But he’s overjoyed to hear from me.
‘Lucy? Is that really you? Oh, thank God. Are you all right?’
‘Yes, Dad, I’m fine. Honestly. I’ve just been here, in Pengully Sands. I’ve even got a job.’ Well, sort of…
‘That’s brilliant! Is it an office job?’
‘Cleaning.’
‘Oh. Well, good for you. Are you coming home any time soon?’
I swallow hard. ‘Dad, I can’t.’
‘Why not?’
‘It’s Eleanor…she doesn’t want me there.’
‘What?’ He actually laughs in disbelief, which shows what a superb job Eleanor’s doing, pulling the wool over his eyes. ‘Lucy, love, that’s not true. She’s been as worried about you as I have.’
I don’t think so!
‘Dad…’ My insides turn over, thinking about the effect my next words will have. ‘Dad, Eleanor’s not the person you think she is.’
I hear him groan but I rush on. ‘Dad, please listen. I know you care about her a lot and no-one wants you to be happy more than I do. But she’s…well, she’s a liar. I see a side to her that she never shows to you. She…basically, she drove me away.’
‘Oh, Lucy, not this again. Can’t you please just try and accept her? Just because I love Eleanor doesn’t mean I love you any less.’
‘Dad, I’m not jealous of her. I want you to be happy and in love. Just not with her.’
‘Lucy, I’m not having this conversation.’
‘Dad, listen. I’ve got proof now that she’s a liar and a manipulator. Remember I thought she was wearing Mum’s garnet ring, but she said it was hers and that she’d had it for years? Well, she hadn’t. She only bought it recently. Why would she lie about something like that?’
‘I don’t know. I’m not sure what you’re trying to say,’ says Dad, sounding weary. ‘All I know is that Eleanor is a very special woman and I’m very lucky to have found her. She’s been nothing but loving and caring towards me, so please don’t ask me to stop trusting her, Lucy, because that’s just never going to happen.’
‘Okay.’ It was worth a try.
‘Will you come home for a visit?’
‘Erm…not yet. Soon.’
‘Stay in touch, love. Do you need money? I can transfer some.’
‘No. It’s fine, Dad.’
‘Eleanor said the bank phoned. Something about a problem paying your allowance into your account.’
‘Oh, really?’ Yet more lies! Eleanor cancelled my allowance, I’m certain of it.
‘Have you changed your bank, Lucy? Because if so, you need to give me the new details.’
‘It’s fine, Dad. Listen, I’ve got to go. I’m calling on Amber’s phone.’
‘Okay, love. Take care and stay in touch.’
‘I will. Love you, Dad.’
‘I love you, too, Lucy.’
I end the call, feeling frustrated and weighed down with sadness.
‘There’s nothing I can do,’ I say, shrugging uselessly. ‘He’s never going to believe anything bad about her.’
The tears roll down my cheeks as Amber hugs me.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Next morning, I wake with my head full of images from the day before.
Feeling devastated after discovering Gabe was sent to tail me…failing to impress Mrs West with my floor-cleaning and losing the job and my only source of income…then the joy of Amber appearing…our lovely day together…her wedding news…feeling more optimistic…and then Amber’s shocking revelation about Mum’s ring. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since.
Did she really plant the spiders in my drawer?
It’s so hard to believe she would do something like that. But what’s slowly becoming clear to me is that I was fine all along. Sure, I was down over Mum’s death.
But I was never actually crazy.
It seems as if it was all a plot by Eleanor to make me think I was losing my mind. Her reason is still not clear, though. But whatever her motive, my concern for Dad has increased a hundred-fold in the light of what Amber told me.
Talking to Dad yesterday was lovely but bitter-sweet. He thinks he has no reason to doubt Eleanor because she acts like the perfect partner. But I know differently now.
Getting up, I make some tea and pick up my book, hoping that an escape into a fictional world will relieve the pressure in my head. It’s starting to ache with all the stressful thoughts going round and round inside it.
But it’s no use.
There’s too much on my mind to concentrate and I spring up, restlessly.
I can’t stay cooped up here or I really will go mad. But what can I do to fill the hours, with very little cash? Just needing to get out, I forgo the shower (I can’t face Mrs West again after her stern lecture this morning). I pull on jeans, a T-shirt, trainers and my waterproof, grab my bag and bolt from the van, before realising I’ve forgotten my cap and running back inside. Thinking about my lack of cash, I cut some cheese and slap it between two slices of bread. Slipping the rough sandwich into a plastic bag, I finally escape.
It’s a cool day with a brisk breeze sending big puffs of white cloud scudding across the sky. I pull the cap low and walk quickly down to the beach, with a vague idea of returning to Harmony Cove, where I went with Gabe. Except this time, I’ll walk along the main road and approach from the other direction. I wouldn’t like to risk clambering over the rocks on my own.
My throat tightens at the thought of that walk with Gabe. It was so lovely. I really thought there was something between us – but it was obviously all in my imagination, because now I realise Gabe wasn’t actually interested in me as a person…as a woman. I was just a job to him. A way of earning some extra cash while he studied.
And then, as if I’ve conjured him up just by thinking about him, suddenly there he is. Walking towards me along the high street. His hands are in his pocket and he’s staring down at the ground as if lost in thought.
I can’t face him!
Swiftly, before he looks up and sees me, I turn around and start walking quickly in the other direction. Slipping down a side-street, I take a different route to the beach, hoping to mingle with the holidaymakers. Little beads of sweat are running down my back – it’s warmer than I thought – but today, I definitely need my camouflage.
I decide to head for The Rocks. I’ll climb up there and maybe the view will inspire me to come up with a plan for what to do next…because right now, I feel utterly lost…
The climb is strenuous and the stiff material of the waterproof is making me sweat even more. I keep looking behind me to check Gabe is nowhere in sight. I just want to get to the top and breathe some fresh air.
And then, just as I get within sight of the top, I happen to glance back, and my heart jolts in my chest. Gabe is climbing the path, way down below me. He must have spotted me, but I really don’t want him to see me in this state – red-rimmed rabbit eyes and sweating like a horse on Grand National day.
Distracted, I step on a large stone and my foot turns over. I cry out in pain and stagger to the side, too close to the edge. To my horror, I feel the earth give way beneath my feet and suddenly I’m slithering down the slope and I can’t seem to stop.