‘You had to get the limo back,’ said Hattie. ‘And it never occurred to me he’d find out where I lived either.’
‘Now, you’ve got a trip to Paris to plan and I’ve got things to do. I’m going to push off now,’ Luke announced.
Fiona ran and put her arms round him. ‘Thank you so much!’ she said.
Seeing Luke return the hug so easily gave Hattie another funny feeling. When Fiona had released him, and Luke had left the kitchen, she followed him to the hall. ‘I must thank you too,’ she said, and regarded him,wishing she could wrap her arms round him and have his arms round her. But the moment was gone, she realised. She couldn’t hug him now without it looking odd.
She said goodbye and went back into the kitchen, feeling momentarily bereft.
‘We need to get Fiona’s phone,’ Nick was saying.
‘And different clothes,’ said Fiona. ‘If we’re getting the phone anyway, I can ask Mum to pack some things for me if she can.’ She shuddered. ‘I hope she’ll be all right.’
‘She will be,’ said Hattie. ‘Her friends are there if anyone gets nasty.’
‘And if she can’t pack you a case, we can buy you clothes in Paris,’ said Nick.
‘If you won’t be ashamed of me, I’d rather have my old clothes. Lance went through my wardrobe saying what I could keep. There wasn’t that much. I was supposed to get rid of the old stuff but I didn’t. It’s in a bag in the loft.’
‘We’ll get you your clothes,’ said Nick. Hattie could see it dawning on him just how much Lance had interfered in her life.
‘You should ring Sheila,’ said Hattie, handing Fiona the phone.
Then Xander emerged, slightly surprised to see that Luke had turned into Nick, but not unduly bothered. ‘Although we were making a really good tune,’ he said. ‘It’s so great that Luke is into it too.’
‘I’m afraid I don’t know anything about electronic music,’ said Hattie. ‘Why didn’t your mother tell me it was one of your interests?’
‘She doesn’t know. She wouldn’t get it. It’s OK though. I manage.’
‘I think you should tell her.’
Fiona came back into the room. ‘Mum says she’ll meet you in the church. She said it was the one place she felt sure Lance would never set foot in again. Daddy too. She’s going to encourage everyone to go to the pub for lunch and then slip into the pews.’
‘Do we know what time?’ asked Nick. ‘We need to book our Eurostar tickets. Although I think it might be a good idea to stay in London and go early tomorrow morning. I want to get you away from here as soon as I can.’ He frowned suddenly. ‘Hattie? Can you make an offer on the house for me – the figure we discussed after I saw the builder? I don’t want to lose it.’
Hattie nodded. ‘Of course!’
‘I would like to get away too,’ said Fiona. ‘Although nothing really happened, I found last night frightening.’
‘Me too,’ said Hattie. As she thought about it the fear and anxiety came back to her. The nearly silent approach, the hectic banging on the door, the subsequent confrontation. Luke was such a rock. The thought of trying to deal with Lance on her own made her heart race. ‘So, what time should I go and get your phone from Sheila?’
‘She’ll let us know.’
Hattie suddenly wanted her house to herself. She was tired and had been through a stressful time. As a single person she was accustomed to a certain amount of solitude.
‘I’m just going to pop into the garden and pick some herbs,’ she said. ‘For peppermint tea and things.’ She found kitchen scissors and a plastic jug to put the herbs in and went out of the back door.
She took her time wandering round the little garden, going through a calming routine. She checked theapples – too early to pick but a good crop. She rubbed a leaf of a salvia to smell its sweet spicyness, and then, using the scissors, cut off several dead rose heads. It was only when she felt a bit more herself that she actually picked anything. But her jug was full by the time she went back in. She would put them in a pretty vase for the kitchen table.
‘Your phone rang and I saw it was Mum so I answered it,’ said Fiona.
Hattie laughed. ‘And what did Sheila say?’
‘If you set off now, she’ll be at the church.’
‘OK, I’ll find my keys.’
‘And I called Luke,’ said Xander. ‘He said I can go over and finish making the tune we started yesterday.’
