The Couple at No. 9(84)

But as I peered closer I could see it was Joel.

Their voices floated towards me on the breeze. ‘I think you should go,’ I heard Daphne say. I went to step out from behind the tree. Was he bothering her again? But his reply rooted me to the spot.

‘I don’t understand why you’ve made up these lies about me,’ he said, throwing his arms out in exasperation. I could see, even from my position, that he looked genuinely confused. ‘Rose and I were friends and now she hasn’t spoken to me in months. If I see her in the street she avoids me.’

‘That’s her prerogative.’

‘You turned her against me by making out that I’m some – some lech.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

‘I never came on to you. I never harassed you. The only thing I did was tell you how I felt about Rose. Is that why you did it? To stop us getting together?’

‘Get it into your thick head, she’s not interested and never will be, whatever I might have told her,’ she hissed. The anger on her face surprised me. She was usually so serene, so carefree. I’d always admired her patience, her kindness. I mean, of course, she wasn’t a saint. She was a worrier, like me. She got angry about injustices and inequality. She was independent and capable. But she was never petty or unfair – or so I’d always thought. But if Joel was telling the truth, if she had lied about the advances he’d made on her, then that was a very manipulative thing to do.

‘But you didn’t know that, did you? Not then. You thought she might like me too and decided to put a stop to it. You might have fooled everyone else around here, Daphne, with your butter-wouldn’t-melt fa?ade, but I can see through you.’

‘Why don’t you just fuck off?’ she snarled. ‘Leave us alone.’

I inhaled so sharply my chest hurt. I waited for Joel’s reaction. But he just shook his head sadly. ‘I hope you’re not using her. She’s a good person.’

‘Of course I’m not.’

He looked towards the cottage. ‘You’ve got a good set-up there. A roof over your head. Love. A ready-made family.’

She folded her arms across her chest. She was wearing a baggy fawn-coloured jumper and cream jodhpurs I’d bought her for her birthday. Her hair was starting to grow out and was now at her shoulders, but she kept it dark. I liked it that way. Her cheeks were red from the cold and her eyes burnt with intensity. She looked beautiful.

‘I love Rose.’

‘I hope you do.’

‘You sound jealous.’

‘Perhaps I am.’

She toed the ground with my wellies, which she wore to work. ‘Well, she would never have been interested in you, no matter what I said.’

He sighed. ‘But at least we would still have been friends. Or do you not want that either?’

‘I don’t know what you mean.’

‘Does Rose see anybody apart from you?’

‘She’s always been reclusive. That’s not my fault.’

He shook his head. ‘Melissa told me Rose hardly ever does the bell-ringing at the church any more. Or the WI.’

‘That’s her decision. Not mine. We just want to spend all our time together. Can’t you remember what it’s like? That first flush of love when all you want is each other? Stop trying to make out it’s something else. I’d never stop Rose doing anything she wanted to do and vice versa.’

I couldn’t stand by and listen to any more of this. It didn’t feel right. I stepped out of the shadow of the tree and made my way to the back of the garden. I climbed over the wall and jumped down onto the grass. The shock on Daphne’s face was so comical I had to suppress a laugh.

‘What – what are you doing?’ she gasped, as I walked over to where they stood.

‘Sorry, I sometimes come back this way. I like walking alone in the woods. I thought you were supposed to be at work.’

Her face coloured a deep crimson. ‘I … Yes, I’m just going. Joel popped over.’ I could tell she was trying to work out if I’d heard their conversation. But I kept things light.

‘Is everything okay?’ I asked Joel.

‘It’s all good.’ He flashed me a warm smile. ‘Glad to see you’re looking well, Rose. If you ever need anything,’ he threw me a meaningful look, ‘anything at all, you know where to find me, right?’

‘Um, sure …’

‘Good. Then I’ll be off.’

We stood and watched as he strode across the lawn, disappearing around the side of the cottage.

‘What was all that about?’ I said, wondering if Daphne would tell me the truth.

But she reached up and kissed me deeply in response, pulling me against her. ‘I’ve got half an hour before I need to be in work. Let’s make the most of Lolly not being here,’ she replied, as she pulled away, taking my hand and leading me back towards the cottage. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that settled inside me. If Daphne had lied and manipulated me over Joel, what else hadn’t she been honest about?





47


Theo





On Monday before his shift Theo decides to visit his dad. He needs some answers now he knows about Lorna and Rose. He hasn’t seen him since his dad stormed out of his restaurant last week. He waits a few minutes, annoyed with himself that his heart is beating faster than normal. And then he hears the thud of footsteps coming down the hall and the door is thrust open. His dad stands there in a pastel diamond-patterned golfing jumper and chinos. ‘What do you want?’