Page 74 of A Secret Cornish Wish
‘No, it wasn’t like that. You just seemed to go off in a hurry, that’s all.’
‘Frankie,’ Claire says in a voice that makes her sound like her mother. ‘Unlike you, I have other people to think about in my life. I have a husband and a family who need me. When they call, I come, it’s as simple as that. We don’t all have the freedom you do to come and go as we please. You clearly like being single – perhaps it suits you, perhaps you aren’t cut out to have a family. But I am and they will always come first.’
Claire finishes her speech and stares at me – defiantly to begin with, but then her face softens and she looks immediately apologetic. She’s about to speak again when a voice behind her in the house calls out. ‘Claire, who’s at the door?’
Claire visibly stiffens.
‘No one, Jonathan. Go back to the television. I’ll be there in a minute to make the tea.’
‘You’d better go,’ she whispers.
‘Why?’ I ask, equally defiant. ‘What’s wrong with your friend calling on you?’
Jonathan clearly hasn’t listened to Claire. He appears behind her, also wearing nightwear with a dressing gown over the top.
‘Oh, it’s you,’ he says, seeing me. ‘I should have known.’
‘Jonathan,’ Claire says reproachfully. ‘Frankie was just worried about me because I left the pub without saying goodbye, that’s all. She’s going now I’ve told her everything is fine.’
Jonathan nods. ‘You didn’t bring that waste-of-space boyfriend of yours with you, did you?’ he asks, leaning past Claire to look out into the street. He squints as he spots Mack’s shadowy figure.
‘No,’ Claire says hurriedly. ‘That’s not Rob, that’s someone else.’
‘Dumped the movie star now, have you?’ Jonathan asks, grinning. ‘I’m not surprised.’
I stare hard at Jonathan. How have I never noticed what a loathsome man he is? Perhaps he’s been very good at hiding it.
‘Not that it’s any of your business,’ I reply calmly. ‘But Rob and I have not been together since we were at school.’ A lie of course, but what did it matter right now? What’s important is finding out if Claire is all right. ‘And if you don’t mind, I’ve come here to check on Claire. Not to listen to you insult my other friends.’
Jonathan glares at me. But I simply stare back at him. I’m not going to let this excuse of a man bully me. Because it’s becoming clearer by the minute that’s what he’s probably doing to Claire.
‘Claire, I think it’s time you came back in,’ he says, putting his hand across her so it rests on the door frame, his arm now a visible barrier between us. ‘I’m sure your friend has better things to do with her time than stand on our doorstep at night.’
I turn to Claire. But she simply looks beseechingly back at me. ‘Please go, Frankie,’ she says pleadingly. ‘It’s for the best. I’ll see you tomorrow at the funeral.’
‘That’s tomorrow?’ Jonathan asks. ‘Is it not bad enough that you abandoned your family to spend tonight in a public house with your friends, but you expect to do the same again tomorrow?’
‘Tomorrow is different,’ Claire says quietly. ‘It’s Mandy’s sister’s funeral. It’s hardly a day trip.’
‘We’ll see tomorrow,’ Jonathan says in a cold voice.
‘You can’t stop her going to a funeral,’ I blurt out. ‘That’s crazy. What do you think she’s going to do, run away with the undertaker?’
I hear Mack snort with laughter down the road. But Jonathan doesn’t find it quite as amusing. He steps forward in front of Claire and leans over me in a threatening manner, but only because he’s still standing on the step. I know Jonathan is no taller than I am.
‘Stay away from Claire,’ he says quietly but firmly. ‘Do you understand?’
‘Or what?’ I ask defiantly, folding my arms across my chest. I can feel myself shaking inside, but it’s more from rage than intimidation. ‘What will you do, Jonathan?’
‘You little bitch. Who do you think you are?’ He sneers and lunges towards me. As I swiftly sidestep his advance, he stumbles a few steps across the road, but he doesn’t fall. He turns and is about to come towards me again when someone steps in between us.
‘I don’t think so, fella,’ Mack says. Now Mackismuch taller than me, so he towers over Jonathan. Jonathan looks angrily up at him.
‘What business is this of yours?’ he snaps.
‘None of my business whatsoever,’ Mack says calmly. ‘But I never appreciate seeing men attack women – physically or otherwise.’ Mack glances at Claire. ‘Are you all right?’ he asks her gently. ‘Would you like me to call anyone for you? Anyone at all?’
Jonathan sees his moment and lunges at Mack, but Mack quickly administers what looks like a martial art move on him so Jonathan lands firmly on his back.
