Page 59 of Snowflakes Over Micklewick Bay

‘Are you feeling okay now?’ He was looking at her intently. ‘Where are you parked? I’ll wait and walk you and Birdie to your car in case that dreadful woman’s lurking in the shadows, ready to pounce.’

That made Hannah chuckle. ‘I was definitely shaken at the time, but I’m fine now.’ What Hannah didn’t say was that the anticipation of seeing Polly again had been far worse than the reality. Yes, being spoken to like that was upsetting, but it hadn’t left her feeling as devastated as she’d feared, which was a massive relief. She was no longer the child nor Polly a figure of authority in her life. She no longer had any power over her. And if the support Hannah had received since she’d returned to town was anything to go by, Polly’s attempts at smearing her name would be given short shrift. ‘And you haven’t seen Birdie when she’s in ninja mode – she’s deadly.’

He chuckled at that. ‘Something tells me you’re not joking about that. And much as it’s good to hear you’re fine now, I still want to walk you and Birdie to your car. You were pretty shook up before, and if she does reappear, ninja Birdie or not, it isn’t good to drive when you’re feeling like that.’

‘Fair enough.’ She supposed he had a point.

Naturally, Birdie was thrilled by Lachie’s gentlemanly behaviour and even more so when he delivered a kiss to Hannah’s cheek. Though, she wasn’t quite as thrilled as Hannah. The touch of his skin against hers had sent her emotions running riot, the familiar smell of his cologne only adding to the effect. She was at serious risk of losing her heart all over again.

As she put the key into the ignition and went to drive off, she prepared herself for the inevitable interrogation. They weren’t two seconds into the journey when it started, which was impressive even by Birdie’s standards.

THIRTY-SIX

Hannah returned to Micklewick Bay the following week for a further appointment with Mr Cuthbert and a catch-up with Florrie, Maggie and Lark in the Happy Hartes teashop – work commitments meant neither Jasmine nor Stella could make it.

After saying goodbye to her friends, she’d climbed into her car, which was parked just down from the bookshop, and was checking for messages on her phone when her attention was sharply pulled away by a long, angry blast of a car horn. It made her jump out of her skin. With her heart racing, she peered through the windscreen to see a car had parked right in front of her. Before she knew what was happening, the driver’s door was flung open and a man leapt out. Her heart rate accelerated and her stomach swooped. ‘Oh no!’ She watched in disbelief as Darryl stomped towards her car, his expression thunderous, his eyes full of hatred.

Thinking quickly, Hannah threw her phone down on the passenger seat and grabbed her keys, locking the doors with the fob, her pulse charging around her body and thrumming loudly in her ears. It was as she was trying to push her keys into the ignition that he reached her car.

‘I wanna word with you!’ He started yanking at her door and a small scream escaped her mouth. When it wouldn’t yield, he moved to the one behind. ‘You’d better open this car!’ He flew his way around, trying all the doors in turn, snatching angrily at the handles, his fury increasing by the second. He thumped the top of the vehicle, realising there was no way he was going to gain access. ‘If you know what’s good for you, you’d open this flaming door!’

Hannah stole a look at him to see his familiar frog-like face peering angrily at her. It made her stomach turn, just like it used to when they were kids. ‘I thought you were told to leave this town and never come back. Don’t think you can just turn up here like everything in the garden’s rosy. You have questions to answer. And you know exactly what I’m talking about. You’ve taken things that belong to my mother by rights. And I heard how you spoke to her last week. I don’t know who you think you are, but you’re not going to get away with it.’

‘None of the things you’re referring to belong to your mother, Darryl.’ Panic squeezed in her chest and she scrabbled with her keys, going to push them into the ignition, but in her rush, she was making a pig’s ear of it.

Before she had a chance to think, Maggie appeared beside Darryl. She squared up to him, a fearless glint in her eye that would give Boudicca a run for her money. She was quickly joined by Florrie and Lark.

‘I’d have thought, you being a lawyer and all, that you’d know you can be prosecuted for that threatening behaviour.’

‘Keep your nose out, Marsay. This has nothing to do with you.’

‘I think you’ll find if you’re trying to intimidate a friend of mine, it is my business,’ Maggie fired back.

‘Ours too,’ added Lark. ‘We all know what’s been going on, Darryl.’

‘And it’s you and your mother who should leave town, not Hannah. Lark’s right, and it’s not just us who know what’s been going on. I reckon most folk in this town do.’

‘You don’t know what you’re talking about.’ For all his bluster, his face had fallen, a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes. As a lawyer, he certainly didn’t possess a poker face as Stella did; she was known for hers amongst her legal contemporaries. ‘Everyone knows what she did.’

From the confines of her car, Hannah noticed that a small crowd had begun to gather around them, and people seemed to be looking angrily in Darryl’s direction. A car crawled by slowly, the driver rubbernecking to see what was going on.

‘Hannah did nowt! She was chased out of her home by you and your conniving mother,’ said a man who looked vaguely familiar.

‘That’s right,’ said a woman, who appeared to be in her late fifties standing beside him. ‘I’m only sorry we never spoke up at the time and tried to get her father to listen, to see what the rest of us could see.’

‘Aye, me too,’ said another woman, the one beside her nodding in agreement.

‘You’re all a load of idiots,’ Darryl yelled.

They watched as he headed back to his car, rage emanating from him. Seconds later he raced off in a screech of tyres.

Hannah unlocked her car and climbed out, her knees shaking as she stood, looking around at everyone.

‘You okay, flower?’ Lark rushed to her, wrapping her in a fragrant hug and smoothing her back. In the next moment, Maggie and Florrie had joined them, surrounding her with soothing words.

When she was finally released from their embrace, she glanced around at the sympathetic faces of the people who’d gathered, watching as the sympathy slowly turned to smiles.

‘See, Hannah, we weren’t exaggerating when we told you everyone’s got your back here,’ said Florrie.