by Clare Revell
“And this guy hardly ever left your side,” Jackson added from the doorway. He crossed the room, holding out a hand. “Dr. Parker.”
“I remember your voice, but I thought you were a cowboy.”
David laughed. At least Jackson was finally using the key under the front door mat. But now Eden was recovering, he no longer needed to keep it there. “That’s a good one. I call him a quack, but cowboy is even better.”
Jackson rolled his eyes. “Go make the lady some soup while I check her over.”
David nodded and headed downstairs. Marc was still staying with Eden’s parents. Almost a week was a long time for Marc to be out of his sight, and even though someone was keeping tabs on the house, he’d be a lot happier when Marc was home. He emptied a tin of soup into a pan and turned on the gas underneath it. It didn’t take long to heat and he tipped it into a mug, before taking it upstairs.
His phone rang as he reached the bedroom. “Painter.”
“David, it’s Adam.” His solicitor sounded stressed, which was unusual.
“Hey, Adam. What’s up?” David set the soup down next to Eden. She was sitting propped up against several pillows; Jackson sat on the edge of the bed next to her, writing up her notes.
“Tomorrow, two PM. Valhalla.”
The words sent shock waves running through him, almost physically knocking him backwards.
“Valhalla?” he repeated. “Are you sure?” He’d waited so long for this, he wanted to make sure he’d heard right.
“This comes from the top. Don’t be late.”
“OK. Two o’clock. Thanks, Adam.”
“Don’t thank me. Just be careful.” The line went dead.
Jackson looked up as he put the notes in his bag. “Sounds intriguing.”
“Not really. It’s just work. Thank you for treating her.” David tried to brush off the comment, excitement setting his nerves alight.
“Well, you’ll be pleased to know, that Eden is recovering nicely. Her chest sounds clear now. The strep is much better. A couple more days and she’ll be raring to go. It might be an idea to see if the grandparents can handle Marc for another day.” He pointed at Eden. “And I want to see you in my office in a week.”
“I’ll make the appointment. Thank you, Doctor Parker.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll see myself out.”
David sat on the bed and took her hand. Her skin was soft against his, the same way he remembered. He ran his thumb over the back of her hand, memories surging into the forefront of his mind. “I was really worried about you.”
“Yeah, right.”
She was beautiful even with messy hair and bags under her eyes. He stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “I was. I honestly thought I was going to lose you, and I couldn’t bear that.”
She coughed. “And this from the man who dumped me.”
“I’m sorry?” He stilled his hand.
“Sorry you dumped me? Or sorry for the way you did it?”
“I—” David broke off. Nothing he could say would be adequate, or could make up for the way he’d hurt her and broken her heart.
Eden winked at him. “Never mind.” She leaned forward, coughing.
David rubbed her back as she stopped. “If things had been different.”
“Yeah,” she whispered.
“But work got in the way…”
“Was it really work or was it me?” she asked. “Did I push you too hard, or scare you off? Was there someone else?”
“There’s never been anyone else, Eden. Only you.” He looked down for a long moment. How did he answer that without saying too much? “Scared of the commitment I guess. Eric had proposed to Han, and I knew you two wanted a double wedding and that. I guess I just wasn’t ready.”
“So you broke my heart, rather than asking me to wait, because I would have.” She turned away.
“I’m sorry,” he said, meaning every syllable. He hated this, hated every second of the lie he was living. “I’m going to see if your Mum can keep Marc a little longer, though I know they have plans this weekend. I’ve missed work the past few days, and I really need to go to this meeting tomorrow at two. I could always leave him in the florist with Grace if you’re not up to looking after him.”
“I can do it. I can lie on the couch and watch him if need be.”
“Thank you. Now eat your soup before it gets cold.”
****
Eden reached over and picked up the mug, as David headed from the room. She had to admit, the soup did smell good. She didn’t remember the last time she ate, in which case she probably should eat something. The first couple of mouthfuls could have been nectar, it tasted so wonderful.
OK, so it was only tomato, and David had probably just opened the first tin he’d found, but that didn’t matter.
Bits of muddled conversation floated through her mind. The phrase ‘deal with her’ forefront, and in several voices, not David’s.
Someone wanted to get rid of her, and she had no idea why, but that someone wasn’t David. David had helped her whilst she was sick and helpless. He could have easily put a pillow over her face, or not given her the meds when she couldn’t breathe if he wanted her dead.
She coughed again and leaned back against the pillows. She closed her eyes for a moment, handing the whole mess over to God, really trusting that He had a plan here, because she was weak and floundering.
“Are you sleeping?”
Eden opened her eyes and smiled faintly at David. “Think I’ve slept enough the past few days.”
“Then how about we go downstairs and watch a movie? The new version of Anna Karenina is on in an hour.”
“I’d like that. Give me a few, and I’ll be there. I want a shower or something first.”
He nodded. “I’ll run you a bath. Probably safer than standing under the shower.”
****
Sitting on the couch, with Eden next to him, David felt like time had rewound. It felt so right. Eden’s head inched closer to his shoulder until it rested against him. Her damp hair smelled so good. He moved his arm and wrapped it around her.
