by Beevis, Keri
Jack had noticed a lot and Lila suspected his theory was spot on. She remembered him telling her he had been a reporter before he became an author, guessed he was probably good at reading people.
Elliot’s car was already parked out front by the time they arrived back. His boot would be loaded up with his luggage, ready to head off with his mates in the morning. Lila had told him not to bother staying that night, but he had insisted.
‘You want to come in?’
Jack glanced at the clock on the dashboard, hesitated briefly. ‘Okay, sure.’
Elliot was sprawled on the sofa, eyes shut and glasses slipping down his nose, the TV blasting an episode of The Walking Dead. Lila picked the remote up from his belly, muted the sound, and he rose immediately, shoving his glasses back in place and sniffing indignantly.
‘Hey, I was watching that.’
‘With your eyes closed?’
‘I was resting them for a second.’
‘I told you not to have the TV turned up so loud, you’ll disturb Primrose.’
‘In case you hadn’t noticed, Lila, your landlady is almost deaf. I doubt she’d be disturbed if you had a horde of zombies actually in your living room.’
‘Aren’t zombies mostly silent? Apart from the groaning,’ Jack questioned, earning a glare from Elliot.
‘I’m sure if there were enough of them in here you would hear them,’ he huffed. ‘Where have you two been anyway?’
‘Just out and about.’ Lila kept her tone light and breezy, knowing Elliot would fret if she told him she’d been back to Filby again. ‘I’m going to put the kettle on. Do you want a cup of tea?’
Elliot glanced down at his glass of Coke. ‘I’m good, thanks.’
Lila hopped through to the kitchen, started making drinks, leaving Jack in the living room, making small talk with her brother. She could hear them talking about The Walking Dead and knew Jack would never be able to shut Elliot up if he got him too excited. As the kettle boiled her mind wandered back to the Grugers and the uncomfortable evening at their house.
When she had first learnt what had happened she had been so eager to meet Richard Gruger, knowing she was indebted to him. Somehow in her mind she had managed to convince herself that they would share some kind of bond and instantly connect. She hadn’t expected to feel intimidated by him, and she certainly hadn’t thought she would dislike him or find him creepy.
As she balanced on one crutch and reached into the cupboard for mugs, a hand on her shoulder made her jump and she swung around in the small space, losing her footing and falling forward, finding herself face to chest with Jack.
‘Jesus, I didn’t hear you over the kettle.’
‘Apparently not.’ He grinned, setting his phone down on the counter and retrieving the mug that had landed between them, while using his other hand to help steady her back on her feet. ‘You know that’s the second time you’ve thrown yourself at me tonight.’
He was teasing, but Lila swallowed hard, aware he was still standing in her personal space and making no attempt to move. As she took the mug from him, set it down on the counter, she attempted a joke back. ‘Ha, you should be so lucky.’
Those intense blue eyes locked on hers and Lila swore the temperature in the room suddenly rose several degrees.
‘I should,’ he agreed, his tone sobering.
‘What?’
The look he gave her became heated as his gaze dropped to her mouth and Lila’s heartbeat quickened as he tenderly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, leaning in closer. ‘I said I should be so lucky.’ His voice was little more than a whisper, a caress against her skin.
She wanted him to kiss her. The anticipation of it made her tingle.
‘On second thoughts, maybe I will have a cup of tea.’
Lila’s head shot up, as her brother appeared in the doorway, his empty glass in his hand. His eyes went saucer wide, his cheeks reddening. ‘Shit, sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.’
‘You didn’t.’ The moment killed, Jack stepped back, rubbing at the nape of his neck and looking downright uncomfortable. ‘You didn’t interrupt anything. In fact, it’s getting late. I should probably pass on coffee and get back home.’
Love her brother she might, but if she had a bat, Lila was pretty sure she would wallop him with it. It was not at all how she had imagined that moment would be.
‘I’ll just use the loo.’ Jack disappeared into the hallway as Lila glowered at Elliot.
