A Move to Murder: A Bride's Bay Mystery Read online

  “I know.” Gina squeezed her arm.”And there’s no need to apologise. We’re all on edge.”

  She finished the arrangement and the three made their way to the altar, collecting the broom and dustpan full of petals and dry leaves from the Lady Chapel on the way. Frances had disappeared but her location became obvious a moment later when raised voices came from the flower room.

  “For goodness sake Ali! You’re wrecking it! Give it here.”

  Ali’s low voice could be heard, then Frances’s, harsh and loud.

  “But you shouldn’t! How many times have I told you?”

  A protest, then a crash and the sound of breaking glass.

  “Now look what you’ve done!” Frances’s voice was screeching now, high pitched and furious.

  Ali’s low voice could be heard, but not what she said. Then crying.

  Beth and Gina looked at each other but Carol was already striding down to the flower room.

  “Ali! Frances! What on earth is going on?” Her voice trailed off and Beth and Gina looked through the doorway into the small room. There was no space for them but Beth took in at a glance Frances’s face, white with fury; Ali, on her knees picking up bits of glass, tears streaming down her face and spread around the soaked floor bits of oasis, crumbs of green against the grey concrete floor.

  Carol took charge. “Ali, stop, you’ll cut yourself. Beth, take her away and look after her. Gina, take Frances into the Lady Chapel and give her a drink of water. Here.” She stepped over the mess of glass, water and oasis, held a plastic beaker under the tap and passed it to Gina. “I’ll tidy this up. Now go” pulling Ali to her feet and pushing her at Beth, then taking Frances by the arm and passing the dazed woman to Gina. Gina didn’t look too keen but did as she was told, leading Frances into the church and through into the Lady Chapel at the side, sitting her down and passing her the beaker of water. Frances was silent now, white and stunned.

  She had the easier one to look after, Beth reflected, her arm around Ali as she led the thin woman down the aisle to sit at the end of the front row, as far from Frances as she could manage. Ali still sobbed quietly, her breath coming in gasps. She sat down next to the distraught woman, putting her arm round her and making soothing noises. Gradually Ali calmed down and Beth passed her a tissue to wipe her eyes and nose. “I’m sorry” her voice was quiet and Beth had to strain to hear. “I didn’t mean to make her cross. I just wasn’t concentrating and the oasis started to fall apart and it was new....” Her voice faltered as tears threatened again and Beth spoke quickly to distract her. “We’ve all done that. The amount of times the oasis has fallen apart because I’ve tried to force stems in, you wouldn’t believe.” She spoke the truth, but hoped Ali wouldn’t mention her transgressions to Frances, knowing she was in charge of the flower arranging budget and resented any waste of money. She could well imagine Frances losing her temper when she saw a pile of new oasis being ruined.

  “But the glass?”

  Ali shivered. “She grabbed the oasis off me. I lost my balance when she lunged at me for it and put my hand out but I brushed the shelf with the vases on it and one fell off and smashed.”

  At least she was more in control now and the threatened tears remained at bay. Her voice was also stronger. A moment’s silence then she burst out “Vile woman! Who does she think she is, treating people like that? And we’re supposed to be friends!”

  Beth diplomatically kept quiet. She agreed with Ali but now wasn’t the time to say so. But something needed to be done; the flower arrangers were all volunteers and certainly shouldn’t be spoken to or attacked like that. Come to think of it, no one deserved to, even if they were paid. This was one for Mark. Though goodness knows he already had enough on his plate.

  Ali blew her nose again and stood up. “I’m going home. I’ll go out the side door, to avoid her. But will you tell the others for me, and Mark, that I won’t be helping again?”

  Beth didn’t know what to say so just gave her a hug. Poor woman; Julian under suspicion, the gallery to run and now this.

  Gina was still in the Lady Chapel with Frances but neither was talking. Frances seemed in a trance and Gina simply sat beside her. She looked enquiringly at Beth and Beth motioned with her hand that Ali had gone.

  Frances became aware Beth was in the chapel. She stirred and looked at her.

