The Forgotten Cottage (31 page)

‘Come on, sleepy-head, we’re at my house.’

She sat up and wiped her mouth.

‘Don’t worry, you only snored a little and you never drooled once.’

‘Cheers, Jake, I feel better now.’

They went into the house, where Alex was waiting with a bottle of wine and three glasses; he handed one to each of them and filled them up.

‘So are you going to tell me why you look like shit, Jake, and why Annie looks as if she’s had a fight with Freddy Krueger?’

‘I don’t know if you want to know, Alex, to be honest. It’s all her fault; she’s a bad influence.’

‘Is it going to give me nightmares?’

‘Yes, probably, because I think I’ll be having them for the rest of my life.’

‘Well, in that case I don’t want to know; as long as you’re both safe and it’s over, whatever it is. Is it over? I need to know.’

‘Sorry, Alex. I think it’s all over but if it isn’t I won’t drag Jake into it again; I’ll sort it out on my own. I promise.’

Jake hugged her. ‘You soft cow. Do you think I’d let my best friend fight the likes of Betsy Baker on her own? I’m always here for you, no matter what.’

Annie hugged him back and then followed Alex into the lounge, where she collapsed onto one of the expensive soft leather armchairs and downed her glass of wine.

‘Always such a lady, Ms Graham. Refill?’

She grinned and held out her glass. ‘It would be rude not to. Thank you, Jake.’

Seven Weeks Later

Annie stared at her reflection in the mirror. Lily had helped her to put on her wedding dress and buttoned her into it. Then she had left her alone so she could get ready herself. The hairdresser had spent ages blow-drying and then putting Annie’s thick black curls into a roll and secured them with a beautiful vintage diamanté hair clip which had been a present from Jake and Alex, leaving fine wisps of curls hanging down to frame her face. The make-up girl had done an amazing job and Annie couldn’t remember ever having such flawless skin or such perfect eyes and lips. She hoped Will would think so too. She felt wonderful, even though her stomach was doing somersaults.

She had looked out of the window earlier to see the guests arriving and it had made her feel like throwing up the bowl of cereal she’d eaten earlier. It was an intimate guest list because Annie’s only real family was her brother Ben and his family. Her mother, who hadn’t been in the least bit interested, had sent her a last-minute Facebook message to cancel, saying she was too ill to travel. Annie knew very well that she wasn’t but she wouldn’t waste her time worrying about it; there were some things in life that couldn’t be fixed and their relationship was one of them. Besides, she had her friends who meant the world to her and that was all she needed. She was looking forward to seeing Kav, Jake and Alex all dressed up in their best suits.

The garden was so pretty. Lily must have bought every string of fairy lights in England because there wasn’t a tree or a shrub that wasn’t covered in them. She couldn’t wait until it got dusk and they were all turned on. There was a white marquee on the lawn ready to hold the reception, but the wedding was to be held under the gazebo, which was covered in hundreds of white roses, each one with a diamanté in the centre. Annie had told the make-up girl to make sure she used waterproof mascara because she didn’t want to risk crying and ruining her flawless face. Not that she was going to cry, but you never knew.

There was a knock on the door and Annie opened it to see Kav standing there in a grey morning suit and pale blue cravat. He gasped when he looked at her.

‘Oh, my, are you Annie Graham or have I got the wrong room? You do scrub up well; you look absolutely gorgeous, kid.’

Annie felt her cheeks begin to burn and grinned. ‘Finally, you get to see me when I don’t look like shit; it’s long overdue. I have to say, you don’t look so bad yourself, Kav, not bad at all.’

‘Will I do? I’ve been so nervous I almost threw up my bacon bun and pint of lager. I don’t want to let you down.’

‘You could never let me down; thank you so much for agreeing to walk me down the aisle. It means an awful lot to me.’

‘It’s all my pleasure, Annie. I know we’re not related but you’re the closest thing I’ve got to a daughter and I even have the stomach ulcer to prove it.’

He stepped forward and hugged her, careful not to crush her hair or smudge her make-up. She squeezed him back and he stepped away.

‘This place is amazing but you should see what Lily has done with the garden; it looks like something off a movie.’

