Dead Gorgeous (8 page)

‘Can I help you with something?’ Raye asked, her tone decidedly cool now.

‘You can help me take my foot out of my mouth!’

Raye smiled reluctantly. ‘So you’re a guest here? Did you arrive this morning?’

‘No. I’ve been here a while. I live . . . round here.’

‘Really? I haven’t seen you before,’ said Rainbow.

‘Nova has. I like to walk around the grounds. I love it up here. I hope that’s OK?’

Raye shrugged. ‘It’s fine with me. So how come you know my name?’

‘I made it my business to find out. I’m Liam.’

Raye held out her hand. ‘Hi, Liam.’

Liam put his hands behind his back. Raye’s hand dropped to her side. What was this guy’s problem?

‘I’m sorry. My hands are dirty,’ said Liam quickly, his hands now lightly clenched at his sides.

Raye glanced down. Hmm! His hands didn’t look particularly dirty to her. ‘Why did you make it your business to find out my name?’ she asked.

‘I just did. Look, there was something else I wanted to talk to you about.’

‘I’m list —’ Raye’s head snapped back with sudden shock. For the briefest of moments she could’ve sworn she could actually see
through
Liam. She shook
her head and blinked heavily. The light in the reception hall was playing funny tricks with her eyes.

‘I don’t have much time,’ Liam said in an enigmatic rush. ‘Just watch out for Andrew, OK? He’s a liar.’

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘He wants to use you to win a stupid bet.’

‘How d’you know that?’

‘I just know, that’s all.’

Raye regarded Liam. ‘You’re just trying to stir things, aren’t you? What’s your game?’

‘I’m not the one playing games, Andrew is. Look, I have to go now,’ Liam said apologetically. ‘But I’m not lying.’

‘And I’m not listening. The nerve of some people!’ Raye turned and stormed off towards the dining room.

She turned to laser Liam with one last glare, but he’d vanished. Raye looked around, annoyed. He must’ve gone down the same rat hole he came out of. How come he knew Andrew? And why
was he trying to make trouble between them? And if he lived round there, how come she’d never seen him before? Raye thought she’d thoroughly scouted out all the local talent – not
that there was that much! So she would’ve definitely noticed someone like Liam.

Next time she saw him, he wouldn’t get off so lightly. She’d have a few choice words of her own to say and Liam wasn’t going anywhere until he’d heard every single
one.

Nova sat on her favourite bench beneath a pergola at the far end of the hotel grounds. The pergola separated the bench from the direct gaze of the hotel and all around were the
scents and sights of autumn – damask roses and late honeysuckle. Not that Nova was there to admire the flowers. Her head turned first one way, then the other, the expression on her face alert
and watchful.

‘Liam? Are you here?’ Nova whispered. ‘I’m sorry – OK?’

Nothing. Nova had been right through the hotel, calling out to Liam and looking for him. She’d even tried the guest rooms – at least, the ones that weren’t locked or occupied.
For all she knew, Liam could’ve been sitting right next to her at that moment. Nova reached out a tentative hand, only to drop it back down by her side. No, he wasn’t there. Even as he
had faded out in her room, she could still sense him. She’d known the moment he was no longer present and that had been several seconds after his voice had faded. He wasn’t here. As far
as Nova could tell, he wasn’t anywhere. Nova heard footsteps turning the corner, crunching on the gravel path. She sprang to her feet.

Liam . . .?

‘Oh, sorry. I didn’t know anyone was here.’ Mr Jackman was already turning round.

‘It’s OK,’ Nova said quickly. ‘I was just leaving.’

‘You don’t have to leave on my account.’

‘I’m not. I really was going. I just like to sit here sometimes. It’s peaceful.’

‘I like it here too.’ Mr Jackman nodded, looking around. ‘And you can smell the sea, even if you can’t see it from this spot!’

Nova was surprised at the sudden volunteering of information. She knew she should probably leave him to it, but for some reason her feet didn’t seem to want to move.

‘Don’t you think the sea smells like a promise?’ Mr Jackman mused. ‘A promise of all the things it knows and all the things it might reveal.’

Nova frowned at him. What on earth was he going on about? Did he get all poetic with everyone who stayed around long enough? Maybe that was why most of the guests gave him a wide berth. Except
Miss Dawn, who had taken him under her wing.

In a flash it came back to her. Nova now remembered the rest of what Miss Dawn had said to her that morning. It had been about Mr Jackman. And was that what Miss Eve had been trying to get out
of her when they went for their walk which was mercifully cut short? Nova wondered at the elderly women’s interest in Mr Jackman.

