Twelve Days The Beginning - By Jade Reyner Page 0,163

freedom.

After the trauma of the last few days, they both wanted nothing more than a quiet evening and so they shared that curled up on the sofa in front of the warmth of the fire, talking softly and cuddling gently. Alone like this with the man that she loved, she felt almost invincible and it was hard to comprehend the ugliness that lay in wait just outside the door. They went to bed together a short while later, content to just be with each other, and no words were exchanged as they clasped one another tightly, moulding as one and letting the beauty of their relationship wash over them as they both drifted exhausted into a peaceful and undisturbed sleep.

Monday dawned bright and wintry, and after a leisurely breakfast, Vaughn went into the office for a few hours which left Elise alone in the flat with Sean. When they had driven over here yesterday evening, Sean had followed behind in her car and had filled it up with petrol on the way so that when she was feeling up to it, she would be able to get out and about.

There was never any discussion about her being left on her own, it just didn’t happen – either Sean, Stan or Vaughn were there with her at all times. Cole had gone back to his usual hours at work but she knew that she would see him later on in the day and he called her virtually every hour to check in. Vaughn had arranged for Elise to have a new phone and he had made sure that all of their numbers were programmed into it, including those for the security guys, so that she could always reach someone if she needed to.

As the shock of the last week began to wear off, Elise couldn’t help feeling that this was all a little bit over the top. She understood that Dale had injured her badly but she had been married to the man for ten years and she felt sure that he wouldn’t put her life seriously in danger. After she had first come round and had begun to heal, Celeste, Cole and Vaughn had all sat her down and talked to her about calling the police to press charges. They wanted Dale locked up and the key thrown away but Elise was reluctant to do that. She knew that if she wanted to she could get the police involved but she didn’t – she just wanted to move forward and get on with her life. She needed to talk to Dale and sort it out face to face and she hoped that he would be sorry. That would be enough for her – all she required was for him to understand what he had done to her and to allow her to have her freedom, and then she would be happy to close the book on that part of her life. She didn’t want the mess of statements and examinations and testaments and court hearings. She just wanted to put it all to bed and move on.

Over the following days, they had each individually tried to get her to change her mind but she had remained firm. This was her life and whether they liked it or not, she needed to resolve all of her problems in her own way; getting the police involved didn’t factor into her way of thinking.

Looking out of the window to the countryside beyond, Elise began to feel restless and decided that she would really like to get out for a while, go for a walk and get some fresh air. She had been cooped up for so long she was beginning to get cabin fever.

She found Sean in the lounge and he jumped up the second she walked into the lounge.

“Are you OK, Miss Grayson?” he asked. She loved the formality with which he addressed her; when she had told him to call her Elise he had declined, saying that he preferred to maintain a ‘professional’ relationship.

“Yes, thanks Sean, I’m fine. I was just thinking – is there any chance we could go for a walk, do you think? It’s beautiful out there and I would love to get some air.” She knew it was pointless asking to go on her own and besides which, it would be nice to have some company.

“I’m not sure, Miss Grayson, I would need to check with Mr Granger. Let me just call him.” Elise pasted on a