There was a pause.
‘Do you want to come over?’ she asked. ‘I’m at Kath’s. We can talk about it. Cape?’
‘Yes, yes,’ he said as if he’d been thrown a lifeline. ‘I’ll come over.’
She hung up.
‘What did he say?’ Kathleen asked.
‘It’s his partner,’ Anne Marie said. ‘She’s left and taken Poppy with her.’
Cape was with them in less than half an hour, looking pale and shaken. Kathleen made him a cup of tea and Anne Marie tried to get him to sit down on the sofa, but he couldn’t.
‘America?’ Kathleen cried when he told her. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Absolutely sure. She’s been planning this for months or at least talking about it and her passport’s gone.’ He gave a strange laugh. ‘Talking about it, but I never thought she’d do it. Not really. I mean, she threatened to. But a threat’s just that, right? You don’t really take your child away from her father and get on a plane to another continent, do you?’
‘How are you going to find out?’ Anne Marie asked.
‘She’ll ring, won’t she?’ Cape said. ‘She’s got to at some point.’
‘Of course she’ll ring,’ Kathleen said. ‘She’s not a complete monster, is she?’
There was a pause.
‘Is she?’ Kathleen repeated.
Cape was pacing so much that Anne Marie felt sure he’d wear a trench in Kathleen’s beautiful new carpet.
‘Cape – let’s walk, shall we?’
He nodded, but he looked as though he would have nodded at anything she might have said.
‘Come on.’ She reached out to guide him into the hallway where she grabbed her coat and boots. It was dark but still quite mild outside and the two of them fell into step, heading into the heart of the village. She hoped that the exercise and the fresh air might do him good. A walk always helped her to think and she had the feeling that Cape was the sort of person who needed to walk when his mind was full of demons.
They soon found their way to Morton Hall. The moon was almost full and very bright, lighting their way as they edged around the house towards the topiary garden. How wonderful the beasts looked in the silvery light. It was as if they were bathed in magic and might come to life at any moment.
Their feet were silent on the grass as they walked towards the maze. It somehow seemed inevitable that they would end up there. Anne Marie couldn’t really explain why, but she felt herself drawn to it that night.
Cape led the way and they found themselves in the centre just a few minutes later, sitting down on the bench together. Neither spoke, but that was fine. Cape seemed to need the silence and Anne Marie was happy with that.
They looked up into the heavens. The sky was packed with stars and they filled their eyes with them.
‘Do you think she’s up there?’ Cape asked after a moment. ‘Do you think my little girl is up in the sky flying far away from me?’
Anne Marie wasn’t sure what to say to that, but reached out and touched his hand, letting him know that she was there and that she could feel his pain.
‘I don’t want to believe she’s done this,’ he said a few minutes later. ‘I want to go home and find them both there.’ He shook his head. ‘No, I don’t. I want to find Poppy there. Is that awful?’
Anne Marie squeezed his hand. ‘Not after what Renee’s done to you.’
‘How could she do that? How could she go out and buy suitcases knowing that she was planning to take my daughter away from me? Do you think she felt guilty at all? Do you think she might have paused while packing and thought, hey, this is a really bad thing to do?’
‘I’m not sure,’ Anne Marie said, not knowing what else to say to him.
‘You know I hid them?’
‘Hid what?’
‘The suitcases Renee had bought.’ He gave a hollow-sounding laugh. ‘I put them in the loft because she’s scared to go up there. I stupidly thought that might stop her, but it didn’t. I don’t think anything would have.’
‘Oh, Cape! I’m so sorry.’
‘I just can’t get into the mind of the person who’d do that. I never realised she was so totally selfish and that she could do something like this to me. Just take Poppy away when I’m out of the house. God! How long has she been planning this for?’
Anne Marie squeezed his hand and they sat quietly for a minute or two.
‘I’m sorry,’ Cape said at last. ‘I shouldn’t be burdening you with all this.’
