by Archer, Sam
Quickly Chloe realised that the manager, Megan, was just as much in the dark as she herself was about why Tom had asked for Kelly to be picked up early. She wasn’t ill – Chloe could see that clearly for herself – and nobody else had come round trying to remove her from the nursery. But Dr Carlyle was the one paying the fees, so the nursery were happy to comply with his request.
Kelly had evidently been briefed at the nursery because when Chloe started to explain to her in the car that her father would be round to fetch her from Chloe’s a little later, the little girl said she already knew that. She chatted on the way back to the cottage about nursery, about her friends in town, as though she regularly spent time with Chloe and Jake. At the cottage Chloe made them all lunch, wondering briefly if there was anything Tom would rather she didn’t feed his daughter, before admonishing herself that he was hardly likely to make a fuss about such things given the unusual circumstances. So she plied Kelly with tuna sandwiches followed by cheese and Marmite ones, and was gratified to see the child wolf them down.
At a little after one p.m. her phone rang. It was Tom, sounding out of breath.
‘Chloe? Everything all right?’
‘Yes, we’re all here, safe and sound.’ She let a conspiratorial note creep in to her tone. ‘Why? Are we in some sort of danger?’
‘Oh, no, no. I wouldn’t let that – Look, I’m on my way. I’ll explain everything when I get there.’
‘All right. No rush.’ She confirmed her address, then rang off and sat watching the two children and thinking.
Was Tom planning some sort of surprise for his daughter? But if so, why go to all these lengths, why involve a virtual stranger like herself like this? No, it was something more than that. Might he have been meeting Rebecca, Chloe’s mother, for a lovers’ tete a tete and needed someone else to pick up his daughter for him? But Chloe didn’t think he’d do something so underhand and irresponsible. Besides, he’d sounded genuinely distressed when he’d phoned asking for Chloe’s help. Nonetheless, Chloe felt that old emotion, jealousy, flicker into life once more.
The sound of a car pulling up outside the cottage sent Kelly to the window. She yelled, ‘Daddy!’ and began to leap up and down in unfeigned joy. Jake didn’t understand but caught the excitement, and began gambolling about himself.
Chloe opened the door to a flustered-looking Tom, his hair dishevelled, his eyes apologetic and profoundly thankful at the same time. Something about his look set off a warmth deep within Chloe, in her belly, and she almost forgot herself and took him in her arms.
Almost, but not quite.
The children appeared around her legs and Tom seized Kelly and flung her into the air, catching her in mid-shriek. ‘Been good?’ he asked, addressing his daughter but looking at Chloe as he did so.
‘They’ve been quiet as lambs,’ said Chloe, rolling her eyes, smiling. ‘Come in, Cup of tea?’
She saw Tom hesitate, as if he didn’t want to impose for a moment longer. Then he nodded. ‘Yes. I owe you an explanation.’
She led the way in. As she busied herself in the kitchen, she heard Tom fuss around the children, asking them about their morning. Not just Kelly, but Jake too, which she thought was a nice touch. Chloe brought the tray through and, after a few more minutes’ banter with the children, the adults watched them resume their games on the carpet and sat themselves at the dining table.
‘Chloe,’ said Tom, ‘I can’t begin to express how grateful I am. And at such short notice.’
She flapped a hand. ‘What are patients for?’
He laughed distractedly. She watched him fiddle with his milk and spoon and realised he was finding it awkward to choose the words he wanted. So she let him take his time, watching the children rather than gazing at him and adding to his discomfort.
At last he murmured, ‘It’s Kelly’s mother. My ex-wife.’
Despite herself Chloe felt a tightening within her. Suddenly she didn’t want to hear his explanation. She and I have decided to make another go of it, I needed time to talk to her. Was that what Tom was about to tell her?
‘I may have overreacted – probably did, actually – but I think she might have been planning to abduct Kelly from nursery.’
It wrongfooted Chloe completely, taking her utterly by surprise so that she paused with her mouth open and her teacup halfway towards her lips before she realised how absurd she looked. Quickly she took a gulp of tea, set down the cup and stared at Tom.
