10

Clueless

The following morning, had she not booked some time off, Jo would have been due a catch-up with the admin at The Ivy Inn. Tuesdays were normally dedicated to totting up the accounts from the weekend before – a task Jo generally enjoyed more than she was willing to admit. But instead she found herself on the second day of a break to work on the book Libby had already sent on to Ewan McLachlan.

She didn’t know what way to approach the day. Was there any point in reworking the book before she got feedback from one of the best crime writers in the business? Should she work on something new? She felt on edge and jittery. She doubted she would be able to concentrate enough to write anything which made sense.

Maybe, she thought, she should spend her time doing something productive – like looking for somewhere new to live. But, no, she didn’t think she was ready to do that yet.

With a huge sigh, she pulled the duvet back over her head and listened to her mother chatting to Clara downstairs.

‘Is Jo not getting out of bed?’ she heard Clara ask.

‘I think she must be very tired this morning,’ her mother replied, ‘so she’s going to have a rest.’

‘Is she a lazybones, Mammy?’ The earnest way in which Clara asked the question made Jo smile. It was enough to remind her, for now, that she had a lot of good things in her life – Clara being chief among them.

When she heard them leave for school, and realised she had no chance of getting back to sleep, she sat up and picked up her phone. She typed a quick text message to Erin and Libby to apologise for being a little tetchy the day before. Then she messaged her dad to say she couldn’t wait to see him in a few weeks. Her phone rang minutes later and when she saw it was an international number calling, she smiled.

‘Dad!’ she said as she answered. ‘How are you?’

‘Very hot!’ he laughed. It was only on hearing his voice that she realised just how much she missed him. Of course, she always knew she was a daddy’s girl, but she kept herself so busy she didn’t give herself time to miss him. But now, as she felt she’d lost control over her life, his was the only voice she wanted to hear. ‘How are you, my love?’ he asked. ‘Are you not working today?’

‘I’ve taken a few days off,’ she said. ‘I’m fine, Daddy. I just miss our chats.’

‘Me too, darling. But listen, it won’t be long until I’m home and we can catch up properly. With a big hug and everything and I promise I’m not going away again. Your mum was telling me about Erin…’