Faith (68 page)

Laura had hoped she might hear disappointment in his voice, but he didn’t even add a suggestion that maybe they could spend a little time together in Edinburgh before she returned to London. ‘Yes, I’m sure getting stuck into another business is just what I need,’ she said, forcing herself to sound excited. ‘But what about you? Are you all healed up?’

‘Pretty much,’ he said. ‘And I’ve had several offers of work, both here in Scotland and abroad. I think I’ll stay in Scotland though, at least until this probate stuff is sorted. Jackie would have wanted me to see it all through.’

He said then that he’d have to ring off as he had a lot of things to do, but he thought Patrick Goldsmith would be in touch with her any day with the date for the appeal.

‘So!’ Meggie said as she came off the phone. ‘Is he coming down? What are his plans?’

Laura smiled at the bright expectancy on her sister’s face. ‘His plans don’t include me, Meggie, though I’ll see him at the appeal. But after that it’s goodnight and goodbye, and we both move on.’

19

‘One more picture, Laura!’

‘How do you feel now you are free?’

‘What are your plans now, Laura? Will you stay in Scotland?’

‘Do you feel angry that you were put in prison for a crime you didn’t commit?’

‘You’ll be called as a prosecution witness when Belle Howell comes to trial. Will that be difficult for you?’

Laura fixed a smile on her face as the journalists outside the court fired questions at her. But what she really wanted to do was run away and hide, from them, the photographers and the television cameramen intent on sending her face out into every living room in the country.

She was of course ecstatically happy that finally it was publicly acknowledged that she was innocent of any crime. The judge had smiled at her and wished her well for the future, she’d been patted on the back, kissed, hugged and congratulated by a great many people. Patrick had even said she should get a hefty sum in compensation for wrongful imprisonment.

But she didn’t feel any joy at the smiles of the media people here today, for almost all of them had condemned her just twenty months ago, and revelled in all the dirt they managed to dig up on her.

It was tempting to remind them of that, even to quote some of the more salacious headlines they’d used at the time and make them squirm. But if she showed spite they were likely to reciprocate, and the sooner she said a few words, the sooner she could walk away and begin her new life.

Glancing behind her at Meggie, Ivy, Angie, Stuart and Patrick, the concern etched on their faces gave her the strength she needed.

‘I’m thrilled to be free, and my name cleared,’ she began, looking from one face to another and trying hard not to think how good it would be to slap some of them. ‘It’s too soon to know where I’ll live permanently. As for my wrongful imprisonment; my biggest sorrow is not that I lost my freedom for two years, awful as that was, but that people actually believed I killed my dearest friend.’

She paused for dramatic effect. ‘Jackie Davies had been my lifelong friend. We had grown up together and shared so much. I loved her and I still grieve for her. My life will never be the same again because she can’t be part of it.’

She was glad to see a few of them looked a little shamefaced, and that was all the revenge she needed.

‘But today isn’t one for blaming others, nor for anger or bitterness,’ she went on. ‘It is a joyful day because a wrong has been righted.’

She turned slightly, holding out one hand to indicate Stuart.

‘I would like to publicly thank my old friend Stuart Macgregor. Without him I wouldn’t be talking to you today. He believed in me when few others did, and dug up new evidence for my appeal. He even risked his life for me. I’d like you all to join me in applauding his courage.’

As she began to clap, the crowd joined in, many of them shouting bravo and stamping their feet in approval.

Stuart blushed like a bashful schoolboy.

‘I owe Stuart more than words can ever say,’ she added as the applause died down. ‘He was the real hero in all this, along with his friend David Stoyle who sadly couldn’t be here today. But I’d also like to thank my lawyer Patrick Goldsmith for working so tirelessly on my behalf. And for the unconditional love and support my sisters Meggie and Ivy gave me.’

There was another burst of applause but Laura made a gesture with her hands to end it.

‘I would ask you now to leave me and my family in peace to get on with our lives,’ she finished up. ‘Thank you.’

Patrick Goldsmith took her arm and led her away from the throng. ‘Well done, Laura. That was perfect,’ he said. ‘I doubt they’ll obey your wishes, they never do. But for now a celebration drink is in order, and I’ve taken the liberty of hiring a private room in a restaurant down the street.’

