‘Strange. Whoever it was must have jumped the fence into that garden. Probably still in there.’
Cally scrunched her hair with her hands and pulled it to one side. ‘Ok. Keep a watch on that gate this end, I’ll go back to the other.’
Several minutes later, Cally appeared on the terrace behind Evie. ‘He’s not coming out, is he?’
Evie felt the blood rush from her cheeks. ‘Clearly not, if it is a he?’
‘Yes, I’m sure it was a he. Dark hair, quite young. I just saw part of a face. Unnerving to say the least. Have you noticed anyone before?’
‘No. That cottage is being renovated. I doubt if it was Bram. Maybe it’s some paparazzi. That’ll please Seb – not! Go back to the back entrance and I’ll go and knock at the front. Hold Charlotte a moment, I need to climb out.’ Evie passed Charlotte to Cally and at the corner post hurled one leg over before leaning forward and kicking over the other. ‘Ouch. Not a recommended route,’ she said rubbing her inner thigh and taking Charlotte back before pottering off to the neighbouring gate.
Once in, Evie banged the door knocker twice, peeking her head to the side where a low picket fence edged the side and rear gardens. There was no sign of an intruder nor was there any answer from the cottage. Whoever it was could be in the back, but there was no way she could hurdle over the thicket of shrubs. She pondered whether to wait, hearing fast footsteps from the alley. Her sister appeared, almost breathless.
‘We missed him. He’d come out and was running down the track. I chased for a while but he was too fast. I saw him run down the road and hop onto a bike.’ Cally stopped to breathe. ‘He’s short, about our height I suppose, dark hair with jeans and a green t-shirt.’
‘Oh, Cally, bless you,’ Evie said, gripping her sister’s shoulder, ‘you’re so brave, running after him. I wonder if he’s from the press?’
Cally’s chest heaved and she pressed her hand to her collarbones. ‘Evie, he could be a menace, especially when you’re on your own here.’
‘But I’ve never seen anyone before. Maybe he was walking passed, was just having a nose, and panicked when he heard you call.’
‘You’re so trusting. Why did he run like hell, and why would he leave his bike down the road?’
Evie’s hand flew to her mouth and her stomach lurched. She took in a deep breath. ‘Shit. You’re right.’ Her hand curled around Charlotte. ‘That is weird behaviour. I’ll have to work out the security system. I have to admit, Seb’s a bit of an anorak when it comes to using the alarms and cameras. He did show me but I’m hopeless. But why would he be snooping? It can only be the press.’
Cally began walking and Evie followed, stopping to watch as her sister rolled over the railing to the terrace as simply as walking through a door. She handed Charlotte to Cally’s waiting arms and attempted the easy-looking manoeuvre with less dignity.
‘Ooh, ouch,’ she said, clambering off-balance to one side. ‘Out of practice, clearly.’
‘Perhaps he’s a stalker. I didn’t see him carrying a camera. We’ll have a look at your security, and keep your eyes peeled, anywhere, any time. Maybe we can catch him if you have CCTV.’
Evie scanned behind her as she held the gate open for Cally, who was still holding Charlotte. Immediately, she secured the lock and ran her fingers around her neck, pinching her hairline.
‘Ok, erm, right, did you lock the double gates?’
‘Yes.’
‘Let me get Charlotte a drink and I’ll get the security info – if I can remember where I’ve put it.’
‘Well let’s not spoil your lovely lunch but yes, priority afterwards, and then we can walk down to the supermarket and I’ll buy some more wine. Oh, have you got candles for the cake?’
Keeping a grip on her lip, Evie was only half listening. Would the press be onto them? ‘Ah, good think…’
‘And some candles for the cake.’ Cally affirmed. ‘Come on, relax. I don’t think he’ll be in a rush to come back. He knows we’re onto him. Enjoy your lunch. We have a party to organise.’
Feeling nauseous and trying to contain her frenzy, Evie relished her sister’s help and specifically, Cally’s penchant for survival skills. She admired her tendency to question everything, and she didn’t hesitate to scare the man off. Although Evie had a curious mind for certain things, her sister certainly had high self-awareness. A trait she lacked. Whether it was innate or whether Cally had learned to adapt – coping with living alone, having to make her way home in the early hours of the morning – she could only guess, but compared to herself, she had the prowess of a tiger. She was certainly more conscious of her surroundings and safety, plus she’d quickly managed to get the cameras and security working, explaining it better than Seb. She just hoped she could remember it all.
Returning from their shopping trip, her sister had also revealed a penchant for creativity Evie hadn’t encountered before. Cally had bought fondant icing for the cake; so much icing that in fact, she had not only covered the cake, but also inserted two fondant ears at the top, then added pink fondant features – transforming it into the face of a sweet little kitten. Charlotte was going to love it. Evie was so grateful to her sister, she was certainly opening her eyes to what could be done, and she was cheeky too. Whilst in the supermarket, twin girls from the park, about a year older than Charlotte, were shopping with their mother and began chatting, then out of the blue Cally invited them along to Charlotte’s party. Evie thought it such a courageous thing to do, but it worked. Charlotte would enjoy two new friends at her party to play with, as well as Suzanne. They were lovely girls too and, Evie hoped, it could be the start of new friendships for Charlotte and possibly herself, if she got to know their mother.
Sadly, the only people missing were her grandparents and, of course, Seb. She’d had to remind her sister not to mention his name in front of Suzanne, which didn’t feel right. It was becoming increasingly difficult to talk to Cally about Seb in Suzanne’s presence, trying to keep his identity under wraps. But, with strangers snooping around, it was probably best for now.
Charlotte loved her party however, and marvelled at the kitten cake, and having friends to play with. Like her daughter, Evie squealed in delight when Charlotte unwrapped Cally’s present. It contained a little pink pushchair, a baby doll, and two CD’s; a nursery rhyme CD and a children’s party CD, which Evie instantly put on for them all to dance and play games. Cally, it turned out, was as much a child as the little girls, playing games, dancing with them and making them laugh. After the twins and their mum had gone home, although exhausted after putting Charlotte to bed, Evie poured out three glasses of Languedoc sparkling wine and carried them out to Cally and Suzanne out on the front terrace.
Cally put her feet up on a stool as she sipped from her champagne flute. ‘Phew, children are hard work aren’t they?’
‘Well three, yes. They all played together nicely though. I don’t think Charlotte has quite grasped the concept of sharing yet, but they muddled through.’ Evie said.
Suzanne sipped her wine, and licking her lips added, ‘I thought it was a perfect party for a two-year-old. We always had too many at our parties when I was a child. Small groups work better in my mind.’
‘Mum always limited ours to twelve, didn’t she Evie? She didn’t like all the hard work that parties entailed. She was also selective about which friends we were allowed to invite.’
Immediately Evie pointed her chin in the air, holding her tongue. Yes, her mother often told them who they should mix with. She’d rarely heard her sister speak negatively about their mother. Cally had been worse than her parents – making snide or seemingly unfair judgements about Seb and how Evie had been a fool to mess up her life… however right she’d turned out to be. At the time, Evie wondered if her sister was