‘I love this place,’ said Mr Jackman on a sigh. ‘Always have.’

‘You’ve been here before?’ said Nova.

A trace of a smile flitted over Mr Jackman’s face. ‘A while ago.’

‘I can’t remember seeing you before.’ Not that Nova remembered every hotel guest who’d ever stayed at the hotel, but somehow she knew she would’ve remembered Mr
Jackman.

‘It was some time ago . . . Are your family happy here? Your sister?’

‘Why d’you ask?’

‘Just something I heard her say a couple of days ago,’ said Mr Jackman. ‘It sounded as if she wasn’t too keen on the place.’

‘Don’t listen to Raye. She’s never happy unless she’s whingeing about something.’

‘Your mum and dad are OK here though, aren’t they?’

‘They are now. They weren’t at first – well, Mum wasn’t,’ Nova amended.

‘Why did your mum and dad move down here then?’ asked Mr Jackman.

‘The hotel was left to my mum by a great-aunt,’ Nova explained. ‘It was called the Manor Hotel then. Mum and Dad decided to put all their savings into doing it up and opening
it as a hotel again.’

‘Yes, I remember the Manor Hotel,’ said Mr Jackman thoughtfully.

‘Is that when you stayed here last?’

‘No. I used to live round here,’ said Mr Jackman. ‘I much prefer its new name – Phoenix Manor Hotel.’

‘Mum and Dad decided to call it that.’

‘It suits the place. Your name is Nova, isn’t it?’

Nova nodded, surprised.

‘And your mum’s name is Karmah?’

‘That’s right. Dad wanted me and Raye to have names like Mum.’

‘And what did your mum think of that?’

Nova laughed. ‘Apparently they agreed that Mum should name any boys they had and Dad would name the girls. And a deal’s a deal.’

‘I see!’ Mr Jackman smiled.

Nova smiled back. ‘So where d’you live now?’

Mr Jackman turned to look at her. Really look at her.

‘That was nosy,’ Nova said quickly.

‘No, you’re all right . . . I have a flat in Manchester. I wouldn’t say I live there, though. I travel around too much.’

‘With your job?’

‘Something like that,’ said Mr Jackman. ‘I like to keep moving – even when I don’t have to.’

‘Why?’

‘I’m searching.’

‘For what?’

‘Someone.’

‘Who?’

Mr Jackman looked at Nova and grinned.

Nova’s face started to burn. ‘Sorry! That was nosy too.’

‘Yes, it was. But good for you!’

Nova studied Mr Jackman, not making any attempt to disguise what she was doing. Strange, but when he grinned, someone else’s face had flashed through her mind quicker than summer
lightning. Nova tried to remember just who it was Mr Jackman reminded her of, but it was gone.

‘So who are you looking for?’ she repeated.

She waited for him to answer her last question – but he didn’t. As Nova watched his smile fade, she realized it was the first time she’d seen him smile since he’d arrived
at the hotel. He didn’t look like a man who smiled easily.

‘I like your name,’ Mr Jackman said at last. ‘It suits you. Super Nova!’

Nova smiled wanly. If he was aiming for a subtle change of subject, he’d failed miserably.

‘Sorry! I bet that’s not the first time you’ve had someone say that to you,’ said Mr Jackman.

‘No.’

It was only about the fifty millionth time she’d heard the same joke! They stood in silence for a few strangely unawkward moments. Nova continued to scrutinize Mr Jackman. She usually knew
what to make of the guests within five minutes of spotting them. The arrogant, the shy, the considerate, those with something to hide, the pompous – it didn’t take her long to suss them
out. But Mr Jackman was different. Strange that he should now decide to talk to her – especially after Nova’s earlier conversation with Miss Dawn. This was the most he’d said to
anyone in the hotel since he’d arrived, as far as she knew.

‘Are you here for a holiday or are you still searching?’ she asked.

‘Still searching,’ replied Mr Jackman. ‘I never stop. I never will.’

Nova waited and wondered if Mr Jackman was going to continue. It wasn’t like having a conversation with anyone else she had ever met. Usually you could tell by what was said, and how it
was said and the way the person looked, just where the conversation was going and whether or not it had finished. But not with Mr Jackman. With him it was all guesswork.

‘I’d better be getting back,’ she sighed.

