assured her. Exactly what he would tell Sarah he didn’t elucidate, which would be to get her facts straight before making defamatory accusations, and to bloody well back off.
Thirty-One
Sarah
Watching TV but seeing nothing, Sarah leapt on her phone when it rang. Steve. Apprehension twisting inside her, she accepted the call.
‘He was abusive,’ he said without ceremony.
She buried a sigh. Laura had obviously spun him the same line as she had her. ‘I know,’ she answered, trying to hide her exasperation. ‘She told me she was in a controlling relationship, but she never mentioned she was married. She never once mentioned—’
‘He locked her in their fucking bedroom,’ Steve growled over her. ‘Punished her if there was a speck of dust in the house, if she so much as glanced in the direction of another man. Is that controlling enough, do you think, to justify her getting the hell out?’
Sarah was too shell-shocked to speak for a second. ‘What about the boy?’ she asked, a whirl of confused emotion running through her: bewilderment, shame, anger … for Laura.
‘She wanted to take him. She couldn’t though, realistically, could she? He wasn’t hers. He told you she was dangerous. He’s the dangerous fucker,’ Steve seethed, his language indicating how furious he was. ‘Can you imagine what he might have done if she had taken Liam and he’d caught up with her? What he would have told the police?’
‘I’m sorry,’ Sarah said weakly, feeling terrible, most definitely like the biggest bitch Laura had had the misfortune to meet. ‘Why didn’t she say …’ She stopped herself. She knew why Laura wouldn’t have admitted any of this. Because she would have been too embarrassed, ashamed probably that she’d allowed it to happen. If it were all true. A nagging little voice in her head reminded her they couldn’t know it was. That they had nothing but Laura’s word. But then wasn’t she herself doing now what many people did, which was precisely the reason women on the receiving end of such abuse didn’t say – because they wouldn’t be believed? Because the recriminations from their abuser when they spoke out might be so much worse. Christopher Jameson hadn’t struck her as a kind man. He hadn’t been aggressive towards her, but she had felt his aggression under the surface. She’d thought his anger had been justified, though she hadn’t known why.
‘She was too ashamed to tell me. She blamed herself.’ Steve voiced her thoughts, compounding her guilt, which weighed like a stone in her chest. ‘This constant looking for reasons to not let her have anything to do with Ollie, it’s way over the top, Sarah. It has to stop. If you don’t want Ollie to come to this birthday thing she’s worked bloody hard to organise, then you tell him why. Okay?’
‘I’m sorry,’ she repeated. ‘I didn’t mean …’ Realising that Steve had ended the call, again, she trailed off.
‘Shit.’ Blinking back her tears, she glanced at the ceiling. She’d leapt to conclusions. She’d been ready to believe whatever Christopher Jameson had told her without question – because she’d wanted to, because she hadn’t wanted to like Laura. She’d misjudged her. She guessed she would have been working hard organising the garden party she’d decided to throw for Ollie. She’d probably cooked up all sorts of culinary delights, might even have baked him a cake. Sarah had even doubted her motives for that. Suddenly she didn’t feel very good about herself at all. Was she really the horrible, vindictive person Steve seemed to think she was? Ollie would have to go to the party. Of course he would. If he didn’t go now, after all that Laura had told Steve – and no doubt she was aware that Steve would pass it on to her – she would be destroyed. Sarah still didn’t feel easy about any of it, but she didn’t want to damage Laura’s confidence any more than it obviously already had been.
Had she badly misjudged Joe, too? she wondered now. She wasn’t sure it was possible to feel any more guilty, but she did. Was he back with his ex-wife? He seemed to think he needed to be there for her. Perhaps he did. Perhaps she should try being the generous person she’d imagined she was and try to support him while he was dealing with whatever he had to. Should she ring him? She was desperate to talk to him; just hearing his voice, she might not feel as lonely as