‘I’m sorry,’ he protested in a loud whisper. ‘How was I supposed to know you two were in here having a moment?’
Lila clenched her fists in frustration. ‘Do you have any idea how long it’s been since I’ve had sex, how long since I met someone I actually want to have sex with,’ she fumed.
‘That’s enough information.’ Elliot covered his ears, looking mortified. ‘I really don’t want to know about my sister’s sex life.’
‘Lack of, you mean. And not likely to change any time soon, thanks to you.’
She was careful to keep her voice hushed, because the only thing that could possibly be worse than what had just happened would be for Jack to overhear her lamenting about her dry spell. Her really long dry spell.
At least, that’s what she thought could be the worst.
As if on cue, Jack’s phone vibrated, bouncing around on the kitchen worktop.
Elliot and Lila both stopped bickering long enough to glance at it, to spot the name of the caller.
Tiff.
Lila thought back to the Google picture of Jack and the leggy tanned blonde and sickness coiled in her belly. She had convinced herself that the woman wasn’t of any significance in Jack’s life. After all, why would he be knocking around with Lila if he had a stunning girlfriend waiting for him at home? He had never mentioned being in a relationship, certainly hadn’t acted as if he was, at least not in the last few moments.
She tried to convince herself that there had to be an explanation for Tiff. Maybe she was just a friend. An old friend who had his number and who just happened to be calling him up at quarter to eleven on a Friday night.
‘Who’s Tiff?’ Elliot asked, regarding Lila with suspicion.
She was saved from answering as Jack returned to the kitchen, looking like he couldn’t wait to get out of the flat.
‘You just had a missed call.’ Lila picked up the phone, passed it to him. She couldn’t let him leave without knowing the truth. ‘Someone called Tiff.’
For the briefest moment, he frowned then as if remembering, put his hand to his forehead. ‘Shit! I forgot she was coming up tonight.’
‘Who’s Tiff?’ Elliot repeated, this time to Jack.
Lila was glad he had asked the question, as she wasn’t sure she could muster the words. Jack locked eyes with her for a brief moment and something passed over his face. Not guilt. Regret.
‘She’s my girlfriend.’
Fuck.
The thread of hope Lila had been clinging to dissipated.
‘Best you get back to her then,’ she said tightly, wanting him gone.
Lila closed the door behind him, her chest physically hurting. It was exactly why she had backed away from dating; from getting involved with men on any level. They always ended up disappointing her.
‘Probably for the best that I interrupted you, eh.’
If she’d had a cushion at hand it would have gone flying at Elliot’s head, but then he smiled sympathetically and she realised she had misread her brother’s attempt at dry humour.
He stepped forward, slipping his arm around her and pressing his lips against her temple. ‘I’m sorry, Lila. I know you liked him.’
Lila forced a smile. ‘At least I found out now.’
Elliot pointed towards the other side of the room. ‘Want to eat ice cream and drink wine? I’ve got chocolate chip in the freezer.’
‘That sounds like a plan.’
15
Elliot set off for his Scottish jaunt just after eight on
Saturday morning. He made enough noise to wake the dead, including Lila, who was sporting a monster hangover. Head throbbing, too much going on in her mind to attempt sleep again, she threw back the duvet, grabbed her crutches and hopped through to the kitchen to put on the kettle.
Jack hadn’t called or texted. Why did that disappoint her? She tried to put things into perspective, reminding herself that they had only met a handful of times and that when they had it had always been about the night of the accident and his sister’s death. Why would he call or text her? He owed her nothing, had done nothing wrong.
Except nearly kiss her.
But then had she misread that moment in the kitchen? It had been so long since she had kissed anyone; maybe he was being friendly, nothing more.
Irritated that she was overanalysing everything, Lila downed two paracetamol with a glass of water and dumped a spoonful of coffee in her favourite mug. As she waited for the kettle to boil, she leant on the crutches and rummaged in the fridge, finding bacon and eggs, and heated a pan. It was Saturday, she had a hangover, the day stretched out ahead of her with no visitors, and she needed to perk herself up. Food was the way forward.
