Toby kisses Jayne on each cheek and leans toward Emily to do the same. “You’re both freezing,” he says. “And what happened to you?” He looks Emily up and down. “Hey, it’s okay, oh dear, what’s wrong?”
“Where’s Paul?” Emily grabs Toby by the lapels. “Where is he?”
“And where’s Mark?” Jayne asks.
“Well, here’s the thing. I have no idea,” Toby says. “When the driver picked me up, he said Paul had contacted him to say that he should bring me up here on my own. No further explanation than that. Obviously, I tried calling them both but neither of them’s answering or responding to messages. I thought you might know something.”
“Give me your phone,” Emily says. “Give it to me!”
He pats his pockets, looking for it, and when he can’t find it, he delves into his bag. Emily’s distracted by the car, which is starting to back down the lane.
“Wait!” she shouts. Perhaps the driver has more information about Paul. Maybe they spoke this morning. “Stop the car! Toby! Stop him going. I want to talk to him.”
Toby runs, slaps the car bonnet, and it stops. He has a word with the driver. The car crawls back toward Emily and stops. She leans in to talk.
“What’s going on?” Toby asks Jayne as they watch. It’s starting to sink in that he’s walked into a situation, that something is very wrong.
“It’s a long story,” she says. She feels sick with fear. Where’s Mark?
“Okay,” he says. “Where’s Ruthie?”
Jayne points toward the farmhouse and Toby looks past her to where he can just see Ruth, who’s still leaning against the Land Rover. He raises an arm and walks toward her.
Jayne pulls out her phone. She has one missed call from a colleague and a couple of texts regarding appointments next week.
Nothing from Mark.
She tries calling him. His phone rings and rings but he doesn’t answer.
Emily is still talking to the driver. Her voice is raised. Jayne turns to watch Toby approach Ruth and feels jealous.
She tries to call Paul. He doesn’t answer either.
Ruth ignores the notifications on her phone and dials her mother’s home number.
“Flora? Oh, thank God. It’s me. How’s Alfie?”
Her knees almost buckle as her mum says, “He’s absolutely fine. Why aren’t you off enjoying yourself? You sound hysterical.”
She barely hears Flora’s words. My boy is safe, she thinks. He’s fine.
From the corner of her eye, she sees Toby. Her stomach flips.
“I’m fine,” she says. “I’ll call you later.”
She’s unexpectedly grateful to see Toby. Alfie has not lost his dad. Her suspicions about Toby seem less credible in the light of day, faced with the fact of his presence and the way he’s smiling sweetly at her.
“Hello,” he says. “What the hell’s been going on? Are you all right? You look terrible.”
He kisses her cheek.
“Something happened,” she says. She doesn’t know where to start or how to explain everything. “I want to go home.” She begins to cry.
“Okay. Don’t cry, Ruthie. That’s fine. We can go home. What happened?”
She loves him for understanding, for not questioning her but agreeing to take her away from here but when he tries to hug her, she finds herself going rigid.
Emily and Jayne confer with the driver of the town car.
