They were all quiet as they got into his Lexus, Rachel taking the front seat. She let out a quiet yet deeply felt sigh of relief when she sat down. She was desperate to take off her shoes, but she wasn’t about to do it in Andrew’s car. She’d assess the damage privately, at home.
“I’m sure she’s fine,” she said as Andrew pulled out onto the road, his face set in grim lines.
“Hitchhiking with some stranger? Right.”
“Did you guys read that book about the fell walker who was a serial killer?” Lily asked as she leaned forward, one hand on each of their seats. “Seriously creepy.” Andrew did not reply and Lily sat back. “Sorry,” she murmured. “It was really unrealistic. Completely stretched my suspension of disbelief. How would he fit two women in the boot of his car?”
Rachel almost laughed, but a niggling worry kept her from it. What if something had happened to Claire? She was the one whohad goaded Claire up on the fell, telling her not to let Andrew baby her. If Claire ended up chopped into pieces in the boot of some murderous hiker’s car, it would be Rachel’s fault.
They’d just turned onto the A-road towards Egremont when Andrew’s phone trilled with an incoming text. He glanced down at it, his expression clearing even though the set of his shoulders remained rigid. “She’s back home.”
“Well, then.” Rachel settled back into her seat. “I knew she’d be all right.”
Clouds were starting to roll in from the sea as they reached Hartley-by-the-Sea, and Rachel’s mood turned with the weather. Despite the various tensions, she’d enjoyed the day out, an escape from real life. With every mile they came closer to home, the pressures and worries she’d kept at bay for a few hours started to hound her.
She’d forgotten do her weekly food shop online, and tea still had to be made. Rachel doubted Meghan would have lifted a finger. Her taxes were due in a few weeks, and all her business expenses were kept in a shoe box that she hadn’t so much as looked in for about nine months. Lily’s final lab work was this week, and Rachel had forgotten to ask her about the soil samples. Her mother had a doctor’s appointment in Whitehaven on Thursday, and Rachel would have to rework her day to take her, or ask Meghan to do it. Both options were unpalatable.
She wanted to run away from it all, back up to that view of freedom from the top of Scafell Pike, drink in the emptiness of it like a glass of cold, clean water, and forget about the pressures that were already crowding in on her, making it hard to breathe.
The car slowed, and with a hollow sensation Rachel saw they were back home. The terraced house she’d lived in her whole life looked smaller and shabbier after spending a day out in wide spaces with long views. Slowly she unbuckled her seat belt.
“Thanks for a lovely day out.”
“Was it lovely?” Andrew said, one eyebrow cocked. “I’m glad you think so.”
“I think so,” Lily said as she got out of the car. “It was fab.”
Lily was already walking inside, and yet Rachel hesitated, reluctant to end the day. She knew the second she stepped through the doorway she’d be sucked in to the chaos and clamor of her life.
“I take your point about Claire,” Andrew said quietly, and she turned to look at him in surprise.
“You do?”
“I’m not that blind or stupid. I know she’s an adult and that she needs to make her own decisions. But...” He let out a sigh and rubbed one hand over his face. “I’ve been looking after Claire for my whole life. It’s hard to stop.”
“The perils of being a big brother, I suppose.”
He dropped his hand with a weary smile. “You have no idea,” he said with a grim quietness that unnerved her.
Rachel almost asked him more, but then she heard Lily go inside, and with a sigh she got out of the car.
“Thanks for taking us out today. We needed the break.”
“I’m glad I was able to give you one.” He smiled wryly. “And that it truly was a break.”
She gave a little laugh. “I know I give you a hard time. I’m sorry.”
“It’s only because you like me, right?” He shook his head, still smiling, and Rachel schooled her face into an equally smiling-yet-neutral expression. She didn’t like Andrew West. Not like that.
“Well, bye, then,” she said, and for some reason it felt awkward. Date-like and yet so not. He nodded goodbye and she got out of the car. She’d just started up the path when Lily wrenched open the front door and stood on the stoop, her face pale and shocked.
“Rachel,” she said, and her voice sounded like a child’s, small and scared. “Something’s wrong with Mum.”
Chapter sixteen
Claire
Claire stood at the sink and stared out at the twilit sky. She felt exhausted, every muscle aching, and yet also absurdly proud of herself. She’d gotten home.
