Page 85 of A Forever Home at Honey Bee Croft

‘It’s him, isn’t it? The guy from the photos in York? Who is he?’

His shouts brought Joel running downstairs. He put his arm round my shoulders protectively.

‘Get off her!’ Damon yelled. ‘She’smygirlfriend.’

‘Stop it, Damon!’ I cried. ‘I amnotyour girlfriend. I’veneverbeen your girlfriend and Ineverwill be. Whatever you think there is between us is in your head only.’

‘You need to go,’ Joel said, his voice calm but firm.

‘I’m not taking orders from you.’

‘Then take them from me,’ I said, mirroring Joel’s tone. ‘I want you to leave and I don’t want you to come back. Ever. If you don’t go now, I’ll call the police.’

Damon shook his head. ‘You wouldn’t do that. You love me and you know it. I don’t know why you kid yourself that you don’t.’

‘I’m not in love with you. You’re the one who needs to stop kidding yourself.’

‘Go! Now!’ Joel said, still calm but so commanding.

Damon curled his lip up. ‘You’ve got to stop wasting your time on idiots like him, Poppy, and you need to pack it in with those damn bees too. I’m all you need.’

I removed my phone from my pocket and dialled 999. I held it up so he could see and poised my thumb over the green button. ‘Do I need to press this?’

‘This isn’t over,’ Damon muttered. He glared at Joel. ‘I’m watching you.’

‘If you come back here to watch either of us, I’ll be the one calling the police.’ Joel stepped out onto the doorstep and sized up to Damon. I knew he wouldn’t hit Damon, but his physical presence – significantly taller and broader than Damon – should be enough to intimidate. Sure enough, Damon stepped back onto the drive.

‘Do yourself a favour and actually listen to Poppy for once,’ Joel continued. ‘She doesn’t love you and never has. She isn’t yours. She’s a person, not a possession, and she doesn’tbelongto anyone. This is her property and you’re not welcome on it or in her life and you need to go now before you end up in serious trouble. Do I make myself clear?’

‘What the hell are you doing here?’ Wilf sounded furious as he crossed the drive with a yapping Benji.

Damon looked up at Joel on the doorstep and Wilf closing in from his side and fled.

Joel put his arms out and I sank against his chest, shaking. He led me inside and Wilf followed with Benji.

‘I thought you were going to call the police,’ Wilf said.

‘I was, but I got distracted with work and Dad and…’ I shook my head. ‘He didn’t come back so I thought he’d got the message.’

‘He obviously hasn’t. You need to call them, Poppy.’

Joel nodded. ‘I agree.’

‘You’re right. I need to report him and I will, but let me call his mum first and give her a heads up.’ I raised my hands up to silence them both as they voiced their objections. ‘Jenny was a friend of my mum’s and she’s a lovely woman. I want to let her know what’s happening – warn her in case he’s aggressive with her. I’ll ring the police immediately after. I promise.’

Alerting Jenny felt like the right thing to do. I’d have preferred to do it face to face but, as Damon lived with his mum,there was a risk he’d be there if I visited and no way did I want to see him again.

Wilf took Benji back home and I dug out Mum’s old address book. There was a landline number for Jenny but no mobile, so I hoped it was still connected. It rang for so long that I was on the verge of hanging up and calling the police, fearful that Damon might have arrived home by now in a foul mood and taken it out on Jenny, when she finally answered.

‘Hi, Jenny, it’s Poppy Wells – Joy’s daughter.’

‘Oh, my goodness! How lovely to hear from you.’

‘Is Damon there?’ I asked, thinking that if my call was on speakerphone and he was listening, he’d be livid.

‘No. I thought he was with you.’

‘He was here, but he left and he wasn’t…’ I winced. This was not an easy conversation to have. ‘He was pretty angry with me.’

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