Free Silver Clouds by Fleur McDonald Page B

you sure you don’t want to stay? I can easily make up beds. I’m sure Tessa won’t be too far away.’
    â€˜No, dear, we need to go before there’s any chance of driving into the sun. Getting old doesn’t have many benefits.’ Elsie pointed to the envelope. ‘My details are on the back.’
    Peggy, Paul, Ryan and Harrison followed Elsie and Frank out to their car to wish them a safe journey. When the car was nothing but a speck in the distance, Harrison turned to Paul.
    â€˜Tessa’s with Brendan McKenzie.’

Chapter 9
    â€˜Mum? I don’t think the internet connection is working.’
    It was three days after the funeral. Tessa had been back home for nearly a week but it was the first time she’d been brave enough to go online. She was hoping above all hope the photos had disappeared and that would be the end of the horrible saga. Realistically, she knew that wouldn’t have happened.
    â€˜Why’s that, petal?’ Peggy answered from the kitchen.
    â€˜I can’t get it to open my emails. Oh wait, it’s trying. I can’t believe how long it takes.’ Tessa swung around in the chair as she heard her mother walk into the office.
    â€˜Tessa, you’ve forgotten,’ Peggy said gently. ‘If we didn’t have satellite, we wouldn’t have anything.’
    â€˜I don’t know how you bear it,’ said Tessa jiggling her knee up and down impatiently.
    â€˜No point in getting all uptight. It’s just the way it is and we can’t change it. Bit like the weather, really. So just sit and enjoy the wait. It’s called relaxing. See? There you go.’
    â€˜It’s just as annoying as the TV,’ Tessa said. ‘I can’t believe how different things are here.’
    â€˜I’m not sure London has done you much good if you get all wound up over a slow internet connection and some bad TV. You might need to remember what really matters, my girl.’ Peggy turned and left the room.
    Tessa opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. She’d spotted two emails, one from Darcy and one from Jaz.
    She clicked on Jaz’s and waited what seemed like a lifetime for it to open.
    Dear Tessa,
    I’ve tried, babe. I really have. I can’t find how they’ve been posted or who posted them. The photos are really quite funny if you look at them while you’re drunk. Unfortunately, not so hilarious when you’re sober. I’ve attached all that I can find, but I’d better warn you, your name is pretty much mud over here. Well, maybe not mud, but everyone at Marketing Matters is very disappointed with you. Apparently they’re finding mistakes in your work too. And worse – one of your accounts has been hijacked by . . . yep, you guessed, John Smith and his team. They must have accessed your phone or emails or something while you were out to it.
    Tessa groaned. Realistically, she knew it could have been likely. It had been sloppy of her to leave her phone unattended and, as for mistakes, well, vodka and fine details didn’t mix.
    And now all this just gave her a hankering for another shot of vodka.
    Biting her fingernails, she read on:
    So I believe you’ve got two choices. One, you can come back and clear your name, which is going to be pretty hard, or two, you can walk away and forget you’ve ever been here.
    I’m really sorry to be so blunt, sweetie, but you know how cut-throat this business can be. Once you’re out, well, that’s where you are. Let me know what you want to do. And don’t forget how much I loves ya!
    Jaz
    Tessa hovered her mouse over the attachment. Did she really want to see the other photos? Swivelling around on the chair, she listened for Peggy. The house had gone quiet. Maybe her mum had headed off to feed the chooks.
    Tessa held her breath and double-clicked.
    Bit by bit, line by line, the photo began to show. The first part she could