“Nothing.” He shrugged. “Taking care of business, that’s all.”
“Is this because of Alex?” Pippa asked suddenly.
Wolfie’s lips thinned. “Who? Oh, your boyfriend.”
“Ex-boyfriend,” she corrected him.
“He seemed pretty chummy with you,” Wolfie said. “Look, if you two are getting back together and you need to move out, that’s more than fine by me.”
“More than—” Pippa swallowed. “You’d really be all right with me leaving?”
Wolfie nodded nonchalantly. “I’m sure I can manage this place alone until the sale.” He snickered. “It’s not like you do that much, is it?”
Pippa was stunned by his coldness towards her. Had she imagined the spark between them? She felt like she was going mad. “Have you seen the binder?” she said. “It’s a fucking Bible.”
“No matter.” Wolfie ran his thumb over his lips. “Entirely manageable.”
“Seriously, what’s going on?” Pippa edged towards him. “I thought we—” She took a deep breath. “We were getting along.”
“Who says we aren’t?”
“Alex and I are not back together,” she said.
“Like I said, not my business.” Wolfie started to swivel back towards his laptop. “So, if that’s all…?”
Pippa’s eyes blurred with tears. It wasn’t so much his odd demeanour, but the fact that she’d been such an idiot to allow herself to remotely entertain feelings for this man. “I understand now,” she said.
“Understand what?”
“I think I understand a man like you,” she said.
Wolfie froze, turning in his chair to face her. “And what do you think you understand?”
“I’m sorry you were let down by the very people who should have looked out for you,” Pippa said. “That must make it really tough to trust anyone.”
He remained very still. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, but I do.” A tear traced down her cheek and she swiped it away. “You know what Alex did to me. And maybe I’m an idiot for turning him away because of it, time will tell, but unlike you, I’m not turningeveryoneaway as a result.”
“That’s not what I’m doing,” Wolfie protested.
“Isn’t it?” Pippa cried. “I don’t know what this is between us – and thereissomething—” she declared boldly before he could deny it. “But you don’t get to put the walls up and treat me like I’m disposable just because you’re scared.”
“Scared?” Wolfie attempted bravado, but Pippa could see the hurt flash in his eyes.
“Yes.” She steeled herself. “You saw me with Alex and assumed I was going back to him. That I’d leave this house and leave you; leave you or hurt you like everyone else did.”
“Right, so you’re an amateur psychologist now?” he spluttered. “Give it a rest.”
Pippa clenched her fists. She’d had just about enough of men who didn’t listen to her.
“Fine,” she said. “Have it your way. Maybe I’ll succumb to the inevitable and move out now. You know, let you live out the rest of this house’s days skulking around like some lonely beast. No friends, no—” Pippa stopped herself from sayinglove. She could feel more tears threatening, and she was damned if she’d let this obnoxious idiot see them. She turned to leave, then stopped. “You know what,” she went on. “You can sneer all you want at this town and the way the people here love this house.I’m sorry you had a less than brilliant childhood, and that it stops you from seeing what’s right in front of you.” Wolfie tried to speak up, but Pippa was in no mood to listen. “Maybe it’s for the best. Sell up. Escape. Then you can forget all about the little, insignificant people of Hurst Bridge.” And with that, Pippa powered back to the kitchen, her mind in utter turmoil. Perhaps it wasn’t too wise to sound off like that, but she’d felt like she had no choice. Had she been wrong about the connection between her and Wolfie? Pippa knew she wasn’t the most experienced when it came to relationships but surely she hadn’t imagined the lingering looks, the way her body seemed to awaken in his presence? Wolfie’s indifference seemed to indicate she had, and the humiliation was painful. How could she face that man ever again?
Wolfie yelled her name. Panicking, Pippa slipped out of the kitchen door and into the garden. Wolfie called for her again and so she darted round the side of the house, out of the main gate and onto the road. Pippa didn’t know whether she would yell at him or fall at his feet in a mess of embarrassed tears; at any rate, she couldn’t spare Wolfie any more emotional energy. She needed space from him and so she kept walking. The fresh air felt so good pouring into her lungs that she decided not to stop, and to give in to that earlier desire to get up into the hills. She was only clad in slip-on shoes and leggings with a T-shirt, but it wasn’t particularly cold. Besides, if she wanted more sensible footwear she’d have to go back to the house and that wasn’t happening.
Pippa knew there was a footpath into the hills just off the main road that she was now travelling on. It was identifiable only by a narrow cut in the drywall, with a worn wooden sign that once upon a time probably proclaimed the actual name of the route. Locals didn’t need any such direction though – they said they were ‘going up Clough’. It didn’t take long to find it – a little more overgrown than the last time she’d ventured up there – but the air smelled so green and lush that she happily forged on. Only a few steps in and a peace descended upon her; to the extent that even the cars passing on the road behind her were reduced to a mere hush. Soon enough, her muscles began to relax, her mind slowing.
The path led her to a steep bank where evergreen trees valiantly pushed up towards the sky. The way here became rocky, some of the larger stones slick from the overnight rain. Undeterred, Pippa forged on. Despite the shelter of the canopy, the wind began to whistle relentlessly through the wood and Pippa pulled the sleeves of her T-shirt down. Soon, the incline became steeper, forcing Pippa to use the trees around her as leverage. The earth was wetter and sludgier here, causing her shoes to slip and slide. Up ahead the incline levelled out, and she dragged herself onward, knowing the view was worth it.