It was four in the afternoon, chilly and spitting with rain, but f r Laura Edinburgh had never looked so bright and beautiful. She and her sisters had flown up early that morning, and Meggie and Ivy would be going back the following day. Laura had not booked a return flight because she planned to stay a few days with Angie, then buy herself a car so she could go out to Fife to visit Barney’s grave. After that she intended to get her belongings from Angie’s mother’s house and drive back to London.

Stuart fell in beside her. ‘Did I tell you that you look beautiful today?’ he said.

Laura smiled. She had taken great care in picking her outfit, a fitted taupe linen dress with a cream striped jacket. It wasn’t just because she knew she’d be photographed, but because she wanted Stuart to see her at her best. ‘You look pretty gorgeous yourself,’ she retorted, noting how well the light grey pinstripe suit fitted him. ‘I’ve never seen you in a suit before!’

She was tempted to remind him that he’d once claimed he would never wear a suit because it was ‘establishment’. But she supposed they had both grown up a lot since those days.

‘Happy?’ he asked as they arrived at the restaurant, giving her the kind of wide smile that brought back so many sweet memories.

‘Happy doesn’t even come close to covering it.’ She smiled back. ‘I’d like to climb right up on to the highest point of the Castle and scream out how great I feel.’

‘I was glad to see your bruises have gone,’ he said, reaching out and touching her cheek gently with his thumb. ‘Meggie said they were bad – she was afraid they wouldn’t fade in time for today.’

‘I think that is down to the power of faith,’ Laura giggled. ‘I’m far too vain to want to look like a road accident victim, even if it would get me still more sympathy.’

Stuart laughed. ‘David rang this morning to wish you luck. I’ll have to phone him in a minute and tell him all about it. Next time I’m in London I could take you over to see him and meet Julia and his children, if you’d like that?’

‘I would,’ she said. ‘But you must give me his address anyway so I can write and thank him for his help. But right now all I want is a stiff drink.’

The small private room had been decorated with yellow helium-filled balloons and yellow ribbons. Laura stood looking at it in amazement. ‘I do hope no one’s going to pop up and sing “Tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree,”’ she giggled.

‘I thought of it, but I’ve forgotten the words,’ Stuart said with a grin. ‘But we’ve got champagne and I think that says how we all feel.’

The champagne went straight to Laura’s head as she had been too nervous to eat in the morning, and she fell silent. It was good just to be sitting around the table with everyone she loved, listening to their chatter and laughter, and marvelling that this was a dream come true.

Stuart was sitting between her and Angie, and they were having an animated discussion about the street children in South America and what Stuart thought ought to be done to help them.

Meggie and Ivy were sitting either side of Patrick and they both looked lovely. Ivy, in a pale pink suit with her flowing blonde hair, looked like a model, and Meggie, in a cream trouser suit, her dark bob shining like wet tar, was prettier than she’d ever been before. Three days earlier she’d been out on a first date with Sergeant James Erskine, the policeman who had come when Laura was attacked, and since then had looked as if she was capable of walking on water.

Laura had noticed that James was attracted to Meggie when he came round to take her statement. He made several excuses to call back, each time in the early evening when Meggie was sure to be home. There were several phone calls before Meggie finally agreed to go out to dinner with him, but even just a couple of hours before her date she was looking for excuses to let him down.

Laura bullied her into going through with it, for she felt in her very bones that James was the man Meggie needed. Aside from being a real dish, he was the same age as her and widowed. His wife had died of cancer five years ago, and his three children, who were now in their late teens to early twenties, still lived with him. He was a kind and sensitive man and Laura sensed that even if Meggie ended up telling him about her past, he’d take it in his stride.

One look at her sister’s radiant face when she arrived home that night was to know the date had been a huge success. James phoned at eight the following morning and they talked for over an hour; all day after the call Meggie was alternately giggly or dreamy, a surefire sign that she was smitten.

Part of the reason Laura intended to stay up in Scotland for a while was to give Meggie the opportunity to have her house to herself. She’d also warned Ivy not to drop in unannounced.

