Secrets to a Happy Ending

Chapter 16

As the morning wore on, Lydia had been down and had breakfast. She kept her conversation to a minimum, due to the fact she wanted to keep a clear head. So much was running through it right now, like a jigsaw just poured out from a box waiting to be put together.

She headed back to her room and phoned Denise the office assistant, asking her to pull up what information they had on the missing girl Trixie Reeves and to scan and email it to her. She had kept the photo that her mum was carrying and looked down at it.

She could not have been any more than thirteen or fourteen in the picture, she looked very happy. She had long mousy brown hair, which she had tied up in. a bun, wearing a burgundy blazer, white blouse and a striped black and yellow tie.

"How could such a sweet thing like you cause this much trouble?" She thought.

The thought back about all the activities that had been going on the past few days, and the people she had met, the things that were said, suddenly it appeared very real to her that there was much more of a story here than just a Mr Ross. Why was it such a big deal anyway? A millionaire buys a village, rehabilitates it and it's a story. Putting her more logical thinking head on, she stood out on the balcony admiring the view of the mountains ahead of her. Why was Julie hiding her true identity that she was the famous author Marilyn Smythe? She thought about Ronnie also at the mill and the conversation she tried to catch, not to mention the meeting the villagers had the night before last.

Lydia was not sure, but the one thing she was becoming more certain about, there was more to this story than bungalows and picket fences.

(X)

Julie was sitting in the living room, looking up at the picture of her and her former husband, she kept her mobile phone close to where she was sitting. A cold untouched cup of coffee sat on the side table next to her. She watched the phone, waiting for it to ring, the clock was showing it was 1 minute to 11, when the phone began to ring, She took a deep breath and picked it up and pressed the answer button. Shakily she held the phone to hear ear, giving a very nervous, "Hello, I am here." She listened carefully to the caller's instructions, nodding and agreeing to what they were saying and then ended the call.

A moment later a text message appeared on the phone, with details of an international bank account. Julie put the phone down and began to cry uncontrollably.