Mr Jackman nodded, moving past her to sit on the bench she had just vacated. Nova glanced back at him. What was it Miss Dawn had said? ‘We all need friends’? She wondered why Mr
Jackman had suddenly decided to speak to her. Maybe Miss Dawn was right. But it wouldn’t have surprised or upset her to learn that Mr Jackman had forgotten about her already. He had himself
and his quest and he didn’t seem to need anything else.

Nova headed back to the hotel. Why worry about Mr Jackman? He was old enough to take care of himself. He certainly didn’t need her help for anything. But as Nova took one last look at him,
it occurred to her that she’d never seen anyone look so lonely. Or quite so alone.

‘I need your help . . .’ Mr Jackman stared straight ahead but his thoughts were light years away in long ago. ‘D’you hear me? I need your help.
It’s in your hands now. I’ve been everywhere. This is the only place left. And I’m not leaving. Not until I find you. You shouldn’t have gone. It wasn’t your fault, I
know that. It was my fault. I drove you out. That’s why I’m not leaving. But you have to help me.

‘You have to.

‘You just have to . . . ’

‘Rainbow, stop picking at your food and eat it properly.’

‘My name is Raye,’ Rainbow amended tersely. ‘And I
am
eating.’

Mum frowned down at Rainbow’s dinner plate. ‘Eating what exactly? Air?’

‘Food!’ said Rainbow. ‘And I’m fifteen, Mum, not five.

I don’t need you to tell me to eat my food. You’ll be picking up the fork and feeding me next.’

‘Raye, ten minutes ago you had a dollop of mashed potato on your plate, along with two sausages and baked beans – and none of them have moved,’ said Mum.

‘I’ve eaten some beans,’ argued Raye.

‘No, you haven’t.’

Raye glared at Mum. Her voice dropped an octave as she mockingly said,’ “I put it to you, Rainbow Clibbens, that you had one hundred and fifty beans on your plate at the start of the
meal and there are still one hundred and fifty left.” What did you do, Mum? Count them onto my plate so you could count them all off again?’

Nova slowly chewed on her sausage as she listened to her mum and sister argue. It was the same almost every meal time.

‘Raye, I didn’t stand in this hot kitchen all afternoon making you dinner for the fun of it.’

‘Here we go.’ Raye tutted and raised her eyes heavenwards. ‘“I spend all day in this kitchen, and do you appreciate it? Hell, no!”’

‘Don’t be so cheeky.’

‘Stop bossing me about then.’

‘I’ll stop when you start eating. Or should I get your dad to have a word with you?’

Raye savagely pronged a sausage before stuffing the whole thing into her mouth in one go. ‘Satisfied?’ she mumbled, her cheeks bulging.

Nova and the twins exchanged a long-suffering look. Nova shook her head as she took another bite of her sausage.

‘Can’t you two stop arguing for two seconds?’ Jake asked.

‘Yeah! You’re giving us a bellyache,’ Jude added.

‘And you’re both giving me a headache,’ Nova put in her twopence worth, glaring at her mum, then at Raye in turn.

‘Fine! Right!’ Raye piled creamy-white mashed potato onto her fork so that the fork was no longer visible beneath the huge mound. Then she pushed the whole lot into her mouth.

‘Good idea, Raye,’ Mum said sarcastically. ‘Choking on your food will really show me!’

Raye sat in stony silence and continued chewing her food. Her eyes shot daggers at anyone who dared to look in her direction. Nova cut carefully into her second sausage, dissecting it into four
equal pieces, before pushing one of the quarters into her mouth. She had a set routine. Peas, beans or tomatoes first, then the meat – whatever it might be, then the energy food (as Mum
called it), or stodge (as Raye called it). Stodge like chips or rice or mashed potatoes or pasta. Nova never argued about eating her food. And she always finished what she was given. She looked
down at her plate. Nearly there. She popped another quarter of sausage into her mouth.

‘Mum, can I have some more milk?’ asked Jake.

‘Me too!’ added Jude.

Mum turned round to get the milk out of the fridge. Nova spread some mashed potato over her last two pieces of sausage. She popped one into her mouth before pushing the remaining mashed potato
into a miniature volcano-shaped heap in the middle of the plate.

‘Mum, while you’re in the fridge, can I have something fizzy to drink?’ asked Nova.

‘Like what?’

‘Got any ginger beer?’

‘There’s one left,’ Mum replied.

‘I’ll have that then. Thanks.’ Nova put the last lot of mashed potato and sausage into her mouth before putting her knife and fork together in the middle of her plate.