Page 53 of New Beginnings At Pencarrow Bay

Two weeks later

Felix sat in Peggy and Ted’s kitchen one July evening.

Ted had opened a bottle of rosé and Peggy had laid out crisps and homemade hummus– with tahini and lots of lemon, garlic and parsley– some large queen olives and a bowl of local radishes with salt.

They were sheltering from an impressive summer storm, which was lashing the glass doors and shaking the villa– exposed on the headland as it was– like an invading force.

‘She’s still not herself,’ Felix said. They were talking about Lindy, of course.

‘But the therapist seems to think she’s got a good chance of recovering– around twenty per cent never do, apparently.

She said she thinks Lindy was more vulnerable to the psychosis because of the trauma of Gordon’s death. They were together nearly fifty years.’

‘How long will she stay at the clinic?’ Ted asked nervously. None of them had seen Lindy since the night of the drive-in movie, two weeks ago now. And she knew Ted was dreading their next meeting.

Felix shrugged. ‘Not sure… She’s been asking to see you both. To apologize,’ he said, clearly uncomfortable relaying this piece of information.

Ted’s eyes widened, but before he had a chance to speak, Felix went on, ‘Don’t worry, the therapist says it’s not a good idea. For obvious reasons.’

‘What is her actual diagnosis?’ Peggy asked.

Felix twitched, lowering his face. ‘Delusional psychosis. Erotomania,’ he mumbled. ‘Mainly affects women. It’s like they falsely believe that someone– often a famous person, apparently– is in love with them.’

Now it was Ted’s turn to look away. No one spoke.

Felix said, ‘I dealt with it all wrong, it seems. I kept challenging her, denying her belief. That was why she got so angry with me.’ He sighed. ‘And I wasn’t sure, of course…’

‘What about the bruise on her wrist?’ Peggy asked.

‘Got her arm trapped by the glass shower door– it’s really heavy.’

Ted glanced over at Peggy, his eyes full of contrition. ‘God, I can’t bear to think what an idiot I’ve been about the whole thing.’

‘Me too, Ted,’ Felix agreed. ‘I mean, my mother-in-law is such a dynamic person, so switched on. I just didn’t understand when she became so hostile towards me.

’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘I didn’t know until you told me that she was accusing me of things like stopping her driving and trying to bully her into a power-of-attorney. ’

There was a long silence.

‘Has she said anything about the emails?’ Peggy asked.

‘Not to me,’ Felix said, brushing his light brown hair off his forehead.

It was hot in the kitchen, despite the storm, but the poor man was probably sweating more from embarrassment than actual warmth, Peggy decided.

‘This is why I wanted to see you tonight. I thought I’d get Cian at the deli to take a peek at Lindy’s laptop…

just to see if he could find anything. I did ask Kim first, and she agreed, although I felt pretty shitty doing so.

’ He glanced at Peggy. ‘But I know how badly it’s been affecting you. ’

Peggy smiled her thanks and waited, heart fluttering in anticipation. It had been a strange period since the night of the drive-in. She had felt so enervated, lethargic.

‘He found a couple of invoices from a Drew Gordon for quite substantial amounts. Not the name Liam traced, but the invoices were both for “Computer services for Mrs L. McDonald”. The dates were around the time of the first email to Sienna.’

Intrigued but confused, Peggy asked, ‘So is Drew Gordon an alias?’

‘We assume so.’ He paused. ‘Kim’s dad’s full name was Andrew Gordon McDonald… so I imagine Lindy told the hacker to use Drew Gordon when invoicing her. But Cian got a bounce-back message when he tried to contact the email address the invoices were sent from.’

Peggy let out a long breath. ‘You don’t think they were legitimate invoices? For some real computer services?’

Felix shook his head. ‘The first invoice was for three and a half thousand pounds, the second for two. You could buy a couple of spanking new state-of-the-art MacBook Pros for that, if Lindy was genuinely having problems with her laptop… which she seldom uses, by the way.’

Ted whistled. ‘Wow.’

‘Plus why, if it was a bona-fide set up, didn’t this Gordon fellow have a website or an email that works, any presence online? There are lots of Drew Gordons out there– basketball players and the like– but no sign of our friend or his so-called “computer services”.’

Peggy, absorbing what he was saying, nodded slowly. This seemed like all the proof she was going to get, in the absence of a full confession from Lindy. It made her sad. A woman so obsessed with Ted, that she would go to such lengths… It beggared belief.

