Chapter 27
JED
We hadn’t planned on me staying a third night at Tara’s but the conversation with her parents had unsettled her and I didn’t want to leave her on her own.
We decided to walk round Little Sandby so I could show her the house her parents were planning to buy then continue on to Great Sandby so I could pick up some more clothes and say hello to Lucy who should have arrived home from the gallery by then.
There were gates across the driveway of Whispering Winds but they weren’t locked so Tara and I snuck inside.
‘I feel like a burglar,’ she said as we skirted round the edge of the drive towards the house. ‘You’re a bad influence, Jed Ferguson.’
I grinned at her. ‘If the police turn up, run for your life and I’ll take the fall.’
‘Aren’t we peeking through the windows?’ she asked as I guided her past the house.
‘Afterwards. I thought you’d like to see the view first. You can’t see the sea from the entrance but you can from the other side of the garden.’
‘Sea!’ Tara exclaimed with the first glimpse but, as we walked further, she grabbed my arm. ‘Oh, wow!’
It wasn’t just a boring plain sea view – Whispering Winds had been perfectly positioned to take in the sweep of Whitsborough Bay’s two bays separated by the castle standing proudly on the cliff.
‘You can even see the lighthouse from here,’ I said.
Tara had a thing for lighthouses, especially red and white striped ones like the Whitsborough Bay one.
Her birth mum had often painted them, although always in the dark, a metaphor for her depression, the beam searching out Tara’s dad.
Before my first day of trading, Tara had been inside the gallery and I’d noticed she was drawn to a piece I’d created with a lone sheep on a clifftop, buffeted by the wind, looking down at my take on the Bay’s lighthouse.
The yellow beam broke through the dark clouds, bringing hope, and the caption read: If you’ve lost your way, I will be your lighthouse.
I hadn’t known back then how significant lighthouses were to Tara or why the caption touched her so much but, after seeing her reaction to it, I knew I had to present her with the original.
Tara pressed her fingers to her lips, shaking her head. ‘I’d love to live somewhere with a view of the lighthouse – wouldn’t be able to tear myself away.’
We reluctantly left the view, peeking through the windows as we passed the house, but sunset was approaching and it was too dark to see anything without any lights.
‘You think your parents will be happy here?’ I asked as we left the grounds.
‘It’s perfect for them. They did a major refurb on The Larches – the house they had in Kensington – so they know what they’re letting themselves in for. It’ll be stunning when it’s finished and I’m so excited about them being nearby.’
‘But you wish there wasn’t the shadow of Leanne looming over things,’ I said, hearing the tinge of sadness in her tone.
‘Yes.’
We walked back towards the village centre where I’d parked the car.
‘I’m going to be the Pollyanna of the future,’ she said suddenly.
‘Let’s say they do open their lives up to Leanne again and she lets them down, I’ll be glad for them that they took that final opportunity to eradicate any lingering doubts.
And if she does stun us all and has genuinely turned over a new leaf, I’ll be glad for them that they’ve got their daughter back. ’
I wrapped my arms around her and gently kissed her. ‘I love it when you’re positive and I’m a huge advocate of positive thinking but it is okay to not be okay with things too.’
She smiled up at me. ‘I’m not okay with anything to do with Leanne but it’s going to go one of two ways for Mum and Dad and I need to see the positive in both.’
‘That’s Pam and Billy’s car,’ I said, frowning at their car parked in the road as I pulled onto Mum and Dad’s drive a little later. ‘I wonder what they’re doing here.’
Unlocking the door, I was greeted by the sound of excited squeals and two little girls dressed as fairies ran down the hallway with Lucy in hot pursuit. Lucy stopped when she saw me and planted her hands on her hips.
‘Funny story…’
‘I presume that’s Piper and Savannah.’
The fairies had stopped and were looking at me curiously.
One was dressed in a green costume which I recognised as Tinkerbell’s and the other was dressed in red.
I knew she was one of Tinkerbell’s fairy friends as the girls had loved them when they were younger but I was so confused by the twins’ presence that I couldn’t grasp for a name.
‘Yes, but how about we do the introductions later? I think you’d better go through to the kitchen.’ She reached out a hand to each twin. ‘Why don’t I show you my bedroom?’
I glanced at Tara, bewildered. ‘Better find out what’s going on.’
She followed me through to the kitchen where Billy, Pam and Mum were sitting at the breakfast bar and Dad was standing beside it, all four of them discussing something in hushed tones.
‘What’s going on?’ I asked.
