‘He said he was sad but he understood. And he wished uswell.’
I frowned. ‘Do you believe him?’
‘Yes, I think so. I reallywantto believe him.’ Shesighs. ‘I think maybe we should just...’
‘Just what?’
She took a slug of tea, put down her mug and sat upstraight. ‘We should go home. I’ve got to be brave, haven’t I? For Poppy’ssake. I can’t live my life in fear, always looking over my shoulder.’
I nodded warily. ‘Maybe. But remember, if Darren threatensyou again, you can take legal action against him to make him stay away. I’vebeen reading about it online.’
‘Oh, I couldn’t face him in court, Kenzie.’ She looked trulyappalled at the thought.
‘You wouldn’t have to, love. You can tell your story viavideo or even a telephone call.’
She shook her head. ‘He won’t do anything else. I’m sure ofit. He knows we reported him to the police. He won’t risk any more trouble,surely.’
‘Hopefully not.’
‘No, we should definitely go home. It would be far betterfor Poppy if she was back in her normal routine. I don’t want to keep her offschool any longer.’
‘But are you up to facing Darren? Will you give him hismarching orders at the door if he comes back?’
She nods. ‘He’s gone on his business trip to Brussels afterall and he’s away until the weekend. So I’ve got till Saturday to preparemyself.’
I still wasn’t sure it was the right thing to do. But it wasRachel’s decision. And she was right. She couldn’t live her life in fear.
‘It’s better for Poppy,’ she repeated, seeing my doubt. ‘Andthat’s all I care about right now.’
‘Okay.’ I felt more than a little uneasy at the thought of themreturning to the house, but Rachel was right. Poppy needed a routine and theycouldn’t hide from Darren forever. I consoled myself with the thought that heknew we’d got the police involved.
Maybe he would stay away from now on.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
Things were quiet when we arrived back home. The firsttwo nights, I stayed over at Rachel’s and worked from her house, and it startedto snow, which pleased Poppy no end.
With Darren away, the atmosphere was so much more relaxedand we made up for lost time, enjoying each other’s company with take-out fromthe local fish and chip shop and an evening of hilarity, playing Poppy’sfavourite games. (I brought over my old Twister set, which proved to be thebiggest laugh of all.)
I was still worried Rachel might be in communication withDarren, but when I asked her, she swore to me that she had no intention ofgoing back on her decision. She had to be strong for Poppy. Her eyes mistedover when she mentioned her daughter and I relaxed, feeling certain we were finallyrid of Darren. He surely wouldn’t dare come back here on his return from Brusselson Saturday? He must know he’d be unwelcome, to say the least.
I felt so relaxed, that on the Tuesday night, as we weresitting having dinner, I mentioned that I thought I’d better go in to work thenext day.
Rachel nodded. ‘Good idea. You’ve probably got a lot of –’
‘Auntie Enzie, no, you have to stay here with us!’ Poppy hadstopped eating and was staring at me in horror, tears in her eyes. ‘You saidyou were going to bake biscuits with me and help me build a snowman.’
‘Oh, we can still do those things when I get back,’ I saidquickly.
Rachel nodded. ‘How aboutIhelp you build asnowman?’
But Poppy started crying and seemed inconsolable, and it wasonly after she was tucked up in bed, enjoying a story from each of us that shestarted to smile again.
‘Kids,’ murmured Rachel affectionately, as we peeked intoher room later and watched her sleeping, Barney Bear tucked under her arm. Eversince we ran away from Darren, she seemed to have discarded Jemima in favour ofBarney. ‘She must be exhausted.’
I nodded. ‘And I suppose she’s got used to the three of usbeing together.’
‘She’ll be fine after a good night’s sleep.’
