The Cinderella Moment. Gemma Fox
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eyes widened in horror. ‘Oh no. Barney’s not your new boyfriend, is he?’
Six, and he should be working for the local police force. ‘No, honey, he’s not my boyfriend. He’s an old friend of Jake’s.’ Cass paused; childcare was going to be a nightmare. Danny, swinging his legs, studied her thoughtfully.
The job, as explained by Barney over a lot of frothy coffee, a glass too much of house red and a crash course in Italian profanity, was a complex, fast-moving combination of PA, nanny, shopkeeper and head wrangler for Barney’s various family, art and business interests. These would include his pets, mother and various ex-wives, children, stepchildren, girlfriends, ex-girlfriends, creditors, artists, and such domestic help as he could lay his hands on, explained Barney conversationally, topping up Cass’s glass with the brandy that the waiter had left on their table.
To be fair, although Barney swore blind he didn’t like children, he seemed more than willing to accommodate Danny. And Cass, over dessert, had finally agreed to take the job for the summer holidays. Although on reflection maybe it was the booze talking.
‘Daisy’s going to be here for most of the summer and I thought we could hire an au pair – or at least you can. I’ll pay her, you just have to pick someone who won’t steal the teaspoons and hide bread in the airing cupboard,’ Barney had said, dipping a little crispy almond biscuit into his coffee so that the froth crept up it like a rising tide. ‘She can clean house and mind Danny and feed the animals. Actually, I’m not sure why I didn’t think of it earlier. It’ll be perfect. I can teach her to play backgammon and she will think I’m wounded and complex, and moon around after me with her hairy armpits, wearing strange clothes in peculiar foreign ways. They like a father figure, in my experience. I will try to be strong for both of us. It will be absolutely wonderful,’ added Barney gleefully. ‘When did you say you can start?’
‘As soon as the school holidays begin, although maybe we need to talk about living arrangements. For a start, I barely know you. You’re grumpy, rude and untidy – not to mention an alcoholic.’
‘You just said you didn’t know me.’ Barney looked wounded. ‘Jake never told me how rude you were.’ He paused. ‘Presumably you’re worried about your virtue?’
Cass didn’t think that deserved an answer.
Barney sighed. ‘You’ve seen for yourself how big the flat is. There are two decent-sized rooms and a little bathroom at the back – all yours, own key, everything. You’ll have to share the rest, but I’m sure Jake will give me a reference. And don’t worry, you’re not my type at all – my woman of choice is a neurotic bunny boiler who is stalking her therapist.’ He looked sadly down at the remains of his dessert. ‘God, I miss that woman.’
‘Own rooms? Own key?’
Barney nodded and extended his hand across the wreckage of supper. ‘So, it’s a deal then?’ he said, closing his great paw over hers and shaking it firmly before waving the waiter over. ‘Let’s have some more booze, shall we? How’s your tiramisu?’
Now, back at home in the spare bedroom, Cass stared down at her son; she must have been nuts to agree. But then again, maybe it was just the kind of thing that they both needed, a summer by the sea.
Easy. Or at least that was how it had seemed when Barney explained it to her.
She looked up at the wardrobe. It was no good, she would have to go and get a chair.
‘Cass?’ Jake’s voice made her jump. ‘Are you there?’
‘We’re upstairs,’ she called back. ‘Packing.’ Or at least they would be if she ever got the bloody case down. Jake was tall. ‘Come on up,’ she continued cheerily. ‘We’re in the spare room.’
Danny still looked anxious. She stroked sunshine yellow baby-boy hair back off his face. ‘It’s OK,’ she said softly. ‘Daddy will know exactly where we are going. And you can ring him every day if you want to. Maybe we can arrange for you to stay with him for part of the summer holidays. It’s going to be all right. Promise. Cross my heart –’ Was that for Danny’s benefit or hers?
Danny’s solemn expression didn’t alter. ‘Yes, but what about Jake?’ he whispered as their neighbour lumbered noisily up the stairs. ‘Who’s going to look after Jake if we’re not here?’
Good question. More to the point, who was going to look after Cass if Jake wasn’t there to make tea, pick up the pieces and say it would be all right even if it quite obviously wasn’t true? He was like a father, big brother and fairy godmother all mixed into one.
Before she could think of a good answer, Jake sprung across the threshold, clutching a folded newspaper. ‘Have you seen this?’ he said, thrusting it under her nose. The headline read, ‘Local businessman sought for questioning in multimillionpound accounting scam.’
Cass looked up at Barney. ‘Don’t tell me.’
He nodded. ‘’Fraid so – Mr Peaches,’ and then began to read: ‘“Local businessman, James Devlin, forty-one, is wanted for questioning in connection with the disappearance of company funds believed to be worth in excess of two million pounds from Devlin Holdings Ltd of Little Lamport, near Ely. Mr Devlin, a prominent and popular local figure, vanished last week after an emergency meeting was convened to discuss cash-flow problems and discrepancies in the accounts revealed during a routine audit. A company spokesman told our reporter yesterday that company representatives were keen to speak to Mr Devlin as soon as possible.”’
Jake looked up to see if Cass was still listening.
‘There’s a dreadful photo. Looks as if it was taken when he was at school,’ he said, before reading on: ‘“At their home, Mrs Margaret Devlin was unavailable for comment, but in a statement made through her family solicitor said she was anxious for her husband’s safety and mental wellbeing. He has been under a lot of pressure over the last few months, Mrs Devlin added, and said she had no doubt her husband would be happy to cast some light on the company’s present financial position as soon as he returned, and on a personal note added that she hoped that he would be home soon as his family missed him dreadfully.”’
Cass held up her hands in surrender. ‘Don’t look at me like that, Jake. It’s got nothing to do with me.’
‘I just thought you might be interested, that’s all. I mean, you were one of the last people to see him alive.’
Cass stared at him. ‘What do you mean, see him alive? As far as I’m concerned, he is still alive; he was off to have an adventure in Rome. He gave me a mint humbug, for God’s sake, not his last will and testament.’
‘Well, this comment by his wife suggests…you know…’ After checking that Danny wasn’t looking, Jake drew a finger ominously across his throat. He waved the paper at her again. ‘Anyway, I thought you might be interested. Here –’
Cass peered at it. Jake was right about the photograph. It looked like it had been blown up from some kind of eighties team photo and, other than the mop of blond hair, it looked nothing like the man she had met on the train.
‘Well, like I said, I’m not interested. When I saw him he was very chirpy, no hint of…you know.’ She expertly mimicked Jake’s tone and gesture as she returned the paper to him.
‘Have you talked to anyone about seeing him, besides the police?’ asked Jake. ‘The press or anything?’
‘No. Why on earth should I?’
‘I just wondered. Only there’s a car been sitting at the end of the lane for most of the day. I noticed it parking up when you came home. I wouldn’t swear to it, but I think the guy inside has got some sort of camera or maybe binoculars. I wondered if it was a reporter, the paparazzi.’
Cass laughed. ‘Oh, stop it. You’re being paranoid.’
Jake shrugged. ‘Maybe, but I was just thinking, what would happen