‘What? That’s… awful. Tom, I don’t know what to say.’
He sighed, running a hand through his already rumpled hair. ‘As I say, im probably blowing this up out of all proportion. But… well, Rebecca – she’s my ex – rang the surgery this morning to ask if I was at work. We’ve been arguing a lot lately, and I just thought she might be checking I was out of the way before she… ah, you know.’ He shook his head, looking embarrassed. ‘When I tell it out loud like that, it sounds even more ridiculous and paranoid than I thought.’
‘But why would she want to abduct Kelly, just because you’ve been arguing?’
He looked levelly at Chloe. ‘Because the arguments have been about custody.’
And he told her about the recent phone calls, then the visit in person, all aimed at persuading him to relinquish custody of his little girl to her mother. Chloe listened with sympathy and a growing sadness. She’d lost Mark, and she missed him terribly, the ache there constantly and every so often flaring up into a pain that was far more acute. But she wondered if she’d rather have lost him to death, as she had, than have gone through the bitterness of separation, of protracted fighting over little Jake.
At the end, she said softly, ‘You know your ex better than I do, obviously. I’ve never met her. But you said she hadn’t taken out legal proceedings yet. Surely she’d do that first, before resorting to something like abduction?’
He raised his eyebrows ruefully. ‘You’re right. The more I think about it, the more I’m beginning to see that I jumped the gun. She probably just wanted to talk to me this morning, nothing more.’
‘So what now?’
Tom rocked a palm. ‘Now? I don’t want to let Kelly out of my sight, ever, and at the same time I know that’s crazy, that I can’t keep her wrapped up in cotton wool. I can’t ask her to run screaming every time she sees her mother, because I’ve vowed not to poison her against Rebecca. It wouldn’t be fair to either of them.’ He arched his back, working out a crick in his neck. ‘I’ll just have to carry on as before, but be a bit more vigilant, that’s all.’
***
After Tom and Kelly had gone, yet another round of his profuse thanks echoing in her ears, Chloe found she couldn’t concentrate on her work and took Jake for a walk in his pushchair, hoping he’d doze off, as he was always better for an afternoon nap. She strolled the lanes between the cottages in this part of Pemberham, relishing the tranquillity of the early summer afternoon, the surrounding fields in humming bloom.
Her thoughts returned to what Tom had told her. She was relieved that his fears had likely been exaggerated, something he himself realised. Kelly probably wasn’t in any danger. But Chloe recognised that her relief was for another reason. The ex-wife, Rebecca, the glamorous figure who seemed to have stepped out of the pages of a glossy fashion magazine, hadn’t been visiting Tom the other afternoon for the purposes of a romantic tryst. She’d been there to issue demands. From what Tom had said, there seemed to be little danger that he and Rebecca might be getting back together. And Chloe acknowledged she was glad about this.
He was a decent man, she’d come to understand. A genuinely kind person who was fiercely devoted to his daughter. Yes, he was attractive too, in a sexual sense. And yes, if Chloe had met him ten years earlier, he would have been her type. But she couldn’t ignore the recent past; couldn’t blot out the fact that she had no time to consider the indulgence of a romantic relationship when she had to concentrate on building a life for her son. Couldn’t get past the knowledge that she was a
widow, and that her beloved husband had died because a doctor, a member of the same clique as Dr Tom Carlyle, had failed him through negligence and arrogance.
So: Chloe couldn’t possibly become involved with Tom in a romantic sense. But what was there to stop them being friends? He was somebody who apparently didn’t have a huge number of friends, or at least not close ones. Wasn’t that why he’d rung her to ask for her help in picking Kelly up in an emergency? Tom was, after all, a relative newcomer in town, even though he’d grown up there, had been back now for six months and, from what she could see, was widely liked and respected by the community. Perhaps Tom too was in need of a friend rather than a romantic partner.
