Chapter 22 #2
‘Silence about what, exactly?’ Reece folds his arms. ‘In law, my client has done nothing wrong. She doesn’t need to buy your silence because there’s nothing to be silent about. As we’ve established, to give someone a key to something is to invite them to use the thing in question.’
Jared’s eyes fall on me. ‘So you won’t mind if I take the hop, skip and pleasant little walk back into that tiny village and tell everyone I meet. There was an old bat pottering around outside the village shop when I drove in, I bet she’d be a good place to start…’
I almost laugh at the thought of what Lettie and the ladies would do to him if they heard him calling anyone an old bat, but he’s got the upper hand here and he knows it.
I did steal the van. Even if I would have some chance of getting away with it from a legal point of view, Jared is right.
He gave me the key in case he ever left his key at work, not because I was welcome to drive it, and morally, I knew that.
If anyone finds out, it’s a rumour that would spread, and no one’s going to visit the Marzipan Campervan Café if word of it operating from a stolen vehicle gets out.
This fear is something I’ve been hiding from all summer, the dread that my shameful secret will be revealed, and I feel the anger bubbling up like it did earlier, and he ignored me then, but he’s not going to ignore me now.
‘You know what, Jared, tell whoever you want. Go into the village right now and tell them everything. Call the police. Do your absolute worst because I don’t want to keep hiding and living with the constant dread of someone finding out.
Let them all find out. You don’t get to rock up here and talk about the friends I’ve made and how they’d feel about me if they knew the truth.
They’d probably have some choice words to say about you too, if they knew what led to me stealing the van in the first place.
The villagers here know me. They’ll understand, and people will understand that you didn’t exactly cover yourself in glory over the course of our relationship either.
I’m not letting you blackmail me into paying more than the campervan is worth because you’ve got something to hold over me.
So every time you need money, you can threaten me again until I pay up again.
Tell whoever you want to. The friends I’ve made will still be friends, and no matter what, that is the best thing that’s come out of this whole adventure – the people I’ve met and the connections I’ve made and the home I’ve found here.
You can take your van or you can let me buy it from you, the choice is yours, but I am sick of having this threat hanging over me, and I want to move forwards with the life I’ve built here. ’
Behind our backs, Reece gives me an encouraging bump with his elbow and nods proudly.
‘You’re bluffing. I know you, you’d die of shame if anyone found out.’
‘No, you knew me. But being here, this place, these people, they’ve given me a confidence that was sorely missing in my old life.
Whatever you do, I’m strong enough to overcome it.
Tell whoever you want and the people who matter will understand.
Take your van back and I can start again, I can build up another business that will be just as successful, or you can accept a monthly payment, or you can bugger the hell off right now with absolutely nothing.
I don’t want to spend another bloody minute being scared of my own shadow, and it’s beyond time that we got this sorted out, once and for all.
’ I’m breathless by the time I finish, but my body is bursting with the thrill of satisfaction too.
That felt good, and it feels even better because, for the first time, I’m not bluffing, and I believe every word too.
‘And I’ve told you, none of those options work for me. You owe me. I don’t want some payment plan you can shirk out of later, I want—’
‘Eight thousand.’
‘What?’ Jared and I both say in unison.
‘Eight thousand by bank transfer today for the van, purchased outright. You hand over your set of keys right now, and you sign the contract I draw up, confirming that our business is done, you won’t ask for any more money at a later date, and if any rumours about my client do happen to start circulating, then we have a right to counteract them by ensuring that both sides of the story circulate equally. ’
‘Reece, I don’t hav—’ I say, wondering where the heck he’s got this figure from and how he expects me to pay it.
He holds up a hand to stop me, maintaining eye contact with Jared, daring him to refuse.
‘It’s more than a fair deal and you know it.
Take us to court and the only thing you’ll get out of it is saddled with legal fees.
You can’t sue someone for taking a vehicle they had a key to.
You have no proof of how much time and expense you put into the vehicle because it was never intended to be sold for profit.
And you can’t use blackmail in a court of law.
This is the best offer you’re going to get.
A nominal sum to cover the cost of the van, and in return, neither of us ever see or hear from you again. Do we have a deal?’
