Escape to Willow Cottage: The brilliant, laugh-out-loud romcom you need to read in autumn 2018. Bella Osborne

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      Nick caught up with her. ‘Can I walk with you?’

      Carly stopped. ‘How did you know I’d be here? Are you stalking me? Because there are laws against that.’

      Nick looked contrite. ‘I came here earlier in the week to see if Elizabeth had booked herself in.’ He cast his eyes downward at the same time as Carly’s jumped up. This was proper resourceful stalker territory. ‘And I saw your name on the screen. I figured there weren’t two of you in the area. I’m sorry if I’ve overstepped a line.’ He looked sorry. He looked lovely. Carly had always liked Nick; he was funny and easy on the eye – everybody liked Nick. On some level she felt he had hurt her too by doing what he had done to Beth.

      ‘You overstepped the line when you hit my friend.’ Carly’s jaw tightened.

      ‘Can we talk somewhere? Can I get you a coffee? Can I at least explain? Please.’ His eyes looked full of remorse and, against her better judgement, Carly said yes.

      Carly sipped her black chai tea and eyed Nick wearily. It was difficult to reconcile what she had heard from Beth with the calm and worried-looking man who sat opposite her. Nick was looking his usual immaculate self. Black hair in a neat but trendy short style. He was wearing a fitted white shirt, his suit jacket neatly placed on the back of his chair. He didn’t look the type to hit anyone but there was rarely a typical look for someone that dished out domestic violence. That was the problem, you just didn’t know. Carly glanced around at the other hotchpotch of London life catching a few minutes respite from the busy world outside. They all looked pretty ordinary but who was to know what any of them were capable of when under pressure.

      ‘How have you and Fergus been?’

      ‘We’re fine, Nick.’ Carly felt she had to ask the responding question. ‘And how about you?’

      ‘Awful. Devastated. I think I was in shock at first when she left. Now I’m just sick with worry.’ Carly didn’t speak but she hoped her expression conveyed her lack of sympathy. ‘I love her, Carly. I can’t believe this has happened and I need to get her back.’

      ‘I don’t think that’s going to happen, Nick.’

      Nick briefly put his head in his hands. ‘I keep going over and over it.’ He looked up slowly and held Carly’s gaze. ‘Leo was being so testing …’

      ‘He’s six, that’s kind of his job,’ pointed out Carly.

      ‘Yes, I know, but he was pushing all the boundaries and with Elizabeth not there he seemed to think he could do what he liked. All I did was tell him off and he went crazy.’ Nick emphasized his point with his palms spread wide. ‘I had to restrain him or he would have hurt himself. That was all I was doing. I swear to you.’

      Carly sipped her tea as Nick awaited her response. ‘Beth saw you hurting Leo.’

      ‘No, no, she didn’t. She thought she did but I was grappling with him and trying to catch hold of his hands so he would stop lashing out.’

      Carly was quiet while she mulled over Nick’s new version of events. ‘Even if she did misunderstand what she saw, I’m not saying that she did but if she did, then how do you explain you hitting Beth?’ Carly stared at him unblinking, watching his face, studying his response, trying very hard like all the TV detectives she’d ever watched to spot a sign that he was lying.

      Nick blew the air out of his cheeks and shook his head, then stared at his hands for a bit as if they held the answer. Finally he looked up and made eye contact. ‘I don’t know.’

      Carly’s eyes widened. ‘You don’t know how you hit her?’

      ‘No. I’ve no idea how it happened but the important thing is that it wasn’t intentional.’

      Carly snorted and wished she hadn’t as it irritated her throat and now she was coughing uncontrollably.

      ‘You okay?’ He looked concerned.

      ‘Fine, carry on,’ she croaked.

      ‘One minute it was just me and Leo and he was screaming and, God, can that kid scream.’ He gave a half-laugh. Carly sipped her tea carefully which soothed her throat as she waited for him to explain further. ‘I think Elizabeth came up behind me as I stood up and somehow she got knocked into the wall. But, honestly, I don’t know exactly how it happened.’ He shook his head. ‘Carly, what do I do?’

      Carly didn’t like this. Nick’s version of events did sound plausible but then so had Beth’s, and Beth had the bruises to prove her account. However much she hated herself for it, Carly couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for Nick. It all seemed so out of character. She studied his face – was that a tear in his eye?

      Carly wasn’t sure what to say. She would always be steadfastly loyal to Beth but was there even the smallest possibility that Beth had misread the situation?

      ‘I don’t know what you should do, Nick. But I guess if you really love her you try to put things right.’

      ‘That’s exactly what I intend to do. Whatever it takes. But first I need to know where she is.’

      By the time Beth was safely at the bottom of the ladder Jack had finally stopped laughing. Beth was breathing heavily through her nostrils and was aware that she sounded a little like a cranky horse.

      ‘What is so funny?’ Her stern face seemed to set Jack off again.

      He took a deep breath to quell the laughter. ‘Come on, I’ll buy you one of Rhonda’s famous bacon butties.’

      Beth didn’t like being laughed at. At school she had never quite fitted in and had frequently been the butt of jokes she never quite understood and, right now, she felt exactly the same – self-conscious and awkward. Having made a concerted effort after Leo was born to carve out a successful career for herself, she was filled with dread at the thought of shrinking back into the uncomfortable and unsure person she had once been. It appeared all the old doubts had never actually gone away; they were just dormant awaiting a situation like this to reawaken them and bring them flooding back at full force.

      ‘Thanks, but I don’t think so,’ said Beth as she looked around for something to busy herself with. Jack had stopped laughing and was watching her closely and Beth found she was grinding her teeth so she stopped.

      ‘I didn’t mean to upset you.’

      ‘You’ve not.’ Beth took hold of the ladder and, finding the catch that released the upper sections, she pushed it into place with her thumbs. The ladder slid down at speed.

      ‘Noooo!’ Jack lunged at the ladder and managed to grab the first rung, only just stopping the rest of it from sliding into Beth’s face.

      She looked startled and stumbled backwards.

      ‘Bloody hell, Beth, what did you do that for?’ He was still clutching the rung of the ladder and he looked cross.

      ‘Well, not for fun! It was an accident!’ She felt foolish enough without him pointing it out.

      ‘Are you okay?’ he asked, as he finished the job and laid the ladder on the grass. Beth nodded. She СКАЧАТЬ