Doing the Right Thing

by Barbara Elsborg

  “Not too pretty down the left-hand side, but nothing major. Is it yours?” the man asked.

  “My friend’s,” Addie said.

  “It needs a new airbag. I’ve taken the other one off. The car’s drivable.”

  “Why wouldn’t it start?” she asked.

  “Probably snow in the electrics. It’s fine now.”

  Addie checked it out. The left-hand side was dented and scratched.

  “Lisa will go berserk.” She turned to the man. “How did you know where it was?”

  “The guy that paid me said to follow the footprints, although I was told there were two people.”

  “Meaning?” Ed asked.

  “For most of the way, there was only one set of prints.”

  Addie signed a form and was handed the key.

  “How come, Addie?” Ed said at her ear.

  Addie hesitated.

  “Well?”

  “I gave Vee a piggy-back some of the way.”

  “She didn’t even walk?”

  “She couldn’t. She kept slipping.”

  “You saved her life,” Ed said. “It was her fault she crashed, not yours. She pretended she was at death’s fucking door and you were the one who could have died. You wore a flimsy jacket, she had a long winter coat. You had open-toed shoes, she was in leather boots. You had to wear the Wellingtons even though the damn things almost cut off your circulation. You gave her your gloves. She let you carry her back and then pretended to faint on the drive. She’s a piece of shit.”

  “She’s having Will’s baby.”

  “Don’t go, Addie. She’ll continue to lie about you.” He curled his fingers around hers. “She twists everything. She’s a vicious, nasty—”

  “What did she do to you?” Addie whispered.

  Ed stuck his hands in his pockets.

  “What did she do?”

  “Came round to my flat once when Will was away. They were married by then. She’d brought champagne. I went to open it, then I couldn’t find her at first. When I did, I wished I hadn’t. She was in my bed, naked.” He gave Addie a little smile. “She said Will would never find out and she wanted to know what she’d been missing.”

  “Oh God.”

  “I walked out. She got her own back. She told Will I’d made a pass at her, stuck my hand up her skirt and my tongue down her throat. Will said he believed me, but I…I always wondered if he did.”

  “Why is Will still with her?” Addie asked. “Does he love her?”

  Ed hesitated. “No, he loves you. That’s why you have to come and have breakfast and show Vee she’s not won.”

  As they walked into the morning room, Addie felt as though she’d gone through an airport scanner and set off an ear-splitting siren. Everyone looked at her. She poured herself a glass of orange. Please don’t sit with Vee and Will, she pleaded. Ed headed in the opposite direction, only he didn’t pick an empty table, but one with two spaces left.

  “Morning.” He smiled at everyone.

  Addie put down her drink and scuttled back to the buffet. She made sure she didn’t return to the table until Ed was seated.

  “How are you, Addie?” Phaedra asked. “What a scary night!”

  “Fine, I—”

  “Not really,” Ed said. “That idiot over there almost killed her.”

  Addie caught the glances that flashed across the table.

  “I thought you were driving?” Phaedra said.

  Addie’s back stiffened. “No, I wasn’t.”

  “The car tipped up on to the passenger side. Addie was lucky she just grazed her head. She ought to have gone to hospital to be checked out too.” Ed’s hand rested on her knee under the table. “She carried Vee the majority of the way back here.”

  “Ed,” Addie whispered.

  She knew what he was trying to do and wasn’t sure if he was helping, but it felt good to have someone standing up for her. She heard Vee make a snappy comment and when Addie looked up, she and Will had gone.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  The blue group had gathered in the library. Ed bent his head to kiss Addie at the door and she pulled away. His lips pressed together in a tight line, and she knew she’d hurt him. But he squeezed her hand and shot her a little smile before he left. Addie’s mind whirled. Ed had held her and kissed her yet told her Will loved her. Had he suspected Will would come into the room last night? Had she? Her shoulders slumped again.

  Addie walked in feeling as confident as a bleeding swimmer about to take a dip with a squad of piranhas. Once inside the room, she sidled along the wall and sat on a chair at the edge of the group.