They all turned their heads and Mum pushed back her stool. ‘We were just about to call you.’
‘Ingrid’s left,’ Pam said. ‘Show him the note, Janice.’
Mum picked up a scrumpled piece of paper from the breakfast bar and handed it to me. I recognised Ingrid’s messy scrawl.
Mum & Dad
By the time you read this, I’ll be in the air on my way back to Aus.
I can’t let it end with Declan. I know you don’t like him but he’s my world and I can’t live without him so my birthday gift to myself is to get him back.
Please look after the twins and Aaron for me and tell them I’m sorry for leaving them like this – Erin and Lucy too.
I know I’m asking a lot, especially during Dad’s treatment, so I don’t expect you to do this on your own.
Please ask Jed and his parents to help. Dad – take care of yourself and fight this thing.
Everyone – please don’t hate me. I have to do this and I’ve done it this way because I didn’t want anyone trying to talk me out of it. Ingrid x
I read it several times, my mouth opening and closing because I couldn’t seem to push out any words. What the heck? Feeling numb, I passed the note to Tara so she could read it too.
‘Aaron?’ I asked.
‘In the lounge,’ Mum said. ‘He’s okay. Or at least we think he is.’
I needed to see him but I had to be sure everyone else had interpreted the note in the same way as me. ‘She’s never coming back?’
‘That’s what we were just discussing,’ Billy said. ‘We don’t know. It could be read that way.’
‘Has she definitely gone? I mean, have you tried ringing her?’
Pam nodded and I noticed her tear-stained cheeks. ‘Her suitcase has gone and all her clothes and toiletries. We’ve called but it goes to voicemail.’
‘She’s already on the plane,’ Dad said. ‘Lucy got Ingrid to install that stalking app too.’
‘We think she left in the night,’ Billy said. ‘She’d booked a trip to Nottingham for us all – said it was to celebrate her fortieth and to say thank you for having them. We were ready to set off yesterday lunchtime but she said she had stomach ache and felt dizzy.’
‘I wanted to stay with her, but she insisted we go,’ Pam added. ‘She said she wouldn’t enjoy her birthday if she cancelled her treat for us. We got back an hour ago and found the note.’
Tara placed her hand on my back and I appreciated the warmth and reassurance from her touch.
‘What do the kids know?’ I asked, wondering where you’d even start to explain something that made so little sense. Yes, I could understand Ingrid’s desperation to try again with Declan. After how upset she’d been in the pub about him, that part wasn’t a surprise. But this wasn’t the way to do it.
‘The twins think their mum’s on holiday but Aaron knows the truth,’ Billy said. ‘He’s the one who found the note.’
My stomach sank to the floor and I could imagine the pain he must have felt from what appeared to be another rejection.
‘I need to see him.’
Aaron was sitting on the floor in the lounge, hunched up over his sketchpad with a pair of headphones on.
They must have been noise-cancelling ones as he didn’t respond when I called his name – either that or he was ignoring me.
I moved closer and winced at his drawing – a fractured skull with a snake emerging from the mouth.
It was brilliantly drawn but so very dark.
I crouched down and waved my hand in front of his face. He looked up and slipped the headphones off his head so they were draped round his neck. His eyes were red, his cheeks grubby and I was fairly sure that was charcoal, smeared as he’d wiped his tears.
‘The snake’s eyes are amazing,’ I said.
Aaron nodded.
‘I’ve just heard what happened. I’m so sorry. How are you feeling?’
There was a pause before he shrugged.
I sat down on the floor facing him.
‘Probably a lot of emotions swirling round inside you and it’s a struggle to work out which is the strongest.’
He nodded.
‘Why don’t we get out of here – take a walk round the village?
We can talk about it or we can be silent if you prefer.
It’s hard to think with the noise from upstairs.
’ I could hear the thumping of music accompanied by the thud of bouncing so either they were dancing or they were jumping on Lucy’s bed. ‘What do you say?’
‘A walk,’ he said, the words barely above a whisper.
I hadn’t had a chance to remove my coat or shoes so I told him to get into his and I’d meet him in the hall in a couple of minutes.
I dipped into the kitchen to let everyone know we were going out and to apologise to Tara for abandoning her but she assured me she was fine and Aaron needed to be my priority right now.
Darkness had fallen and the temperature had dropped so I shoved my hands in my pockets for warmth as we set off down the street. We’d walked for about five minutes in silence and I was toying with whether to prompt him that I was listening or give it a bit longer when Aaron spoke.
‘It’s my fault she left.’