Page 87 of Plot Twist

Shit. Shit. Shit.

I looked around the dance floor and wished we weren’t in public right now. Riley searched my eyes for an answer. My mouth fell into an unattractive, vacant gape as I stared up at him, as the beat of the background music picked up pace and vibrated between us. Swallowing the saltiness of my stupid mistake, I knew it was time to come clean.

‘Ivy said Jackie came along to see her a couple of times at nursery and talked to her over the gate before she picked her up that day,’ I summarised, looking down at my heels.

‘And tried to kidnap her,’ Riley finished.

‘Well, I’m not sure I’d go that far but I mean, yeah, took her home without you knowing. . .’

Riley’s whole face flushed as he put his hands over his eyes. ‘She told you she’d seen her mum and you didn’t think to tell me?’

The thudding of my heart matched the beat of the music as the dance floor began to fill around us. Someone bumped into Riley and apologised, but he didn’t even flinch.

‘I was going to tell you, but she asked me not to,’ I stuttered. ‘I thought about it, of course, but I really was sure it was just a wee white lie. You know she likes to make up stories. I didn’t think for a minute she was actually seeing Jackie. If I thought that it was true, I would have told you. Of course I would have.’

But it looked like I’d got that wrong, too. He stepped back from me, towards the edge of the dance floor.

‘I wish you had,’ he said softly. ‘I know you promised Ivy but she’s just a kid. It’s not in her best interest to keep that sort of thing from me. I was out of my mind worrying about her that day. You could have mentioned it then. Why didn’t you tell me then?’

His frown creased his whole forehead. The only time I’d ever seen him so worked up was when Jackie was there. The realisation stung; I’d broken something between us, just like she had.

‘I’m sorry,’ I mumbled.

‘I need to go. . . it’s past Ivy’s bedtime,’ he said. ‘I’ll walk her home. Clear my head. This is a bit much just now. I’m sorry.’

‘Riley, please don’t go,’ I said. ‘I honestly didn’t mean. . .’

He turned on his heel in his sharply pressed suit and, within seconds, he was gone.

The lights around the courtyard became blurry as I shuffled from one foot to the other. My body felt like it was deflating like a balloon as disappointment washed over me. The evening air was getting colder and I wrapped my arms around myself to keep warm. Riley and I had fought. The night before I was meant to leave. I hadn’t even told him that I was going yet. I hadn’t told him why.

The fluttering panic intensified in my chest.

Hello, anxiety, my old friend.

‘Well, that was all a bit dramatic,’ a voice said from behind me.

I spun around. And there he was, in front of my eyes.

What the actual fuck was he doing here?

41

‘Seriously, Becca, do you just have that effect on men? What was that hissy fit all about?’

Déjà bloody Drew.

The wind felt like it had been punched out of me. Again. All smug-faced, fully suited and booted and full of shit. And he’d been creeping around, watching me, at a party with my friends. . . in a completely different country.

My eyes narrowed as I looked up at his annoyingly handsome face.

‘What the fuck are you doing here?’ I demanded. ‘And don’t dare tell me you were invited this time because that would just be a lie.’

The audacity of him turning up out of the blue. First the funeral, now here in Rathcliffe. In my safe space. Anger bubbled inside me. I didn’t want to ruin Bridget and Ellie’s evening or the launch party but I could literally strangle him to the ground. Now was not the time for his bullshit.

His outstretched arm gave me the answer. I sucked in my breath at the sight of her handwriting on the front of an envelope addressed to me.

‘The letter,’ I said.