  “Good morning, everyone,” Justin said. “Well, you might not have won the snow sculpting contest yesterday, but you worked well as a team. We’re not going to get cold this morning, but snow is still on the menu. I want you to work on your own to begin with, making a list of ten things you would do if you were stuck in a blizzard.”

  Addie retreated to the window seat. What was important? Shelter and food. Something to keep her warm. Someone to keep her warm. Will had breathed life into her, and then thrown her back under a snowdrift. She wasn’t sure what Ed had done. Seen an opportunity and taken it? But he hadn’t. He’d looked after her. Addie chewed her pencil. He’d said he wanted her from the moment he saw her in the gym. Heat flooded her face as she remembered trying to hide the deflated ball. How could she believe him? He was trying to make up for the fact that Will was a bastard.

  She looked at the blank pad of paper in her hand. What was the point? Justin hadn’t said if you were on your own, outside or inside, nor where you were, halfway up Everest or mid-Shropshire. A snowstorm could last for days or hours. How could you decide what to do if you didn’t know all the facts?

  “Two minutes,” Justin called.

  Addie had written nothing but left neat rings of indentations along the yellow pencil. She scribbled a list and sighed. She still wanted to run away.

  “Okay.” Justin looked round the room. “Who wants to start?”

  It was soon clear to Addie that her mind had migrated to Mars. While the others debated the need for a Primus stove, Addie focused on two faces. Will’s smile when he leapt in the air with the kite, then his despair when he lifted Vee from the snowy drive. Ed’s grin when he teased her in Lincoln and the hope in his eyes when he said he wanted her. The same face that wanted Daisy and Beth and Charlotte. And how many before them?

  “Addie?” Justin said.

  Her head snapped up and she banged it on the window.

  “Er…I’d put on the TV and check the weather forecast. Might rain in an hour. We wouldn’t need to bother doing anything.”

  “How are you going to put on the TV if there’s no electricity?” Tony asked, looking round the room expecting everyone to agree she was an idiot.

  “In my blizzard, the electricity supply is uninterrupted.”

  “Anything else?” Justin asked.

  “I might dig out my snowplough to bury Tony.”

  Louise and Phaedra giggled. Tony harrumphed and Addie refused to speak again.

  She half-listened as Justin summed up. Her mind was on driving home. She’d take Lisa’s car. She was certain Will would drive Vee back, so Addie would be doing everyone a favour. She’d never see Will or Ed again, never go back to Magelan’s. She’d use the computer at the language school and look for a cheap flight to anywhere.

  Addie didn’t notice Jack Magelan until he stood in front of her. Vee was by the door. Not good. Addie stood, one hand still clutching her pad of paper.

  “You’re fired. I want you to leave the hotel at once,” he said.

  The room was silent. Everyone stared at her and even though he’d spoken in a low tone, Addie knew they’d heard.

  “Actually, I resigned the day you took over. Didn’t Will tell you?”

  “I know you threatened to resign because Will refused you a salary increase,” Jack said. “Even after you offered him your virginity.”

 
; Addie’s mouth dropped open. “What?”

  “I have no wish to employ someone who’s prepared to sacrifice self-respect for money. You need professional help, young lady. Your obsession with Will Mansell almost cost two lives.”

  Addie let the pad of paper fall to the floor. Fury boiled inside her, shooting up from her toes and out her mouth. “How dare you make a judgment without hearing both sides? You’ve accepted her word without even talking to me. You have the gall to speak to me in an offensive way in front of a room full of witnesses and yet expect me to roll over? Well, I won’t. I’m the injured party here, not her. My lawyer will be in touch.”

  She turned to Vee. “As for you, well, you’ve got what you want, Will at the end of a leash. Isn’t that enough? Why are you telling lies about me?”

  “I’m not lying. You’re so bitter and twisted you make me sick. My God, you even threw yourself under Will’s car so he’d feel sorry for you.”

  “That was an accident.”

  Vee pursed her lips. “So you say. Will’s knows he made a terrible mistake getting involved with you, but he did it from pity, you were so desperate.”