‘Reece,’ I hiss again. I charge 50p for a cup of tea. It’s going to be a long time before the Marzipan Campervan makes that kind of money. No bank in their right mind would give me a loan to cover it. Is this some kind of bluff? Is he trying to trick Jared into signing something dodgy?
I can see Jared trying to figure it out like I am, like there’s a missing piece that hasn’t slotted into place yet, but there’s something in Reece’s voice, something menacing and resolute, and it gets through to Jared in a way my pleading couldn’t.
‘Fine. You’ve got yourself a deal.’ Jared holds his hand out and they shake on it. ‘I hope she’s worth it.’
‘Deal,’ Reece repeats. ‘And she’s worth very much more than it.’
I go warm all over, even though I can’t work out what’s going on.
There’s an instant sense of relief, a feeling of being able to breathe again after having an elephant sitting on my chest since that knock this morning and, if I’m honest, all summer.
The threat of Jared finding me is instantly gone.
Somehow, Reece has negotiated a deal, even though I have no idea how I’m going to afford that deal.
‘Stay put while I go and get my laptop to write up that contract.’ Reece waves a hand towards the van. ‘Perhaps my client can make you a cup of tea while you wait.’
‘Yeah, of course,’ I say distractedly. Is it me who’s missing something here or is this some kind of delaying tactic to outwit Jared?
Reece goes to walk back up to the pub, but I dash after him and grab hold of his wrist. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Don’t worry about it. Won’t be a tick.’ It’s purposefully vague. He could easily whisper something to me now without Jared overhearing, but he keeps me in the dark about whatever he’s up to.
I stand back and watch him walk up the steps in those avocado-covered pyjama bottoms, and by the time he reaches the top, I realise.
I realise what he means. I realise what he’s doing and where he got that figure from.
‘Reece, don’t you dare!’ I dive up the steps after him and pull him to a halt at the top. ‘That’s the money you’ve got set aside to fix the roof! The pub won’t survive without it. You can’t use—’
‘Doll, don’t worry about it,’ he repeats firmly, and turns back to take my hands. ‘It’s fine, okay? It’s a solution to this problem. Go and make the problem a cuppa while I get my laptop so we can set it in motion before he gets any other ideas.’
‘Reece!’ I shout after him as he disappears inside the pub and closes the door behind him with a firm click, making sure I hear the lock turn so I can’t follow.
I let out a groan of frustration. I’m beyond touched that he would even consider it, but this is my mess, and I don’t need him sweeping in like a chivalrous knight and rescuing me.
I look up at the pub with its closed door and boarded-up windows. I have no idea how to make him hear that, but I’m not going to let him go through with this.
* * *
When I get back down, Jared is inside the van again, mooching around. ‘You and the new boyfriend having a domestic already?’
My hands are shaking as I make him a cup of tea. I want to pour it over his head, but what would that achieve other than making a mess in the campervan?
‘He’s not a new boyfriend. He’s… not anything we’ve defined yet,’ I say as he takes the tea and sits down again.
‘Vickie really is sorry, you know,’ he says after we’ve been staring at each other in heavy silence for far too long. ‘So am I, for what it’s worth. We didn’t mean for it to happen, but it was love. Pure, unexpected, inconvenient love.’
I secretly wonder if he knows the meaning of the word, and I have a strong suspicion that, one day, Vickie will find out exactly what it feels like to be in my position.
Well, the cheating on her part, not the stealing a campervan and driving to Yorkshire part.
I doubt anyone will be doing that again anytime soon.
‘She tried to call you hundreds of times afterwards, but you’d disappeared. She’s still trying to call you every day. She’s been worried sick.’
I’m surprised by this revelation. It doesn’t quite fit with the image I’d had in my mind of Vickie gleefully planning her new life with Jared once I was out of the way, and it makes me feel better somehow.
My friendship with Vickie not being what I thought it was has been the hardest part of this, and as much as I hate to admit it, I’ve missed her.
It’s nice to think that maybe our friendship did mean something to her after all, even though I have no desire to ever speak to her again.
‘It wasn’t supposed to happen like that,’ Jared continues. ‘We never meant for you to find out the way you did.’