Shepherd's Cross Read Online Free

so it was up to Emily to manage by
herself. She had the kind of pleasant disposition that belonged to somebody who
genuinely enjoyed what they did for a living. Indeed, it was fair to say that
she enjoyed the social aspects of her job every bit as much as the meagre income
that the shop brought in. People warmed to her, and consequently felt at ease
in pouring out whatever was on their minds, important or otherwise.
    There had only been one topic of
conversation since the Post Office doors had opened that morning – Ben Price.
    The rumours continued with the entrance
of Charlotte Bainbridge and Olivia Falconer, two of Ben’s neighbours, whose
bulging bank balances were outweighed only by the amount of time in between
school runs that they managed to indulge in bitching about other people. God
help anyone who committed a crime as grave as wearing the wrong colour scarf
for their jacket, or a top that revealed an inch too much of cleavage;
Charlotte and Olivia would have them hung, drawn and quartered before they’d
taken a sip of the day’s first cappuccino.
    ‘I can’t believe you didn’t hear him,’
said Charlotte, who lived two doors down from Ben. ‘I’d just tucked Henry in
for the night and was on my way downstairs. Honestly, Olivia, it was like
something out of a horror film.’
    ‘You poor thing,’ said Olivia, feigning
concern. ‘What on earth did you do?’
    ‘I didn’t know what to do. I
phoned Edward, but he was no use. He told me that I was being melodramatic;
that someone most likely had stubbed their toe on a table leg. He can be so
inconsiderate sometimes. Anyway, I could hardly hear him for all the background
noise. He was in some bar, as usual.’ Charlotte’s husband, Edward, spent Monday
to Friday in their apartment in Newcastle, only returning to Shepherd’s Cross
at weekends. They’d met five years earlier; she’d been employed as a legal
secretary for the law firm where he worked. Having not taken her long to
realise that he was well on his way to becoming one of the firm’s youngest
partners, she had hatched a plan to secure his affection. Admittedly, the plan
had not been particularly complex in its design, involving nothing more than
short skirts, revealing blouses and shameless flirting. It may have been a
direct approach, but Charlotte knew from experience that few men, married or
otherwise, could resist an ego-pandering, sexually available woman. And once
she’d trapped him in her web, she’d devoured him whole.
    ‘Maybe he did just stub his toe,’ Olivia
said as they reached the counter. ‘What else could have made him scream?’
    ‘Oh, I don’t know. I’ve hardly ever seen
Ben since Jane left him. He spends all of his time at work, and he never brings
Chloe to see Henry anymore. He’s crawled right into his shell since the
divorce.’
    ‘Didn’t you check on him?’ asked Olivia,
knowing all too well the answer to her question.
    ‘How could I? I couldn’t leave Henry
alone upstairs. Besides, what if it had been serious? What if someone
had been attacking him or something?’
    ‘I doubt that, dear,’ said Emily, who
had been listening long enough to realise what the discussion related to. She’d
already heard about last night’s incident from at least three of her previous
customers. The two women paused and looked at her.
    ‘You doubt what?’ asked Charlotte. Those
who didn’t know her could be forgiven for interpreting her direct manner as
rather rude, but Emily was fully aware that Charlotte spoke condescendingly to
everybody, so she didn’t take her tone of voice personally.
    ‘I mean,’ continued Emily, ‘that I doubt
he came to any harm. Yvonne Turner came in earlier; she told me that her son
Liam was delivering newspapers early this morning and had seen Ben setting off
to work. He looked fine, apparently.’
    ‘That’s a relief,’ said Charlotte. ‘At
least it couldn’t have been anything serious then.’
    ‘I don’t think so. Yvonne told me