The Easter Egg Hunt – VI

Since Ben and Joss Beckett took over The Fair Maid and Falcon, they have had to deal with ghosts, gangsters and well dodgy goings-on. Despite that they have their own family of twin daughters and dogs, and a fabulous ‘found family’ of friends. Life seems to be going well when…

Finoula turned her head and, as I often did, I got the impression that her sightless eyes saw more than most sighted people can.
“Is all well with you, Joss?”
“It is. So long as Morgan is protected.”
Finoula made a noise in the back of her throat and it came to me that Morgan’s protection was as important to her as it was to me. I clambered over Ben and took her hand in both of mine.
“Be at ease,” I said, “Morgan has us, and her father who would die before he saw harm come to her.”
Finoula relaxed. “Then all is very well.”
She squeezed my fingers and I felt her strong spirit.
“Jed,” I said, “will you take Finoula and the dogs out back and into the private garden. Ben and I will bring wine and tapas.”
He blessed me with his smile and steered his family out into the sunshine. I turned my attention to John Smith.
“Will you excuse me please.”
He smiled, and I thought it the first voluntarily genuine expression I had seen on his narrow face.
“It’s me needs to be excused. I’ll phone for a taxi.” He finished his brandy and stood up, passing me a square of pasteboard. “That number will reach my private phone. Please call me if the Proudly family becomes an annoyance.” Then he was gone, moving with the silent grace of a natural predator.
Ben scratched his head. “It’s amazing what hides under some folk’s skin. I think I prefer the killer.”
“Me too. But that’s only because he’s real. The off-duty accountant is just a very convincing fake.”
“Indeed. If you get the tapas, I’ll sort wine.” He bent for a kiss.
I raided the kitchen and crossed the garden with a big tray in my hands, followed by Morgan who carried another tray. She set it down on the table before turning her smile on Jed and Finoula.
“Thank you for caring about my face, but I’m fine. Truly I am. My dad says to tell you I’m protected.”
I looked at her serene little face, marred only by the cut and bruise of a vicious backhander and I remembered the frightened mouse of a girl, with acne and a heavy load of worries, who entered our lives two years ago. I went and gave her a little hug and she hugged back.
“Sit and eat your lunch Joss, I’ve got the office.”
And she went passing Ben on the way. He had two open bottles in his hands and it looked very much like his hoodie pocket held glasses. I ran over.
“Eejit. It’s not safe to carry glassware in your pockets.”
He grinned unrepentantly. “Sowwy mummy.”
Giving up telling him off as a bad job, I removed the glasses from his pocket and preceded him to the table. Jed was murmuring to Finoula who laughed, bright and happy.
“It’s not a bit of good you trying to civilise Ben,” she said “he’s an eternal schoolboy.”
I was trying for a smart retort when her phone burbled. She handed it to Jed.
“Tis Danilo.”
“Stick it on speaker, then. We may as well all hear.”
Danilo Lovell, television clairvoyant and current head of the Lovell family, sounded far from his usual urbane self.
“I find myself displeased with Amos Proudly. To the extent that I’ve unleashed Big Cliff, who is Fucking Furious, with only a reminder that dead bodies are bloody inconvenient.”
Ben chuckled. “That bloke is a bit of a twat, I grant you. But you aren’t usually so scrupulous.”
“No. I’m not. But what I am scrupulous about is the reputation of the Romany community. Which is going to suffer if he doesn’t rein in his bitch of a grandchild and stop declaring war in random people. Talking of which, I take it Morgan Brown is protected.”
“She is,” I said soberly, “and her dad is in a similar state to Big Cliff.”
The sound Danilo made might have passed for laughter if you didn’t know him. But I’ve known him for twenty years.
“What are you plotting?”
“Nothing right now. Although I’ve just taken a call from Connor Smith. Just to assure me he has no interest whatsoever in any feud between my family and the Proudlies.”
“Blimey. He must be running scared.” I said.
This time Danilo’s laugh sounded a little more natural.
“I hear you just met Smith junior. And scared the shit out of him. Which is an accomplishment when you consider he’s as nerveless a little bastard as his pa.”
“Wasn’t me put the shits up him. It was understanding who his family would be going up against. And whatever Finoula said to him. Which I think I’m glad I didn’t understand.”
“You should be glad. When Finoula is moved to rare anger even my beloved wife and our brats step away.”
I found that surprisingly reassuring.
“Give my love to Bethan and the boys. And kiss little Grace for me.”
“I will.”
Then he was gone. I spread my hands and gestured towards the food, while Ben poured rather expensive claret into big glasses. When everyone had a plate I raised my glass in a toast.
“Here is to Grandmother Lovell, wherever her spirit rests, and the great granddaughter who carries her name.”
“Grandmother and Grace,” Finoula said softly.
We all sipped our wine, then got stuck into excellent food. It was comfortable to sit in the sun and eat tapas with good friends.
Finoula, whose veganism had often been a problem before she moved in with Jed, leaned back in her chair and groaned a happy groan.
“I’m stuffed. And there’s not too many pubs where a vegan can go to pig out.”
Ben smiled at her. “Mostly we do well because of it. We’ve had a few brushes with evangelical veganism, but all in all plant-based food and booze, which we are careful to not label ‘vegan’, sit well with our everyone welcome philosophy.”
“How often do you get a problem?”
“Rarely now. We made it known that aggressive anti-meat activity would result in us stopping the plant-based menu. Nowadays any loud protesters tend to be being removed by their peers.” I said.
“And in at least one case given a kicking in the overflow car park.”
“How did you get away with that?” Finoula sounded amused.
“We did nothing that needed getting away with. And there are no security cams in the overflow…”
Jed laughed. “Are you sure you have no rom blood between you?”
“I’m positive. And I don’t want to think how much trouble Ben could get himself in if he had a Romany tribe at his heels.”
Finoula mugged pretended fear and we all laughed.
All too soon it was past time for me and Ben to be back at work.
Jed escorted his wife and their dogs out of the back gate and up the lane to his soon to be augmented horticultural kingdom.
Ben and I went back to work .

There will be more from Joss, Ben and their friends, courtesy of Jane Jago, next week, or you can catch up with their earlier adventures in Who Put Her In and Who Pulled Her Out.