Page 55 of Sunny Skies and Summer Kisses

‘Stevie took out a restraining order; he started seeing you pretty much straight after; your presence in his life seemed to take his mind off her which was a huge relief.’ Gina looked almost apologetic.

‘Oh, right.’ Anoushka let the young woman’s words sink in. ‘You know we’ve split up?’

Gina nodded. ‘I’d heard, which is why I’m here. A friend of mine had overheard him talking to someone in a pub in York. Apparently Damon had been drinking heavily and had started saying how he’d been treated badly by his latest girlfriend, went on to say he wasn’t going to let her get away with it. We knew who you were ’cos we’d been keeping an eye on his social media posts. We felt we had to warn you.’

Anoushka pressed her hand to her mouth, glancing over at Zander who’d been listening quietly throughout. ‘He was here today; not long before you arrived,’ she said.

Gina visibly tensed. ‘Oh my God. He was here?’ She glanced fearfully between Anoushka and Zander.

‘Don’t worry, he shot off like a bat out of hell; he’ll have been long gone before you got here,’ said Zander. ‘And I dare say you’d have noticed a red car flying along the country lanes at break-neck speed.’

‘I didn’t spot anything like that,’ she said, visibly relieved. She turned to Anoushka. ‘So what was he doing here?’ Her eyes widened as realisation slowly dawned. ‘Your accident? Don’t tell me he was involved.’

‘He was.’

‘No!’ Gina clapped her hands to her mouth.

‘You’re really going to have to contact the police, Noushka,’ said Zander, his tone grave. ‘Maybe take out some kind of restraining order on him. I’ll provide a statement if one’s needed. He’s already proved he can be reckless; he needs stopping before he goes too far.’

A feeling of unease ran through Anoushka. She knew Zander was right. ‘I’ll get in touch with PC Snaith right away and make an appointment with a solicitor if necessary.’ She hoped she wouldn’t have another encounter with Damon before anything got put in place. She rested her hand on Gina’s arm. ‘Thank you so much for coming here today, and for warning me. I appreciate it can’t have been easy. Poor Stevie’s been through a horrible time; I’m just glad I got away from him when I did. Please would you tell her I wish her every happiness for her future.’

‘I will.’ Gina got to her feet and smiled. ‘I’d best be off but I’m glad I told you; it feels like a weight off my shoulders. I’d never have forgiven myself if anything had happened to you.’

‘It’s been good to meet you, Gina; I’m just sorry it wasn’t in better circumstances.’ Anoushka went to hug the other woman, being careful of her sore arm.

Once Gina had left, Zander said, ‘Don’t forget to talk to PC Snaith as soon as possible.’ He reached for his bag.

‘I won’t. I’ll contact him as soon as I get home; I don’t want to risk Damon coming back.’ She gave him a quick smile. ‘And thank you for everything, for getting me out of the way and for sorting out my injuries.’

‘Hey, no worries. Pop into the surgery on Monday, get your dressings changed. I’ll mention it to the practice nurse, tell her to expect you. She’ll be able to check it’s healing okay too.’ He smiled kindly. ‘Would you like me to stick around until you’re ready to leave?’

She released a slow breath. How on earth had it come to this?

‘I’ll head off now,’ she said, the thought of what she’d say to her parents spinning around her mind.

35

Much as she hadn’t wanted to concern them, Anoushka had reluctantly told her parents what had happened with Damon, and the subsequent conversation with Gina. She’d added that she didn’t want Lucas and Lily to know about it; she didn’t want them upset or worse, scared – and she most definitely didn’t want a fuss. Kitty and Ollie had listened with ashen faces, with Kitty rushing over to her, carefully hugging her close. ‘Oh, lovey, that must’ve been terrifying for you.’

‘The cowardly little bastard isn’t going to get away with this!’ her dad had said through clenched teeth, his chest heaving as he leapt to his feet and started heading for the door.

‘Ollie! Don’t! You can’t do anything.’ Kitty’s eyes had been filled with fear as she’d pulled on his arm.

Barely able to contain his anger, Ollie had shoved his fingers into his hair, pushing out air between his teeth. ‘At least let me call PC Snaith.’

‘Okay.’ Kitty had looked visibly relieved.

An hour later, the local bobby called round and took a statement.

‘Your ex has put you in fear, using his car as a weapon; he could be prosecuted if you want to go down the criminal proceedings route,’ PC Snaith, who never seemed to look a day over fourteen, had said. ‘You could potentially have a non-molestation or restraining order taken out against him; he’d be in bother if he breached either of those. Or if you’d prefer not to proceed that way, I could ask one of my colleagues in York to call round at your ex’s and have a word with him? Do you think he’s the sort of person who’d take notice of that?’

Anoushka nodded, she thought Damon would hate being effectively “told off” by the police. And, fearful of antagonising him any further, it felt more palatable than going down the courts and prosecution route right now; she didn’t want something like that hanging over her. ‘I think I’d prefer it if your colleagues just had a word with him for now; he won’t like that at all,’ she’d said. ‘And if he turns up round here again, then I’ll think about taking legal proceedings.’

‘Fair enough.’ Uttering assurances that Damon would receive a visit from a York police officer that day, PC Snaith had left to take a statement from Zander.

After he’d gone, Anoushka had headed up to her bedroom and stretched out on her bed, her head thumping. The whole thing had left a horrible taste in her mouth. She’d texted Brogan and Kristy and shared what had happened with them, swearing them to secrecy. She’d been too tired to tell them everything in great detail, promising to do that later when she felt a bit more with it, but the pair turned up on Sunday morning armed with flowers and chocolates and words of concern.

‘Bloody hell, Noushka, you had a lucky escape there. Imagine if you’d moved in with him then found out all that. Makes my skin crawl just thinking about it,’ said Brogan, giving a theatrical shudder after hearing about his ex-wife.

---