‘Say hello,’ Mum nudges me gently, smiling widely.
‘Hi.’ I’ve no idea why I’m blushing, but I feel like I know him from way back.
He holds me with a look of astonishment mixed with love that absolutely floors me. I guess he’s about Mum’s age and I don’t mind admitting that he’s dead handsome, for an old guy.
‘This is Dan. Dan, this is Scarlett. We went to school together. He’s come all the way from New York to see us.’ Mum invites him in.
‘Happy birthday, Scarlett.’ He hands me the bottle, scanning my face. He looks at Mum then back at me and they both start choking up. They hug each other for what feels like ages. Dan pulls back, kisses Mum on both cheeks and they look full on at each other, their eyes flicking back and forth as though secret semaphore is passing between them.
‘How’ve you been – I mean, really?’ he asks quietly, stroking a curl back from her face.
‘You know how it is, every day’s a new start.’
He nods and hugs her again tightly and I think maybe I should slope away and leave them to it. But they move apart, and his eyes are on me again.
‘Last time I saw you, you were a tiny tot running around the place.’ He turns to Mum and she wraps her arms around him again, unable to hold her tears in this time. She’s full on sobbing and I don’t know where to look. I stretch my brain to remember his face, but I can’t. He clearly knows me.
‘Are you okay, Mum?’ I don’t know what else to say or do. Mum nods. Dan passes her a folded hanky from his pocket. Mum’s eyes are a mess of make-up. Amy drags me by the hand up the stairs.
‘What’s all that about?’ she whispers.
‘I’ve no idea. Some old school friend of Mum’s from New York.’ I shut my bedroom door and we drop down on the bed.
‘Do you think he could be your dad?’ She pulls on my arm, smiling the biggest grin.
‘I don’t know. Do you think that’s what the big secret is?’ I put the bottle on the bedside table.
‘I think it’s what your mum’s going to tell you. She’s been waiting for him to arrive.’
‘Wouldn’t they have told me straight away?’ I’m buzzing and tingling all over. Could it really be possible?
‘Maybe they need to talk first then tell you together.’
‘God, I hope so. He seems sooo nice. But why is he living in America and not here with us?’
‘That could be the sticking point they have to talk through.’
She opens her laptop. ‘Oh my God, look at this.’ Cole and Gemma are in the nursery yelling at each other. She’s pulling open drawer after drawer hunting through everything with her hands asking who it is he is seeing, while he stands by the door jogging the baby up and down, shouting at her to calm the fuck down and stop being paranoid.
‘Is she looking for more underwear that’s not hers?’
‘I think so.’
‘I hope this doesn’t mean he won’t come tonight.’
‘He’s not going to want to stay there, is he?’
‘True.’
We go out to the garden where Mum is still talking to Dan. He smiles and gazes at me with a faraway look in his eyes. Mum hands him a beer straight from the tub and asks me and Amy to empty more bags of ice around the bottles of drink. Mum switches on some 90s pop music.
‘So how long have you known Mum?’ I ask Dan.
‘Since the beginning of secondary school, wasn’t it?’ He turns to Mum and she nods then sips her glass of white wine. ‘I was in the same year as your mum’s sister. Six years older. We all went round together.’
‘Dan dated Jess for three years.’ Mum touches his arm and smiles affectionately.
‘Oh, I thought maybe you two had been an item.’
Mum smooths her hair and glances sideways at Dan. He sticks his hands in his pockets and stares at the ground.
‘There’s someone at the door,’ Amy says, and Mum rushes off to answer it. Dan takes a sudden interest in a red rose bush.
‘Can I get you another drink or some food?’ I offer him a paper plate. His eyes land on me again but it’s more than a passing glance, he’s really examining me.
‘I’ll grab myself a few bits, thanks.’ He takes the plate and reaches for a biscuit. But it’s not any old biscuit and I can’t believe I didn’t notice them earlier. Malted Milk. Why has Mum bought them today?
‘So, can you remember how old I was when you last saw me?’ My voice is all over the place.
‘About two or three, I expect.’