‘I know, I walked around it before I went to bed last night. I’m very, very lucky. She’s such a sweetheart and she’s worked so hard.’

‘It’s nothing more than you deserve, Annie. It will make this old man very happy to see you settled down and being looked after by someone who loves you and would never hurt you – well, not intentionally.’

He winked at her. ‘Are you ready then? The man of your dreams is waiting for you and I must admit he looks almost as good as you do, but don’t tell him I said that or his head will swell so much he won’t fit into the marquee.’

She nodded, and looped her arm through his. He passed her the hand-tied bouquet from the end of the bed; it included old-fashioned roses, sweet peas and every scented cottage garden flower imaginable. The jewelled brooches amongst the flowers sparkled and Annie felt like a fairy tale princess.

They stepped out of the patio doors and the organist began to play ‘Here comes the bride’. Fifty people all turned their heads to watch Annie and Kav make their way to the gazebo, where an extremely handsome Will was waiting with the biggest smile on his face she’d ever seen. Her nerves melted and it didn’t matter who was watching because right now all that mattered was her and Will. Father John stood there, beaming and nodding in approval.

Kav passed her over to Will and went to take his seat next to Jake, who was dabbing at his eyes with a tissue. Kav rolled his eyes at Alex, who shrugged his shoulders and laughed. No one could look away from the couple in front of them, who looked as if they belonged on the cover of a celebrity magazine. Lily cried throughout the whole service and Tom sat with his arm around her, occasionally passing her tissues so she could dab at her tears. Finally, Annie and Will were pronounced husband and wife and there was a huge cheer when Will was told he could kiss the bride and he didn’t waste any time in pulling her towards him and kissing her so passionately that she didn’t want him to ever let go.

The day passed by without a single hitch, the sun shone and the champagne flowed freely, the meal and the speeches were perfect, even Jake’s best man speech wasn’t too insulting and had everyone laughing at his jokes. The sun began to set and everyone sighed in unison as the fairy lights lit up the whole garden and marquee, turning the garden into something so magical it would be the talking point for years to come whenever anyone mentioned the wedding. Everyone squealed with delight and Annie hugged Lily then Tom.

‘Thank you so much. I don’t know what to say except that today has been the best day of my life.’

‘No need to thank us; we wanted you and Will to have a day to remember—nobody deserves it more. We’re so proud of you both.’

Will limped over to where Annie stood talking to his parents. ‘Are you ready for the first dance, Mrs Ashworth?’

‘You can’t dance with your ankle, Will?’

‘I think you’ll find I can; the champagne has helped enormously.’

He took hold of Annie’s hand and led her to the dance floor. He couldn’t stop grinning and he swung her round and pulled her close, whispering in her ear, ‘Mrs Ashworth, do you have any idea how incredibly sexy you look in that dress? I don’t know how much longer I can wait before I take you to bed.’

Annie felt her cheeks flush. At this moment she would give anything for it to be just the pair of them and the band but she couldn’t let Lily down. She had put so much effort into planning this whole beautiful wedding. She looked at Will. He was so handsome; his top button was undone and he’d taken his jacket and cravat off hours ago but he still had his waistcoat on. He looked like the most gorgeous man on the planet. She had to remind herself that he was hers and always would be. She sighed as he kissed her.

‘Is that a sigh because you want me so much?’

She giggled. ‘You have no idea how much I want you, but let’s give Lily what she wants, a first dance to remember.’

He nodded. ‘I suppose I can wait a little bit longer; tell me, are you wearing stockings and suspenders?’

The band began to play Annie’s favourite song, ‘The Way You Look Tonight’. It was Will who had introduced her to the wonders of Frank Sinatra and it was Annie’s tribute to his mum, who wasn’t around to see her wonderful son finally settle down. It would always remind her of Will and the first time he had danced her round his kitchen singing it to her. Will began to lead her around the dance floor and, even with his broken ankle, they looked like a pair of professional dancers; the classes Lily had insisted they take paying off as the whole room was watching and applauding.

Jake and Alex were standing with their arms around each other and even Stu, who was a bit the worse for wear, was holding Debs, his wife, and smiling at the happy couple. Annie knew in her heart she was finally going to get her happy ever after and she couldn’t be happier—dreams did come true.

