Chapter 54
NOW
Late August
Sunday
‘Kirsty!’
I froze at the sound of the familiar voice.
Janine.
I turned slowly.
‘What are you doing here?’ I asked, as she and Dad hurried along the corridor towards me as I stood in the Emergency Department waiting room.
Janine pulled me into a tight hug the second she reached me. ‘We’ve been so worried about you.’
Dad stroked my head. ‘We saw it on the news. The stables. The police.’
I squirmed, trying to break free from the unaccustomed closeness.
‘No one would tell us anything.’ Janine pouted as she finally stepped back.
I sucked in a deep breath, relieved to have space again.
‘Not even the police would answer our questions,’ she huffed. ‘After we came all this way to answer theirs.’
‘They wouldn’t even tell me if my daughter was alright,’ Dad added.
My daughter.
I couldn’t recall the last time he’d called me his daughter.
Janine had always relished reminding me how Mum had abandoned me. But neither of them spoke about the fact that Dad had left us first. For her.
‘We finally managed to get one of those horse people to talk,’ Janine continued. ‘They said you’d been seen getting into an ambulance.’ Her gaze swept over me, assessing me from head to toe. ‘But you don’t look hurt.’
I flinched at the slight hint of disappointment in her voice.
‘I’m not,’ I replied, forcing myself to restrain from adding a sarcastic retort. They were here at least.
‘Thank goodness,’ Janine said, collapsing against Dad as though overcome with relief.
‘But, if you’re not injured, why are you here?’ Dad asked.
‘Ben was knocked unconscious. The doctors are checking him out now.’
They exchanged a look that told me neither of them had any idea who he was.
‘The guy you met at the police station on Friday.’
‘Oh, him,’ Janine said, straightening up. ‘He was very rude.’
‘He wasn’t rude, he was—’ I froze ‘—the only one who actually believed in me.’
The words felt strange to say and yet, I realised now, that’s exactly what he’d done.
Believed in me.
In my innocence.
My worth.
Whereas the people who were supposed to love me unconditionally…
I tugged at the collar of my shirt, the hospital suddenly feeling hot and suffocating.
‘Kirsty, don’t take that tone—’ Dad began.
‘He saved my life.’
‘Well, if that’s so, we’re grateful to him, but that doesn’t give you an excuse to disrespect Janine. Especially after everything she has done for you.’
Done for me?
I blinked.
Ben had done more for me in the last few days than Janine ever had. He’d stood by me. Risked everything for me. Arrest. Prosecution.
The memory of the shotgun in Martin’s hand flashed through my brain.
Death.
Ben had done all that for me.
‘Well, anyway,’ Janine said briskly, waving her hand as though wafting away Ben’s existence. ‘Let’s get your things. It’s a long drive back to Birmingham.’
‘Birmingham?’ I questioned.
‘Of course. We’re taking you home,’ Janine said. ‘Where you should have been from the start. None of this would have happened if you’d just stayed where you belonged. This just proves how much you need us to keep you out of trouble.’
I glared at her. ‘You do realise that none of this was my fault, don’t you?’ I demanded.
‘Kirsty, be sensible—’
‘No,’ I said, cutting through her. ‘You always tell me to be sensible. To be careful. To know my limits. My flaws. But not for one second have you ever told me that you believed in me. That I was clever. Capable. Good enough.’
I inhaled sharply.
‘I didn’t cause any of this. But I dealt with it. Without you.’
‘Janine and I are just looking out for you—’ Dad started.
‘No, you’re not.’
I could finally see it clearly.
‘You never have,’ I said flatly.
Ben was right. About them. About me.
‘I deserved better than the way Mum abandoned me. And I deserved better than the way both of you did too.’
I shook my head.
‘I won’t let you make me doubt myself any more.’