Josephine Cox 3-Book Collection 1: Midnight, Blood Brothers, Songbird. Josephine Cox

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СКАЧАТЬ got it all wrong. If you’ve got a grievance, let’s talk about it like adults. Come into the office, and we’ll sort it out.’

      When she began shouting obscenities, Jan thought to calm the situation by telling her, ‘We weren’t laughing at anyone. We were just talking.’ She had been deeply offended by Molly’s earlier comment. ‘And I’ll thank you not to call me a bitch!’

      Molly replied by clearing everything from the desk with one sweep of her arm. ‘It wouldn’t matter to me whether you were his bitch or not. You’re welcome to him!’

      Quieter now, she turned on Jack. ‘I’m glad it’s over between us,’ she hissed. ‘As for what you did – asking a rival agency to sell your house – that was just spiteful. But you know what? If you’d asked me to sell your house, I’d have said no anyway.’

      Caught in Jack’s iron grip, she looked into his face, into those strong, mesmerising eyes that had once gazed on her so tenderly, and suddenly she was sobbing – quietly at first, then helplessly, her whole body shaking with emotion as she leaned into him.

      Caught unawares by her change of mood, Jack coaxed her into the office, where he closed the door and sat her down. ‘What’s caused you to fly off the handle like this?’ he asked. ‘It can’t just be the fact that I went to another agency. You just said yourself that you wouldn’t want to sell my house anyway. So, come on, Moll. What is it?’

      For a moment, Molly let him stew. She still wanted him back, but even now, it had to be on her terms. She took a deep breath, before confessing reluctantly, ‘It’s just that, well . . . I still hoped you might come round to my way of thinking. Then, when I found out that you’d actually put your house on the market, I just lost it.’

      ‘I’m sorry. Perhaps I should have told you earlier, but I thought it was for the best.’ Jack now realised he should have known the news would reach Molly.

      ‘I don’t want you to leave, Jack. I love you. I want us to get back together. I want you to forget about taking up the new job—’

      Jack interrupted, ‘I’m sorry, Moll. I won’t do that. I’ve signed the contract and even now they’re making a short-list to fill my old position. It’s all settled, and I have to say, I feel lighter of heart than I’ve felt for a very long time. I really believe the recent series of events – you badgering me to see someone about my nightmares, then this vacancy coming up in Lytham – it all seems to fit.’

      ‘You could still say no,’ Molly persisted. ‘You just said, they haven’t got anyone to replace you yet, so you could tell them you’ve changed your mind . . . that you’re staying put. It’s not too late. Look, Jack, I’ve been thinking. Maybe the psychiatrist you saw was not the right one for you. So, go to someone who knows what they’re talking about, and in time, you’re sure to find the answer you’re looking for.’

      Jack was adamant. ‘I do love you,’ he told her, ‘but to my mind, love is sharing. It’s helping each other. It’s a two-way thing.’

      ‘But that’s exactly what I’m saying!’ She grew excited. ‘I understand you. I understand about the nightmares. That’s why I made you go and see someone, because I wanted them to end. I wanted to help you. But now everything’s got out of hand. You listened to some idiot who didn’t know what he was talking about. Then you get it into your head to go back, to where you think it all began. I so want it to be like it was before. I don’t want to be on my own, Jack. You’re leaving, without a thought for me. You’re uprooting your whole life, and I know you’re bound to regret it.’

      For what seemed an age, Jack let her words soak in, and all he could hear was ‘I’ this and ‘I’ that. ‘I want it to be like it was before . . . I made you go and see someone . . . I don’t want to be on my own.’

      All he could hear was what Molly wanted. Not for one minute did she ever stop to consider what he wanted. What he desperately needed.

      ‘I can’t stay,’ he told her quietly. ‘It can’t be like it was before.’

      When she opened her mouth to speak, he gently shushed her. ‘Molly, I know you understand about the nightmares, and I know you badgered me into seeing someone about them, and for that I am truly thankful.’

      ‘But?’ The harsh question was also an accusation. ‘Go on – tell me! Why can’t you stay? Why can’t it be like it was before?’

      Jack knew then, that it really was over between them. ‘I have told you,’ he reminded her, ‘many times. Over and over. But it seems not to have sunk in, so I’ll tell you again. I cannot live with these nightmares for the rest of my life, and believe it or not, when it was suggested that they might actually be a memory, rather than my imagination, I have to tell you, Molly, something inside me knew that it was the truth. That the nightmares really do stem from something that actually happened.’

      ‘NO!’ She had never accepted the theory and she didn’t accept it now. ‘That can’t be! The things you see must be awful beyond words. You wake up covered in sweat and terror. You make strange noises, like some wild animal . . . and when you finally come out of it, you’re gabbling about the darkness, the full moon, and eyes staring at you . . . and unspeakable things that frighten me.’

      Getting out of her chair, she looked at him as though seeing a stranger. This time she spoke softly, as though not wanting others to overhear. ‘You know what, Jack? I’ve always wondered, but now I know for certain. You’re losing your mind! There’s no other explanation.’

      Jack was deeply shocked. ‘I think you’d better leave.’ Her accusations, her changed attitude, had unnerved him.

      She went on, ‘You really are out of your mind, I can see that now. So go ahead, do what you like. I want no part of it.’

      Heading for the door, she turned, her face set like stone. ‘Goodbye, Jack. Go and chase your ghosts. I really don’t care what you do any more.’ But what she said and what she thought were two different things.

      Jack watched her leave, stunned by her cruel words. ‘So I’m a crazy man, eh?’ The awful thing was, he could almost believe her, but lately he had learned how vicious she could be when things did not go her way.

      ‘That was a spiteful thing for her to say.’ He thought about it for a moment, and was tempted to admit, she might be right.

      That was why he had to go on this journey – to prove that he was as sane as anyone else.

      Outside in Reception, they were still feeling shaken by Molly’s stormy entrance. Jan was talking with Charlie, one of the sales team. ‘What was she thinking,’ Charlie said, ‘coming in here and causing such a scene?’

      ‘She’s crazy!’ Jan answered. ‘I wouldn’t mind smacking her one. Calling me his bitch!’ She let her mind linger on that for a while, and a slow smile lifted her face. ‘Come to think of it, I wouldn’t mind being his bitch!’

      The last two people to leave the building were Jan and Jack.

      ‘I’m sorry about all that,’ said Jack, referring to the nasty comment Molly had made. ‘She hasn’t always been so spiteful. It’s my fault she’s in such a rage.’

      ‘That’s not true!’ Jan had a habit of speaking СКАЧАТЬ