Page 47 of Wish You Knew
“Hello?” I called. “Come in!”
Vivian appeared in the open doorway, hands on her hips. Even at this hour, she was already dressed, hair and make-up immaculate. Then I realised the hour was close to one in the afternoon, so I shouldn’t have been at all surprised.
“Any plans for today?”
Given what Declan had sent me, I wanted to get more of this song down, but I sensed holing up in the cellar wouldn’t be the right thing to do.
“I was thinking of taking Rosie out for the afternoon, get some dinner somewhere. Did you want to join us?” I started to throw back the duvet.
“Rosie’s not here, Scott.” Vivian placed a hand on her hip.
“Oh, did she go into the village again?”
“She left this morning to go back to London.”
The thudding in my head which had receded a little came back with vengeance. “She did what?”
“Are you really surprised? After the way you spoke to her last night?”
“I might have had too much to drink.” I hung my head.
“Not an excuse, Scott.” The way Vivian used my name reminded me of how my mother used to speak to me as a child, normally when I’d done something wrong. Although what I’d done wrong this time was about a million times worse than breaking my great grandmother’s precious vase.
I leaped out of the bed.
Vivian shrieked and covered her eyes. “You have to stop doing that! Can you at least wear underwear?”
“Sorry.” I grabbed a towel from the chair and wrapped it around my waist. “What time did Rosie leave?”
“I’d give her some time before you go after her. And make sure you know exactly what you want out of it. Don’t lead her on, Scott.” She turned to leave. “Don’t do anything you’ll regret later.”
Ha. I’d already done that.
After she’d gone, I picked up my phone again. Finding Saff’s number, I called her.
“What the hell have you done to Rosie?” she answered without bothering to say hello.
I rubbed my forehead, wincing at her tone. “I got drunk last night and…”
“Last night? I haven’t spoken to her since yesterday afternoon when she told me she was staying with you at some family place in the country.”
A small wave of relief swept over me. Saff didn’t know about last night’s episode. Not yet, in any case.
“You know she saw Mark again? And that’s why she was with me.”
“Mark? Who’s Mark?” I could hear the confusion. “She’s never mentioned anyone called Mark.”
I fell silent. Was it possible Saff wasn’t aware what her best friend had been through? Twice? Now I questioned whether it was my place to tell her. If I did, I was breaking Rosie’s confidence. Any remaining speck of trust she may have had in me would be blown apart in seconds. I couldn’t do that.
“You’ll need to ask her, Saff. It’s not my business to tell you.”
“Whatever it was, it was bad enough that she had to come to you instead of me.” Saff blew out a breath. “Can you put her on the phone?”
“I wish I could, but she’s not here right now.”
“Then get her to call me when she’s out of the shower or whatever.”
“No, I mean she really isn’t here. She’s probably back in London by now.”
