Stolen Futures by John Nixon

Author:John Nixon [Nixon, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: John Nixon
Published: 2014-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

With kind regards

Catherine Wilson

Lucy looked up at Ben in astonishment.

‘There’s a name from the past,’ she said. ‘Why would she write to you, I wonder?’

‘Yes; funny that. Obviously to offer her condolences, but you wouldn’t really expect someone you knew about thirty years ago and have had no contact with since to write. I see from the address she is living in Seatown, which is not that far away. I’m a bit surprised she said she had seen it in the paper. I wouldn’t have thought that the tabloids were her choice of reading, not as I remember her.’

‘People change,’ said Lucy, ‘but maybe she saw it by chance, in someone else’s house.’

‘Maybe. What shall I do? Do you think I should reply?’

‘I think courtesy demands that you do. What you say is another matter.’

‘Yes,’ Ben hesitated. ‘Amanda has been sending out standard replies to most of the letters we have received, but I don’t think that would do in this case. I shall have to give it some thought.’

Lucy gave him the letter back and he threw it on the table.

‘That’s not important now, anyway. I want to celebrate my other letter. Where shall we eat? I feel like going out. There’s a new Thai restaurant in the town. Shall we try there?’

Lucy agreed and went upstairs to change. However, she couldn’t get Catherine’s letter out of her mind. She thought back to their last meeting, that afternoon when Catherine had come home early, unexpectedly. Her mind then raced forward to that evening recently, when the police had arrived to tell them about Damian. What was it the papers had said? A young woman was in the house while Mr Alexander’s wife was away in Norfolk? At the time she had said to herself that she knew Amanda very well and there was nothing in the newspaper innuendoes. Suddenly, she was having second thoughts.

‘Don’t be silly,’ she said to herself. ‘Ben has always loved you and this letter is not going to change that,’ but it was a reminder of a time when his affections were split between two women.

Opening the wardrobe she contemplated what to put on. She chose a close fitting, dark blue dress, with a lower neckline than she would normally wear. Ben likes me in this, she thought, as she slipped it over her head. As she did so Ben came into the bedroom, freshly showered.

‘You look lovely in that,’ he said, putting his arms around her.

‘Careful, Ben, you’ll crease it.’

She unwound his arms from around her and sat down to brush her hair. Ben turned away, disappointed.

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