She tries to sit. ‘Much better, thank you.’
‘Well, that’s a relief,’ I say, genuinely. ‘Do you think you can walk on it?’
‘I think so…’ She pushes against the arm of the sofa to stand, then cries out in pain. ‘Ouch!’
‘Whoa, sit back down.’
She falls back on the sofa. ‘Oh, God, that hurts.’
‘Here. Put your foot back on that cushion.’ I pick up her leg, set it down and check her ankle before putting the ice pack back on. ‘You’re sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?’
‘God, no. I’ve had sprains before. Also…’ She looks up.
I frown. ‘Also what?’
‘They’ll want to know how it happened,’ she says softly. ‘And if I tell them, they might have to report it.’
‘Report what?’
‘About…you know…the acc?—’
‘But you don’t have to tell them about that.’
She tilts her head at me.
‘I’m not saying youshouldn’ttell them…’ Aren’t I? ‘I mean, there’s any number of ways you can sprain your ankle. The important thing is for you to get an X-ray.’
‘Yes,’ she says, nodding quickly. ‘But don’t worry. I don’t need an X-ray. I’ve twisted my ankle before; I know what it feels like. I just need to rest for a bit longer, and I’ll be fine.’
‘Well. You can rest here as long as you like,’ I say, glancing at my watch. Quarter to six. Plenty of time for Teri to recover, surely. And I can help her get home.
But then she says, ‘It’s just such a shame that my bedroom is upstairs…with all those stairs…’ She leans forward to touch her ankle and winces. ‘Could I be a total, total pain,’ she begins, eyes like a puppy, ‘and sleep on this sofa tonight? It’s just that I don’t know how I’m going to get up and down those stairs…’
I rub my forehead. I feel a migraine coming on. ‘Erm…’
My heart is racing. I was going to get rid of Max tonight. Except Holly wasn’t supposed to be here. She was supposed tobe at Scarlett’s. That’s until they decided to get into a car and go on a joyride. For Christ’s sake.
Which means I can’t do anything tonight anyway. And I can hardly throw Teri out when she’s been so nice about it all. I think of all the drab, dusty furniture in her house, including the sofa, which looked like it would poke you with bits of springs sticking through the fabric if you dared lie on it.
‘Of course. And you don’t need to sleep on the sofa. We have a guest bedroom down here. There’s a bathroom next to it.’
‘That would be so good, Kate. But will Holly be okay with me staying here tonight?’
The truth is, I have no idea. But at this point, I am so angry with her, I really don’t care. ‘Why wouldn’t she be?’
‘Okay, well…’ She rearranges herself, wincing again. ‘If you insist, then I won’t say no.’ And I’m thinking,wait, didn’tyoujust ask to stay?
I give her a smile. A forced one. ‘Good. Then it’s settled.’ I check my watch. Still quarter to six. ‘We may as well have an early dinner. I’ll go and check on Holly, then I’ll get something ready.’ Then I make a beeline for the door to the utility room.
‘Isn’t Holly upstairs?’ she asks.
‘I just need to check something in the garage,’ I reply.
I get in there, close the door behind me and lean against it. I can’t believe all this is happening. Maybe it’s all a bad dream.
But I don’t think so.
I quickly check that everything I put on top is the way I left it. It looks just the same. I don’t know what I expected. Presumably, had Teri opened the freezer for whatever reason, she would be at the police station screaming right now.
