‘Well, he didn’t say he would, but I think he might want to and is worried he won’t get very far.’ She pulled her sister into a hug. ‘I don’t think you’re callous, I think you’re strong and wonderful, and so is Dad. But try? Not because I’m asking you but for you and for him. If you put as much effort into your relationship with Dad as you do trying to get Conrad and Isaac on track…’
Maya relented. ‘Next time I see Dad, I’ll make an effort.’
‘Which will only be when I orchestrate it.’
Maya grinned. ‘I knew you kept throwing us together on purpose.’
‘And yet you still show up.’
‘Of course I do.’ She hugged Julie back. ‘Now show me around the house again; let’s park the subject of Dad and me for now. I’ve taken what you’ve said on board. I promise.’
‘Do you really promise?’
‘Yes. Now I want to see more, including the drawings for the loft conversion.’
‘Okay, I’ll let it go for now but only because I can’t wait to show you the plans.’
‘Lead the way.’
Maya arrived at Conrad’s with so many containers of pre-cooked food ready for his freezer that he could have a dinner party for ten, three times over. He’d transferred her money for the shopping and as it was way too much for what she needed, she’d gone for it, batch cooking for hours so that she could cut down on these visits. The freezer was almost at bursting point and even he couldn’t argue that his one-armed abilities would hamper his nutrition now.
‘I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this, Maya.’
Well, he could. But that didn’t mean she hadn’t had enough. She was over it. She didn’t want thanks. She didn’t want gratitude. She wanted her freedom back. And she’d heard a whispering from someone else at the air ambulance base that Conrad, or someone who looked very much like Conrad, had been spotted out again after dark nipping in to pick up a box of beer from the supermarket.
‘I’m going to have to shoot off, I’m afraid.’ She put on enough regret to be believable but not so much he’d take it as sarcasm. It was a fine line, especially when she was annoyed at him for the pretence.
‘You all right?’ he asked, holding the shoulder of his bad arm with his good one to make sure she didn’t forget his injuries.
‘I am, work has been really busy lately. Same shifts as usual but we’ve had a lot of callouts each time. It doesn’t always work like that but recently…’
‘How’s Noah?’
‘Noah is good. So is Bess. So is Nadia.’ She refused to take the bait.
She picked up the empty cardboard box she’d used to transport the containers and held it against her body so she wouldn’t have to face the lingering hug he liked to give if her guard was down. She spotted some files on the sofa. ‘Are you working?’
He shrugged. ‘I asked work to send me something. I want to keep my mind active, you know. And they’re always happy to offload paperwork.’
She headed for the front door rather than questioning him further. The day Conrad volunteered for paperwork would be the day she’d look up and see pigs flying between the clouds. He was a man who wanted to be involved with cases, out investigating; he didn’t want to sit there shuffling papers.
‘You working tonight?’ he asked before she reached the front door.
‘No, I’d be useless to anyone this evening. I’m going to take a bath, have an early night.’
She was straight out of the door and to her car, she had the engine on within thirty seconds and she pulled away from the kerb in less than another ten.
Maya’s home was small but the bathroom was fitted perfectly with a slipper tub with Victorian-style taps, a sink, toilet and shower and a window low enough that when she lifted up the blind, she could see out to her back garden. It would be nice when she got around to sprucing it up a bit, but for now she closed the blind so she didn’t have to think about it or Julie’s claims that her dad wanted to help.
She started the bath running, added some bubble bath and when her landline rang, she ran into the bedroom to grab it because she knew it would be Conrad. It wasn’t that she wanted to speak to him but she wanted him to know she was here. He had a habit of doing this, calling her on the landline and pretending he’d hit the wrong button in his contacts rather than calling her mobile number. It was his way of checking she was where she claimed to be and right now, she’d rather pander to his need than have him repetitively calling her.
She took the phone into the bathroom. The water thundered from the taps, the bubbles rising. ‘Conrad, I’m about to step into the tub.’
‘Sorry, it was a butt dial,’ he laughed.
Did he seriously expect her to believe that?
‘Well, an accidental dial at any rate,’ he corrected.