  “Vee, that’s enough.” Jack tried to turn her away, but she pulled free and stepped up to Addie.

  “Now you’ve resorted to sleeping with his brother, trying to make Will jealous.”

  There was complete silence. Jack looked shocked. Addie could feel everyone waiting to see what she’d say. How did Vee know Ed had spent the night in her room? Had Will told her?

  “I’m not the bad person here,” Addie said. “I’ve never intentionally hurt anyone and I don’t lie to get what I want. You’re a bitch, Vee. Even Will doesn’t deserve a monster like you.”

  Addie kept her head up and took a few steps toward the door before turning. “Thanks, Justin. I’ve learned a lot about people over the last few days.” She looked around the group. “Bye, everyone. Nice to have met you.”

  “Bye, Addie,” Justin said. “It was my pleasure.”

  As she walked out, she heard the others calling goodbye. The moment she’d closed the door, Addie’s control vanished. Her breath came out in jagged gasps as she bolted for the stairs. All she could think about was getting as far away from everyone as possible.

  Back in her room, she changed clothes, put on her ripped jeans and an old sweater.

  She left every item Will had bought her in a heap outside his room. Then she ran.

  Ed discovered at lunchtime that Addie had gone. He heard people gossiping about the scene Vee had made, and after Phaedra and Louise told him what happened, he stormed up to Will’s room. A pile of clothes lay outside the door, Addie’s bedraggled cocktail dress on the top. Ed knocked on the door and picked everything up.

  When Will appeared, Ed thrust the pile into his arms. “I want to speak to your pet reptile.”

  “She’s resting.”

  Ed tried to push past, but Will blocked the way.

  “Do you know what the bitch told Jack? Did you hear what the pair of them said about Addie in front of her co-workers?”

  “I don’t care,” Will said in a flat voice. “It’s over, Ed.”

  “Well, you didn’t fucking deserve her.”

  “I’m not talking about Addie. I’m talking about me and you. We’re finished.”

  Ed stepped back in shock. “What?”

  “You heard. I’m buying you out of the business.”

  “You stupid wanker. I don’t care about you and me. Listen to what I’m saying. Vee told Jack that Addie offered you her virginity in exchange for an increase in salary. Why the fuck did you tell her Addie was a virgin? Vee ridiculed her in front of everyone.”

  Only the slight flare of Will’s nostrils told Ed his brother had heard what he said.

  His face remained expressionless.

  “So what’s your part in all this, Ed?”

  “I’m trying to do what you should be doing, which is to protect Addie from that manipulative cunt.”

  “By fucking her?”

  “By trying to warm her up after she half-froze to death.”

  Will’s eyes were so dark they were almost black. “You mean you didn’t fuck her?”

  Ed knew there was no point telling the truth. Will wouldn’t believe him and a vindictive part of him didn’t want to deny it.

  “One set of footprints, Will, that’s what the tow truck driver followed. Even after Addie learned in the most humiliating way that you were going to be a daddy, she had a big enough heart to carry Vee on her back last night. Vee even wore Addie’s gloves. I had to cut the fucking boots off Addie’s feet.” He was shouting now. “It took me hours to warm her up. She was freezing and she’d cut her head. She wore a thin jacket and that fucking evening dress, while Vee wore sweaters and a winter coat. It was Addie who needed to be in hospital. All I did was get her warm again. She’s the one who could have died. Do you even realize that? And it was all because of you.” Ed poked a finger in Will’s chest. “Because you were a coward. Your fault. Understand?”

  Ed took a deep breath and exhaled noisily. “Now, we’re finished.”

  He walked away.

  Will kicked the door closed. Addie had given back everything he’d bought her. He pressed his face into the clothes, breathing in the scent of her and then dumped the lot on the floor. He looked at them and wanted to cry. Vee walked out of the bathroom and he glanced up. Her eyes streamed with tears. He couldn’t even bloody cry on his own.

  He didn’t want Vee. He wanted Addie. He could still have fixed things but he’d made it even worse because he’d let Vee manipulate him. Addie was the one who’d really suffered. She’d been humiliated and hurt.