‘You’re not burdening me,’ she told him honestly. ‘Anyway, even if you were, I think I owe you after you listened to all my worries. I just wish I could be of more help. I wish I could swap places with you.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘It seems a bit twisted, but I would have welcomed Grant leaving and taking my step-daughters away. So it seems unfair that it’s happened to you. I know how close you are to Poppy. If they’d been taken from me, I doubt very much that I’d have complained. Isn’t that terrible?’
‘Not at all. Not after the things they’ve said and done to you.’
‘If I could take this pain away from you, I would. I really would,’ she told him.
He turned to face her and gave her a smile. ‘You’re so sweet,’ he said. ‘Sweet and kind. And beautiful.’
Before she knew what was happening, he’d leaned towards her, his mouth finding hers in the gentlest of kisses. She was surprised for a moment, but the kiss felt so natural and so good that she didn’t protest. Perhaps they’d been moving towards this for a while – she leaving Grant and Cape feeling increasingly isolated from Renee. They’d shared so much over the past few months and the feeling of intimacy between them had been growing. Perhaps a kiss was the next step.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I shouldn’t have . . .’ His words petered out. ‘I mean, I’ve wanted to for a long time, but – well – I’m a mess.’
‘You’re a mess?’ she said with a light laugh. ‘Have you taken a look at my life recently?’
He laughed. ‘We’re two messes in a maze.’
‘Yes!’
‘What if we walked out of here and none of this had happened?’ he asked.
‘You mean the kiss?’
‘No. What if I went home to find Renee was there and you went home to Grant.’
Anne Marie swallowed hard. ‘I don’t want to go home to Grant.’
‘And I don’t want Renee in my home anymore.’ He sighed. ‘We might be in a mess, but we’re moving in the right direction, aren’t we? I mean, if I could just get my Poppy back.’
‘You’ll get her back,’ she said.
‘You sound a lot more confident than I feel.’
‘She’s your daughter, Cape. You’ll find a way.’
He stood up and held his hand out to her, helping her off the bench. She wondered if they were going to kiss again, and half hoped that they would, but his mind seemed to be elsewhere now as he looked up into the stars. Was he still imagining his daughter flying somewhere up there in the inky darkness? Or was he still thinking about what had just happened between them as she was?
They walked back to Kathleen’s in silence. Cape had put his hands in his pockets and she took that to mean that he was still thinking about Poppy.
‘Thank you,’ he said as they reached the bed and breakfast.
‘For what?’
‘For helping to calm me down tonight. I don’t know what I’d have done without you.’
‘I’m glad if I’ve helped in any way.’
‘You have. You really have.’
‘Good.’
He nodded. ‘And – erm . . .’
‘It’s okay,’ she interrupted.
‘What’s okay?’
‘The kiss – you don’t need to worry about me making a big thing out of it. It was – well – of the moment, wasn’t it?’
He cocked his head to one side. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean, your head’s full and mine is too.
We don’t need to complicate things between us.’
‘Oh,’ he said. ‘I see.’
She swallowed hard, knowing that she had to be firm about this. ‘It was nice – don’t get me wrong.’
‘Yes,’ he agreed. ‘It was very nice.’
‘But we’re both in strange places at the moment.’ She bit her lip, not quite sure how to continue, only knowing that she must.
‘Look,’ he said, ‘I like you, Anne Marie. I can’t pretend that I don’t. But I don’t want to put any pressure on you.’
‘I’m . . . we’re . . .’
‘You don’t have to say anything. It’s fine.’
‘I like you too, Cape.’
He smiled. ‘Good. I’ll see you at the garden, okay?’
‘Absolutely.’
He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek and Anne Marie silently cursed herself for having pushed him away.
The Thames Valley police weren’t very helpful nor were they terribly sympathetic.
‘It’s been twenty-four hours!’ Cape had cried. ‘She’s got my daughter with her. My ten-year-old daughter!’
