‘I’ve just got them asleep, and I need to get back.’ He waved a baby monitor, speaking hurriedly. ‘You can’t stay in here, Ella. It’s a hovel and that’s without seeing it in daylight. I’m sorry it’s late, but I thought you should know I don’t plan on leaving you in this dump indefinitely.’
‘But where will I go?’ Her heart began to thump, worry prickling on her skin at the thought of having to leave Halesmere if there was nowhere else for her to live. ‘It’s fine, it’s only for a—’
‘No, you can’t, I won’t let you.’ He let out an incredulous laugh. ‘My mother, honestly, she just doesn’t think.’ He was staring into the room behind Ella, and she was taken aback by the sudden intensity in his gaze when it found hers. ‘You can move into the house. I’ll come back first thing and help you shift your stuff.’
‘Max, I can’t. It’s all ready for guests.’ She glanced apprehensively at the wide roof and tall chimneys stretching to the night sky. ‘There’s no need, really.’
‘Ella, this flat isn’t fit, and we both know it. I’ll speak with the builders and sort it out for you, I promise.’
And he was gone before she could confess, his footsteps echoing as he sprinted back across the cobbles to his children. How could she turn down his offer without admitting the truth? How could she tell him she loathed being alone and the thought of those huge, empty rooms, shadows and solitude in every corner and silence following her around, was worse than the tiny flat and already making her feel afraid?
She was awake until long after midnight, freezing, her senses poised for every squeak and rattle, sure she could hear the mice running through the cupboards in the kitchen. Every breath she took seemed to shatter the stillness until she fell into an uneasy sleep. The light was pouring through the meagre curtains when a knock at the door eventually woke her. She grabbed the Dryrobe she normally used for swimming and had thrown over the bed as an extra layer and set off down the ladder. A second knock rattled like a roar through her sleep-deprived brain.
‘Just a sec.’ She raised her voice. ‘I’m coming.’
The door was flung open, and Ella shrieked as her foot went straight through the broken rung and she landed in a heap at the bottom of the ladder. She let out a howl of pain as her knees made contact with the hard wooden floor and her wild eyes swivelled round to find Max staring at her in horror.
‘Are you alright?’
‘Fine.’ She climbed gingerly to her feet, ignoring the hand he was tentatively offering, horribly aware he’d now had a perfect view of her bottom in pyjamas slipping down the ladder. She hastily wrapped herself in the Dryrobe that had somehow made the descent with her.
‘In that case, is it okay to laugh?’
‘It is not,’ she said through gritted teeth. Her right knee was already throbbing, and her palms were stinging. How had she forgotten to lock the door after he’d left last night? ‘Couldn’t you have waited? I said I was on my way.’
‘I thought you said come in.’ Max had already backed out of the flat and was standing closer to the edge of the little platform than Ella believed was safe. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Surely you’re not here to make me move out so early?’ It seemed best to face him as though nothing had happened and she crossed her arms, wincing as she placed some weight on her right leg. She was certain he’d taken in everything he’d seen and was doing his best to pretend he hadn’t.
‘Early? It’s nine thirty. I’ve been up for three hours already.’
‘Lucky you,’ she groaned, rubbing a hand across bleary eyes. Another rough night, another late start she wasn’t used to having, time wasted she could have spent running or kayaking, or even swimming. Had she really only been here for less than forty-eight hours? It seemed more like forty-eight days after the broken sleep, and right now she felt as though she’d aged every minute of those days as well.
‘I’ve brought you breakfast.’ Max held out something wrapped in tinfoil. ‘Just a good old bacon butty. Seeing as you’ve condemned the kitchen as unfit for use.’
‘Thanks, that’s nice of you.’ She caught the smell of the bacon and her stomach growled as she accepted the sandwich gratefully. ‘Where’s Lily and Arlo?’
‘They’re having breakfast with my mother. Or rather second breakfast, as we’ve been up so long. Once we’ve got you settled in the house, we’ll be taking Prim out for a long walk until they moan like mad and demand to return to their screens.’
Ella couldn’t help her smile. ‘I suppose you need to come in and see what a state this place is. Just in case I was wrong about the mice.’
‘I doubt you are wrong.’ He closed the door, and she felt her awareness of him leap a notch. If she stepped back any further, she’d fall through the ladder, and she didn’t fancy having to ask him to fish her out. ‘I saw Stan on my way over and he said he’d found a squirrel in the bedroom.’
‘A squirrel? Surely he was joking?’ Ella’s eyes shot up worriedly, checking for evidence. ‘Dead or alive?’
‘Oh, very much dead, he thought it had been there a while. He did have a go at the carpet before you came. My mother apparently told him she had a friend coming to stay over the holidays and would he please tidy the place up a bit.’
‘That’s disgusting.’ Ella’s feet were bare and her appetite for the bacon butty was diminishing as she thought of what she might already have stepped in. ‘Did Noelle actually look inside before she invited me to live here?’
‘I doubt it. So that’s why I’m moving you out.’ Max pointed to Ella’s case on the floor. ‘What else have you got?’
‘I have to go now?’
‘Unless you’d rather wait until later?’
‘Well, I wouldn’t mind eating my breakfast first,’ she retorted, waving the butty at him. ‘And getting dressed.’
‘Of course.’ He backed away, a hand on the door.