  “I’m sorry.” Her voice was flat, devoid of any emotion. “I overreacted. I shouldn’t have shouted at her like that. I’ll apologise.” She made to stand but Gina caught her arm.

  “Ali’s gone home, Frances. Why don’t you leave it until another day? Everyone is upset at the moment and saying things they don’t mean.”

  “Oh I meant it.” Frances’s spirit was returning. “But I shouldn’t have lost control like that. I will apologise, but tomorrow like you suggest. Or maybe Sunday, after the service.”

  She struggled to her feet and turned to Gina.

  “Thank you, Gina. And thank Carol for me for tidying up, will you? I’ll be off now” and she walked stiffly into the church to collect her bag and leave.

  The three women left behind sat in a pew and looked at each other.

  “My goodness. What a scene.” Carol was first to break the silence. “Well, come on girls; let’s get these flowers sorted quickly and go back to mine for a cup of tea.”

  Beth had a quiet weekend and was grateful for it. Gina was going to a concert with Tom on the Sunday evening in Portsmouth and suggested Beth go as well but Beth had no desire to play gooseberry and invented an excuse. Tom was visiting friends back in Reading for part of the weekend and so Beth walked Charlie alone on Friday and Saturday. She sat in their usual place on the shingle, gazing unseeingly at the island, feeling unsettled and fidgety. So many things were wrong, like a jigsaw with all its pieces in the wrong place. A cloud of fear and suspicion hung over the little town. Carol was steady and optimistic on the surface but taut and anxious. Gina was also outwardly calm but Beth knew she was deeply worried about Carol and this episode had brought back all the strain of her husband’s terminal illness. And how did Gina feel about Tom? They had been out several times together; to museums, exhibitions, concerts. They had many interests in common and seemed relaxed in each other’s company. Beth had discovered through Gina that Tom had never been married; he had been engaged but his fiancé had left him for his friend, when Tom had finished his PhD and was about to start his first lecturing post. Gina seemed to enjoy Tom’s company, going to the theatre and so on but Beth had no idea if she was attracted to him and was ready for more than companionship and friendship. Beth sighed. Two months ago life had been so simple. She wished with all her heart the cloud would roll away and leave them all in peace. And Tom? Did she wish he would go away so the equilibrium would be restored? With a sinking of her heart Beth knew the answer to that was yes. If he stayed and got together with Gina, how would she cope seeing them together all the time? How that would hurt. But even if he stayed without getting together with Gina, how would she deal with seeing him all the time and knowing there could never be anything between them? She would be devastated if he left. But how much more painful it would be if he stayed. Beth stood up stiffly and called Charlie. She walked slowly back over the shingle, realising a simple fact. She had fallen in love with Tom, and her heart ached so much it was a physical pain.

  Chapter 9

  Melissa’s funeral was taking place on June 10th, the day after Carol’s operation. Mark was taking it and the choir would sing. Grace had arranged for the Mothers’ Union to organise refreshments in the church hall, after the service. Grace herself was doing the eulogy and Beth marvelled that the other woman felt able to do so, when her heart must be breaking. She knew she would never have been able to do the same for Louise, but felt a surge of shame and guilt that she hadn’t been able to do that last thing for her only sister. But everyone was different. And Beth had had to stay strong for Nell that bleak, January day, when the air had been still and grey, even the birds si
lent, as though the whole earth mourned for the lovely, young woman, the mother and sister, who was gone for ever. Beth dreaded Melissa’s funeral, then felt guilty for considering her own feelings, when Carol and Ken, and Grace, had so much more to bear.

  Carol didn’t help at tea and Chat on Monday, Maggie explaining she was getting ready for the operation the next day, so Beth and Gina called round to her house after they had tidied up.

  They sat in the conservatory. Carol was packed, her overnight bag in the hall; she hadn’t needed time to get ready but couldn’t face chatting to everyone, which Beth and Gina had suspected.

  “I have to be there at half past seven tomorrow morning. Nothing to eat after seven o’clock tonight. Then I am on the morning theatre list. All being well, I can come home tomorrow evening. Unless for some reason they want to keep me in overnight. Then it’s a week to ten day’s wait for the biopsy results. That will be the worst bit.”

