Trust Me - Sheryl Browne Page 0,21

they should drape over her while he talked reassuringly to her, keeping her calm and still. He didn’t move from her side until the ambulance arrived.

He conferred with the paramedics as they checked her over, and walked with her as they transported her to the ambulance. Smiling, he squeezed her hand as they paused before loading her into it. ‘You gave me one hell of a scare back there,’ he said.

‘Sorry,’ she managed weakly.

‘I’ll let you off.’ He gave her another warm smile. ‘You’re in capable hands now. I’ll come and see you as soon as you’re home.’

An hour later, they were on their way back home themselves, Jake’s car loaded up with unsold goods from the stalls, the fair ruined. Despite what had happened, her guilt that she’d been the cause of it, Emily decided to broach the subject of the email. She was sure Natasha Jameson was the sender. It had to be her. ‘You saved her life,’ she said carefully. ‘She might have died if not for you.’

‘It was just basic first aid.’ Jake ran a hand over his neck, looking utterly exhausted.

Emily hesitated. ‘Still, it was a good job you were around.’

Jake nodded. ‘I suppose.’

Natasha had been in the vicinity of wherever Jake had been that morning. Emily would have had to be blind not to notice. Might she be wrong? It was possible. But she couldn’t ignore the nagging voice in her head that told her she wasn’t. ‘I didn’t realise you knew her that well,’ she ventured.

‘Sorry?’ Jake glanced confusedly at her.

‘Natasha.’ Emily took a deep breath. ‘I didn’t realise you two were intimate.’

‘Intimate?’ He laughed uncertainly.

‘Tash. You called her Tash.’ And she called you Jake. Why would she do that if you weren’t on first-name terms? Her heart thundered. She was treading on dangerous ground. He would know she was accusing him. He wasn’t stupid. How would he react?

He shot her another look, one of incredulity this time. ‘She was unconscious. I was trying to reach her. That’s what she prefers to be called, isn’t it?’

Emily noticed his tight grip on the steering wheel and her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. ‘Yes … but I wasn’t aware you knew her well enough to know that.’ She tugged in a tremulous breath. Held it. ‘Or exchange emails.’

‘You what?’ Jake did a double-take. ‘What on earth are you talking about, Emily? We don’t exchange emails. And I know her as Tash because that’s how she introduced herself when she first came to see me. Everyone calls her that.’

Remembering that she’d deleted the email and therefore had no proof to back up what she was saying, Emily floundered. ‘Why has she switched to your list?’ she blurted out, and then immediately regretted it as she realised it was sure to escalate this into the worst kind of argument.

‘For fu—’ Stopping himself short of swearing, Jake bumped the car onto the drive and stamped on the brake. She could feel the anger emanating from him as he twisted to face her. ‘Are you serious? The woman almost died because you fell into her. And now you’re saying … What exactly?’

Seven

Perilously close to tears, Emily threw open the passenger door and headed fast for the house. Jake banged his door closed behind him and followed.

‘So let me get this right,’ he said, dragging a hand through his hair in frustration as she paused in the porch to fumble in her bag for her front door key. ‘Out of the blue you’re accusing me of … what? Fancying another woman? Having an affair?’

‘No,’ Emily replied, flustered. He was right. Natasha might have died, and it had all been her fault. She should never have brought the subject up. ‘That’s not what I said. I just …’ Where was the damn key?

Sighing agitatedly, Jake reached around her to push his own key into the lock.

‘Talk to me, Emily,’ he said as she stepped quickly into the entrance hall. ‘Tell me what the hell’s going on.’

Her eyes flicked to the stairs. Millie and Ben had plans, so she assumed they were out, but it was possible one or the other was upstairs in their bedroom. ‘I don’t want to talk about it. I didn’t accuse you of anything.’ She hurried on through to the lounge.

‘Christ give me strength,’ Jake muttered behind her.

He was angry. Furious. Why would he be? Wouldn’t he just have laughed it off if there were no truth in it? Emily walked across to the