I’m going to tell her about the text. But as she starts talking, it’s obvious something’s very wrong.
Twenty-Four
TIA
Walking back along the lakeside path, my head starts to pound, and my stomach feels decidedly unsettled. I can’t exactly remember what happened back at the regatta, but I think I just made a gigantic idiot of myself in front of Fiona. I was rambling about the photos, and she didn’t seem to have the faintest clue what I was talking about. Unless she was just pretending of course. That’s a strong possibility.
She always seems to get my back up. I saw her looking down her nose at my cut-off shorts. Probably thought I was showing off too much leg. Probably thought I was dressed like a teenager. Well, I like how I dress. I’m not going to change what I wear because of snooty Fiona and her immaculate designer wardrobe. Some of us can’t afford to dress like a princess.
And it wasn’t just Fiona making me feel like crap. Lucinda Blethin and some of the other school mums were giving me the evil eye over something or other. I’m wondering if it was to do with that stupid rumour. Rosie hasn’t talked about it again, but that doesn’t mean that other kids aren’t gossiping about it. And if they told their parents then it’ll be all over town by now.