‘No. I was in pain all night.’ She rubs her ankle and makes a face.
‘Did you take the painkillers I left for you?’
‘Yep. Didn’t touch the sides.’ She sits back with her eyes closed and sighs.
I place a cup in front of her on the coffee table. ‘I don’t have to leave for another half an hour. I can help you get home,’ I say.
She opens her eyes. ‘Yes. Right.’ She sees the mug and takes a sip. ‘So…my only problem, and I really hate to be a bore, Kate, truly, but my bedroom is upstairs.’
‘Yes, I know.’
‘I just don’t see how I can go up and down those stairs all day. Not in this state.’ She looks down at her foot. ‘What if I fell?’
My brain is so fried that it takes me that long to realise what she’s asking. ‘You want to stay here again tonight?’
She makes a face. ‘Would that be all right?’ she says. ‘Just one more night,’ she adds quickly. ‘And I’ll make dinner for you both – if you don’t mind buying the ingredients?’
‘Well, I…’ I turn back to the coffee machine and fiddle with the knobs. I absolutely do not want her to stay. Not with Max in the garage, for Christ’s sake. I try to think. My plan was to return at lunchtime and unplug the freezer. Then I would drive him off the cliff around midnight tomorrow night.
‘I know I’m being a bore, Kate,’ she says behind me. ‘And I’m so, so sorry. I should never have worn those earbuds while running. But then, if Holly…’
I turn around. ‘What?’
‘If Holly is very upset about me staying here…’
For a moment, I was sure she was going to say, ‘If Holly hadn’t driven into me.’ I need to calm down. She’s actually being really nice about it all. And she’s right: she can’t be traipsing up and down the stairs in her horrible house. What difference is another day?
I’ll have to get a lock for the freezer. I wonder if such things exist? Surely they do.
‘Of course you can stay another night,’ I say on an outbreath. ‘That’s no problem.’
‘Thank you. Thank you so much. I was dreading going home. You’ve seen my place…’
‘I understand,’ I say. ‘And anyway, it’s the least I can do. You’ve been so great about everything.’ I check my watch. ‘I’ll go and check on Holly.’
Holly is getting ready for school. She looks as bad as I feel, and I wonder if she slept at all. When I explain the situation, she looks at me with alarm.
‘So she’s going to stay here another night?’
‘She can’t go up and down the stairs at her house. It’s really impractical. Her bedroom is upstairs; her kitchen andbathrooms are downstairs. Come on, Holly. It’s just one more day.’
Her bottom lip quivers. ‘But what about…?’ she whispers.
‘I’ll take care of it in a couple of days,’ I say quickly. ‘I can’t do anything about it today anyway.’
‘But tonight?’
‘Not tonight, no.’
‘Tomorrow night?’
‘I said I’ll take care of it, okay? Please stop asking.’
But I detect a note of panic in her eyes, like she’s not sure I’m up to the task after all.
When I return downstairs, Teri has gone back to bed. I rummage through the kitchen drawer until I find a tube of superglue. In the garage, I lift the freezer lid by a hair. I don’t even bother to take off the cans of paint. I squeeze a little superglue in the gap, then press the lid down.
I have no idea if this is even going to work. Or if I’ll be able to open it again.