‘And she instigated the coffee-stall trolling too, I suppose,’ Ted said, ‘so she could be seen to save me and my business, perhaps.’

Felix’s fair skin flushed. ‘This is all so bloody embarrassing,’ he mumbled.

Peggy reached over to touch his arm. ‘None of it’s your fault.’

‘Yeah, but the idea that you two were going around thinking I was abusing Kim’s mum emotionally and physically hurting her… It’s horrible. You should have said something.’

Ted nodded. ‘I should have. I’m ashamed. And really sorry, Felix. I’m afraid I did believe her, though. She was very convincing.’

‘I’m sorry, too,’ Peggy said. Ted had long ago bled out on the guilt and contrition front and she wasn’t going to add to his woes by explaining to Felix that she had begun to question the veracity of Lindy’s tale some time ago. Because, until recently, even she hadn’t been completely sure.

Felix gave a rueful grin and threw his hands into the air. ‘Christ, these last couple of months have been even more stressful than the debacle at the bank. And I never thought I’d say that.’

‘What will happen when Lindy comes home?’ Peggy asked him. ‘Is it going to work, you two living together?’

‘Good question. Kim doesn’t want to leave her mum on her own, for obvious reasons. But I worry my presence in the house won’t help her. So I honestly don’t know what we’ll do.’

Peggy felt for poor Felix. Unfairly maligned– and she knew how that felt– and now in the unenviable position of living with a psychotic mother-in-law.

Felix rose to his feet. ‘I’d better get back. Kim’s doing supper.’ He gave a half-smile. ‘She seems to have turned a corner with the new meds, thank goodness.’

‘Listen, thanks for the computer stuff, Felix. It means everything,’ Peggy told him, hugging him as they said goodbye.

After the door shut behind him, Peggy let out a sigh. Going over to Ted she leaned against his chest, snaking her arms around his warm body. As he held her close, she felt the love flowing between them as if it were a real, physical thing. Stronger, perhaps, for the hiatus.

‘I think… I think that draws a line,’ Peggy said slowly. ‘ It’s over .’

But two weeks later, Peggy received a text that made her breath catch in her throat, her heart thump through her ribcage: Hi, Peggy.

I’m back in Lilac House for a short while , read the message.

Would you consider dropping in sometime?

I’m sure you’re not keen to see me again.

But I would like to apologize for the awful things I did to you and Ted. Lindy.

Peggy practically dropped the phone. She stared at the words on the screen as if she’d been turned to stone, incapable of working out what she should do.

Lindy was the last person in the world she felt like meeting.

She’d known, of course, that Lindy would, at some stage, be back at home.

But she’d pushed the thought from her mind, unwilling to deal with it.

The horror she’d felt when she’d first read that email to Sienna had still not left her.

Neither had the frustration– the helplessness and paranoia– that followed. She still shuddered at the memory.

When Lindy apologizes, I’ll feel duty bound to forgive her , she thought. Can I do that?

Ted was at work. What would he say? Lindy hadn’t asked to see him, although that was probably on advice from her therapist. But she wasn’t sure Ted would have a reliable response, his tangled relationship with Lindy still tormenting him as he went over and over how he could have managed things better.

In the end, Peggy worked out that they would have to see the woman sooner or later.

It could be a random encounter, in the deli or along the sea road.

It could be in someone’s house or at the coffee stall– although she hoped Lindy would give Henri a wide berth.

Wouldn’t it be better to control the occasion?

Be in charge, not suddenly brought up short by her unexpected presence.

Kim greeted her at the door. She seemed brighter than when Peggy had last seen her, her expression livelier, less vacant. Peggy wondered if, on top of the new medication, the necessity of stepping up to help her mother had drawn Kim out of herself.

‘Mum’s in the kitchen,’ she said, smiling uncertainly at Peggy, sympathy in her eyes.

As Peggy turned towards the passage, Kim reached out and held her back.

Dropping her voice to a whisper, she added, ‘Thought you ought to know, she’s going to stay with her sister, Aunt Caroline, in Wales for the rest of the summer.

The doctor thinks she needs a complete break from…

’ she hesitated, ‘…the bay environment,’ she finished lamely. Peggy knew what she meant.

‘Thanks,’ she said softly, but the relief she sensed she should feel refused to percolate through her anxiety at imminently facing Lindy again.