The Forgetting(62)

Bea sat down on the edge of the armchair, leant forward, fingers interlaced, like a teacher in a classroom about to tell a carpet-time story. ‘I googled some of the places he’s worked before. And then I emailed some of the people he used to work with.’

The explanation floundered in Livvy’s head. ‘Please tell me you’re joking.’

‘I just felt . . . Everything between you and Dominic happened so quickly, and we barely know anything about him—’

‘What are you talking about? I know everything about him.’

‘Do you?’ Bea looked at her, and it was as if the two of them were teetering on a tightrope, arms outstretched, waiting to see if one of them might fall. ‘What do you know about an ex-girlfriend of his called Daisy?’

‘He doesn’t have an ex-girlfriend called Daisy.’

Bea raised her eyebrows, the air charged with friction. ‘He does. They broke up six weeks before you met him at that conference.’

A cold trickle of air tiptoed along Livvy’s spine. ‘That’s rubbish. Dominic had been single for over a year when we met.’

On the rug beside them, Leo bashed a wooden stick against a toy xylophone.

‘Not according to Daisy. She worked with him on a house extension, in Bishopston. Did you know about that project?’

Livvy nodded. ‘It was the job he’d just finished when we met. But that doesn’t mean—’

‘Just hear me out.’ Bea held up her palms, face out, and it reminded Livvy of Imogen performing the same gesture the first time she’d turned up on Livvy’s doorstep eight weeks ago. ‘Daisy was one of the architects on the project. They started dating, and she really liked him. She thought he was charming, sophisticated, different from other men she’d met. Attentive was the word she used. “He always made me feel like the most important person in the room.” Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?’

Livvy was aware of her heart beginning to drum. ‘So? Are you criticising Dominic for being attentive? For god’s sake, Bea, I know you’ve never liked him, but this is extreme—’

‘I haven’t finished.’ Bea’s voice – usually so calm and diplomatic – was dogged, determined. ‘Daisy said that a few weeks after they started dating, things got a bit weird.’

‘In what way?’ The question sprang from Livvy’s lips in spite of herself.

‘She said it got very intense, very quickly.’ Bea trained her eyes on Livvy’s face, and Livvy looked away, handed Leo a plastic horse he couldn’t reach. ‘Within a fortnight Dominic had told her he loved her, and Daisy felt it was all moving too fast, that she couldn’t keep pace with the strength of his feelings. She said that for a while she just got swept up in it all. A part of her felt guilty that she didn’t feel as strongly as Dominic did, when on paper he seemed to be perfect. So she just went along with it, and assumed her feelings would eventually catch up with his. But she said she just couldn’t silence a niggle in the back of her head.’

Impatience pinched Livvy’s skin. ‘Why are you telling me this? So Dominic had a girlfriend and he was more keen than she was. What’s the big deal?’

Bea’s shoulders rose and fell. ‘She said he started getting quite possessive with her. Wanted to spend every night with her, didn’t like her going out with her friends—’

‘That’s totally normal at the beginning of a relationship. That’s why it’s called the honeymoon period—’

‘Six weeks after they met, he asked her to marry him.’

The words were like a sledgehammer across Livvy’s thoughts. ‘That’s absurd. There’s no way Dominic wouldn’t have told me.’

‘Maybe he didn’t tell you because Daisy said no. She told him it had all got too heavy, and she broke up with him.’

Livvy shook her head. ‘Dominic wears his heart on his sleeve. He would have told me if he’d proposed to someone else. There’s no reason for him to lie about it.’

Bea softened her voice. ‘Maybe the reason he didn’t tell you was because when Daisy broke up with him, he didn’t take it very well. She said he wouldn’t leave her alone. Kept calling her, sending her messages, turning up at her flat at all hours of the day and night.’

Livvy closed her eyes, tried to visualise what Bea was telling her, but it was like a scene that had found itself in the wrong story. ‘Dominic wouldn’t do that. He’s not like that.’

Bea paused, swallowed, breathed slowly. ‘She went to the police. She tried to get a restraining order against him. But it hadn’t been going on long enough, and there weren’t any obvious threats to her safety. But she felt stalked. That was the word she used. Stalked. She was scared and overwhelmed. She ended up moving back in with her parents for six months.’

‘Her parents?’

Bea eyed her for a moment, as if toying with a silent dilemma. ‘She was twenty-four when it happened.’

‘Twenty-four? This is absolute rubbish. There’s no way Dominic would have dated a twenty-four-year-old. That’s practically half his age.’ Livvy reached for a strand of hair to twist around her finger, discovered it was missing. ‘Why are you doing this? You find some random woman on the internet, and she makes up a bunch of stories about Dominic, and you choose to believe them? You’re my sister, you’re supposed to support me.’