A Secret Schemer (16 page)

‘Cheers Honey I was prepared
for this.’ As soon as Kate saw me she held her arms out, as I
hugged her she dissolved into racking sobs. Slowly I eased her
towards a chair, and I could see Mary was busily making a pot of
tea. The proverbial cup of sweet tea which is said to cure all our
troubles, only for Kate I believe she’ll need more than a cup of
tea to heal her heartache….

Chapter 21

Later on Sunday afternoon I
caught up with Jena and Andy in the restaurant, we all tucked into
one of Kate’s delicious roast dinners and then relaxed with coffee,
cheese and biscuits. ‘Thanks for this morning Jena; it’s going to
take Kate a while to come to turns with Jeff dumping her, on top of
the Jodie state of affairs. If only she could meet a reliable
guy.’

Andy added with a grin. ‘What
like me you mean Lucy?’

‘Actually Andy, without
allowing your head to swell too much, yes just like you.’ I
laughed.

‘She does need to toughen up a
bit first though Hun.’ Jena explained. ‘She’s a lovely girl;
nevertheless she’s far too vulnerable.’

‘I make you right there Jena,
you’re the one to put her straight where guys are concerned, as
let’s face it I seem to be a pushover.’

‘No you’re not a pushover Lucy,
too busy to take control of an unconventional situation. Believe me
Mr Carter won’t know what’s hit him if he sees the other side of
your sword.’

‘Is she really that scary
babe?’ Andy asks Jena with a smile.

‘You’d better believe it, wait
until you see her throw a wobbly in the bar.’

The three of us had a fit of
the giggles. ‘I’ll leave you ladies to it I have a date with a
movie.’ Andy declares.

‘Yeah that’s a likely story
Lucy; I bet he’ll be observing the inside of his eyelids within
five minutes.’

As Andy made a hasty exit from
the table I looked at Jena drowsily. ‘Please don’t talk about sleep
Hun I’m knackered.’

‘That sounds as though you’ve
had yet another restless night.’

‘Yeah yesterday was a weird
kind of day.’ I added.

‘Would you like to talk about
it?’ Jena asked.

‘Why not Hun you know I always
value your opinion.’

After my detailed explanation I
couldn’t wait to hear Jena’s response. ‘Does any of that shock
you?’ I probe.

‘Not in the least Lucy, that
guy is inscrutable. Surely you intend to confront him with
this?’

‘I intend to question him about
his parents, as for the state of his room that’s a different
matter, he pays his rent therefore he deserves his privacy.’

‘Oh come on Lucy Ross aren’t
you supposed to be having a relationship with the guy?’

‘Yes, however we are not living
together, so what reason could I give him for looking in his room.
I mean there’s no trace that anything improper or unseemly is going
on.’

‘He isn’t behaving in a normal
way though is he?’ Jena probed. ‘Why didn’t you have a good nose
around while you were in there?’

‘To be honest, apart from an
over filled waste paper bin there was nothing to search through.
The only piece of equipment that could give me information is his
computer, and I don’t have a hope in hell of logging into
that.’

‘That’s what worries me, the
guy’s not normal.’

‘I’ve had an idea though.’ I
giggled. ‘You know he creeps into my bed late at night, well how
about if I have a few drinks and don my wench’s outfit and burst in
on him.’

‘Brilliant! You have to give it
a try, let’s face it if it’s ok for him to do it. I’d love to be a
fly on the wall.’

‘He’d be horror-struck, as he
probably has no idea that I have a master key. Copious amounts of
wine would be crucial before I endeavoured to give it a go.’

We both fell about laughing.
‘I’ve got an image of you struggling to open his bedroom door in
the dark while dressed in that wenches outfit, especially pissed,
you’d never get the blooming key in the hole.’

‘You’ve forgotten the fact that
I’d be shaking like a leaf also.’

‘Guess you better rule that
idea out then.’

‘Ok smart arse lets see if you
can come up with a better one.’ I laugh.

‘Lucy all joking aside you have
to sort this out, what time is he due back tonight?’

‘Late I think, actually if I go
up and have a kip now, the bar’s well covered, I could surprise him
by waiting up.’