‘And you remember me well?’
‘I’d never forget you. You were such a sweet happy child. You wore bunches in your hair and yellow ribbons and were always laughing.’
‘Why didn’t you stay?’
He’s looking around for Mum pretending he hasn’t heard my question. She arrives by his side.
‘Some of your friends are here, Scarlett.’
Amy links her arm through mine, and I let her pull me away. I glance back at Dan for his answer, but he doesn’t speak.
More of our neighbours and friends from school and the pub arrive and before long the garden is heaving with people. Mum stacks all my presents under the trestle table which is loaded with food. One of her male friends is manning the barbecue. I try and speak to everyone, making sure they’ve all got drinks and to thank them for coming. Amy stays close by, although she is mingling more than she ever would have before.
I check the time and look round the crowd hoping to see Cole. Perhaps he knows I’m on to him.
All my friends are dancing the Conga and keep pulling at me to join in, but I can’t relax searching for a glimpse of him.
‘Everything all right, Scarlett?’ Mum asks, breaking away from the pack. How can I tell her that the man I love is a lying bastard who is married and has just had a kid? She’ll expect me to be with someone nearer my own age. Another one of her boyfriends has arrived. She’s been taken up with Dan most of the night. I wonder what they think of that. Is it possible one of them is my dad and she’s going to spring it on me, announce it in front of everyone?
I wander through the house which Mum’s decorated with different coloured fairy lights and tissue paper roses. There are couples curled up together in various dark corners of the living room and dining room. I reach the front door and my instinct is to open it. Cole is standing there, hand up, about to press the bell.
‘I thought you weren’t going to make it.’
‘I said I would, didn’t I? So here I am.’
He’s not smiling or angry. Nothing. So why has he bothered coming?
Chapter Sixty-Four
11 August 2018
Scarlett
Cole plucks a small package out of his back pocket and hands it to me. ‘Happy birthday, Scarlett.’ Now there’s a menacing edge to his voice. He’s either annoyed with me or it’s because of his blow-up with Gemma earlier.
‘Thank you.’ I open it carefully. Inside is a small book of wisdom and a notebook with a mini pencil attached by a string. I imagine for a second that he’s written ‘All my love, Cole’ on the inside page, but it is blank. I look into his eyes, but I can’t read what he is thinking. I’ve never seen him so shut down.
‘Come and have a drink.’
He follows me into the garden. The music is throbbing and the fairy lights are twinkling in the descending darkness.
‘Cole.’ Someone shouts and in moments he is surrounded by my friends who know him from school and the pub. I grab us a couple of beers swimming in the tub of grassy, melting ice. He takes one from me as he’s drawn into the middle of the crowd.
‘Are you okay?’ Amy is at my side, hand on my elbow. ‘I didn’t know where you’d gone, I was worried.’
I nod, still watching him. ‘I opened the front door and he was there, isn’t that weird? It’s as though we were drawn together at the same moment.’ He’s mid flow telling everyone all about his new son. I let them get on with it. I put my arm through Amy’s, and she comes with
me to the patio. We dance to ABBA’s ‘Dancing Queen’. I sense him watching me, looking over their heads and shoulders whenever he can.
When the song ends, Mum turns the sound right down and gathers everyone around the table. The alcohol kicks in and I sway, wishing I didn’t feel so warm and nauseous. What is Mum going to say? She brings out the lit-up cake she’s made in the shape of the number 21. Everyone sings ‘Happy Birthday’ at the tops of their voices. I catch Cole’s eye at the back of the crowd. He’s not singing. When the song ends everyone cheers then Mum waves her hands to quieten them down.
‘I’d like to say a few words…’ She rubs her hands together and smiles at me, misty-eyed.
I need to get out of here. I have a horrible feeling she’s going to announce that one of these men is my dad. Or worse, she’s going to embarrass me by saying what a wonderful daughter I am, when I’m not. She doesn’t know the real me. Her sweet little girl having an affair with a married man. And everything I’ve been doing to take revenge on him. She’ll be so ashamed.
