Dave/Dobby muttered something and, sighing, left the side of the pool. Tara deliberately avoided looking at Leo as she made her way to the steps at the deep end, where she did her usual gradual dip into the water.
She pushed off from the side and swam, her body responding to the water more quickly than it had last time. Then it had been all about remembering long forgotten movements and sensations, but now her limbs seemed to come alive instantly. She did one length, two . . . After ten she stopped counting, losing herself entirely in the rhythm of her strokes. Soon it was as though the water coursed through her, filling her with pure aquamarine light.
Finally, out of breath, Tara swam to the side, her arms and legs shaking now. Her eyes stung and she wished she had remembered to bring her swimming goggles. Thinking about it, she wasn’t sure if she still owned any. She’d get some for next time.
Next time? She was surprised by the thought as she climbed the steps out of the water, careful to make sure her bikini bottoms didn’t slip down. She tried to subtly rearrange them, glancing upwards and catching Leo’s eyes on her. She blushed and started to walk down the side of the pool, when pain screamed through her foot and made her stumble, crying out.
A pink watery stain was already forming around her toes. When she lifted her foot, she saw a jagged bit of glass sticking into the pad of her sole. The pain blazed and throbbed. She stumbled again as she tried to pull it out.
‘What happened?’ Leo was suddenly there, frowning down at her foot. For a second, hot embarrassment overtook the pain and her face throbbed. ‘Did you stand on something?’
‘Bit of glass,’ she said tightly, angry suddenly at how grotty this pool was. She should have just gone to the leisure centre if she wanted a swim. It would be clean there or, at the very least, not a danger zone.
‘Oh look, God, I’m really sorry,’ said Leo. ‘I told Dave to . . . Jeez, look, come on over here. I’ll get the first-aid kit.’
His face was concerned even though he avoided looking at her directly. Grudgingly, Tara put her hand on his forearm, which he was holding out to her. His skin was warm, his arm covered in very fine dark hairs. Not like hairy ape Beck, with his coarse fur. This was silky-looking, and she had a mad urge to touch it with her fingertips. Her cheeks flared brighter still as she hop-walked, leaning on him, over to one of the loungers.
‘Wait there a sec,’ said Leo and he went off to a small room at the side of the pool. Daisy Lady was getting out of the water and she gave Tara a knowing sort of smile.
Cheek! It was like she was suggesting Tara was trying to get Leo’s attention when actually her foot was hurting like anything. She glanced down at it, glad, despite herself, that she’d cut her toenails the other night and put on some shimmery blue nail varnish.
Leo came over holding a large white box that looked older than both of them put together.
‘I’m really sorry about this,’ he said. ‘A kid broke a bottle earlier and Dave said he’d cleaned it all up.’
‘It’s all right,’ said Tara. ‘Look, I can do this myself . . .’
‘It’s better if you let me,’ he said, still not meeting her eyes. ‘I’ve sort of been trained and we don’t want you getting an infection. Is that okay?’
They met eyes then just for a second. Tara slid her gaze away quickly.
‘All right,’ she said, grudgingly. ‘But is it because you’re worried I’m going to sue or something?’
Leo smiled as he doused a piece of cotton wool in foul-smelling antiseptic and then used it to carefully clean a pair of tweezers. ‘Be my guest. Would serve old Dobby right if you did,’ he said. ‘Might make him look after the place a bit better.’
‘Does he own this place?’ said Tara.
Leo gently took hold of her cold, damp foot in his warm, dry hand and, frowning in concentration, tweezed out the piece of glass. Tara gasped as it slid out of her skin and then heard it tinkle into the upturned lid of the first-aid box.
He shot her an apologetic look.
‘Worst’s over now,’ he said. ‘Dobby’s got some weird arrangement with the council that I don’t really understand. I don’t bother asking too much. I just take the money and enjoy the free swims.’ He looked up at her then, his dark blue eyes intense. ‘It didn’t go in far, luckily.’ He started to clean the cut with yet more antiseptic, and finally put on a large plaster. Funny how he seemed more confident and sure, doing this, than when they’d had casual conversations before.
