He looked taken aback. ‘What d’you mean?’
‘Hiya!’ sang Angel, materialising to the left of him.
Harry’s smile vanished.
‘Hello, darling!’ Molly appeared to his right.
‘Oh for fuck’s sake,’ said Harry, realising he was trapped.
‘You could say that,’ Molly beamed.
His eyes darted between the three of them; he was like a cornered wild animal.
‘Oh Harry. What a pathetic creature you are,’ said Molly.
‘Seriously? You think I’m pathetic? Look at all of you.’ He was sneering now, the charming, charismatic personality a thing of the past. Except it had never existed, not really. It had, Layla reminded herself, all been an act. ‘How did you find out anyway?’
‘A woman from Sheffield contacted me,’ Layla told him. Not true, but it was worth a punt.
‘Which one? Was it Estelle? She’s a fucking bitch.’
But she was a fucking bitch who’d lost her husband three years ago and had been persuaded to lend Harry four thousand pounds he’d evidently had no intention of ever repaying. Had he been doing this for years, moving around the country each time he was found out? What a way to live your life, thought Layla.
‘Actually, I found this.’ She took the notebook out of her oversized sequinned shoulder bag.
Harry’s face darkened. ‘How did you get hold of that? It’s mine. You can’t take things that belong to other people.’
Molly snorted with laughter.
‘I just borrowed it,’ Layla said innocently.
‘Like you borrowed three and a half grand from me, remember?’ Molly gave him an encouraging nod. ‘But you haven’t managed to start paying any of it back.’
‘Oh give me a break. You’re loaded.’ He glared at her.
‘And you’re a liar and a cheat. Never mind, I’ve spoken to my solicitor—’
‘For fuck’s sake.’ Harry let out a howl of outrage, suddenly spotting Will standing a few yards away, filming the encounter on his phone. ‘What d’you think you’re doing? Fuck off, the lot of you, and leave me alone.’
‘Oh don’t be like that,’ Molly protested. ‘You told me you loved me!’
‘You told me that too,’ said Angel.
‘And me.’ Layla shrugged as Harry turned and stormed off towards his flat. ‘Oh well, bye!’
The front door almost bounced off its hinges as it slammed shut behind him.
‘Dammit, that’s annoying,’ said Molly. ‘I forgot to tell him he was a four.’
Angel shook her head. ‘That’s too generous.’
‘Did you get the whole thing?’ Layla asked Will.
He grinned and pressed the button to stop recording. ‘Absolutely. Got it all.’
‘I’ll send him a text before I block him,’ Molly said with satisfaction. ‘Let him know that if we ever hear he’s been up to any more nonsense, we’ll post the video on YouTube and send the link to every fitness club in the UK.’
Chapter 40
Shay was sitting beside his father’s bed in the living room, listening to the sound of his breathing as he slept. How much time did they have left?
Not long now.
It was the third week of October. Summer had ended abruptly a fortnight ago and autumn had swept in with a vengeance. The trees had turned orange and ochre as the temperature dropped, an almighty storm had shaken the first swathes of leaves from their branches, and squirrels had darted to and fro across the lawn, collecting and burying fallen nuts.
Not at this time of night, though. Outside, an owl was hooting peacefully and in the far distance a fox barked.
Red opened his eyes. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Nothing. Just sitting.’
‘What time is it?’
Shay checked his watch. ‘Ten past four.’
‘Now I know what you’re doing.’
‘Go on then, tell me.’
‘You heard that thing on the radio about sick people being more likely to die at this time of night.’
He was right, as usual. Shay said, ‘What are you, some kind of mind-reader?’
‘Yes. And I’m not going to die tonight, so you can go back to bed.’
‘Bossy as ever.’
‘I’m feeling pretty good, if you must know.’
He was certainly sounding brighter than he had for the last couple of days. He’d been sleeping more, but the pain was under control. When the hospice nurse had paid a visit at the weekend, she’d asked him if he wanted to come into the hospice, and Red had explained that he’d really prefer to spend his remaining time here at home.
Shay said, ‘Can I get you anything?’ and his father nodded. ‘Wouldn’t say no to a Drambuie.’
‘At this time? Are you sure?’
‘Hey, I didn’t die tonight. We may as well celebrate.’
Fair enough. Shay poured the drinks and brought them back to the bed next to the French windows. One of the security lights had come on; a hedgehog was ambling across the patio.
‘Cheers,’ said Shay, and they clinked tumblers.
‘Good health.’ Red smiled slightly. ‘That’s a joke.’
‘Don’t give up the day job.’
‘What’s going to happen after I’m gone?’
‘I have no idea.’
‘Will you stay here?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘What about Caz?’
‘What about her?’
‘I want to know what I’m going to be missing. Do you think she’s the one for you?’
Shay shook his head. ‘Dad, you’re asking me questions I can’t answer.’
‘OK then, tell me what you most want to happen. Best-case scenario.’
Right now, there was no best-case scenario. Avoiding the question, he said, ‘It’s way too soon to be making plans for me and Caz.’
‘When I met your mother, I knew right away she was the one for me. By the end of that first evening, it was a done deal. I told everyone I’d found the girl I was going to spend the rest of my life with.’ Red covered his mouth to cough, then said, ‘Do you ever wonder what she’d look like now? I do. God, I wish she was still here.’ He gazed out through the window at the night sky, speckled with stars. ‘Maybe she is. Maybe she’s waiting for me, giving me a nudge and telling me to get a move on.’
Shay said, ‘You were lucky.’
‘When you know, you know.’
‘It’s not always that straightforward.’ As he’d found out to his cost.
‘Do you know why I wanted to move into this house?’ Red asked. ‘Because I thought getting you back here might sort you out.’
‘Sort me out in what way?’
‘You’re thirty-one. I’ve met plenty of your girlfriends over the years, seen the way you are with them. And they’ve all been great girls in their own way.’ Red coughed again, then took another swallow of Drambuie. ‘But you’ve never been as happy with any of them as you were with Didi.’
Tell me something I don’t know.
Shay’s heart thudded. ‘We were kids.’