Page 85 of One Left Alive
‘If you have bacon then yes, please.’
They drove back to Ben’s. The house was much nicer in the day. She followed him in through the front door and looked around. It was lovely; everything was painted white. If anything, it was a bit sparse, lacking in the bits that would make this kind of house seem homely. Then again, who was she to talk? All she owned was an oversized chair, coffee table and a bookcase stuffed full of books. She followed him down to the kitchen, where the boarded-up window made her cheeks turn red.
‘I’m so sorry, I’ll replace that when I get paid.’
He turned from the fridge, from where he had taken the packet of bacon. ‘No, you won’t. If I hadn’t been such an arse and opened the door you wouldn’t have felt the need to break it. It’s fine, when I get a day off I’ll sort it out.’
He busied himself grilling bacon and frying eggs. Toasting thick wedges of tiger bread, he served her the best-looking breakfast buttie she’d ever seen. She squeezed ketchup on it and took a bite, egg running down her chin. Ben laughed and passed her some kitchen roll.
‘I guess you’re hungry.’
She nodded. ‘Starving. I love food, especially when it’s this good.’
He smiled, a faint blush rising up his cheeks. Making a pot of coffee, he placed it on the table and sat opposite her.
‘This is nice, I’ve forgotten how good it is to have company. Makes this house seem a bit more alive.’
‘Have you ever thought about moving into something smaller? It’s a big house for one person.’
‘Yes, quite a few times. I was thinking about your flat, it’s nice. Something like that would be great for me, but—’
‘But?’
He poured the coffee and took a sip from his mug.
‘But, I love this house. We loved it; as soon as we set eyes on it we knew we wanted to live here. Wanted to raise our children here.’
‘That’s so sad, I’m sorry.’
‘Life doesn’t always work out how you want it to. It’s no one’s fault, it’s just the way it is. Cindy couldn’t conceive. We tried, God knows we tried. Then I moved to CID and began to work longer hours, deal with the terrible things we deal with. I realised that maybe it wasn’t a bad thing we didn’t have kids. I wasn’t always around; Cindy didn’t feel that way though. It drove her mad. I guess it broke her heart and I didn’t notice until it was too late.’
Tears filled Morgan’s eyes for Ben and Cindy, and for her own life. The similarities between Cindy and her mum were overwhelming. At least her mum had managed to have her, poor Cindy. His hand reached across the table, taking hold of hers.
‘Don’t cry, it’s my mess of a life. I didn’t want to upset you. I’ve never really spoken much about it except to Declan.’
She dabbed the corners of her eyes with a piece of the kitchen roll. ‘I’m sorry, it’s just that Cindy sounds very much like my mum; they were both good women with troubles that took away their passion for living.’ She squeezed his hand back. ‘Life goes on though, doesn’t it? It has to; look at the difference you make.’
Letting go, she took a gulp from her mug. She was in uncharted territory. All of this was new to her, and she didn’t know what she was doing.
One thing she did know was that she liked Ben Matthews even more the longer she spent in his company.
Fifty-Three
Ben knew he had to get a search warrant for that lock-up no matter what, so as soon as they arrived at the station he went to find the DCI. Knocking on his door, he walked straight in without waiting to be called.
‘Morning, sir.’
‘Ben, what delightful situations have you got lined up for me today?’
He smiled and Ben felt a small sense of relief wash over him; he wasn’t too mad at him. That was a good start.
‘It’s about Gregory Barker.’
The smile disappeared from his face.
‘That man’s name gives me heartburn; I wish we didn’t have to keep bringing him up.’
‘Sorry, but new information has come to light. He was seen acting suspiciously last night and followed by one of my officers to a lock-up on the Honey Pot.’
