once we’re safely at the bottom.’ He smiled, and when she gave him a look, he said, ‘I’ve been trying to get your attention for days, and now I have it.’
She smiled back at him, her heart pounding at his possible reaction when he found out she was lying. She needed to stall some more.
‘Why did you call me of all people?’ he wondered, buying her some time without realising it.
‘As you said, you’ve been calling and messaging me and when I picked up my phone you were first in the contacts and I clicked on you. I thought I was clicking on Tilly’s contact.’
He looked at her more closely. ‘Did you hit your head or anything?’
‘No, it was clumsiness, that’s all.’ At that moment her phone pinged and on the screen she saw a series of hearts from Melissa’s number. That was the symbol they’d agreed would alert Lucy to Harvey being home and on his way up here any second. Lucy still couldn’t believe Melissa had kept so quiet down there and only now could they hear footsteps.
Daniel looked panicked. ‘They’re home. I’m not ready for this.’
But he didn’t have a chance to run because the footsteps drew closer and closer until Harvey’s head appeared at the top of the stairs and he took the last few steps into the same room as his brother and Lucy.
Judging by Harvey’s surprise, Lucy and Melissa had done a good job of keeping this from both of the brothers.
Lucy got to her feet. ‘You two need to talk. Try not to kill each other.’
‘Wait,’ said Daniel, watching her get up and move quite easily. ‘What’s going on? Your ankle’s fine.’
‘As I said, you two need to talk.’ She couldn’t meet Daniel’s eye. ‘Do this once and for all. Do it for each other and do it for your mum.’
Daniel was so gobsmacked he didn’t say anything else as Lucy escaped downstairs to where Melissa was sitting in the kitchen, fingers crossed on both hands. She took one look at Lucy and said, ‘Pub?’
‘You bet,’ Lucy replied. This could either be exactly what the boys needed or the worst idea in history.
Chapter Thirteen
Daniel and Harvey stood looking at one another until Daniel turned his focus to the darkness on the other side of the window instead. Out there in the fields beyond he’d escaped the family home as much as he could. He’d got far, far away from the man who in his opinion should never have been allowed to have children. He’d hidden out in the top of the house enough times too, but of course it was different back then. There hadn’t been a cosy room – instead, it had been dust, cobwebs, old and broken toys or household items that had come up here to die keeping him company. Sometimes Harvey had been here too. They’d listened to their dad pacing the floors below, thankfully too lazy to bother chasing them all the way up here.
Beneath the outside light Daniel could see the girls head off away from the front door and turn down the side of the house, making their escape now they’d engineered this. He’d rather be here with Lucy, ankle injury or not, than turn around and face Harvey, but Melissa and Lucy had obviously had other plans and Lucy’s words about doing this for their mother rang in his ears. Over the years his mum’s feelings had been lurking in his mind, sometimes at the back of it, other times at the forefront when she sounded upset, and, now, he had a feeling that if he and his brother didn’t get anywhere tonight then it wasn’t going to happen full stop.
He turned at last to find Harvey sitting on the arm of the sofa, forearms rested along his thighs, hands clenched together and head bowed as though he was trying to summon an appropriate emotion. At least he wasn’t yelling or throwing accusations his way, that was something.
‘You kept the record player,’ said Daniel. ‘Does it still work?’
‘Still works,’ said Harvey without looking up.
‘Do you use it?’
But Harvey didn’t answer the question. Instead, he asked one of his own. ‘Did you plan this?’
‘You’ve got your other half to blame for that. Lucy’s clearly in on it but I suspect this came from Melissa.’
‘Sounds about right. She’s been going on at me for ages to talk to you.’
Daniel didn’t miss the fact that when Melissa’s name was mentioned Harvey’s face relaxed into something that was borderline