  “Just remember the vast majority of results are normal. It’s far more likely to be harmless than anything nasty.” Gina patted her hand.

  “I know” Carol gave them a slightly wobbly smile. “That’s what I keep telling myself. But another thing I’m not happy about is that I will have to miss Melissa’s funeral.”

  “But you can’t help that!” explained Beth. “You’ll be recovering. No one would expect you to be there.”

  “No” a sigh “but I would have liked to be there with all of you, to pay my respects.”

  Gina leaned back in the wicker chair. “We’ll tell you all about it. I’m making a flower arrangement for it. Grace was talking about flowers after church yesterday. Of course she’s ordered all the formal arrangements and the flowers for the coffin. I said was she having exotic orchids and lilies and so on, Melissa being so vibrant and exotic herself, but she said Melissa preferred simple flowers, freesias, sweet peas, roses, things like that. And her favourite colours were pink and lemon, although she didn’t wear them as they didn’t suit her. I’ve got some beautiful lemon and pink peonies in the garden so I said I would do an arrangement as well. She wants to put a photo of Melissa on a side table and we’re going to put my arrangement there.”

  “Oh Gina, that will be lovely.” Beth knew the peonies Gina was talking about, also that she would make a stunning arrangement. “But I’m glad Grace has ordered the flowers, from Maisie’s Blooms I suppose?” Gina nodded. “We left them in a bit of a mess on Friday, after that scene.”

  “They looked alright yesterday” Carol assured her. “I think Frances must have gone back to sort them out sometime.”

  They talked a bit longer about the funeral then Beth and Gina left, wishing her luck for the next day.

  “Get Ken to phone us” reminded Beth. “If he phones one of us, we can call each other.”

  Beth had been worried she would feel a slight restraint with Tom on their walk that evening, but he was so laid back and chatty that she was able to relax and act normally. She filled him in briefly on the scene at flower arranging, but played it down, imagining him cringing at the thought of the arguing women. To her surprise he frowned and took it seriously. “Ali worries me” he said, sitting down on the shingle close to her; too close for comfort, but Beth couldn’t move away without making it obvious. “She’s so tense, like a pressure cooker about to blow. I called into the gallery this morning and she’s so nervy. I asked her how Julian was and she just said he’d be in later and turned away. But she looks as if she’s about to crack. I’ve seen students fall apart like that.” He was silent, staring out to sea.

  “On a happier note, your Nell is a lovely girl, a breath of fresh air.”

  “Isn’t she just!” For a moment Beth forgot Ali, forgot Frances, even forgot the murder and Carol’s operation as she thought fondly of her niece who had phoned the night before to say Will had suggested going away for a few days, just to the Cotswolds, before the area became flooded with visitors.

  They chatted about universities, courses and job prospects, then walked slowly back up the beach to the main road.

  “Let me know how Carol is tomorrow, won’t you?”

  Beth nodded. “Hopefully I’ll know something when we walk the dogs.”

  She slept badly that night, thinking of Carol lying awake, and Grace preparing to bury her sister. She sighed and Charlie beside her opened one eye, sighing too.

  Two o’ clock and still no news of Carol. Ken had said he would text when she was back on the ward.

  Beth had a sandwich in the garden, then unable to settle, walked along the seafront to the church. Gina’s car was parked in the car park and she went inside, in time to see Gina gathering up her bits and pieces. Behind her was a tall arrangement on a black pedestal, a mass of pink, lemon, white and green. Informally arranged, spilling ivy down the front, Gina had arranged stunning blowsy peonies, some delicate lemon, some pearly pink, with lemon and pink alstroemerias and white carnations, frothy white gypsophilla surrounding and separating the pastel blooms. The whole effect was stunning, like an impressionist painting. It managed to combine colour and beauty with peace and grace. The arrangement stood to the side of a small, round table, containing a simple black framed photograph of Melissa. She was standing on a beach, too sandy to be local, in a simple, long flowing white dress, the wind moulding it to her body as she stood sideways, smiling into the camera, dark glossy waves blowing around her beautiful face. She looked carefree and happy. Beth wondered if Grace had taken the photo. It was a moment in time and captured the vitality and beauty of the woman, her very essence.

