Chapter 19: Elliot - The Foster Child

‘The gate was locked, do you think the dog jumped over?’ Cora says. ‘Maybe it’s the same one who got in the other day and it’s come back to see if there are more treats.’

I might agree with her if it wasn’t for the Christmas cards, which of course, she knows nothing about. ‘I don’t know, but let’s get the shopping into the house and you get a coffee going while I check the rest of the garden.’ I think of the unlatched kitchen window, and the orchid – which I’ve taken the blame for. I know that Cora has already been inside the house, but there could be some damage, or some sort of message, in one of the other rooms. I need to check and make sure everything is safe.

So we carry the shopping in out of the boot of her car then I leave Cora to unpack while I ‘nip up to the bathroom’. Everything is fine up there, so I come back down and go out into the back garden, the floodlight illuminates most of it and I walk around, relieved to see that everything seems fine out here too. I go back in to find Cora making a coffee, she glances over her shoulder at me. ‘Espresso?’

‘Please.’

‘All okay out there?’

‘Yes. I guess you’re right and a dog has probably jumped over the gate. I’ll take Scott’s advice and pick up a doorbell camera when we go out again, and then we can find out what’s going on. If it’s a neighbour’s dog we can have a word with them.’ And I can see who’s leaving the Christmas cards. I’m constantly on edge, waiting for another one to be delivered.

I can’t help feeling that this is all related. In all the years I’ve lived here nothing like this has happened before. So the questions that are really bugging me are who’s responsible, and why now? The cards seem almost childish, like some kind of hoax. Could it be Caleb, Tilly’s brother, getting revenge for Tilly hurting her ankle? Or even Violet?

‘Shall we put the lights up around the window and hang the wreath on the front door?’ Cora suggests when we’ve had our coffee and a sandwich. ‘It will make it look a little Christmassy. I can’t wait for the tree to come on Monday.’

‘Sounds good to me.’

Cora gets Alexa to play some carols and we warm up some of the mulled wine, sipping it while we hang the lights on the window. They twinkle merrily, changing colour from white to red then gold then white again. Then she picks up the wreath and the gold hanger and takes it out to the front door. She slips the hanger over the top then hooks the wreath on it. It looks really festive and a wave of sadness engulfs me for the younger me who never had a Christmas.

‘There we are, Christmas has started,’ she says with a smile. ‘It cheers you up just looking at it, doesn’t it?’

I wrap my arms around her shoulder. ‘It sure does.’

We go back inside and have another glass of mulled wine then I go outside for my last cigarette. As a dentist I know smoking is bad for your teeth as well as your health. But so is stress and smoking helps me unwind. I walk slowly around the garden, the floodlight is bright but it can’t pick up all the areas. Did a dog really jump over the gate or did someone open it and let the dog in?

I walk over to the garage, we went shopping in Cora’s car today leaving mine at home. She likes to drive now and again and doesn’t use her car for work. I open the garage to check my car is still there. It is.

Then as I go to close the door I notice something on the floor. A cigarette nub. I bend down and pick it up. It’s another roll-up.

That’s the second one now.