By nine thirty she had eaten her fry-up, drank two cups of coffee, and was climbing the walls.
Fetching her camera, she made her way out into the garden, loving the warmth of the sun on her back as she snapped pictures of Primrose’s colourful tulips and bluebells.
Still, Lila was itching to get out and by lunchtime she was on a bus heading up to Cromer. It was a gorgeous day and she figured she would find a bench to sit down on and try to get a few tourist shots before heading over to Nat’s Hideaway. Beth was on a day off, but Natalie would be working and Joe had mentioned he was back at the weekend and would be helping cover. Lila would see if Ruby had been in touch.
Not that it really mattered much anymore, how things were with Jack.
The place was packed when she finally pushed open the door just after two in the afternoon. Natalie was working the counter, Joe clearing tables. He gave Lila a wide grin. ‘Hey, I was going to call you when I was on my break. I heard back from Ruby.’
‘You did?’
‘She was a little hesitant, but I told her you’re a good friend, so she agreed I could give you her number.’
‘Joe, you’re a star. Thank you.’
‘Wait until I’ve sorted this lot and I’ll get it for you.’
‘Thank you.’ Lila set down her crutches and settled into a booth, wondering what the hell she was going to say to Ruby. Was it even worth still calling her? Joe had gone to the effort of getting in touch with her though and Jack did still need answers. She would speak to the girl and try not to spook her then maybe fire a brief text off to Jack. As she debated how best to gain Ruby’s trust, Joe came over with a pot of tea and a slab of chocolate cake, which he set down before her.
He grinned when Lila reached for her purse. ‘Mum says it’s on the house. I’ve just texted you Ruby’s number.’
‘Thank you.’
She waited until Joe had gone back to the kitchen before pulling out her phone and looking at the text, storing Ruby’s number on her memory card.
Once again she wondered what on earth she was going to say to the girl. Throwing caution to the wind, deciding she was going to have to make it up as she went along, she pressed “call”, and waited, her heart thumping.
For a long moment it continued to ring and Lila thought it would go to voicemail, but then a wary voice answered. ‘Hello?’
‘Ruby? This is Joe’s friend, Lila.’
‘Yes?’
‘I really need to speak with you, in person if possible.’
‘What’s this about?’ The wariness was still there.
‘You were friends with Stephanie Whitman.’
There was silence and Lila wondered if Ruby had hung up. ‘Ruby? Are you still there?’
‘Are you a friend of her brother’s?’
‘Jack just–’
‘I can’t talk about it. I have to go.’
‘Please, Ruby. Please don’t hang up. This is really important.’
There was silence down the line, but the call was still live. Ruby didn’t speak again. Instead waited, presumably to hear what Lila had to say.
‘I know you were Stephanie’s friend. I know you cared about her. If something bad happened to her before she died you have to let us know. She deserves that, doesn’t she?’
The silence continued.
‘Please, Ruby.’
‘I shouldn’t have put what I did on her Facebook page.’
‘But you did and now Jack is in even more turmoil. It’s killing him not knowing. You can help. You need to talk to him. Please.’
It took another five minutes of cajoling, but eventually Ruby agreed to consider Lila’s request to meet. Whatever it was, it was clear the guilt of keeping Stephanie’s secret was weighing heavily. She promised Lila she would be in touch.
Lila hoped she was telling the truth, wondered if she should message Jack and let him know they had spoken. If Ruby agreed to meet, would he still want Lila to go with him? It would be bloody uncomfortable.
She picked up her phone, started to write a text. Hey, Jack. I have some news about Ruby… then hesitated, deleting the message.
After a moment’s deliberation, she logged into Facebook, clicked on to his profile, but his settings were still tight and gave nothing away. Was Tiffany on Facebook? Lila wanted to know, but didn’t want to know. She would be a fool to even look.
