CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Sunnybrook High Street was empty as I drove through the village soon after seven, on my way to the house.
Driving on, past the Brambleberry Manor estate on my left, I was smiling to myself – thinking about the gorgeous nursery I was planning – when panic hit me, thinking I might have missed the turn-off. Glancing in my rear-view mirror, I braked and slowed down, searching for the small signpost on my right that I knew was half-hidden by trees, and hoping I wouldn’t have to do a U-turn.
Spotting the sign at last, I braked and indicated as my breathing slowly returned to normal.
I’d have to be careful in future. It was so easy to miss that small signpost, especially in the dark.
Turning off the main road, I was immediately plunged into the meandering, shadowy lanes leading to Bogg House, and I felt a little jolt of trepidation. These country roads at night were so unrelentingly dark!
A crescent moon hung in the frozen night sky and the stars glinted like chips of diamond. There would be a hard frost tonight and thinking this, I slowed down a little, not entirely trusting the ungritted road surface to deliver me safely to my destination.
With a guilty smile, I thought about Zak and how he would have insisted on coming with me. There was no way he’d have allowed me to drive alone in the dark on potentially icy roads, and I loved him for that, but he fussed too much, really. It wasn’t as if I was ill or anything. I was just as robust as ever – probably more so, because being pregnant seemed to have given me a strange kind of strength. My body was nurturing a new life, which felt pretty miraculous in itself. And knowing I’d achieved what I’d begun to think was impossible for Zak and me – having a child together – had given me a renewed optimism about the future... a feeling that anything was possible.
It would be freezing in the house but I was wearing lots of layers under my padded jacket, so I was – if anything – a little too warm right now, and I wasn’t intending staying for very long. I just had an urge to walk around the house again and marvel at it. And somehow, waiting until the next day had been unthinkable.
The power was now connected, so as soon as I arrived, I’d get the lights on and then I’d be able to measure up the kitchen and get a clearer idea of how many units we’d need to order. (The kitchen brochure now fell open at the right page, it had been thumbed so often.)
To my relief, all was peaceful as I turned into the lane. No roar of quadbikes filling the night air.
But as I motored along the lane towards the house, my heart gave a jolt of surprise.
A light was glowing in one of the upstairs windows.
I braked, swallowing down a feeling of dread as the notion of an intruder flashed through my mind. But a second later, I shook my head, dismissing the idea. One of Mac’s team must have left it on by accident. That was all.
My shoulders relaxed as I continued slowly along the lane, concentrating on driving around the many potholes illuminated by the headlights. Zak hated the bumpy nature of the road’s surface, concerned about his car’s suspension. But to my mind, it was a small price to pay to live here.
Smiling to myself at the thought of Zak, I parked the car by the gate and glanced up at the house.
A sudden movement flashed past the corner of my vision, drawing my eye to the upstairs room where the light glowed.
Shocked, I drew in a sharp breath.
There was something in the window. Something pale and shadowy.
Next second, it had gone. But the impression of a face lingered in my mind.
My heart was racing as I blinked hard a few times, thinking it had to have been a trick of the light. Being out after dark, alone in the middle of nowhere, was stirring my imagination in a very unhelpful way.
Because there couldn’t really have been a ghostly face at that upstairs window, looking down at me.
Could there?