He worked in silence, which was a relief. Tara was going through such a range of emotions that she felt her voice would come out like Donald Duck’s if she tried to speak. The sensation of his warm, gentle hand on her naked foot was almost unbearable. She couldn’t work out whether she wanted to kick him away or push him down on the wet poolside and snog his face off. His actions felt too intimate to be happening between strangers but it was also churning up a whole load of feelings she hadn’t had since Jay. It felt as though her nerve endings were exposed all over her body, transmitting electricity in a low hum. She could power the National Grid at this rate. Her treacherous cheeks burned and glowed. Shivers tickled up and down the back of her neck and she tried not to imagine Leo’s fingers there too.
She tried to tell herself to get a grip. There was no way he was interested in her like that. He was just being kind and doing his job. And who would want a girl who had a face like a tomato? Anyway, she didn’t even care.
All done,’ he said, after a few moments.
‘Thanks,’ she said tightly, when she’d managed to find her voice. ‘You’ve done a good job. It feels much better.’
Leo shrugged. ‘Was sort of what I wanted to do for a while.’
He met Tara’s puzzled expression.
‘You know, paramedic type stuff.’
‘Oh,’ said Tara. ‘You don’t any more then?’ she said and then felt it was the wrong thing to say. Leo’s expression seemed to snap closed.
‘Things change,’ he said and then rocked back on his feet and stood up. ‘Do you want to go and get dry now? You must be getting cold.’
Flustered, Tara got up, suddenly convinced that she’d somehow been taking too much of his time, even though he was the one who’d wanted to sort her foot out.
Then he spoke again.
‘Once you’re ready, come and find me and I’ll sort out getting you home.’
‘Oh,’ she said, ‘it’s all right, I can walk.’
She moved away and instantly winced. It did hurt a bit. It would take ages to walk home. Maybe she could call Mum or Beck? But she remembered that both were going to be out this afternoon. And for some reason she didn’t want them knowing about this place. It would be spoilt if they came here.
Leo was watching her.
‘I don’t think you should push it. Anyway, it’s the least we can do. Go get changed and I’ll see you in a minute. Want help walking over there?’
‘Er, no, I’m okay,’ she said. ‘I’ll come and find you.’
Hobbling over to the changing room, Tara’s mind was racing. This was what she’d wanted, a chance to question Leo. Now she had the perfect opportunity.
But being near him made it hard to think straight. She should just go home and forget about it. Definitely, she thought, as she dried herself with the towel and pulled on clothes over her damp, cold skin.
Then she pictured Will lying comatose in a hospital bed. She didn’t owe Will anything, she told herself. But if she could just get rid of this nagging feeling that something was wrong with Melodie, and that this something had landed Will in hospital, then she’d be able to move on. Maybe then she could come swimming just for the fun of it, despite the hazards attached.
She spent ages combing her hair through this time. She’d remembered to bring some make-up remover pads to clean under her eyes, and some mascara to replace what had come off in the pool. Plus, she’d stuck some lip gloss into her bag at the last moment. She slicked some on and tried to push her shoulders back, like Mum was a
lways telling her to do, and came out of the cubicle. She saw the girl from the entrance, who gave her a cautious smile.
‘I’m really sorry about your foot,’ she said. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Yeah, I’m okay, thanks,’ she said.
The girl leant closer with a conspiratorial grin. ‘Leo gave Dave hell about it. They had a right old ding-dong. Leo said he was walking if Dave didn’t get his arse back over here so Leo could take you home.’
‘Oh, dear,’ said Tara, feeling even more self-conscious.
The girl grinned and moved away.
Tara couldn’t have drawn attention to herself any more successfully if she’d tried. She was half regretting coming here. Only half though, because she kept vividly remembering the feeling of Leo’s warm hand on her bare foot. She shivered and made her way back to the entrance.
There was an office in a wooden hut. Leo was in there with his back to her, bending over the computer screen.
She cleared her throat and he turned round with a slight smile.
‘How’s the foot?’ he said, his gaze quickly slipping away from her face.