She tapped the table impatiently, glanced round the almost-empty café, before typing Tiffany Pendleton-Shay into the search engine, feeling sick when Jack’s bombshell blonde girlfriend beamed back at her. Jack was in her profile picture, his arm around her, and they looked perfect together. Lila knew she should click off Facebook, but the masochist in her couldn’t resist clicking through the handful of public photos Tiffany had posted. Jack was in most of them, smiling and gorgeous, those cool blue eyes of his staring straight at her, while Tiffany possessively held on to him. She was also smiling, but her expression clearly spoke, “He’s mine”.
Jack was Tiffany’s boyfriend and Lila was no relationship wrecker. It was for the best that she didn’t see him again. But would Ruby agree to meet him if she wasn’t there?
And she had to tell him about Ruby. She knew how important this was to him.
Just text him. Send a simple text saying that you’ve spoken to Ruby. If he doesn’t reply then you know he wants you to butt out.
Lila argued with herself for another five minutes, overanalysing everything, getting annoyed because she wasn’t usually so indecisive. Finally she wrote a message, kept it simple. I’ve spoken to Ruby. She’s a little freaked out about meeting, but said she will think about it. I’ll let you know what she says.
Brief, friendly, but non-committal. She had opened up a line of dialogue and the ball was now in Jack’s court whether to reply.
* * *
Jack was out for a run when Lila’s text came through, needing to clear his head after a late night of drinking and soul-searching, the events of the previous evening still replaying in his head.
Bored of waiting at the station where he was supposed to have picked her up, Tiff had put herself in a black cab. The lights had all been on when he’d arrived home, but then that was Tiff. Screw the electricity bill. He was a terrible boyfriend, she had told him and Jack supposed it was true. Not just because he had forgotten to pick her up, but also because he had almost kissed Lila.
Correction: would have kissed Lila if Elliot hadn’t interrupted them.
It wasn’t like Jack had planned it, but he would be a liar, as well as a terrible boyfriend, if he didn’t admit he had wanted to kiss her. Yes, he had wanted to kiss her, had for a moment forgotten he already had a girlfriend, and now Tiff was pissed off with him and Lila disappointed in him. Knowing that had eaten at him all the way home, gnawing at his temper, and by the time he found Tiffany in the
kitchen, topping up her glass of wine, he had been ready for a fight.
‘Nice of you to finally show up,’ she had snarled as she turned to face him.
‘Nice of you to light up the house like it’s the bloody Blackpool Illuminations,’ Jack growled back, throwing his keys down.
From his bed in the corner of the room, Cooper whined.
Tiffany glared at the dog before turning her attention back to Jack. ‘You owe me ninety quid for the taxi.’
‘You paid ninety quid, are you kidding me?’
Leaving her in the kitchen, too annoyed to look at her, Jack had gone from room to room, switching off the lights he was certain she had turned on to goad him.
Tiffany followed, her high heels clacking on the wooden floors, the sound irritating him as she followed him upstairs. ‘Where were you?’
‘Out.’
‘Out where?’
‘It doesn’t matter.’
‘It bloody well does to me. I want to know where you were that was so important that you forgot you were picking me up from the fucking station.’
Things had gone downhill fast from there. Tiffany didn’t understand why Jack would want to visit Filby Broad or why he was still struggling with Stephanie’s death.
He bitterly recalled her words. ‘She’s gone, Jack. It’s time to move on and you need to focus on those of us who are still here.’
‘Time to move on?’ He had questioned incredulously, pacing the landing. ‘She only fucking died six weeks ago.’
‘I’m aware of that, but wallowing about it isn’t going to do you any good.’
‘Stop! Just fucking stop talking before you dig yourself any deeper, please.’
Tiffany’s mouth had been a thin painted line as she scowled at him, one regal eyebrow arched. She was beautiful even when she was angry, but it was all manufactured, from her threaded eyebrows to her manicured nails to her golden tan. He realised he wasn’t even sure he had ever seen what the real Tiffany Pendleton-Shay looked like and that realisation had been followed by a slamming revelation.
