Free The Attic Room: A psychological thriller by Linda Huber Page A

mobile and blinked up at
Nina. ‘Dad says he sprained his wrist when he was about my age too, when he
fell downstairs. He said it was better in a week or two. Oh, Mummy, I wish it
had never happened. The others’ll be out there riding right now. And we were
going to gallop on the beach at Kildonan tomorrow, and take the ponies into the
sea. It’s not fair.’
    Naomi subsided, nestling up close again, and Nina’s heart
sank. Naomi had way too much to cope with at the moment, that was what wasn’t
fair. She wasn’t usually a clingy, cuddly child. It was time to be supermum for
a while, make sure that their dead relation’s non-presence in their lives didn’t
worry Naomi any more than she was worried already.
    ‘Ladies. What do you want to do about food?’
    Nina glanced out of the window. They were approaching the
exit for Bedford. She and Sam had discussed possible dinner plans on the way to
Heathrow, but Nina wanted to see how Naomi was before making any decisions.
Originally of course she’d been supposed to go to Sam’s flat for pizza. Nina
sighed. She could tell Naomi wasn’t in the mood for fun evenings out.
    ‘I think we’ll go straight back to the house, Sam,’ she
said. ‘Naomi’s tired – and of course I want to show her everything, too.’ This
last was added on quickly as Naomi stirred indignantly. Silly me, thought Nina,
grinning in spite of herself. Ten-year-olds didn’t get tired, they were almost
grown-up already, not babies…
    Sam’s shoulders drooped and for a brief moment Nina felt
guilty. But Naomi needed a cosy evening with Mum and lots of cuddles. And she
was the luckiest woman in the world to be able to give her daughter just that.

 
     
    Chapter Nine
     
     
    Wednesday 19th July
     
    Naomi was still asleep in her bed by the window when Nina
awoke the next morning, and for a few glorious moments she lay still, gazing
across at her daughter. How miraculous it was that this perfect being had grown
inside her. That her tiny, beautiful baby had developed into such an amazing
creature. Mother love must be the greatest emotion possible, she thought,
particularly when the children were young and vulnerable. But maybe mothers
never lost the feeling no matter what age their children were; maybe she would
look at Naomi and feel exactly the same when they were seventy and fifty.
    They’d gone to bed early in the largest front bedroom, which
in spite of Nina’s apprehension had scrubbed up rather well. There was nothing
she could do about the drab paintwork, but a couple of green and blue blankets
from the airing cupboard made brilliant throws for the beds, and the pair of
blue glass vases she found in the living room cupboard made a second splash of
colour on the chest of drawers. Anyway, Naomi was so spaced out by the thought
that they’d inherited this enormous house from a ‘sort of cousin’ that she didn’t
notice the drabness of the décor. What they should do with the house, and her
wrist, were her sole topics of conversation, even when they’d gone to bed and
were whispering together like two schoolgirls.
    Today would be different, Nina knew. Naomi was no fool. The
question about why they didn’t know the exact relationship between them and
John Moore wouldn’t be long in coming, and the blackmail letter would get a
grilling too. Well, the only thing to do was tell the truth, thought Nina. Tell
the truth and shame the devil, like Grandma Lily used to say.
    She thought about her grandmother’s words while she was
getting dressed. Both Lily and Claire were always so insistent about never
telling lies. It was difficult to see why Claire had lied by omission, never
mentioning their rich relative in the south of England. She couldn’t have
forgotten about him – or had she wanted to forget? And oh God, if John Moore
turned out to be her father… that would be such a huge lie… the biggest lie in
the world. Nina pushed the thought away.
    She lifted the newspaper from behind the