she respond? Her feelings were no longer a barometer she could trust.
‘I know it’s late, Sophy,’ he said when she didn’t reply. ‘But this is important.’
She was startled by the urgency in his voice. This was not going to be a conversation about love and forgiveness, she thought, as she waited for him to arrive.
‘How did it go at the Oasis?’ she asked when he sat down at the table. He would not have stopped for food on his return journey and she had heated up some leftover lasagne for him.
‘All good,’ he said. ‘The fountain is working perfectly. The group session also went well.’
‘I’m glad to hear it.’
‘I’m not here to discuss my therapy,’ he said.
‘Then why are you here, Luke?’
‘I could ask you the same question,’ he replied. ‘Why are you here?’
‘Surely that’s obvious. I’m looking after Jack—’
‘But why? How did it happen that you ended up here at Hyland Hall?’
‘I was told there was a job going with accommodation and I applied for it. At the time, it seemed like the answer to our problems.’
‘Did it strike you as convenient that the perfect solution could come along so easily?’
‘Perfect solution? Is that what you think this is?’ How easily he could still rouse her to anger. ‘I’m sorry, Luke. I don’t want to start an argument. Why don’t you eat and we’ll talk afterwards?’ She took beer from the fridge and uncapped the bottles, passed one to him. Her chair wobbled when she sat opposite him. She must remind Charlie to fix the leg.
‘Does the name Vivian Ford mean anything to you?’ he asked when he finished eating.
How could he know that name? Vivian Ford, her ship in the night. A slight, grey-haired woman who came to view Park View Villas and suggested – no, not suggested, persuaded – Sophy to grab a lifeline that would give her and her daughters shelter.
‘Vivian Ford viewed our house but she had no interest in buying it.’ Luke had her full attention now. ‘It was through her that I heard about Jack. Do you know her?’
‘Not personally. But I believe she organised my stay at the Oasis.’ He paused, as if trying to frame what he was going to say next. ‘I’d been attending meetings at Gamblers Anonymous when I received a phone call from a woman who told me about her charity. She said they chose people with addiction problems whom they believed could respond to treatment at the Oasis of Hope. I was in the horrors at the time and grabbed the lifeline I was offered with both hands. Until recently, I never questioned how my stay there was funded. I wanted to thank this woman for saving my life, for that was what she did, but none of the groups I’ve contacted have heard of her charitable organisation.’
‘There’re so many charities out there—’ The chair wobbled again but that could have been Sophy’s grasp on reality slipping away from her.
‘I don’t believe it exists. I’ve checked the Register of Charities but I haven’t seen the name she gave me listed anywhere.’
A receptionist at the Oasis of Hope had helped him in his search. Kathy was her name. She must have broken company protocol by checking the records to find that evidence for him. She had been able to tell Luke that Vivian had signed the correspondence relating to his stay at the Oasis. If enquiries were made, the identity of the benefactor who had paid his fees was to remain anonymous. Kathy, searching even more thoroughly, had discovered a photocopy of a cheque paid to the Oasis. It had been signed by Jack Hyland.
‘Why?’ Sophy’s bewilderment grew as she realised the full extent of Jack’s reach into their lives. ‘What does he want with us – or from us?’
‘I’ve no idea.’ Luke seemed equally baffled.
‘He has to explain what’s going on.’
‘I agree,’ he said. ‘We should talk to him in the morning?’
‘No. He has a hospital appointment and he’s always exhausted afterwards. The following day, definitely.’
Only one thing was certain, she thought as she undressed for bed after Luke left. The decisions they had taken as their relationship fell apart has been orchestrated by others. Jack Hyland was the key to the mystery and they would demand the truth from him.
Chapter Thirty-One
Isobel
How could Isobel ever have believed Caesar was a werewolf? He was just a big, old, lumbering dog who loved chasing birds. Not that he had any hope of catching them. So many birds, Isobel had