This Could Change Everything(86)

Was he about to go after Giselle? Essie held her breath and waited, but it didn’t happen. Instead he turned right, crossed the street and strode along until he reached the stone jetty. Toothpaste dribbled down her chin as she pressed against the glass; what was he doing out there?

The next moment, he jumped off the jetty and disappeared from view.

Oh God, God no . . .

‘You aren’t being very kind to me,’ said Zillah.

‘Oh, I thought you needed looking after,’ Alice retorted. ‘I didn’t realise I had to be kind too.’

Zillah had never felt worse. Here she was, stuck in bed and feeling dreadful, and there was Alice, looking incredibly young and glamorous, serving her the most horrible food imaginable. There was mouldy bread on the tray she’d just brought into the bedroom, a glass of milk that had separated and gone lumpy, and a bowl of soup that had ominous objects floating about in it.

‘What are those?’ She pointed weakly at the bowl.

‘Slugs. I found them in the garden,’ Alice said with satisfaction.

‘Oh no, please, you can’t make me eat slugs . . .’

Smirking, Alice mimicked her wail of despair. ‘Oh yes, I think you’ll find I can.’

Zillah opened her eyes and almost sobbed with relief to find the bedroom empty. Yet another terrible dream; that was all it had been. And it was still dark outside, but at some stage she’d managed to knock her alarm clock off the bedside table so it was no longer possible to tell the time. Her head was still hurting too, a crushing ache that showed no sign of abating. Which didn’t help.

She vaguely wondered if it might be an idea to call someone and tell them about her headache. Then she remembered that she’d mislaid her phone, had put it somewhere safe and not been able to find it since. Oh well, better not to make a fuss anyway . . . it was only a headache. God knows, it was people complaining about things that weren’t serious that had got the NHS into the state it was in.

Sleep, that was all she needed to get through this, and luckily she was feeling sleepy all the time now.

Oh but please, no more dreams like the one with Alice and the slugs.

‘What’s happened?’ said Lucas, looking up at her.

What’s happened? Was he seriously asking her that question?

Essie couldn’t catch her breath enough to speak; she had hurtled out of the hotel and along the main street, fully expecting to find him in the cold black sea.

But he wasn’t; he was casually sitting on the stone slipway that sloped down into the water on the other side of the jetty.

She gathered herself with difficulty; the feeling that her lungs might burst was heightened by the iciness of the peppermint toothpaste in her mouth and throat. She waited until the gulps for air became less gulpy and said, ‘I thought you’d . . . fallen into . . . the sea.’

‘You were watching from the hotel?’

Essie nodded; if she hadn’t been watching him, why would she have raced down here? Duh.

‘Did you think I’d fallen? Or that I’d jumped?’

‘I didn’t know, OK?’

‘Sorry.’ He smiled slightly, his white teeth visible in the light from the street lamp behind them. He patted the section of slipway beside him. ‘Come and join me. It’s OK, it’s dry.’

‘Why are you sitting out here?’

‘I saw them when I came out for some fresh air.’

Essie blinked. ‘You’ve lost me. Saw who?’

‘You haven’t noticed them yet?’ Lucas pointed to the lower end of the slipway, where the stone met the gently lapping waves and clumps of seaweed bobbed on the surface of the water.

‘Oh!’ As Essie concentrated and gave her eyes time to adjust, she realised they weren’t clumps of seaweed. The dark blobs were the heads of seals, black eyes gleaming as they floated in the sea. And there were a couple more, too, lying at the bottom of the slipway, calmly surveying their night-time visitors.

‘See them now?’ murmured Lucas.

‘Yes! They know we’re here, but they’re not scared at all.’

‘They don’t need to be scared. No one harms them here. Giselle told me about them, ages ago.’

Essie didn’t say anything; it was up to him to tell her what had happened between him and Giselle. She sat breathing in the salty night air, and waited.

‘I’m not going to be a father,’ Lucas said finally.

Her heart went out to him. ‘Oh no. She lost the baby?’

He shook his head. ‘The baby’s fine. It just isn’t mine.’

‘What?’ Shock made Essie say it louder than she’d planned. The bobbing heads in the water turned to look at her, askance.

‘I know. Unexpected twist.’

‘I can’t believe it!’ Giselle, of all people? ‘I’m so sorry.’

‘No need to apologise. You aren’t the one who slept with your old boyfriend.’

Well, technically she was, but that wasn’t what Lucas meant. And now wasn’t the time to announce that she’d just finished with Paul.

‘You don’t have to tell me what happened,’ she said.

‘Except you might combust with curiosity if I don’t. And I did drag you all this way up here.’

Essie nodded. ‘True.’