  The two women were silent.

  “Gina, it’s wonderful.” Beth felt her throat closing up and swallowed hard.

  “The other flowers are coming in the morning. But I’m happy with these; I think Melissa would have liked them.”

  Beth was in no doubt. “Come on” taking Gina’s arm. Let’s go and get a coffee. I think you’ve deserved one.”

  They walked round to the seafront, to the hotel, both wanting peace and quiet and knowing the coffee shops in the High Street would busy and noisy.

  They left their phones on the table between them, not wanting to miss a call or text. Beth ordered the coffees from the bored looking waitress and conversation turned inevitably to the funeral the next day.

  “I’ll go home first for a quick snack and change, then meet you...”

  Beth’s phone began to ring and she snatched it up. Ken. She listened carefully, then hung up and looked at Gina. “All over. Carol’s alright and they got home half an hour ago. He couldn’t text from the hospital, no signal, but it all went well and she came round from the anaesthetic fine. She’s a bit sore but just pleased it’s all over. And Ken sounds very relieved.”

  They had another coffee to celebrate. Beth’s phone buzzed with a text coming through. Tom. Crying off from walking Tess with her that evening as he had forgotten he had an electrician calling round at seven.

  It was too good an opportunity to miss. Beth took a deep breath.

  “He’s nice, isn’t he? Tom, I mean.”

  “Very.” Gina agreed, sipping her coffee.

  “You seem to get on very well together.”

  Gina raised perfect brown eyebrows. “Yes, and so do you two.”

  “Well yes, we enjoy walking the dogs, but we’ve never been out anywhere, to a concert or exhibition or anything I mean.”

  Gina looked amused.

  “Ah. But I have. So, are you saying you would like to go somewhere other than the beach with the dogs?”

  “No, no.” This wasn’t going as she had planned.

  “Beth, what are you trying to say?”

  Beth fiddled with the sugar sachet. “I just thought, you get on so well, you’ve got so much in common. I just wondered, well, it’s nice for you. Isn’t it?” doubtfully, as Gina remained silent.

  “Beth, he’s a very nice man, thoughtful, considerate, kind. And very pleasant looking. But I’m not looking for another partner. Malcolm was the love of my life. It’s
nice to have a companion to go to concerts with and so on. But there’s nothing else between us. He’s never given me the slightest indication he’s interested in me that way.”

  Beth was aware of a flood of relief, starting at her head and flowing through to her toes. She felt almost light headed with it. She had no need to watch her best friend with the man she had stupidly fallen in love with; no need to pretend happiness for the two of them and live with the strain that would have caused her. Gina was looking at her curiously. “Beth, why are you asking? Did you really think we were getting close?”

  “I didn’t know” she confessed. “Like I said, you seem to get on so well, I just thought...” her voice trailed off.

  “Would it have bothered you?” Gina’s blue eyes missed nothing, reading her friend’s expression of relief and embarrassment. “Beth, it would have, wouldn’t it?”

  Beth looked at her friend uncomfortably. “Oh Gina. I felt so guilty at not being happy for you, if you were getting close to him. But I was so jealous.” She swallowed. There. She had admitted it.

  “Oh Beth!”

  “No, don’t” Beth flapped her hands in front of her face. “You know I’m being stupid.”

  “No you’re not, of course you’re not.” Gina caught her hands and squeezed them.

  “I am” insistently. “Even if he liked me, nothing would ever come of it, nothing can come of it, you know that.”

  Gina’s blue eyes shone with sympathy and Beth had to blink away tears.

  “Oh sweetheart, we can’t help falling in love.”

  “No.” Beth sighed, wiped a tear away. “I thought I was immune. After…..well, you know, I thought I would never be interested in any man. I didn’t want to be interested. Now look at me!” She tried to smile.

  Gina didn’t know what to say and simply patted her hand.

  “Don’t give me any sympathy” she blinked hard again. “Come on, let’s talk about something else.”