And he clearly needed support now, at this difficult time, when he faced the potential trauma of the loss of his daughter. Chloe hadn’t asked more about Rebecca, or why it was that Tom had custody of Kelly in the first place when the mother almost always was the one to do so after a separation. Was Tom’s ex-wife a criminal? A drinker? Had she been abusive towards their daughter? But if any of these possibilities were true, why was Tom worried now that he might lose a custody battle? Surely anything that had counted against Rebecca in the past would still be considered relevant today?
They were questions Chloe had felt it wasn’t her place to ask, and until she got to know Tom better and learned how much he wanted to share, it still wasn’t. But as a journalist, Chloe had a curious nature. She liked to think it stopped short of nosiness – she certainly wasn’t a Mrs McFarland – but when a subject intrigued her, Chloe found it difficult to let go without finding out the whole truth.
She was interrupted in her thoughts by a shout and a wave. Cycling past on the other side of the lane was a man she recognised vaguely from the town. He called, ‘Hi, Chloe!’ and she waved back, embarrassed that she couldn’t remember his name. this was happening with increasing frequency, slightly familiar people or complete strangers greeting her, and she realised she was becoming known around Pemberham, and accepted into its community. She was both gratified and mildly alarmed by this, as she was a city girl by upbringing and had never been part of the fabric of a close-knit community before. She didn’t find it unpleasant; quite the opposite, in fact. But she worried that her city ways might make it more difficult for her to integrate, to adjust to expectations and responsibilities to which she wasn’t accustomed.
Peering over the hood of the pushchair, Chloe saw that Jake had dozed off. She decided to continue her walk since the afternoon was so pleasant. She headed up a hill which offered one of her favourite views of the town, and once at the top paused and basked. Pemberham nestled below her, soaked gold in the sunlight, resembling a whimsical portrait from a tourist brochure.
Yes, I can see us calling this place home, she thought. An image of her late husband rose in her mind and she felt the now familiar sting of pain. But although he was with her, always, he didn’t belong here. Their life together had been in London. This was a new life, hers and Jake’s, and she had to make of it something worthwhile and useful in its own right, not live it as a constant tribute to Mark.
She had a home, and a job at which she was already proving a success. The next step was to cultivate some friendships. She had Margaret McFarland. Now she’d see if friendship was what Tom Carlyle wanted.
Chloe set off for home once more, deciding that she’d take the first step and approach Tom, ask him if she could be of any help.
Chapter Six
Rebecca ambushed him the instant after he’d climbed into the driver’s seat of his car.
Tom had asked the child minder, a local teenager, if she could stay half an hour later that evening to look after Kelly as he needed to catch up at work. After collecting Kelly from Chloe’s cottage, Tom had spent the next three hours with her before reluctantly handing her over to the babysitter. He was still uneasy about letting his daughter out of his sight, but decided that if he didn’t break this feeling of paranoia right now it would take hold. So he’d secured the teenager’s agreement to stay a little longer, and had headed back to the surgery.
At half past nine, Ben having already gone home, Tom helped Tracey the receptionist to lock up, then headed across the car park to his Ford. He was behind the wheel, considering whether to cook something at home or get a takeaway en route, when a tapping at the passenger window made him start. Ducking his head to peer out, he saw Rebecca glaring at him through the glass.
Without invitation she opened the door and climbed in beside him.
‘Rebecca,’ he said. ‘How long have you been –’
‘I knew it was your evening surgery so I arrived a few minutes ago,’ she said. ‘I kept out of sight because I didn’t want people coming up and saying hello, or wondering what I was doing here.’
‘And what are you doing here?’
‘Who is she, Tom?’
He turned to stare at Rebecca. Her eyes were narrowed, her lips compressed.
‘Who –’
‘That woman who picked my daughter up from nursery today. Who is she? Your girlfriend?’
‘You –’ There were so many things Tom needed to say and ask that they crowded for space in his throat. ‘You were watching the nursery?’
‘I drove past in the morning to see if I could get a glimpse of my daughter, yes. And what do I see? This strange woman helping her into her car, both of them smiling and chatting as if they’re old friends. If there’d been room I would have pulled over and confronted her, I can tell you.’
