Chapter Twenty-Eight #2
Kate pulled away and reached for the ring to wrench it off her finger but realised that it would further antagonise him if she were to return it now.
Her arms hurt where he’d held her and her fingers ached with pain.
Andy grabbed her arm and, tucking it through his own, propelled her back on the path to make their way back to Ambleside.
Kate forced herself to be jovial and kept their banter light.
He seemed to accept their engagement as a matter of course and didn’t refer to the subject.
Andy was courteous and entertaining as they drove along the winding roads of Westmarland and Kate played along, hoping that he wouldn’t sense her withdrawal and sudden change of heart.
But as Kate stood by her bed and thought about the events of the afternoon, she knew that she was frightened. She’d seen a different side to his character and the glamour had fallen away.
Why on earth hadn’t she seen it before?
Andy had never wanted to talk about his wife and Kate had put it down to grief but now realised how little she knew about him.
Any conversation about his past had been diverted to the future and their time together.
She hadn’t wanted to share a room with him, her gut instinct had been to keep things separate and now, she wondered why she’d felt that way?
The ring lay on her dressing table, the huge stone like an eye, watching her every move.
Kate knew that she had to return it. Sooner rather than later.
The shock of the afternoon had exhausted her and Kate decided that she would cry off for the evening and spend the night on her own.
She needed to sleep on things and think about how to work everything out.
Andy had to be told but she suspected it wasn’t going to be easy.
From the way that he’d looked at her, Kate was certain that he was a man who didn’t take no for an answer and wasn’t used to being turned down.
Kate picked up the sari and, folding it neatly, placed it to one side. She’d run a bath and then call Andy; perhaps he’d gone to the party and was waiting for her? No doubt he would search her out soon but she would stand firm and be adamant that she spent the night alone.
She walked to the door, turned the key in the lock and slipped it into her pocket, then moved across the room to the windows.
As she reached out to tug on the curtains she noticed a figure in the shadows by the willow tree below.
She leaned her head against the glass and peered through the darkness but the figure had disappeared.
Kate pulled the curtains and went to run her bath.
* * *
Andy stared out of the window in his room.
The lawn below was lit with coloured lanterns laced along twisting vines that spread along the garden walls.
In the distance, he could see a bonfire in the meadow.
Yellow licks of flame illuminated the tepee as they streaked upwards, shooting meteorite-like sparks to explode in the cold night sky.
A group of men stood on the lawn. Dressed in boiler suits and gloves, they wore protective goggles as they made their final checks for the firework display, which would take place after dinner.
Andy held a glass of whisky and thought about Kate.
He knew that she was going to turn him down. She may be prolonging the process and didn’t have the guts to come out with it, but he’d sensed a complete change in her feelings as they stood on the bridge and it had been all that he could do not to push the stupid bitch in the water.
He took a slug of the drink and felt it burn down his throat.
Suddenly his plans looked as though they may have to be changed.
He could keep his relationship with Kate going for a little bit longer but the clock was ticking and he knew that she’d soon make her decision.
Not that it mattered; he fully intended to up the ante with Hugo and deliver the photos that evening.
A cover note gave instructions for money to be paid immediately into a detailed account.
Andy was in no mood to wait and Kate’s accounts were his next target.
The phone on his desk rang, breaking into the silence, and he moved across the room to answer it.
‘Hello?’
‘Hi, Andy, its Kate.’
‘Hello, my beautiful girl, are you ready for the party?’ His tone was soft. ‘I can’t wait to see your gorgeous body in a sari. I might not be able to control myself.’ Andy’s voice purred down the phone.
‘I’m sorry but I have the most terrible headache,’ Kate said, her voice faltering as she tried to explain. ‘I don’t want to spoil your night but I think it could be a migraine. I need to lie down.’
‘My poor baby, let me come over and rub your brow.’ Andy rolled his eyes and glanced at his watch. The brothers would have gone to the party and he needed to deliver the photos. God willing she’d get off the phone soon.
‘No, really, I just need to get some sleep.’
‘Well, if you’re absolutely sure that there’s nothing I can do?’
‘I’m certain.’ Kate sighed. ‘I’ll catch up with you tomorrow.’
‘All right, my darling, just call me if there’s anything at all that you need.’
‘Thank you, I will.’
‘I love you,’ Andy whispered, ‘my fiancée.’
But Kate had disconnected the phone.
Bitch! Andy threw the phone to one side and looked at the envelope addressed to Hugo.
Screw the party. If Kate was having a night off from the festivities at Boomerville then he could too.
He would push the photos under Hugo’s door then return to his room and hack into Kate’s accounts.
If he worked quickly, he could move most of the money.
It was Saturday tomorrow and she was unlikely to spend more than the meagre amount he’d leave, if indeed she spent anything at all.
He could be off by Sunday at the latest, inventing an emergency event that would call him away.
His drink stood on the windowsill and he walked across the room to retrieve it.
As he drained the glass, he saw something move across the patio beneath his room.
Light from the conservatory fell in a beam catching the tail end of the dark shape and Andy peered into the darkness to see what it was.
A carved stick moved towards him and took on a ghostly appearance as it shook up and down in the air.
Fireworks, he thought, as he remembered the team of men working earlier. With a shrug, he turned from the window and slipped his hands into his gloves, then picked up the envelope and stole silently from his room.