The Beach House by Manning Nina

Author:Manning, Nina
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Published: 2023-08-16T00:00:00+00:00

21

NICOLE

Nicole scanned her eyes over the newspaper article. She couldn’t remember the last time she bought a newspaper. In fact, Nicole or her family hadn’t bought a newspaper since 2004. The twisted interpretations of the media and their effect on the minds of the masses was something that Nicole learned about long ago.

This newspaper article, dated May 2004, had been brought here. And with Claire Best lurking around The Beach House and the dog faeces in the kitchen, Nicole was certain she was behind this. How dare she! Nicole felt her chest and throat burn with anger. This was her house, she was here to relax – well part relax, part work – and she didn’t need that Claire making trouble like she did last time.

Maybe it was a mistake to bring the girls here. Nicole hadn’t anticipated this, Claire being here, the past being raked up, and the questions. Nicole had found it difficult to answer the questions on the walk earlier. There was so much more to say about that and yet Nicole would never be able to find the words. It was if the last eighteen years hadn’t happened, and, yet at the same time, it only happened yesterday. Those moments lingered inside her all the time, yet they felt so far removed from her life, the way it was today, because she had made it so. Yet here was Claire walking around as if she was back here and this was her home again. It was completely bewildering.

Nicole told Oli she was popping out. He stopped what he was doing and looked at her in that inquisitive way that she had already noted, even though Audrey felt she needed to point it out.

‘Okay, sure, have a good walk,’ he said, and she felt him watching her the whole time as she walked out of the door.

Where was everybody? Paisley had disappeared just as they were sitting for lunch and now Margo and Audrey were both missing too. She had decided she needed to walk over to the Bests’ old house to see if, by some miracle Claire had decided to buy it back again and that was why she was here. Stranger things had happened. Nicole and Audrey had interviewed a couple for the podcast who had been married for five years, divorced for three then re-married last year. People did weird stuff like that, and after what had happened to Andrew, it would not surprise her in the least if Claire was back here to rake up old memories.

Nicole pulled her thickest coat on, as the sun had decided not to show itself this afternoon after their morning walk, and stepped outside. She practically bumped into Audrey and then looked over her shoulder to see Margo looking shady again.

‘It seems someone around here has something against you, Nicole,’ Audrey pointed up at the house where the cladding had been hosed down yet several brown splats remained clinging to it. Nicole felt the familiar rage that she had experienced all those years ago run through her like wildfire.

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