Everything is Beautiful Eleanor Ray (best manga ereader .TXT) 📖

For a moment, she closed the door and shut her eyes. She could smell the dust and hear the silence. The letter was sitting in the kitchen now, protected by its ‘Please do not bend’ envelope. She didn’t have to obey that writing, she realised. She could rip the whole package into tiny pieces, throw it away and carry on living as she had been. She didn’t even need to go back to Richard’s house. She owed nothing to the neighbours, nor they to her. They could move at any point and she’d have no right to ask them why or where.

Her things wouldn’t leave. Scarlett would always be with her. Her mugs. The remaining bottles.

But not the pots. Things could be destroyed too, just like relationships. Her hand went again to the ring. The ring that could not tell her the truth.

Amy opened her eyes again. It was unlikely that Richard would be able to decipher more of the letter than she had, but it was worth trying. She grabbed the envelope from the kitchen, blew Scarlett a quick kiss, and made her way back to the neighbours’ house.

‘There you are,’ said Charles, opening the door for her. ‘We’re going to have ice cream as a special treat since we have company.’ He smiled at her. ‘That’s you.’

Daniel was back at the table, spoon in hand. ‘Ice cream,’ he said, merrily.

‘Would you like some, Amy?’ asked Richard. ‘It’s from Cornwall, apparently.’

‘Sure,’ said Amy. Perhaps it would settle the nervous feeling in her stomach. They all sat around the table again, the envelope in the middle. Charles reached out for it.

‘Finish your ice cream first,’ said his father. ‘Then we’ll look when Amy is ready.’

Daniel beat them all in finishing his ice cream and wandered back to the television. Amy ate hers slowly, but eventually took a final lick of the spoon and placed it down. It had been a long time since she’d indulged in ice cream. She reached for the envelope and emptied the contents. She could see Charles itching to grab the letter, and passed it across to him. ‘Do you want to look at the photo?’ she asked Richard.

He took it and frowned. ‘Trees, grass, hills. Some kind of machine on the edge. I can’t see any landmarks.’

‘Let me look,’ said Charles. ‘I know all the parks. You take the letter.’ Richard looked to Amy who nodded assent. They switched papers and Amy took another sip of her wine. There was only a small amount left in the bottle now, and the emptiness glowed a brilliant green in the light.

‘That isn’t just any machine,’ said Charles, finally. ‘It’s a digger.’ He looked excessively pleased with himself. ‘Look, you can see the edge of it here.’ He pointed. ‘It’s a JCB 5CX, I think. But that’s odd. It has tracks.’ He paused. ‘Can I take this photo upstairs?’ he asked. ‘There’s something I want to check in my room.’

‘I suppose that’s fine,’ said Amy. Charles took the photo and scurried away.

‘I don’t know what to make of the letter,’ said Richard, finally. ‘There’s not much to go on. I don’t want to pry,’ he added, ‘but did they say anything to you before they left?’

‘No,’ said Amy. She hesitated. ‘Chantel was my best friend,’ she said. ‘We grew up together. I still can’t believe that they would do that to me. If I could find out where this photo was taken, perhaps . . . ’ Amy stopped and took another sip of wine. ‘It’s been so hard,’ she said. ‘Not knowing what happened and having to believe that they betrayed me. I’ve lost them, but not in a way I can mourn. Not properly.’

‘At least you have hope,’ said Richard. ‘I’d give anything to have that back.’ He drank from his glass, then put it down. Amy realised they were both staring at the bottle.

‘It must have been hard,’ said Amy. She thought of Tim and his father Alan, lost to each other in their separate grief. ‘To be there for the kids when you were trying to deal with your own pain.’

‘They were what got me through it,’ said Richard. He looked at Amy. ‘I’m not sure I’d have made it, without them.’ For a moment Amy thought he was going to cry. Instead he smiled. ‘I stopped working, I had to. I needed to be there for Daniel. He was so little. And for Charles too. Best thing I ever did.’

‘How did you manage?’ asked Amy.

‘I had my own architecture firm, and I sold it. Now I freelance there part-time. I spent as much time with the kids as I could, never went out of an evening.’ He took another sip of wine. ‘Then I met Nina, and she seemed lovely, at first. I wasn’t sure, you know, that I’d be able to be with anyone else. But you move on. Sounds like we both have. You can’t live in the past.’

Amy nodded, although she wasn’t sure that was true.

‘You’ve been through a lot,’ she said.

‘We all have,’ said Richard. ‘But we’ve plenty to be grateful for too. Join me for another glass?’ He went to the kitchen. ‘I’ll open a new bottle.’

‘Thank you,’ said Amy. She rested her fingers lightly on the empty bottle in front of her.

‘Things with Nina had been bad for a while,’ confided Richard, returning. ‘I could tell she wasn’t great with the kids, but I thought I was being too hard on her. I was comparing her to their mother and that wasn’t fair. But our relationship wasn’t how it should have been either. I can see that now.’

Charles bounded back in, holding a book. Amy glanced at the title. The Encyclopaedia of Diggers and Big Machines. ‘I’ve found something!’ he said.

‘I think that’s enough detective work for tonight,’ said Richard. ‘Why don’t you keep your brother company watching cartoons?’

‘No,’ declared Charles. ‘Amy, look.’ He was waving the open book in her face. ‘The 5CX model has wheels,