Patrick suddenly stood up and tapped a fork on a glass to get everyone’s attention. ‘I think it’s about time we ordered some food. I don’t know about anyone else but I’m starving.’

Everyone else agreed they were too and Patrick went off to get some menus. Stuart turned to Laura. ‘What would you like?’ he asked.

‘It will have to be prawns,’ she said.

‘Any particular reason?’

‘Well, when I was on remand, and still believing I would be acquitted, I used to plan the meal I’d have when I got out. I didn’t think big, not even having dinner in a restaurant. I just imagined going to Marks and Spencer and buying prawns and salad, and eating it at home.’

‘It so happens they do some marvellous prawns in garlic here,’ he said. ‘But at risk of opening up an old wound, how did you feel when they found you guilty? We’ve never talked about that.’

‘I was completely demented,’ she said ruefully. ‘I couldn’t believe it was happening to me. The closest thing to it is the old cliché of thinking you are stuck in a nightmare, only you don’t wake up soaked in sweat and find yourself in your own bed.’

‘I shouldn’t have asked,’ he said. ‘Forgive me?’

Laura smiled. ‘It’s okay. But that will be the last time I ever mention it. In fact I shall delete the word “prison” from my vocabulary, unless of course it’s in connection with other people. Robbie, for instance! Have you heard anything more about him?’

‘They only kept him in hospital a couple of days. The stroke turned out to be a very mild one,’ Stuart replied. ‘He had a court appearance and got remanded in custody in London. But Calder is still in a bad way apparently. Even if he recovers he’ll never walk again.’

‘Poor man,’ Laura said.

‘Don’t waste any sympathy on him, a lawyer should be above reproach,’ Stuart said. ‘But I wish I knew exactly what he and Fielding were up to. I bet Patrick knows, but he’s being very tight-lipped about it.’

Laura smiled at his insatiable curiosity. She couldn’t care less what the two men had done. Perhaps when Belle and Charles came to trial her interest might be reawakened, but for now she wanted to forget all of them.

‘So what about you?’ she asked Stuart after everyone had ordered a meal. ‘Are you going abroad now, or what?’

‘No, I’m taking on a job near Oban.’

‘Really! What on earth are you going to do there?’

‘Doing up a very old place. The owners want to turn it into a hotel, so it’s partly restoration and partly new build. It’s a great project, the architect’s drawings are marvellous, and we’ll be employing local men.’

‘Will you be living there then?’ she asked, trying not to sound dismayed that he wasn’t going to be working in London.

‘I’ve bought a small cottage by Loch Awe,’ he said nonchalantly. ‘It’s a bit of a mess, the old man who lived there had been on his own since his wife died, and he’d let things go. He had to go into a nursing home, so it was a quick sale.’

It stung Laura that he’d been organizing all this but hadn’t mentioned any of it in his phone calls. ‘That’s marvellous,’ she said, even though her heart was sinking. ‘You always did want to live in the Highlands.’

‘Yes,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘In those days I relished somewhere primitive, but I’ve had a taste of luxury over the years and I don’t know that I’m going to enjoy roughing it this winter.’

‘You can always come down to London for a long weekend, and we’ll cosset you,’ Laura suggested.

She thought that he would make a joke about her going up there to rough it with him, but he didn’t.

It was well after ten when they finally left the restaurant. Patrick went on home, and though Angie asked Stuart if he’d like to come back to her flat with them, he declined.

‘I’m leaving for Oban in the morning,’ he said. ‘I’ll need to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Besides, you don’t want a lone male spoiling your girlie fun.’

He hailed a taxi for them, kissed them all on the cheek and said he’d keep in touch, and as the cab drew off Laura turned to watch him through the back window. He might look like a city slicker today in his smart suit, but she thought his loping walk was that of a man who would be happier in the great outdoors.

‘When are you going to see him again?’ Meggie asked, slurring her words because she’d had too much to drink.

‘He didn’t suggest anything,’ Laura said sadly. ‘He didn’t even give me an address or a phone number.’

Laura thought she would fall asleep the moment her head touched the pillow that night, for it had been a long day, and she’d had so much to drink. But once she was tucked up in bed in Angie’s tiny spare room, she found sleep eluded her.