‘If your daughter’s with her mother then she should be safe,’ the officer had told him.
Cape hadn’t been placated. He’d been told not to panic, but to wait at home for news which would no doubt come in the next few hours, the officer assured him. If his daughter was with her mother, it was a domestic issue.
After leaving the police station, Cape had dithered about, lost in his own confusion, and then a thought occurred to him. The salon. He rarely visited Renee’s work, but he headed there now, parking across the street and startling an old woman having a perm when he charged inside.
‘Cape?’ Renee’s friend and colleague, Helena, looked up from the head full of curlers.
‘You need to tell me everything,’ he said.
She looked confused for a moment, but then nodded. ‘Bella? Can you take over here?’ Helena asked a young woman. ‘You’d better come with me.’ She guided Cape into a room at the back of the salon. ‘Can I get you a tea or coffee?’
‘No. You can tell me where Renee is.’
Helena pushed her fair hair out of her face and sighed. ‘I don’t know what to tell you, Cape.’
‘All of it – everything you know.’
She leant against a table and crossed her arms over her chest.
‘She’s my best mate,’ she told him.
‘That’s why I came to you. I’m betting you’ll know more than me about all this.’
‘You’re putting me in a very awkward situation.’
‘And what kind of a situation do you think I’m in?’ he asked gruffly. He took a deep breath. ‘Please, Helena – just tell me what you know. I’m tearing my hair out not knowing what’s going on. What’s she said to you?’
Helena fiddled with her nails for a moment before speaking. ‘How much do you know?’
‘That she’s disappeared. That she’s taken my daughter with her.’
‘She’s in America,’ Helena said.
Cape closed his eyes and nodded. ‘Yes. I thought she might be.’
‘She’s been planning it for weeks. Months. It’s all she ever talked about. She even got herself a nickname from the customers. USA-Renee!’
Cape flopped down into a chair. ‘I was kind of hoping you’d say she was hiding out at yours.’
‘I’m afraid not.’
‘No. I see that now. I’ve just been trying to tell myself that she wouldn’t really do this.’
‘She really did it, Cape. I’m sorry.’
‘I wish you’d given me the heads-up.’
Helena frowned. ‘You know I couldn’t do that.’
‘No, I know.’ He paused before asking the question he’d been dreading asking. ‘Did she say anything about how long she’s going to be there for?’
Helena looked puzzled by his question. ‘What do you mean? She’s gone for good,’ she told him. ‘That was her plan. Surely you knew that?’
‘Helena?’ Bella’s voice shouted through from the shop.
‘Look, I’d better get back and supervise that perm. Bella’s a bit of a catastrophe when it comes to curls.’ She paused. ‘I’m really sorry I can’t be any real help.’
‘No, you have been,’ Cape said, getting up to leave.
‘You’re a good guy, Cape. This shouldn’t have happened to you.’
Now, back at home, sitting on the sofa with his head in his hands, Cape felt totally helpless. Renee still wasn’t answering her phone and there were no missed calls, texts or emails from her. Anger and frustration coursed through him, but what could he do except wait?
It wasn’t until the next day that Cape finally received a message from Renee. It was left on the home answering machine so she wouldn’t have to talk to him directly, which was frustrating for him but at least it was contact.
You left me no choice, Cape, she told him. I begged you and you didn’t listen. I had to do this and I had to have Poppy with me.
There was no apology and no invitation for him to join them.
He sank down onto the sofa, his shoulders sagging as if in defeat. He’d never felt more helpless in his life.
Chapter 18
It was one of those glorious hot summer days that get British people through the long, dark days of winter. The sky was a blinding blue and the garden had a sort of reverent hush about it that demanded you turn your own volume down and just sit and observe the beauty around you.
It was too hot to paint. The bedroom had been stifling and Emilia and Jay had simply given up. Now they were lying on a rug under the shade of the cedar tree, one of its glorious branches acting like a massive green parasol above them.