‘Well it’s a start; let me know
how it goes.’

Much later I settled myself in
the kitchen with a large glass of wine and Lucas’s Sunday paper.
I’d managed to grab a couple of hours sleep during the evening, so
now I felt refreshed and ready to meet the invincible Mr Carter. I
can imagine his surprise when he opens the outside back door and I
make my hasty appearance. I have wedged the kitchen door open so
there’s no way I’ll miss his entrance. Meanwhile as I wait I scan
the gossip in The Mail on Sunday, so much unrest in this world of
ours. By midnight I was beginning to wonder if he would be back,
however as he hadn’t contacted me to the contrary, I decided to
wait it out. After another large measure of wine I was fearless.
When I heard his key go in the lock it was ten minutes to one.
Where did his mother live, in the Outer Hebrides? His face as he
noticed me was a picture, with or without wine I could tell he
blushed, why I wondered. I didn’t utter a word, time for him to
speak I thought.

‘What are you doing here Lucy
is something wrong?’ He mumbled.

‘Why should there be, had you
forgotten I live here.’ I replied with sarcasm.

‘No..No of course not, just
strange to see you downstairs so late.’

‘Well I thought I’d wait up to
have a chat, being as I see so little of you these days.’

‘Rather late for a chat don’t
you think babe, as we both have to work in the morning.’

‘Like I said I rarely see you
to talk to so I’m sure you can give me half an hour of your
precious time.’

‘I’ve been at my parents all
weekend and I’m extremely tired love, could we possibly leave it
until tomorrow evening?’

‘No chance Tim I haven’t waited
up for the benefit of my health.’

‘Why are you so angry Lucy what
have I done to upset you?’

‘For starters you’ve once again
gone to visit your parents who may I add you never speak of, or I
have no idea where they live. Why are you so bloody secretive?’

‘Well we’re not that close and
I don’t see much of them so I suppose I didn’t feel it was
relevant.’

‘Close enough to on the spur of
the moment spend Christmas with them, and now a long weekend again
unexpectedly as your mother is unwell.’

‘Darling I had no idea how much
this was upsetting you.’

‘If you actually gave it some
thought Tim, you may just realise that you know all of my movements
and you’re so elusive. Imagine if something untoward occurred I
would not be able to inform your parents or friends even, as I have
no address or telephone number. While you’re living on these
premises I believe I deserve that out of pure respect.’ I explained
bluntly.

‘Of course babe I hadn’t
thought of it like that, I’ll write down the address and a landline
number for you tomorrow. I’m probably as elusive as you say because
I’ve lived on my own for so long.’ He enfolded me in a hug. ‘Come
on Darling let me take you up to bed, you must be exhausted. How
about we go out for a meal tomorrow night?’

‘You mean tonight I guess, as
it’s now almost two o’clock in the morning. You should remember Tim
I have to be around to help Grace with meals on Monday evenings as
it’s Kate’s day off.’

‘Sorry again babe I forgot, how
about Tuesday then?’

‘Yes that’s ok, are you going
to give me the address, and by the way where do your parents live?
I probe.

‘They live in Orpington Lucy
and I’ll write the address down tomorrow and leave it in the
lounge, now come on sweetheart let’s go upstairs.’

‘Orpington that’s only about
fifteen miles away, what did you walk back?’ I asked
sarcastically.

‘No we had a late meal and one
thing lead to another, you know how it is.’ He said hesitantly.

As I was far too weary to
dispute the issue any more tonight I walked slowly up the stairs to
bed. Tim kissed me gently on the lips as we said goodnight, then
once again went into our separate rooms…

Monday morning, and I’m still
feeling weary after a late night, the details of my meeting with
Tim weighed heavy on my mind. I still find it incredible that his
parents only live in Orpington and yet it was almost one in the
morning before he returned. The journey when taken late at night
should only take at the most about forty minutes. If his mother was
unwell surely she would have wanted to retire earlier than
midnight. Is he duping me? Oh well I’ll find out later when I get
the address and phone number. Now I must get a move on as its
Kate’s day off and there’s always more work to cover in the
kitchen.

‘Gosh Lucy you look drained.’
Jena greeted me with. ‘Not another sleepless night Hun?’