‘Sorry, need the loo.’ My vision is sliding backwards and forwards. Amy offers to come with me, but I hold up my hand to stop her.
‘Can’t you wait a minute?’ Mum holds my hand. ‘I want to wish you a very happy 21st birthday and say how proud I am of you.’
I need to be on my own.
‘Thanks, Mum,’ I mumble and everyone cheers again.
‘Are you okay?’ she asks.
‘I’ll be fine.’ I’m aware that my words are slurring. Mum looks surprised. I can’t be the only one who is drunk. She’s had quite a bit herself.
The crowd is beginning to thin out, and several people say their goodbyes to me as I navigate my way through the house to the only bathroom upstairs. Thankfully it’s empty, and I’m relieved to lock the door behind me. I stand over the toilet, not sure if I’m going to be sick or not. The nausea passes. I fill a beaker with water and drink it down in one go. The local church bells chime midnight. Here I am, Cinderella. Except my prince has turned out to be the villain.
I open the bathroom door. Cole is waiting for me outside. He pulls me back into the room and presses me against the door, kissing me hard, one hand caressing my leg then lifting the hem of my dress.
‘No!’ I push him away.
‘What do you mean, no?’ He looks incredulous. ‘What did you bring me here for then?’ He cups my breasts.
‘We’re over.’ I grab his wrists and fling them aside.
‘I know we are. I told you three weeks ago she’s my wife and I can’t leave her.’
‘So why are you here?’
‘Thought you might like a farewell shag.’
‘Are you joking? You lied to me!’
‘Scarlett, come on.’
‘You told me you loved me, but you’ve been playing me.’
He throws his head back and laughs. ‘Oh Scarlett, you’re so sweet when you’re angry.’
‘What about Gemma finding my knickers? She must know you’re seeing someone.’
‘You think a little thing like that will break us up?’ He holds my chin with his finger and thumb pressing my skin against the bone. I twist my head away and he laughs in my face.
‘I’ll go to your house, tell her everything, then she’ll leave you.’ I back away.
He snatches my wrists and holds my hands together tight. ‘She’ll never leave me. You think she doesn’t know about you and me already? You’re more naïve than I thought. Dear, sweet Scarlett. I’ve told her everything about us, all the things you do for me that she won’t. How exciting you are in bed compared to her.’
I cringe and shrink away from him. He tightens his grip. My skin burns.
‘The trouble is, I’m bored with you now, Scarlett. You’ve become clingy and annoying, expecting too much from me.’
‘What about our baby?’ My voice is barely a whisper. I swallow, trying to hold the tears back, not wanting to show how much he’s hurting me. ‘I’ll tell my mum.’ I lurch towards the door.
He grunts and clasps my hair in one hand, yanking my head to one side. I gasp and shout at him to get off me. A smarmy smile spreads across his face. ‘Is there really a baby?’
I so want to punch his face in.
‘You’ve had a serious amount of alcohol tonight for someone who claims they’re pregnant. And harming a foetus is not something you’d do, is it? So either you’re telling little porkies to entrap me or you’re doing your best to get rid of it. Whichever way, it’s a win-win for me.’ He jerks my head, pushing me away. I stagger and crash into the wall.
‘And attacking me online isn’t going to work either.’ He takes his phone out.
‘What?’ I smooth my hair down and gauge how I can reach the door handle behind him.
‘Signing me up for all sorts of dodgy sites, using my profile picture on dating websites for people into bondage and all sorts of bizarre shit, so I’m getting loads of messages from weirdos. Very clever.’ He shows me one of the emails with a picture of a woman in a full leather outfit and whip.
Don’t try and be clever with me, dipshit. Keep looking over your shoulder, because I’m there watching you, waiting for my moment.
Experience points collected: 7,145
Countdown: Two lives remaining.
I try to hide my smirk.