Emilia had taken the midnight-blue gown off and was now wearing a white cotton dress of her own. She’d almost forgotten what it was like to wear twentieth-century clothes. The fabric was so light and she almost felt naked wearing it, and she was slightly self-conscious at how pale her arms and legs looked. Jay had told her he loved her skin. He called her his ‘porcelain beauty’ and said that Rossetti would have forsaken all his other muses to paint her. Emilia wasn’t sure about that, but it was fun to be flattered.
‘It’s going to be another hot evening,’ Jay complained. ‘My flat’s like an oven and I hate opening the window onto the noisy road.’ He gave a weary sigh as he gazed up into the cedar tree.
‘I can’t bear to think of you there,’ Emilia said, trying to imagine his tiny Oxford home. ‘Hey – why don’t you sleep out in the garden tonight?’
Jay turned over and pushed himself up onto his elbows to look at her. ‘Here?’
‘No, one of the gardens in the village,’ she said with a laugh. ‘Of course here! I could sneak out some blankets and an old rug. It’d be much cooler than your flat. We could set you up a little bed in the centre of the maze. Tobias wouldn’t have a clue. I don’t know why we haven’t thought of it sooner. We could even have a midnight feast.’
‘Would you stay with me, then?’ he asked, reaching out and catching her hand in his. ‘I mean, beyond this midnight feast?’
Her lips parted and she didn’t answer for a moment.
‘Just imagine it, Emmy,’ Jay continued, his voice fuelled with excitement. ‘A whole night under the stars in the middle of the maze. I can’t think of anything more romantic.’
It was two weeks after the night in the maze and Emilia was walking down the stairs when she heard her brother calling.
‘Emmy?’
‘Yes?’
‘Come in here.’
She entered the living room. Tobias was standing by the fireplace, his hands clasped behind his back like a stiff Victorian gentleman. Where had he learned to pose like that, she wondered? Did he secretly practise? Angela would have no doubt laughed at him had she still been a part of things at Morton Hall, and the notion amused Emilia now, but the reality of her brother standing there scared her a little too.
‘What is it?’
she asked him.
‘Sit down.’
She did as she was told. She was wearing an emerald gown, which was a favourite of Tobias’s, and he smiled at it now.
‘You look nice,’ he told her.
‘Thank you,’ she said, wishing he’d get on with whatever it was he wanted to say.
‘How’s the portrait going?’
‘Good. It’s nearly finished. I think you’ll be able to see it soon.’
‘Good. That’s good.’ He cleared his throat. ‘And you’ve been happy with Jay painting you?’
‘Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t I have been?’
‘I just wanted to make sure.’
‘I’m really happy. Was that all?’
‘What’s your hurry?’
‘No hurry.’
‘Then sit and talk to me,’ he said.
‘All right then.’
He sat on the sofa beside her and she heard him sigh.
‘Have you been in touch with Angela?’ she dared to ask.
He looked puzzled. ‘No. Why would you ask that?’
‘Oh, I don’t know – because you two were close for a while?’
‘She means nothing to me,’ he said bluntly. ‘She wasn’t like you.’
‘She’s not meant to be like me,’ Emilia said. ‘She’s Angela. I’m your sister.’
Tobias shook his head. ‘We don’t need anyone else, you and I.’
She swallowed. She didn’t like it when Tobias talked this way. It scared her.
‘Yes, we do. We should have people in our lives, Tobias. Other people. It’s healthy. It’s good for us.’
‘No, it’s not. It’s bad. It upsets things. I like things the way they are when it’s just you and me.’
‘I know you do,’ she said, keeping her voice calm and trying not to flinch as he picked up her hand. ‘But you enjoyed being around Angela, didn’t you?’
‘No.’
‘Come on, Tobes – you did. I know you did.’
A dark expression passed over his face. ‘Maybe in the beginning.’
‘There, you see? And I think you could have made things work too. You just need to be a little more patient with people and a little bit freer with yourself.’
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