The Things You Didn't See(96)

The chickens were gone, the barn was no longer a place of straw and bird shit. It was now a single-storey home, Dutch-barn style and clad in black timber. Daniel didn’t knock, just walked directly through the door into the front room. Where the barn wall had once been was a picture window looking out onto the copse at the back. The room was spartan and plain, and Holly thought it rather soulless.

There was a sharp bark and a black spaniel rushed forward to greet her. ‘Hi, Jet, do you remember me?’ He pushed his nose into her leg, wagging his tail. Yes, he clearly did.

Seated on the far end of the sofa, facing the copse but not seeming to see it, was Hector. He was still wearing his dressing gown, though it was almost noon, and his grey hair was unbrushed. Holly was shocked at how grief had aged him.

‘Guess who’s come to visit?’ Daniel paused, but when Hector didn’t reply, he asked her, ‘So, do you like what we’ve done?’

‘It’s quite something,’ she said. ‘I’d never have known this was once a barn.’

‘My barn,’ sighed Hector, looking wistfully out of the window. ‘No more workin’ the land for me. Those days are gone.’

He touched his bad hand and Holly felt the touch, the mirror sensation of offered comfort, but felt its weakness too. Hector had been king here, and now he was exiled to life in the barn.

Holly went and sat next to him, Jet sat at her feet begging to be petted. She stroked his ears, and said, ‘It’s good to see you, Hector.’

‘Shall I leave you both to catch up? You can find Cass in her study when you’re ready,’ said Daniel, looking at his watch. ‘I’ve got to administer a deep-tissue massage now, so if it’s okay I won’t come with you.’

‘It’s fine. I remember the way.’

When he’d gone, she joined Hector in gazing out of the window, to land that was once farmed but was now being levelled. A huge machine was spreading seed over the area.

‘That’s the next stage of their big plans,’ he said. ‘It’s being grassed.’

His comment made her look at him more closely, and she saw his eyes were cold.

‘Where are Janet and Ash?’ she asked.

‘Oh, they got to keep their cottage. Janet comes over every day. She cooks all the funny food they serve here, salads mostly. And once those fields out there are flatter and covered in grass, it’s gonna be a golf course. Ash’ll be the groundsman.’

She said nothing: she could hear how much this hurt Hector. After the loyalty Ash and Janet had shown Cass, this was hardly the reward they deserved. And Ash was far more than just a worker to Hector, though it seemed this would never be acknowledged.

Holly climbed the stairs to the first floor and to the room that was once Maya’s study. Very little had changed here: there was still a desk and filing cabinet, and lots of paperwork pinned on a cork board. But the woman in charge was different: the daughter had inherited and the mother was gone.

Cassandra looked better than Holly had ever seen her. She was wearing a fitted red dress with low heels, her blonde hair gleamed and her face glowed.

‘Holly, so good to see you, please take a seat.’ Beside Cassandra’s desk was a small armchair. ‘Sorry I wasn’t downstairs to greet you, I was on a call with Lifestyle Magazine. They’re featuring us in next month’s edition.’

‘That’s wonderful.’

What a change this was. The woman before her was, seemingly for the first time, in command of her fate. Her dream was now a reality.

‘Things seem to be going well for you, Cass.’

‘Oh, they are. I can’t tell you!’ Just then light footsteps approached, and a young woman entered the study. ‘Tori, do you remember Holly?’

The teenager looked at Holly, recognised her, and gave a beaming smile. ‘Of course I do – you saved my mum.’

‘Well, I wouldn’t quite put it like that . . .’

‘It’s true, Holly,’ Cass said, lightly rebuking her. ‘Rupert Jackson said it was you who convinced the jury I was innocent.’

After Victoria had ambled away, Cass said, ‘She’s at the Academy in Felixstowe, and doing really well. Of course she’s still adjusting. She misses Oakfield, but she’ll get over that before too long.’

‘Does she still see Dawn?’

‘Oh yes,’ said Cassandra, ‘at weekends and holidays. They’re still best friends and we help Monica with the school fees.’ Her eyes passed over Holly and fixed on her hand, where the engagement ring glittered. ‘Oh, congratulations!’

‘Thank you,’ said Holly.

‘If you’d like to organise your hen weekend here, I’ll give you a very special package. Mate’s rate.’

Holly felt herself cool inside. ‘Oh, I don’t think I’ll be bothering with that.’

Cassandra’s smile dropped, and Holly saw that she was disappointed, not because Holly had rejected the offer, but because she was rejecting the possibility of friendship. As if to underline the point, Holly asked, ‘Do you still see Clive?’

‘I’m involved with Team Talk each Friday, but we run it here now, in one of the therapy rooms. Clive hires the space from me.’

‘And the sleepwalking?’

‘Under control. No repeat incidents,’ Cassandra said simply, still dejected.