Eden stiffened, then relaxed into him.
He leaned his face against the top of her head. “I missed this,” he whispered.
“Me too. I missed you. We used to be able to talk about anything. Even stuff I couldn’t tell Hanna.”
Curiosity got the better of him. “Like what?”
“Stuff about Eric. The trouble I got into. Remember the time I lost that money when I was working at the nursery? You sorted it.”
He thought for a moment. “I’d forgotten all about that. Did it ever turn up?”
“Yes, I’d put it in a story book, but we’d broken up by then. I gave Han the money to give you. I never told her why. She assumed it was for something you’d bought me that I sold.”
David brushed the hair from Eden’s face. “Han gave me the envelope. Said it was in payment of a debt, but I knew it was from you.”
Eden nodded. “I added interest to it.”
A faint smile crossed his face. “That’s why the numbers didn’t add up.”
Eden coughed and closed her eyes. “Why did we ever let things get in the way of us?”
“I don’t know.” His fingers traced up and down her arm. He was a fool to have let her go. Her words “So you broke my heart, rather than asking me to wait, because I would have” echoed in his mind.
“I guess it’s like stuff getting between us and God, but on a smaller scale.” She looked up at him. “Work for example.”
He frowned. His conscience thumped him hard and his gut twisted. “Whatever I do for work is—” He broke off, trying to figure it out. “I guess sometimes work can get in the way, impact decisions I make, but one thing I do know for sure, Eden. My faith and salvation are secure.”
“Really? So if you were to die, right here and now, there is nothing you’ve done and haven’t repented of?”
He sat upright, pushing her away.
“I can’t believe you just asked me that. My sister just died.”
Eden didn’t stop. “You know as well as I do, that repentance isn’t just saying sorry, David. It’s meaning it and stopping whatever it was you were doing that was wrong.”
He scowled. “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone, Eden.”
10
When Eden woke in the morning, David had already gone. She got up and dressed and made her way downstairs.
It was ten o’clock when Mum brought Marc. Eden settled the sleeping infant in his cot upstairs.
“Would you like a cup of tea, Mum?” Eden whispered.
“That would be lovely.”
“It isn’t proper, you living in the same house as that David,” Mum said as she seated herself at the table. “I dearly loved Hanna, but I just never approved of you and her brother, especially the way he’s turned out. People are going to talk you with living here with him.”
“We’re not living together. At least not in the way you mean. Hanna wanted us both to raise Marc,” Eden replied as she poured the boiling water into the teapot. “Even if I do have sole custody.”
Her mother took the offered cup and sighed. “Oh, this smells wonderful.” Mum took a sip and sighed. “You don’t have to stay here in this house. I don’t like you being here. Nor does your father.”
“It’s what Hanna wanted. And this house is half mine.”
“She was a dreamer, and I know she wanted you to marry that brother of hers, but it’s time to face facts. David is up to no good. Even I can see that. I wanted Hanna to live with us after Eric’s death but she wouldn’t have it. She was so set on rescuing her brother from whatever mess he’s gotten into this time.”
“David isn’t a bad man. He’s just caught up in stuff, that’s all.”
“Then you’re just as blind as Hanna was. Come back home before David drags you down to his level. Stop pining for him and find a good man like your father, dear. Next week it will be forty blessed years of marriage for your dad and me.”
After her mum left, Marc sat in his bouncy chair, the activity gym in front of him. Eden glanced at the coffee table. A sheet of folded paper with her name on it lay beside her phone.
See you tonight. I’ll bring dinner home with me so don’t cook.
Those weren’t the words of a bad man, but they were perhaps the words of a man downing in his troubles, a man who needed rescuing.
Eden rubbed the back of her neck and looked at the baby. “I’m going to get my phone, I left it upstairs. Be right back.” She headed upstairs and paused as the door to David’s old room swung open.
Hanna hadn’t over exaggerated the size or the complexity of the train track. Eden took a step into the room, intrigued, but not wanting to pry. It must have taken years of collecting and hours of putting together. The station at the far end wasn’t level. She moved over to it and picked it up. There was a hole underneath it. Maybe David was going to add electrics to it.
Something poked up through the hole and she pushed it down. Powder covered her finger. It was the wrong consistency to be talc. She pulled a face. Drugs? “Oh, David, what kind of a mess are you caught up in?”
She put the room to rights, and then after washing her hands, retrieved her phone and went downstairs.
Marc gurgled as she entered the lounge. She glanced at her phone. No messages, but then she didn’t really expect any. “So, plan of action for the rest of today. We need to go to the florist to buy Nanny and Grandad flowers for their wedding anniversary. It isn’t far and I could do with some fresh air. And I need to speak to DS Holmes.”
She dialed Nate’s home number from the church directory.
“Vianne speaking. Can I help you?” The voice belonged to a teenager by the sounds of it.
“Could I speak to Nate Holmes, please?”
“Uncle Nate’s at work. I can give him a message when he gets home tonight.”
“Just tell him Eden rang. I’ll try to call again later.”
“OK. If it’s urgent you can leave a message at Manor Road Police Station.”
