Page 48 of Loving Netta Wilde

‘I’m not planning to do the dirty on anyone. Not even you, Arthur.’

Arthur shook his head. ‘So you stood there and watched me rip your tyres open? Why didn’t you come outside and try to stop me?’

Colin thought about it for a moment but didn’t have an answer. Not one he was prepared to share anyway. ‘Don’t know.’

‘Huh. I expect it’s because you’re a slimy coward with no backbone. Not too scared to destroy helpless women though, are you?’

Ah. It seemed he hadn’t needed to worry about sharing because Arthur had worked it out for himself. The cowardly bit anyway. The rest was absolute twaddle. ‘If you’re referring to Netta, she was never helpless.’

‘She wasn’t. Not until you got your claws in her. Do you remember when I did it? It was the same day you threw her out.’

‘I didn’t throw her out. It was a family decision. The kids wanted it too.’

‘If you think I’m going to believe that, you’re even more delusional than I thought you were. She came to us a brokenwoman on that day with no desire to live. You did that to her. We thought we were going to lose her.’

‘I didn’t know that.’ Colin’s thoughts shifted back to earlier when Netta had asked him about panic attacks. The way she described them, she’d completely nailed it. And the thing she said about understanding how it felt. Perhaps she really did understand. Had he really done that to her? Had she really not wanted to live?

Arthur looked at him as if he were a filthy, disgusting reptile. ‘Yes, you did. It was exactly what you wanted.’

It wasn’t, but there was no point in trying to explain. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘No you’re not. You’re never sorry. It’s always someone else’s fault with you. I rue the day she met you. She’d have been much better off with Doogie.’

‘You do know the reason she dumped Chambers and went out with me was because he cheated on her, don’t you?’

Arthur shook his head. ‘I’m not interested in your smears. Doogie would never do anything to deliberately hurt her. He’s above all that. You though. You’re not even fit to stand in his shadow.’

Finally. The truth was out, and it was hardly a shock. If she had only chosen Chambers instead of him, their darling daughter would have been saved. Never mind that Colin had loved her with every fibre of his being. Or that she’d practically crucified him when she turned her back on him. Never mind any of that. The only thing that mattered was their Netta’s happiness. And as far as Arthur and Geraldine were concerned, Colin had never been the one to deliver that. No matter how hard he tried, it was never going to change. Because the only man who possessed those superhuman qualities was Doogie Chambers, the man of steel, the man of honour and integrity. The man who stole his life from him.

28

DOOGIE AND THE TOUGH OLD GIRL

Doogie was resting his stomach after the big Sunday lunch his mum had laid on. Spike was leaning against his legs. He’d hardly left his side all morning.

‘He’s missed you,’ said Clive.

Doogie rubbed the top of his dog’s head. ‘It’s probably home he’s missing. He’s used to roaming wherever he wants.’ Spike wasn’t the only one. They’d only been in Birmingham five days and Doogie was already starting to get that hemmed in feeling that usually came when he’d reached his tolerance threshold for city living. It was a threshold with a low setting.

‘When are you going home?’ said his mum.

‘Not sure yet. Will you be okay to keep him for a bit longer?’

‘Yes, no problem,’ said Clive. ‘But while I think of it, you should be out of the danger zone by the end of the week. I spoke to my vet friend. Dogs can have what they called a silent heat. That means they don’t show any outward signs, like bleeding. If your lady dog was at the mating stage, that lasts for ten days at the most, so you should be in the clear by next weekend at the latest. Unless Spike’s already been successful, that is.’

Spike’s ears pricked up at the mention of his name, then he rested his head on Doogie’s knee. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, Doogie would have said Spike was way too innocent for that sort of thing, but there was nothing innocent about the way he’d been giving it to Betty. ‘If I’m still here by next weekend, I’ll take him back. I’d better go. Gotta be somewhere.’

‘Where?’ said his mum.

‘Gonna visit an old lady.’

‘Which old lady?’

‘No one you know. I only met her the other day. I’m just gonna look in on her. Make sure she’s okay.’

He stopped outside Mrs Sweeting’s house and cut the engine. He didn’t know what he was doing here really. But he was here now, and the old lady was standing in the window. She’d seen him.

She had the door open before he reached it. ‘What now? You got more letters?’

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