‘What are you doing in town anyway?’
‘Tell me who she is. That woman.’
Tom stared at his ex-wife, then took a deep breath, counting slowly to defuse his anger. ‘She’s a friend. Nothing more. Not that it’s any of your business. I asked her to pick Kelly up from nursery.’
‘Why? You were still at work.’
‘Yes, as you’d established by ringing the surgery.’ He rounded on her. ‘What was I supposed to think, Rebecca? I hear that you’ve been phoning to enquire about my whereabouts, but not leaving a message for me to call you back. This comes just a few weeks after you announce you intend to try to pry Kelly away from me. Of course I’m going to speculate, to assume the worst.’
‘Oh my God.’ She gazed through the windscreen, her tone wondering. ‘You thought I was going to kidnap Kelly.’
‘I didn’t know what to think. And can you blame me?’
‘You’re paranoid, Tom, do you know that? Delusional.’
‘And I suppose you’re now going to use that as evidence that I’m not fit to look after Kelly.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘Give me a break.’
She said nothing. He watched her for a moment.
‘So why did you ring to ask if I was at work, Rebecca?’
‘Because I was going to ask to talk to you. I changed my mind when I spoke to your receptionist.’
‘Talk to me about what?’
‘It doesn’t matter.’
‘I’m not budging on the custody thing, Rebecca. I mean it. So you can save your breath.’ A thought struck him. ‘But why are you in Pemberham anyway? If you’d wanted to talk, why couldn’t you just phone from London or wherever it is you are this week?’
‘I’m… staying here for a few days.’ She didn’t make eye contact.
‘Why?’
This time she turned her face to him, cool defiance in her eyes. ‘None of your business. It’s a free country. I can stay where I please.’
‘Oh, come on, Rebecca. You mean to tell me you decided on a whim to spend a few days in a little Cotswolds town that just happens to be where your former husband and your daughter are living, soon after you’ve announced you’re going to fight your ex for custody? You expect me to believe that?’
‘I didn’t say… I don’t want us to fight, Tom.’ Her voice trembled and for a moment he wondered if she was going to start crying. But she held her tears in check. ‘I haven’t taken legal steps yet. I just – I guess I was hoping that by meeting you in person again I’d be a
ble to persuade you.’
‘Despite the fact that the last time we met, a few days ago, your parting words to me were, and I quote: “You have no idea what I’m capable of.” Some people, quite a lot of people, in fact, would see just the glimmer of a threat in a statement like that, Rebecca.’
Once more she sat in silence, staring ahead.
Tom felt drained, suddenly. He slumped in his seat. ‘Where are you staying?’
‘Just around. Doesn’t matter.’
‘I’ll give you a lift, if you want.’
‘No. My car’s parked nearby.’ She climbed out without looking at him.
For the second time in a few days he watched her walk to her Mercedes and get in.
After she’d pulled away Tom sat behind the wheel of his own car, too bewildered to trust himself to drive. Had he completely misjudged the situation? Had Rebecca’s threat of a few days earlier simply been the petulant, throwaway remark of a young mother who profoundly regretted her decision to renounce custody of her only child? And had she come back to Pemberham for the reason she’d told him, namely to try to negotiate some sort of agreement with him?
If that was the case, then he’d done her an injustice. She’d betrayed him during their marriage with her new lover, Andrew, and she’d been petty and often spiteful during the divorce, but she was still a human being, still capable of feeling guilt and regret, and of changing her ways. Was she more to be pitied now than feared, a desperate young woman who realised she’d made a terrible mistake in voluntarily separating from her child and perhaps even from Tom?
And yet… and yet… There was something about Rebecca’s account that didn’t ring true to Tom. She’d given superficially plausible explanations for each individual piece of the mystery, but the whole thing didn’t hang together convincingly. Clearly she’d been hanging around the nursery, and even if her intention hadn’t been to spirit Kelly away, Tom had been right in his assumption that she’d go there.
