‘I… No… I’m not making this up, why would I? The earrings… they were here, they were,’ I said desperately, my fingers still touching the inside of the box, like they might suddenly appear.
Jamie simply shook his head in disgust, and walked out of the room.
I started to cry. Jamie and my relationship meant a great deal to me, and it hurt that he saw me as this jealous woman telling lies to hurt his new wife. That wasn’t who I was, and it saddened me that he didn’t realise that. But who could blame him, when I’d just riffled through her belongings and come up empty-handed?
All I could think was, she must have moved them. I didn’t follow Jamie out of the room to try to convince him because now finding the earrings was more important than ever. So I just carried on looking.
I abandoned the jewellery box and went back to the drawer – nothing, so I tore around the room, looking everywhere I’d looked before, knowing they’d been here before. I opened a wardrobe, got down on my knees, delving at the back, throwing out shoeboxes, all of Ella’s shopping bags. I was being crazy, but I didn’t care, I was still convinced I was right and had to prove it, in order to not only prove Ella’s guilt but to show the Taylors, my family, that I wasn’t the nasty, vindictive person they seemed to think I was.
And then I stopped and sat back on the floor to think about it. Of course she’d moved the earrings. Jamie had told her that I’d said she stole them, and as soon as she knew I was on to her, she’d reacted. She had all afternoon to move them, while she was in the bedroom ‘recovering’ from her trauma in the pool. There would have been plenty of opportunity, if Jamie had fallen asleep, or she’d perhaps sent him to the en suite for a glass of water.
At this point, Dan appeared in the doorway, looking furious.
I looked up from what I was doing. ‘Don’t start, Dan,’ I warned.
‘Don’t start? You’ve really done it this time, Clare. Poor Ella is sobbing down there and Mum’s in tears too!’
I just kept shaking my head through my own tears now pricking my eyes. ‘But Dan, I know, I know I saw her – and the earrings were in that box. They were here.’ I stopped looking for a moment and stared at the mess on the bed, tears dripping down my face.
‘No, they weren’t.’
‘They were, why does no one ever believe me?’ I looked up at him through my tears.
He was holding something in his hand, and as he opened it, I saw a glinting on his palm. Joy’s earrings.
‘Where did you get them?’ I almost couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
‘They were downstairs, on the shelf in the kitchen. Ella spotted them when she ran inside to get a tissue. Mum remembered right away too. She said they were a little tight the other day, so she’d taken them off. She’d forgotten where she’d put them, that’s all, Clare.’
‘But that’s not true…’ I implored.
‘How much proof do you need? Ella said you’d be like this, insisted I bring them to show you, said you wouldn’t believe it unless you saw them. She’s a mess thanks to you.’
He was furious, but he was the least of my problems for once.
I continued to sit on the floor, working it out. So Ella took them from her own room, and left them on the shelf in the kitchen – where she’d been cooking all evening. But why had Joy gone along with the lie? Was she saving face? Would she rather join in the lie than upset Jamie? I didn’t know anything any more. I thought I knew this family inside out, but Ella had rocked the boat entirely. And what could I do now?
I followed Dan back downstairs like a naughty child, where I was greeted by smiles of pity from Joy and Bob.
Ella stepped forward like Mother Teresa and hugged me. ‘It’s okay, Clare,’ she said, looking into my face, making me part of her drama, using me to show her forgiveness. ‘You’ve had a lot going on. But if you imagine something like this again, just come and talk to me, yeah? I can’t be accused of something I didn’t do again like that. This is my family now too, Clare.’
What could I say? Any more protesting and blaming would fall on deaf ears.
Joy was sitting on the easy chair, her face tear-stained, while Bob sat on the arm, his hand protectively on her shoulder. ‘It’s all my fault,’ Joy was saying. ‘They’d been in the kitchen all the time – I just forgot. And now everyone is so upset. On our lovely retirement holiday.’
‘You didn’t leave them in the kitchen, Joy. Why are you doubting yourself? You’d never forget something like that.’ I heard Dan say my name, but I wasn’t going to shut up for him. ‘What’s wrong with you all?’ I said, wanting to say more, but at the same time afraid of what Ella might say about me. ‘Your dirty little secret, Clare.’ Was she bluffing?