‘Not the best night, anyway
let’s have a cuppa and I’m sure that’ll perk me up. Where are Mary
and Lucas?’

‘Mary’s cleaning the loos and
Lucas has gone for his paper, so what happened last night?’ Jena
probed.

‘If you make me a cuppa we can
nip in the restaurant and I’ll fill you in.’

‘I’m on it Hun.’

‘Hi Lucy are you alright,
you’re looking rather tired?’ Lucas asked as he came back into the
kitchen.

‘I’m ok Lucas thanks, nothing
that a good night’s sleep won’t cure.’

In the restaurant Jena eyed me
sceptically. ‘So a good night’s sleep will cure you then, is that
right.’

‘Well not quite Honey though at
the moment I would be grateful for eight hours uninterrupted
slumber.’

‘So what time did the shifty Mr
Carter arrive home?’ Jena quizzed.

‘Just before one, and before
you say a word I let him have it honey, he’s now definitely had a
taste of the other side of Lucy Ross.’

‘About time Lucy, so did you
learn where his parents live?’

‘Would you believe
Orpington?’

‘Orpington, its round the
blooming corner, so why was he so late?’

‘Seems they had their meal late
and then one thing lead to another.’

‘Yeah I just wonder what those
‘things’ were, aren’t you just a tad concerned Hun.’ Jena
quizzed.

‘Undeniably, however he’s going
to give me their address and landline number later today.’

‘Mm, so how did you respond to
that?’

‘Well I guess it’s a start,
he’s suggested we go out for a meal tomorrow night.’

‘He certainly has a way of
charming you, be on your guard though honey.’

‘I will, sooner or later I want
to get in his room when he’s there, I’m working on a legit
reason.’

‘Lucy this property is your
responsibility so you have every right to check out the rooms.’

‘I know and I will, I’ll just
see how things go for a while.’

‘He definitely needs checking
out if you ask me, don’t let him dupe you.’

‘He looked stunned last night
when he saw me in the kitchen, red-faced; I really did challenge
him sarcastically. You’d have been proud of me.’

‘I’d be a lot prouder if you
checked him out Lucy, that guy is odd.’

‘I will Jena; I’m more than a
little curious now.’

‘Thank goodness, wow look at
the time, the bar will be open shortly, work to be done.’

‘Catch you later Jena, I need
to give Grace a hand in the kitchen.’

After my confab with Jena my
mind’s all over the place, nevertheless I need to concentrate on
the tasks ahead. Tim Carter can be dealt with later.

About seven o’clock I received
a text message from Tim to say he’d put the address in the lounge
and as we weren’t going out was it ok if he had an early night. I
replied it was fine, and what time were we going out tomorrow
night, and where. He replied that it was to be a surprise. Let’s
hope it’s not pizza express again. After I’d finished in the
restaurant I nipped upstairs to collect the address, out of
interest of course. I was surprised to see they lived in a flat;
I’d pictured a Victoria style house for some unknown reason. I
quickly saved the phone number in my mobile, and then jotted the
details down in my address book. Well this has to be headway into
the mystery of this elusive guy. My mind drifted back to his early
night, surely seven was a tad over the top. Oh well no early night
for me, so I hastily ran downstairs to keep an eye on what’s
transpiring in the bar tonight. I certainly feel less edgy about
Tim now I have his parent’s address; I’m sure as we get to know
each other he’ll be less secretive, like he said he’s been on his
own for a long time….

Chapter 22

After Jena had told Andy about
Lucy’s revelations as to the state of Tim’s bedroom, and how he
escaped like the air from a burst balloon on Friday night, for the
whole weekend no less. ‘I am concerned about her Andy that guy has
a knack of charming her, or as I’d say he fobs her off.’ Jena
protested.

‘I thought you said he’d given
her their address and phone number now.’ Andy asked.

‘Yeah I wonder just how genuine
that is.’

‘It’s easy enough to check out
an address these days Jena, surely that’s what she’ll do?’

‘I doubt it Andy for some
reason she’s far too trusting, if I get to see it I’ll check it
out, the last thing I want is to see Lucy hurt.’