“Thank you.” Eden hung up and looked at the phone for a long moment. Was this urgent? She had no definite proof—just feelings and snippets of an overheard conversation. Or was it a fever-induced hallucination? Would that and a few bits of powered who-knows-what be enough to warrant police involvement? Taking a deep breath, after all, she was just finishing a conversation Nate had started the other day, she rang the police station. “Could I speak with Sgt. Holmes, please?”
There was a brief pause, and then another voice answered. “Hi, this is Sgt. Philips, Sgt. Holmes partner. He’s in a meeting right now. Can I help?”
“I don’t know…”
“How about we start with your name and go from there?”
“My name’s Eden Jameson. Nate and I were talking the other day about a friend who was in trouble and he said he’d help if he could.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
“I don’t know. Umm…” Her nerve failed. Talking to Nate was one thing. Talking to someone else was a whole other kettle of fish. What if she were wrong? “Can you tell Nate I called?”
“Sure. Leave a number he can call you back on, and I’ll have him do that as soon as he gets back to his desk.”
Eden gave him her mobile phone number and hung up. She’d go to the florist before it started raining again. She put Marc into his sling and pulled it over her shoulders. “You’re getting too heavy for this now.”
He giggled at her and pulled her hair.
Eden buttoned the coat over the sling, tucked her phone into her pocket, and slid her bag over her head. Locking the front door behind her, she headed down the road.
Grace Chadwick smiled at her as she pushed open the door of the florist. “Hi, are you better?”
Eden raised an eyebrow. “Yes, but how did you know?”
“Jackson Parker delivered the baby over the road last night. We got talking when he came in for flowers because I was doing David’s standing order, and I said I hadn’t seen you in church last weekend. Did you come to collect the daffodils?”
“No, I came to order some flowers of my own. But I can do.” She looked at the daffodils on the side. “A standing order?”
Grace nodded. “Fresh flowers every day. When you see him, remind him his tab needs paying. It’s starting to mount up.”
“I’ll clear it now. But first I need to order some flowers for my parents. A bunch of something red, please, for a ruby wedding anniversary.”
“Forty years?” Grace beamed. “Wow. That’s impressive.”
Eden nodded. She pointed to a picture on the counter. “That one.” She picked a card and wrote it. “They live locally…well the other side of town, and any day next week is fine.”
“Not a problem,” Grace said.
“What does David owe?”
“Two hundred and fifty as of today.”
Eden raised an eyebrow. How much? She handed over her card. “I can do that. That must be several months’ worth of flowers. Or does that include the funeral flowers, too?”
“That’s a separate bill, which again he hasn’t paid.”
Eden sighed. “Figures. Add that on as well.”
“Are you sure? It’ll come to a fair amount.”
“I’m sure. I’ve got more money in my account than I know what to do with, so it’s fine.”
“Thank you.” Grace rang up the bill. “It’s the end of the financial year, and I’d like the books to balance—if that’s possible.”
Mandy laughed from where she served another customer. “There speaks an ex-accountant.”
Eden laughed. She typed in her PIN. “The books had better balance then.”
Grace printed off the receipt. “There you go. And there are David’s flowers.”
The shop bell tinkled as the door opened. Elliott’s beam matched the one on Grace’s face. “Hey, gorgeous,” he said.
She almost ran int
o his arms and hugged him.
Eden pushed down the spark of jealousy. Once upon a time, David had looked at her like that, instilled that instant reaction in her when he walked into a room. Once upon a time David had loved her.
Her phone rang as she headed out onto the street and she reached in her pocket. “Hello?”
“Hello Eden, Nate Holmes here. Is there a problem?”
“It’s about what I mentioned the other day. We need to talk. Something’s really wrong.”
“Are you in any danger?”
What should she say? How could anyone quantify feelings and bits of conversation into something meaningful? “Possibly…I...it’s kind of hard to explain on the phone.” She flagged down a taxi.
“I’ll send a car for you. We can talk here at the station.”
“I’m getting in a taxi. I’ll be there in ten minutes.” She looked at the driver. “Could you drop me at Manor Road police station, please?”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
Her heart leapt and fear ran through her turning her to ice as she ended the call without saying goodbye. She’d heard that voice before.
11
Business completed, David returned to his car. It was just gone twelve. He had two hours before Valhalla. His pulse raced at the thought and he could feel the adrenaline start to flood his system. A few more hours and all this would be over. Then maybe he and Eden could…
He stopped short at the sight of Joey leaning on his cab, boxing him into the parking space. “What are you doing here?” David asked.
“You won’t believe who I have in my cab. Your nanny. We’re going to have to silence her. She was going to the cop shop. Told you she was a pig. I’m going to waste her now.”
“Even if she is a cop she’s my loose end.” David snarled. “I will handle her as I see fit.”
“Granger won’t like it. We all know you—”
David shoved his gun into Joey’s side. “If I were you I would shut up. Granger already told me I get to dispose of her. Now get out of my way and let me handle this.”
“If you insist.” Joey moved.
David prayed silently for strength to do this and look convincing as he opened the taxi door. “Out. Go get in my car. Now.”