had changed, many of her family were already inside, there would be no locking her in again, or any danger of her falling to her death.
‘Oh wow!’ Holly exclaimed, coming awake in the back seat. ‘This is totally awesome.’ She pushed open the car door and tumbled out to stretch her long limbs in all directions after the drive. Noel, the boyfriend, did the same, exposing a well-toned midriff to the chill spring air and a large strip of boxer shorts above the waistband of his drainpipe jeans.
Callum turned to Joely. ‘Are you OK?’ he asked, clearly realizing she might not be. He’d been there for the sleepless nights, and had listened as she’d relived those terrifying minutes as though trying to exorcise them.
‘I think so,’ she replied, adjusting her sling. This new one was purple, created from foam and cut specially to fit her injured arm and shoulder, while doing nothing to improve mobility or alleviate pain. ‘We’re here now, so we should go in.’
He looked along the drive to where Holly and Noel were joshing with one another as they walked to the house and on across the impressive fa?ade to the gleaming, vine-covered tower. ‘Jesus Christ,’ he muttered taking in the height of it and the reality of the boulders below.
‘The wisteria’s starting to bud,’ Joely commented evenly. ‘It’s going to look beautiful by the end of the month.’ Spotting her mother coming out of the front door to greet Holly and Noel she felt a truly strange shift in the world.
Her mother was in Freda’s house.
Putting the car back into gear, Callum said, ‘Only you and Marianne could do something like this. You might have been killed trying to get out of this place, and yet here you both are taking care of the woman who—’
‘We have to try and put it behind us,’ Joely broke in. ‘She needs us now, she always did I guess, she just didn’t go about approaching us in a very good way.’ She could see Freda now, opening the window of her writing room and stepping out onto the balcony to wave hello. Surreal Joely was thinking as she waved back, completely and totally surreal.
With an incredulous sigh, Callum drove on up to the house and parked next to Marianne’s Lexus.
‘Where’s Jamie?’ Joely asked as her mother came to embrace her. Marianne now seemed to have taken over the role of hostess in Freda’s house, just as Freda had assumed it in Marianne’s.
This could all be a dream.
‘He and Clare have taken the children to ride the funicular,’ Marianne replied, giving Callum a hug. ‘We’ve arranged to meet them at the Rising Sun for a late lunch if you’re feeling up to it. Andee and her mother are joining us. They’ll obviously want to see you.’
Joely winced as a bolt of pain shot through her arm, ‘We can’t leave Freda here while we all go out,’ she objected. ‘Is Brenda around?’
‘She left half an hour ago, and Freda’s thinking about coming with us. Holly and Noel have gone to turn the thoughts into action.’
Of course they have.
‘Where shall I put the bags?’ Callum asked, opening the car boot.
‘Dump them in the hall for now,’ Marianne replied. ‘We can take them upstairs later. You’re back in the room you were in before,’ she informed Joely, ‘Edward’s next door with his new girlfriend Amanda. She’s very nice, by the way, I think you’ll like her. The rest of us have taken over the rooms on the top floor.’
The mysterious top floor that apparently contained no mystery at all.
‘I hope you haven’t put Holly and Noel in together,’ Joely said quickly.
Marianne treated her to a scolding look. ‘She’s fifteen,’ she declared. ‘As if I would.’
Joely’s eyes widened, but Marianne was already going inside to continue her hostess duties.
‘She said that with no irony at all,’ she muttered to Callum, hardly able to believe it, but he was busy unloading the car.
Much later in the day, after a rowdy and delicious lunch at the pub, Joely and Jamie decided to walk back to Dimmett House while the others either travelled by car, or remained in Lynmouth to watch the tide washing up over the twin beaches to flood the tiny harbour.
‘OK, so how are you?’ Joely asked, finally able to link an arm through her brother’s for a private chat as they took their seats on the funicular to ride up to Lynton.
‘It’s me who should be asking you that question,’ he countered, nodding