Right,’ said Regan, failing to hide her disappointment.
‘Sorry. It’s just …’
She let the silence hang there until she could bear it no longer. ‘Shame, because I wanted to check you weren’t hiding any button-up pyjamas anywhere.’ She ran a finger seductively along his shoulder.
‘You’re going to have to trust me on that one. Shall we catch up in a few days when I’m off?’
‘Or maybe one evening, if you’re on days?’ He seemed to be going cold on her; or was she imagining it?
‘It’s two days, two nights and four off,’ he explained.
She’d never get the hang of his shifts. ‘Right.’
‘I’ll message you.’
She pulled a face. ‘I’ve still not got a phone. But I’ll be at the coffee shop in the day and the studio in the evening.’
‘Sure thing.’ He busied himself with filling up the sink. They washed up together, the silence only broken by Beanstalk shouting at the TV in the other room. She folded up the tea towel and waited for Charlie to put the last of the things away.
‘I’d best be off then,’ she said, sensing he was waiting for her to leave. He followed her to the door and gave her a brief kiss before letting her out. Nope, she wasn’t imagining it – something had definitely changed.
Chapter Fifteen
By Friday, Regan found she was in a steady routine: early morning shower at the gym followed by a brisk walk to work. It was a bright blue-sky day and a shadow of the moon was still clinging on, making Brighton even more fairy-tale beautiful than usual. Her mind was mulling over great sets of quirky jam combinations; kumquat was leading the way, although this was mainly because the word made her giggle. Unfortunately Jag, who ran the fruit and veg stall, wasn’t big on kumquats; he often had a glut of normal things, like tomatoes and melons, which didn’t hit the mark for ‘quirky’ on their own.
She was wondering if rhubarb went with tomatoes when raised voices and frantic barking drew her attention. Up ahead, two youths were huddled over something on the ground, jeering. When one of them started kicking whatever it was, Regan automatically broke into a run. Nearing the scene, she could see it was a person on the ground. It was Kevin.
‘Hey! I’ve called the police!’ she shouted, and the hooded heads turned in her direction. Unfortunately they didn’t flee as she’d been hoping. They stared her down. She hadn’t thought this through. She looked frantically around. Elvis was tied to a cycle stand and was straining hard to pile in and help Kevin. When the shouting turned in her direction Elvis felt like her best option. She ran to him, but the rope was pulled tight and her fingers struggled to untie it.
She looked about for someone to help. On the other side of the street she spotted someone. It was Alex. In any other situation he would be the last person she’d want to see, but right now anyone who could lend a hand would be better than nothing.
‘Oi, Alex!’ He looked up and she waved whilst tugging at the rope pinning Elvis to the bike stand. Alex held up a hand but carried on walking. ‘Alex?’ This time he didn’t look up at all.
The youths were shouting abuse at her and getting closer, although Elvis’s strangled barks were keeping them at bay. Shit, she thought, struggling to free the knot. At last it came undone. Elvis bounded towards the youths, barking ferociously. They scattered.
‘Elvis!’ she shouted. The last thing she wanted was for them to hurt him; Kevin would be heartbroken. Elvis put the brakes on, halted in the road and continued to bark.
‘That thing should be muzzled,’ shouted one of the youths.
‘Yeah, and so should I, so watch out!’ yelled back Regan, her system swamped with adrenaline. She was ready to take on anyone.
Regan ran towards the crumpled figure on the ground. ‘Kevin?’ she said, crouching down. The smell of urine hit her. He was soaked in it. ‘Kevin. Can you speak?’ Kevin coughed and winced at the same time, but his eyes were open. ‘You okay?’ It was a stupid question. Why did she feel compelled to ask that when she could see quite plainly that he wasn’t?
‘Just kids,’ he said, but his voice was weak.
‘Can you sit up?’ she asked. He looked pale.
A shadow loomed over them. Regan’s head jerked up. She was ready to fight. But there was no need; it was Alex. ‘Are you