A cold shiver ran down her spine and she closed her eyes, wondering if someone was trying to contact her, but it went before she could reach out to them. She pushed it to the back of her mind. Whoever it was could wait; this was her night.

***

The small silver van parked up outside the town hall. There was a charity gala on tonight and they had been watching the people who had been coming and going out the back for sneaky cigarettes. It was risky—a little bit too risky because the police station was opposite, but there weren’t many lights on inside it and Henry had checked out the rear yard when they’d driven past and there were hardly any vehicles parked up. It looked as if everyone was out working hard for a living. The town CCTV cameras were facing the opposite way from where they had parked and Henry was getting twitchy. He’d told Megan if there was a chance of it going wrong they wouldn’t do it and she’d agreed. The woman Megan had pointed out had been outside three times now for a cigarette with a different man each time, clearly a bit the worse for wear and tottering around on heels that were too high for her. This time she’d come out on her own for a crafty cigarette, her phone rang and she’d walked away from the entrance doors just around the corner, out of sight into the shadows. It was perfect.

Henry nodded at Megan and she got out of the van and walked over to her. Pulling out a cigarette, she waved it at the woman. ‘Have you got a light?’

The woman, who was struggling to keep upright, smiled at her and ended her phone call, then began rooting around in her gold clutch bag, finally pulling out a lighter.

‘Thank you; it’s boring in there, isn’t it?’

‘God, yes, it is. I hate these functions but, you know how it is, you have to pretend you give a shit when really you don’t.’

Megan nodded emphatically, keeping her talking whilst Henry walked up from behind the woman with a plastic bag. He pulled it over her head and then hit her across the back of the head with a hammer. She slumped forward and Megan caught her. He looked around to make sure no one was watching then nodded and they both dragged her over to the small van, bundling her into the back of it. They jumped into the front seats and Henry drove away, taking it easy so as not to arouse suspicion. The whole interaction had taken less than five minutes, around the same length of time as Annie and Will’s first dance twenty miles away, and they had their victim. Megan gave Henry a high five; he drove the van over to the disused barn on Walney that they had turned into a mini torture chamber, ready for Megan’s first kill…

The End

If you’ve missed any of the previous Annie Graham books, turn the page for an extract from Book 1 in the series, Helen Phifer’s international best-selling phenomenon
The Ghost House…

Chapter 1

Annie Graham studied the selection of keys on the rusty hook behind the kitchen door, looking for the one to the crumbling Victorian mansion. Recognising the white, plastic key ring she plucked it off the hook and pushed it into the bottom of her pocket. Earlier she had filled her rucksack with a torch, some rope, a bottle of water, a bag of Quavers and a bar of chocolate: all the things a girl couldn’t live without. She felt like Indiana Jones, about to go on an adventure.

Her training as a police officer made her less inclined to fear the things most of her friends would. Through work she had been in some really sticky situations. She just hoped the inside of the house wasn’t in as much of a state as her brother Ben had warned her about. Tess was whining to come but if she let her run loose and Tess got injured she’d be in big trouble or, in Jake’s words, ‘well and truly busted’.

She locked up then walked along the tiny overgrown path that skirted the outside of Ben’s farmhouse and led through the woods to the mansion, which was a couple of minutes away. Soon the tall chimneys were visible, peeking above the tops of the oak trees. She pushed through a small gap in the bushes, fighting with the brambles, to find herself standing in front of the mansion.

It was magnificent; the walls were built from the same deep red sandstone as the Abbey ruins just below the entrance to the woods. It was remarkable to think that someone could actually afford to build such a stunning home and then abandon it. It had lain empty with no one to care for it for decades. The current owner was an elderly woman who lived in New York. As far as Annie was aware the woman had never even been to look at the house, which had been left to her by the last owner, a distant relative. Maybe if she had she would have done something with it; the potential was endless. Then again, if it had been developed her brother wouldn’t have been able to afford to buy the farmhouse, which had a clause in the contract that whoever owned the farm had to be the caretaker of the big house. Ben was a builder so it was perfect for him. Annie loved the peace and tranquillity that being up here brought to her bruised mind.