Page 108 of A Year at Appleyard Farm
‘I thought you’d gone,’ she said, her eyes wide with panic.
‘No,’ said Stephen with a soft smile. ‘I’m still here. You said you wanted to be left alone, that was all.’
‘Did I?’ she replied, ‘I don’t remember.’
Another smile. ‘You did. You were quite clear.’
Laura pressed her lips together. ‘Oh…I was worried that you’d gone, as in completely gone.’
‘Well, I thought about it…but I hazarded a guess you didn’t mean for me to leave you alone forever and, as you didn’t actually throw me out, I thought I’d stay. There is still time to throw me out of course.’
She nodded slightly, not knowing what to say. She should apologise she knew that, but she couldn’t quite find the right words.
Stephen shuffled imperceptibly sideways on the bench. ‘Perhaps you should come and sit down while you think about it,’ he said. ‘It’s quite nice and warm here in the sun.’
Boris lifted his head as if to make room for her too. There really was nothing else she could do, so she edged onto the seat, keeping her knees pressed together.
‘You should close your eyes for a bit; stretch out,’ said Stephen, releasing his legs out from under the bench again. He laid his head back against the wall. ‘It’s such a beautiful day.’
Laura did as she was told. The gentle heat was soothing, and she could feel her tension begin to slide away. After a few minutes, she felt Stephen’s fingers brush against her own. She opened her eyes to find him looking at her.
‘Would you possibly do something for me?’ he asked. ‘In return for my being such an obedient soul.’
She nodded. ‘I might.’
‘Sit here quietly – quietly mind – without interrupting, while I try to explain what I attempted to a few minutes ago. Only this time I’m going to do it as I originally intended; without upsetting you, or giving you the impression that I don’t believe you, or, God forbid, that I pity you.’
Laura’s stomach gave a lurch, but she nodded again, her mouth firmly closed.
‘I feel really awful about yesterday,’ began Stephen. ‘I was furious with the way you were treated by those two policemen, and I think I lost sight of the reason we were there, ironically the same thing I accused them of. I was so determined to prove a point to them…and if I’m honest…well, I wanted to score a few brownie points with you too. That’s my innate macho arrogance getting the better of me I’m afraid.’ He rubbed a finger along a furrow in his brow. ‘When we came back outside, it felt like we’d scored a victory, and I never gave much thought to the consequences of our visit – because to me you were never anything other than one hundred per cent certain of Giles’ guilt, and therefore so was I. It never even occurred to me that the police would find differently, and, if they did, how difficult this would be for you. And now I don’t know what to say, because theydon’tbelieve Giles is guilty, and youdofeel awful, and that’s probably all my fault.’
Laura looked down at her hands in her lap, and those of Stephen lying inches away from her own. Slowly, she moved one hand to cover his.
‘I’m sorry too,’ she said. ‘Just not half as eloquently as you. But, I am very grateful you’re still here, and that I haven’t managed to frighten you off completely, despite my best efforts. I’m just not sure how to say the rest of it.’
‘Well, how about if I say that I think I already understand, and we’ll work the rest out as we go along. How does that sound?’
Laura grinned. ‘Much better than anything that will come out of my mouth…’
Stephen returned the smile. ‘Right, well, are we going to sit here all day or are we going to see Blanche?’
Laura stared incredulously at Stephen for the second time that day. ‘You’re actually still going to come with me?’ she asked, ‘After the way I’ve behaved?’
‘I know, sometimes I surprise myself. I thought I would have shouted a few profanities by now and gone down the pub. Instead, I find myself still here which is pretty impressive given my poor track record in being a kind and compassionate human being. Funny old world, isn’t it?’
The heat was rising to her cheeks again, but this time not in anger. She looked at Stephen’s easy smile. ‘I’ll get my coat, shall I?’
* * *
The journey to the hospital was silent for both of them, which was fine by Stephen. It gave him time to analyse the whole new barrage of thoughts that were swirling around his brain. Laura wasn’t so much complicated as like a tangled ball of string. He wondered idly if he would ever be able to unpick all the knots, or indeed why he would want to, which was the strangest thing.
He had felt genuinely shocked at the news the police had given him. He honestly had not given a thought to Giles’s supposed guilt or not. He had believed that it was simply a matter of letting time take its course before the inevitable arrest came; but now he felt more confused than ever. He didn’t doubt Laura’s certainty for a second, but he could see clearly how now, more than ever, that her previous dealings with the Drummond family stood every chance of being dragged up again, and that thought worried him a great deal. There was still the matter of a serious unsolved crime of course, and as furtive glances at Laura in the car had confirmed, she was still distraught at what had happened to her friend.
It wasn’t only concern for Blanche of course. For Laura, the trip to the hospital was taking her right back to a time she had fought hard to forget. It was bound up in tortured memories of her husband teetering on the edge of life, unable to respond to her, leaving Laura unsure whether her final words to him had even been heard. He had learned the story from Freya; how David had clung to life for two long days, the medical staff doing everything they could to heal his broken body, even though his death had been all but guaranteed from the moment he had been brought into hospital. Without her hearing to help her, Laura had missed so much of what had been going on, and had had to fight for every scrap of information she could get. It must have been a hellish void. He risked another glance at her, determined that if she needed support, he would provide it. Just so long as she actually wanted it of course…
The walk up to the orthopaedic ward seemed to take forever, and Stephen willed every turn of the corridor to lead them to their destination. Laura was palpably tense, and more than anything he longed to take her hand, but her closed body language shouteddon’t touch melouder than words ever could. He too was beginning to get a little nervous about what they might find when they entered the ward.
In the end, he need not have worried. They eventually found Blanche at the end of a small bay, tucked into the corner under a huge window and beaming at a vivacious blonde who sat beside her bed. He hovered for a moment, unsure what to do for Laura’s sake, until Blanche’s visitor caught sight of them and got up immediately, a welcome smile on her face.