‘It’s not too bad,’ she mumbled. ‘It’s probably best if I just get . . .’ She pointed in a vague general direction away from the pool but Leo was already picking up car keys.
‘Really, it’s the least I can do . . .’ he insisted.
She was frowning at him and still half looking at the door. He regarded her for a moment and then groaned.
‘I’m an idiot. Why would you just get into a car with some bloke you don’t know? I’ll call for a cab.’
He was reaching into his pocket for his mobile when a flash of determination made Tara speak again.
‘It’s all right,’ she said. ‘You’re Melo— Mel’s brother, aren’t you? I’d love a lift, thanks.’
He smiled. ‘Okay, if you’re sure. I’ll just tell Cassie I’m off.’
He disappeared for a moment and then came back, jingling his car keys against his leg. ‘Car’s this way,’ he said and set off at a pace towards the car park. Tara hobbled along behind him until he turned to look at her.
‘Sorry, my dad says I only have one setting. Take your time.’
Tara was sure he was going to offer again to help her but then he looked away and walked slowly with her towards the car park.
As Leo approached a car, shock coursed through Tara.
Of course. She should have remembered. She’d seen it before, hadn’t she?
Leo’s car was white.
CHAPTER 9
BEAUTIFUL
She quickly swept her gaze over the front of the vehicle. It was rusty and a bit scratched but she couldn’t see any bumps or dents. For a second the thought of speeding metal slamming into soft flesh overwhelmed her and she felt dizzy.
‘You all right?’
She realised she’d closed her eyes and she coughed, trying to remember what normal looked like so she could attempt to recreate it.
‘Fine,’ she said. Come on, you can do this. She tried to pull open the passenger door, which was resistant to her efforts. Why? Because the car had been in an accident and jammed it closed? Tara’s heart began to race.
Leo came round to her side of the car and, with a shy, apologetic grin, yanked the door open.
‘It’s a bit of a rust-bucket but it’ll get you home in one piece.’
Tara shuddered a little inside at his choice of words.
‘Where to?’ said Leo.
She gave him her address and he gave a short nod of recognition. Inside the car, Tara sat stiffly, trying to make space for her feet in the footwell. It was crammed with a large sports bag and a rolled-up towel that looked as though it had been there for ever. Tara was fizzing with nerves, wondering if she should question Leo, but she had no idea what to say. Plus, she was hyper-conscious of his strong, tanned arm near hers as he clipped in his seatbelt, which obviously was just wrong of her, she knew.
He’d just turned the engine on when a panicked, disembodied voice filled car, making Tara jump.
‘They’re coming outta the walls! They’re coming outta the goddamn walls!’
As Leo switched off the engine and fumbled in his pocket, Tara realised the sound was the ringtone on his mobile.
He glanced at her, flushing a little. ‘It’s from Aliens,’ he said, a bit apologetically, and then answered the call.
‘Papi, I’m busy right now. What’s . . . ?’ he sighed. ‘Are you all right? Don’t move, I’ll be right there.’
He put his phone away and looked at Tara, his expression concerned.
‘Look,’ he said, ‘I have to stop off before I take you home. My dad . . . he’s disabled and he’s got himself stuck getting out of the bath. We’re on Foley Road so it’ll be a quick detour before I take you to yours. Do you mind?’
‘No, that’s okay,’ she said, as the car pulled out of the park. That’s interesting, she thought, gathering her courage to speak again. ‘Don’t you live with Mel then?’ She was aiming for ‘nonchalant’ but feared she’d ended up with something closer to ‘stiff and weird’.
Leo shook his head. ‘No, we’ve never lived in the same house, thank God. Our family’s not exactly your usual two-point-three kids thing,’ he said as he expertly pulled onto a roundabout, one forearm resting on the open window in that cocky lad’s way.
‘Oh?’ said Tara, trying not to sound as interested as she really was.
‘Our mum, Hope, well, she was what they called a wild child in the Nineties. My pa— my dad’s Italian and she met him on holiday in Sicily. He gave up everything to come over here and then she left him when I was a baby.’ This had the air of something that had been said so many times that all bitterness had been soaked away by the passage of time. ‘Dad stayed here and brought me up,’ continued Leo. ‘Hope hooked up with Adam Stone and was pregnant with Melodie before I was even walking.’