  “What have you been saying about Addie? You didn’t tell me she carried you back last night.”

  “Will,” she wailed.

  He sniffed. She stank of “Eternity”. He could smell it from the other side of the room. She’d probably squirted perfume in her eyes.

  “Will. I’ve lost our baby.” She took two steps in his direction.

  He gulped. “You’ve lost the baby? How?”

  “What do you mean how?”

  “Well, how?” he repeated in bewilderment.

  “Do you think I left it in the supermarket?” she snapped.

  Will narrowed his brows. Vee cried harder. She’d lost it? How convenient was that?

  “Please, Will,” she sobbed. “Our little baby.” Guilt struck like a machete.

  “I had this terrible pain and there was blood and the baby’s gone.”

  “Where?”

  “What do you mean, where?”

  “Where’s the baby?” Will repeated.

  “Will, it was a cluster of cells. It wasn’t a proper baby. I flushed it away.” She waved her hand in the air.

  “What?” His stomach rolled.

  “What did you expect me to do? Fish it out of the loo and put it in a coffin so we could have a funeral?” She gave a hiccupping sob.

  Will tried to get his head round this. Vee no longer pregnant. No baby. He wasn’t going to be a father. The thought of not being tied to Vee for the rest of his life made his head spin.

  “Were you ever pregnant?” he asked.

  Her mouth dropped open. “Will,” she cried.

  He’d ruined things with Addie and it could have been avoided. His brain accelerated. He should have put Vee back on a train the night she arrived in Leeds. No, he should have let Vee see him in bed with Addie. This was Ed’s fault. No, it wasn’t. Will’s head pounded as his thoughts came to a screeching halt. It was all his fault. Ed was right.

  “Will,” Vee wailed. “I’ve lost my baby.”

  He jumped as Vee flung herself into his arms. He wanted to push her away, shout at her, but it wasn’t the right time.

  When she stopped crying, and it hadn’t seemed to take long, he sat her on the bed and dropped down next to her. She reeked of perfume. His eyes watered.

  “Do you need to go to hospital?” he asked.

&nb
sp; “No point. It’s gone.” She rested her hand on his knee.

  Will lifted the hand away. “Vee, you should go back to London.”

  Her eyes opened wide. A lone tear slipped over her bottom lid.

  “I know you’re upset about losing the baby, but pregnant or not, it makes no difference. We’re getting divorced.”

  “You bastard,” she gasped. “She won’t take you back now.”

  “This isn’t about Addie. It’s about you and me and it’s gone on too long. It’s not fair to either of us. I’ve had enough, Vee. I’ve had enough of you constantly coming to me when things go wrong. What you did to Addie was disgusting. She’d done nothing to deserve it. You need to sort yourself out. I can’t do it for you.” The tears dropped faster.

  “It’s not all your fault. I should have stopped this a long time ago,” he said in a quiet voice.

  “I’ll tell Jack.”

  “You seem to have told Jack plenty already.” Will rubbed the heels of his palms over his temples. His head ached.

  “You’ll lose his business. He’s my godfather. He’ll be on my side.”

  Will’s jaw tightened. “I don’t give a shit.”

  “What have I done wrong?” Vee wailed.

  Tempted to tell her she’d never done anything right, he pressed his lips together.

  “Will, I don’t want to be on my own. Not after this. My stomach hurts. I’m upset. Drive me back to Leeds. I’ll only stay a few days. The language school closes at the end of the week. Please, do this one last thing for me.”

  Will sighed and gave in. “You lie down and I’ll pack.”

  He took her suitcase from the wardrobe, put it on the bed, and flipped it open. It was empty except for a photograph—a shot of him on the beach at Robin Hood’s Bay, clinging onto Addie’s power kite. He felt a ripple of pleasure remembering the fun they’d had, the pair of them eating those fat chips as they sat on the harbour wall, then a shiver of unease that Vee should have the photo.

  “Where did you get this?” he asked.

  “Addie sent it to you. I opened the letter.”

  Will had to turn away again and blink back the tears.

  He made such a mess of packing the clothes that within minutes, Vee was unpacking everything again.