She sat for a while, careless of the rain that had started. What did the person who’d texted her want? After Josh had gone, she’d thought there was nothing left that anyone could take from her. But there was. This person might take everything she’d realised was worth living for.
She glanced at the heavens. Droplets of rain falling like saltless tears on her cheeks, she prayed silently for God to give her strength to fight whatever battle might come, and then reached for her phone.
What do you know?she typed.
You know as well as I do, came the reply.How do you sleep at night?
Twelve
Kimberley
Kim’s heart sank when she saw the guy she was renting the house from. He was a younger version of her dad, stinking of body odour, a beer bottle in his hand. She didn’t dare look at Cassie and Adam behind her. Hopefully they would be more impressed with the house. One of a small row of houses on a quiet lane just outside Hibbleton, it had a cottagey feel. Despite it being old, it didn’t look in that bad a bad state of repair from the outside, which had been Adam’s concern, and had two bedrooms and a box room inside, as well as a small kitchen and dining room, a living room, and a conservatory on the back. It probably needed a lick of paint inside, the man had said.
Noting his gaze straying warily from her to Adam, who was considerably taller than he was, and also muscular, Kim thought she’d better introduce them. She wanted this little house. It was part of her plan for the future. She had a feeling her ‘landlord’ might back out if he thought there was a chance anyone would find out about him sub-letting the property, which was something she hadn’t mentioned to Adam or Cassie. ‘This is Adam,’ she said, giving the man a smile. ‘My dead fiancé’s father.’ Her eyes filling up, as they were bound to when she thought about Josh, she glanced sadly down at Samuel in the pushchair. ‘He’s going to help me redecorate.’
Seeming somewhat placated, the guy nodded.
‘And this is Cassie, his mum. She’s been helping me with little Samuel since his dad died,’ Kim went on, knowing she was playing the sympathy card but suspecting Cassie wouldn’t mind, given her reasons.
‘We’ve been offering each other emotional support,’ Cassie picked up, extending her hand. The man looked surprised. He’d probably never had a classy-looking woman wanting to shake his hand before. ‘Pleased to meet you…?’
‘Jonnie,’ he supplied, swapping his beer to his left hand before offering the right.
‘I’m going to help Kim with the furnishings for the nursery.’ Cassie smiled. ‘I hope you don’t mind me having a quick look?’
The man shrugged. ‘Knock yourself out,’ he said, tipping the dregs of his beer back and then turning to park the bottle to the side of the front door. ‘Slam the door on the way out, yeah. I’m off down the pub for a pint.’
Standing aside to let him by, Adam raised an eyebrow. ‘Trusting sort, isn’t he?’ he said, his expression curious as he watched him saunter off.
‘I’ve already paid him half of the deposit,’ Kim said, tipping the pushchair back and wheeling it through the front door, which led straight to the lounge. She supposed that made her the trusting one in Adam’s eyes.
She stopped and gazed around the small room. The wallpaper wasn’t too bad, old coffee-coloured Anaglypta. The paintwork was awful, though, a mucky chocolate brown, and the furniture was ugly: a tatty old two-seater sofa and chair standing on a threadbare red and brown floral rug. The floorboards, also painted brown, added to the depressing ambience.
‘Oh,’ said Cassie.
Kim smiled weakly. ‘It’s not too bad,’ she said, aware that she didn’t sound very convincing. ‘Maybe I could get some cheerful scatter cushions and pictures off eBay to brighten it up.’
‘We’ll refurnish it,’ Adam said decisively. ‘If Jonnie boy has any objections to us getting rid of this stuff, we’ll put it in storage.’
Kim looked at him agog. ‘I can’t let you do that, Adam. I do need your support, I won’t lie, but I’m not looking for handouts.’
‘It’s not a handout,’ Adam assured her. ‘I have contacts who will let me have stuff at cost price. And the storage won’t be a problem if we need it. I have a couple of units for house clearance purposes. Don’t worry about it.’
Cassie smiled kindly as Kim glanced uncertainly at her. ‘It’s fine, Kim. We guessed it might need some furnishings, and there’s no way I would rest knowing you were stuck here on your own with a new baby. It’s far too depressing like this.’ Giving her shoulders a quick squeeze, she headed off towards the room adjoining the lounge.
Kim glanced gratefully at Adam. ‘Thanks,’ she said, giving him an appreciative smile.
‘Not a problem.’ Adam smiled warmly back. ‘Shall we?’ He nodded after Cassie.
They found her eyeing the conservatory backing onto the tiny dining room, the walls of which were also a dirty brown. ‘I think we might need a bit of TLC in here too,’ she said, smiling knowingly at Adam. ‘And the conservatory looks a bit dilapidated.’
Adam checked the windows and seals. ‘It’s mendable,’ he said. ‘I could probably do something with it.’
The kitchen wasn’t too dreadful, thank God. Kim had been expecting it to be cold and damp, with cupboard doors hanging off. The cupboards looked sound, though, confirmed by Adam. And the work surfaces were light, a white and grey marble effect.
‘Thick with grime, unfortunately,’ Cassie said, trailing a finger along one of them. ‘Nothing a bit of elbow grease won’t fix, though. I’ll get some cloths and antibacterial spray in,’ she added, giving Kim an optimistic smile and then plucking some wet wipes from her bag and cleaning her hands.
Kim checked the oven, which would need a thorough clean, and then sighed. ‘Thanks, Cassie,’ she said, straightening up. ‘I’m not sure I could do all this without you.’