‘Oh yeah, think it’s hilarious, do you?’ He’s breathing heavily. A strange grin emerges on his face, his eyes focusing on my bare legs as he reaches for his fly. I swing my arm back to slap him away from me, but he’s too quick, grunting as he catches my wrist, his hot breath on my neck, he slams me against the wall. His hands are all over me and I cry out and manage to stab my knee upwards into his groin. He yelps and staggers back, both hands cupped between his legs. I yank the bathroom door handle, but it won’t budge, he’s slipped the lock across. I try again but he swipes a foot at me, misses and topples over still holding himself. I manage to unbolt the door and run out, smack into Amy.
‘What’s going on?’ she shrieks, glancing behind me as she pulls me away.
‘That bastard attacked me, I’m just a joke to him.’
He stumbles out still holding himself.
‘Little bitch.’ He scowls at me and makes for the stairs. Amy is ready to boot him in the back but breaking his neck won’t fix this.
‘Leave him,’ I tell her. I want him to suffer the hard way.
Head down, he glances round at me with his sly wolf grin, his sheep’s clothing well and truly removed.
‘I’ll make sure he knows where the front door is.’ Amy shoves his shoulder. He holds on to the bannister with his free hand to stop himself falling.
‘Hurry up or I’m calling the police.’ She shoves him again and he stumbles. For a moment I think he’s going down head-first, but he recovers his balance and moves faster, kicking the front door on his way out.
We sit on the bottom stair and Amy hugs me, rocking me back and forth. I can’t even speak, let alone cry.
Mum finds us there some time later as she’s ushering out the last of the stragglers. I don’t know what to tell her when she asks what’s wrong. We help her clear up some of the mess, the paper plates, empty bottles and cans. Once the barbecue is safely out, we decide to do the rest in the morning.
It’s gone 2 a.m. by the time we’re in bed. I finally tell Amy what happened in the bathroom. The more I recount what he said and did to me, the more her face swells with anger.
‘Right, we are going live with his new Facebook page.’ She sits up and drags her laptop onto the bed.
‘I’m so tired, can we do it in the morning?’ My heart is empty; he’s sucked the life from me with his cruel words and lies.
‘You go to sleep.’ Amy pushes her glasses up, ‘I’m going to do a bit of digging on Mr Nicholas Adams, see what else he’s been lying about.’
Chapter Sixty-Five
Monday 13 August 2018
Gemma
‘An intimate photo has been posted on your cloned Facebook
page,’ says Greg.
‘What, of me in the nuddy?’ Nick snorts a note of laughter.
‘No, of you and a woman.’
‘What woman? Show me,’ he says holding his hand out.
Greg passes him his phone.
‘Ha, I am topless then. Can’t see who it is though, sorry. Her back’s to the camera.’
‘The side of her face is pretty clear though. It’s a former pupil of yours, don’t you recognize her?’ Greg takes his phone back.
‘Is it?’
Greg sits next to me. I don’t want to see it, but he shows me anyway.
‘Maybe you can see who it is, Gemma.’
In the photo Nick is lounging on a neatly trimmed lawn, sunglasses on, topless and tanned. Rosie is sitting sideways opposite him, wearing a tight neon pink top with spaghetti-straps. She does have her back to the camera, but it looks like someone has called her name and they’ve taken the photo just as she’s turning to look over her shoulder. Her familiar blonde swathe of hair is caught in motion.
‘It’s Rosie,’ I say quietly.
‘Is it? That must have been years ago,’ Nick says.
I blink at him and imagine cockroaches pouring out of his mouth every time he speaks.
‘Are you sure about that?’ Greg asks. ‘Looks to me from the St George’s flags and bunting in the background like June this year. I’d guess it was Monday 18th about 7 p.m., when most of us were busy watching England’s first World Cup match against Tunisia.
‘I can’t in all honesty remember.’
‘How about telling us her real name so we can try and find her and Thomas?’ Greg takes out his notebook and pen.
‘I’m not entirely sure.’
‘You knew her all the time? Tell him! Tell the fucking truth for once in your life,’ I scream and collapse back on the sofa.
Nick glares at me with steely eyes.
‘Obstructing an investigation is a criminal offence,’ Greg says, ‘so do yourself a favour, Nick, and be straight with me. It’ll help you in the long run.’
The Face At the Window Page 22