Tara slid a look at him.
He shrugged. ‘That was Hope for you. Or so I’m told.’
‘Oh,’ said Tara. ‘Is she . . . ?’
‘Dead? Yeah,’ said Leo. ‘It’s okay though, because it’s not like I really knew her or anything. She died of a drug overdose when I was three. I don’t remember her.’
‘And Faith’s an aunt, right?’ she said with a boldness she wasn’t feeling.
Leo slid her an odd look. ‘Yeah, she’s Hope’s sister. She got custody of her because, at the time, Adam was in no fit state to look after a baby. He was in rehab himself.’ He grinned. ‘I know what you’re thinking . . .’
Tara gulped. ‘Er, you do?’
‘Yeah,’ said Leo. ‘Faith and Hope. Yes, their parents were hippies.’
Leo glanced at her again. ‘But don’t you know any of this already?’
‘What?’
‘Doesn’t Mel tell her friends anything?’
Tara froze. She’d forgotten about the lie she’d told, that she and Melodie were friends. There may have a been a moment before now when she could have said, ‘Actually, when I say friends, I just mean we sit together in English’, but now it was too late. Instead, she found herself saying, ‘You know what she’s like.’
Leo sighed. ‘Yeah. Too well.’
No one spoke for another minute or so, and Tara had the sensation of having missed an opportunity that wouldn’t present itself again.
They soon turned down a road of terraced houses not far from Tara’s school. The houses were small and made from red brick. Many had broken walls at the front. It was a busy main road and traffic thundered by. Leo pulled into a sort of yard behind the houses halfway down the row and stopped the engine, turning to Tara.
‘I won’t be long,’ he said, unclipping his seatbelt. ‘Do you want to wait here?’
Tara looked past him to where a group of boys a bit younger than herself were slouched on the wall, or making lazy circles on BMXs. They were, as one, looking at the car.
‘Can I come with you?’ she said, unclipping her seatbelt.
&nb
sp; Leo looked away and there was an awkward pause until he met her eyes again. There was a defiant look in them now, which she couldn’t work out.
‘Yeah, why not,’ he said. ‘Come on.’
They trudged across the car park, which led to a row of rusty-doored garages. There were some whistles and catcalls from the boys, which ended abruptly when Leo turned and gave them a look.
He caught her watching and gave her a short smile, which the boys couldn’t see. She returned the smile, following him through a rickety gate and into a patch of garden, which was strewn with a couple of old plastic clothes horses and the remains of several motorbikes.
Leo opened the back door. A grubby lace curtain covered the top half of the door, attached to elastic. It was the sort of thing Tara’s mum would never allow in her house. Tara felt a little ashamed for thinking of this as she followed Leo into the kitchen.
‘Papi? Papi,’ said Leo. ‘It’s me. I have someone with me . . .’ he added hastily.
Leo disappeared off down a dark hallway. A rapid exchange in Italian followed between Leo and someone with a deep voice who must be the mysterious ‘Papi’.
It seemed to go on for ages and was so fast that Tara didn’t recognise a single word, despite the short-lived fad Mum’d had for learning the language once, and insisting on trying it out on her family.
Unsure what to do, Tara lingered by the back door, looking around an ancient kitchen. The cooker was an electric ring one and there was a washing machine that looked about two centuries old. None of the appliances were built in, like in Tara’s kitchen, but free standing and a bit wobbly looking. A yellow formica table was in the middle of the room. An avalanche of papers looked set to slide any minute onto a floor made from large brown carpet tiles, which were a little tacky underneath Tara’s sandals.
Her foot began to throb then. She was suddenly hungry and tired. She thought about Mum saying there was bread from the artisan bakery and felt a little throb of shame at how different her own home was from this one, coupled with a strong wish to be there right now.
Leo came back into the kitchen, looking annoyed. Behind him, a dark-haired man using one of those old-people walkers was shuffling along. In fact, he was probably only about Dad’s age. He had glasses and a big toothy smile.
Hold Your Breath Page 8
