Chapter 9
NINE
JADE
I slumped down in the chair beside the big stone hearth, exhausted from the sweltering walk into the village, grateful that the thick stone walls of the house worked so well at keeping the heat out.
I was used to modern new-build houses and flats that became a sauna at the first sign of spring, and this quality, this craftmanship , was a welcome change.
They didn’t build them like this any more.
I leaned my head against the high-backed, sun-faded patchwork chair, shuffling Amala in my arms and latching her on to my breast before picking up my phone from the small round coffee table beside me.
The sight of the unopened messages made tension swell inside me, constricting my throat.
I hadn’t been prepared to leave, hadn’t been ready, and now, finding myself out of my depth and floundering about how to proceed, I couldn’t help but be aware of everything that could go wrong. If he found me here… if he knew…
I shook away the thought, steeling myself and clicking on the notification button. I couldn’t keep putting it off, and besides, I wanted to know what was going through his mind right now. What he planned to do next .
I read through the messages, not surprised by the way the tone changed so quickly with each one.
The first had come just an hour after I’d caught that train, and the last had been sent early this morning.
There were voicemails too, but I deleted those without listening to them.
I wasn’t about to put myself through that.
One by one, I erased the texts, feeling my shoulders lift as his words disappeared from the screen. Finally, there was nothing left. As if he’d felt me pulling away, known he was on the verge of losing my attention, another popped up, and I gripped the phone, swallowing thickly as I read.
For fuck’s sake, Jade! What are you playing at? If I don’t hear from you today, I’ll ? —
There was a gasp behind me, and instinctively I flipped the phone over on my lap, pressing the button on the side to lock it.
I turned to see Annie standing there. She must have tried to sneak up on me.
There was no other explanation for it. You couldn’t walk across the flagstone floor without making a noise unless you were really going out of your way to be sneaky.
‘Mr Tenacious ?’ Her voice quivered, and I shook my head, pretending I didn’t know exactly what she’d seen. The nickname I’d saved his number under, spawned from the moment I realised just how stubborn he was.
‘It’s nothing. He… he just wants to know where I am. I’ll block him.’
Her eyes were wide, and I could see she had more she wanted to ask but couldn’t find the words.
Instead, she turned, and this time I heard the slap of her bare feet as she rushed out of the kitchen, leaving me alone with my daughter, wishing I’d had the foresight to wait until I was back in my room to read his messages.
This was going to complicate things for me, and that was the last thing I needed.