darling. This time, I’ll go. I can walk back to my car. But I’ll be watching, Ellie. Don’t get too close to Max or I won’t like it. You’re mine now.’
She didn’t look at him, but she heard him leave. The car door slammed, and he was gone. Ellie sat still for a second. Then her mouth filled with saliva, and she started to shiver.
Oh shit - not here.
But she couldn’t stop it. She flung the car door open and leaned down into the gap between her car and the white van as the meagre contents of her stomach deposited themselves on the tarmac.
24
In her mind, Leo had always pictured the High Street of Little Melham as a black and white image, cold and wet with dismal skies and cheerless shop windows. She had associated it with heavy bags that made her young arms ache, people laughing at her or pointing and staring. She was “the bastard”. The child who had appeared from nowhere, and that nobody wanted.
Today, however, she had to admit that it was actually looking quite pretty. The sun was filtering through the branches of the trees that lined either side of the road, creating dappled patterns on the pavement, and the shop fronts looked bright and cheerful.
She knew that Tom had felt uncomfortable with some of her revelations; he had probably expected her problems to be something and nothing, and no doubt wished he had never started the conversation. It had given him an opening to tell his own sad story, though, and Leo was shocked to hear of his brother’s death in a speed boat accident. While evidently this had left him considerably wealthier than he might otherwise have been, it made no difference at all to his sense of loss.
After sharing some of their past sorrows they had moved onto safer ground, and Tom had talked about plans for his career here in the north west. He was fairly certain that a Chief Inspector in the Manchester force was going to be retiring soon, and although it wouldn’t be a promotion, he’d be happy with that as long as he was within driving distance of Lucy.
Leo couldn’t quite fathom Tom. He seemed confident and comfortable with himself, but there was a slight remoteness about him that suggested something in his life had made him wary. Apart from the story about his brother’s death, he had been very quiet about his private life. Although he was happy to talk about Lucy, he didn’t say what had caused him and his wife to divorce, and he didn’t leave her a suitable opening to ask. She got the feeling that still waters ran very deep. He seemed like a man who laid bare about sixty per cent of his soul, but the remainder would be very hard to penetrate.
At the end of lunch, they said their goodbyes and Leo decided to stroll back through the village on the opposite side of the road from the wine bar. She’d noticed earlier that there was a new delicatessen, and thought she would pop in and pick up a few bits and pieces to nibble before dinner that night. At least that way Ellie might not feel the necessity to cook her heart out yet again.
The shop was busy, but nobody appeared to be buying much. The shopkeeper glanced towards Leo.
‘Is it okay if I just have a look around?’ Leo asked. ‘I’ve no idea what I want.’
‘Be my guest. Let me know if you need any help.’
There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments and Leo couldn’t decide whether to pick something at random and make a hasty exit, or take her time and ignore the atmosphere. The shopkeeper must have recognised Leo’s discomfort, and came to her rescue.
‘Sorry, love. We didn’t mean to be rude. We were just talking about that terrible accident on Friday night. We’re all a bit in shock, you see. Are you from round here?’
‘No - I’m only staying for a few days. But I did hear about it. The waitress in the wine bar mentioned it too,’ Leo responded.
The shopkeeper nodded. ‘It’s dreadful - and they’re saying that the driver has to be from here, because the road doesn’t really go anywhere else. The whole village is talking about it. We can’t believe it, to tell you the truth.’
One of the other women spoke up.
‘Well, they’ve been checking the cameras - you know - those in the village. There’s one at the