The Cold Light of Mourning Read Online Free Page A

you.”
    Penny felt the sharp sting of new tears pricking her eyes and turned away.
    With the sensitivity acquired over many years in his line of work, Philip said simply, “You probably don’t feel like a coffee at the minute, so we’ll save that for another time and I’ll just show you out, shall I?”
    Penny nodded, and they made their way in silence to the shop door.
    He put a reassuring hand on her arm and smiled down at her.
    “Good-bye, Penny. See you later, then.”
    Putting up her umbrella, Penny bent her head against the rain and headed home to a sad and solitary lunch.
    Her afternoon began with the sound of noisy giggling as the two bridesmaids, Jennifer Sayles and Anne Davidson, made their entrances. They were approaching their late twenties, and while each appeared to be expensively groomed, Jennifer, the taller of the two, looked as if she came by her toned, fit body naturally. Anne, on the other hand, would find herself betrayed within the next few years by the body she was working so hard now to maintain; with youth on her side she was winning the battle, but eventually, she would lose the gravity and collagen wars.
    Both girls wore expensive designer jeans but not with trainers or sensible country walking shoes. They were wearing Jimmy Choo sandals with extremely high stiletto heels, and Penny could barely conceal a smile as she thought of the comments those silly and unforgiving shoes were sure to be inspiring around town.
    Seating herself at Penny’s worktable, Jennifer said she would go first, so Anne took a seat in the small waiting area and pulled the latest Tatler from her bag.
    “We picked our colours last week when we were in town,” Jennifer reminded Penny. “Anne and I have chosen Embrace, and I think Meg Wynne is having something else when she comes in tomorrow.”
    “How is Miss Thompson doing?” Penny asked. “I expect she’s been awfully busy trying to organize a wedding here when she lives in London. Can’t be easy.”
    “That’s true,” Jennifer agreed. “Ordinarily, I guess, they would have had the wedding in London, but with Emyr’s father not being well, it seemed like a good idea to hold the wedding here. I must say, it’s been great fun for us getting out of the city and coming to North Wales, of all places, for a few days.”
    “What do you do in London?” Penny asked casually.
    “We, that is Anne and I, work together at a PR agency. Meg Wynne works at a graphic design studio, her company did some work for us, and we all just got to know one another through our work, the way you do, really. And then Emyr and his friend David Williams were regulars in the wine bar in Covent Garden where we go after work, so we all just naturally formed a little group. And that’s how we all met up.”
    She looked over at Anne, who was flipping through her magazine.
    “Anne, how did it happen that Emyr and Meg Wynne started going out together?”
    “Yeah, well,” drawled Anne, looking up. “I think he sent us over drinks one night, but you could tell it was really Meg Wynne he fancied. And she led him on for a bit and played it cool. For a while, we thought it was David she was after but I think one night she invited Emyr around for a meal or whatever and that was pretty much it. After that they were just together. They’ve been going out for about two years now, wouldn’t it be, Jenn?”
    “Yeah, it would be about that,” Jennifer agreed.
    “And will Miss Thompson’s family be coming to the wedding?” Penny asked.
    The two girls exchanged glances, and then Jennifer, apparently by some unspoken understanding, was elected spokesperson.
    “I think so,” she said carefully. “Meg Wynne doesn’t like to talk about her family. Her brother died about a year ago, and the family has been struggling ever since. Apparently he got in with some bad company, and drugs were involved. He used to come along for dinner with us sometimes when he came down to London to visit Meg. He was