AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Only that it was in Spain.’
‘Then I want to go back to the taverna, back to Eva and Jock. We can find a little place there and I can work and pretend like I’m just a normal person. Not a fugitive.’
‘If that’s what you want, baby, then that’s what we’ll do.’
I’d have preferred somewhere new, somewhere that they didn’t know to look, but for Esther, I’d do anything.
I just hoped Jock wouldn’t greet me with a shotgun this time.
FORTY-ONE
ESTHER
The sun warmed my face as we walked up the hill, Alec supporting Gladys on his arm. The bus had dropped us at the foot of the road, just like when I had arrived previously, but this time I wasn’t alone. Alec was there, supporting me every step of the way. Between Gladys’s company and our dotting about the country from bus to bus to avoid being trailed, never mind flying into France and travelling down into Spain, we’d barely had a moment alone together.
When I’d caught him looking at me as I changed out of my sweaty top and into a summer dress, with those intense blue eyes, it made my stomach fill with butterflies. After Harold had tried to force himself on me, Alec seemed reluctant to make any sort of sexual move. With the trauma we’d both suffered at seeing my dad shot, I was wary about opening up at first too. What if Harold found us and it ripped us apart all over again? My heart was as bruised as my face had been, and I’d needed time and distance from my world to feel free again.
I hoped it would last.
I hoped Maeve was okay.
I hoped Dad would recover.
Gladys had helped me realise that none of those things were mine to control, that I had to look forward as we didn’t know what would come in and change our lives at any one moment. She’d never expected to be on the run with her neighbour and his daughter-of-the-mafia girlfriend. Seeing her delight had pulled me from my deep funk, and though there were moments where I felt it trying to drag me back under, the levity of the trip through her eyes helped. So did the quiet reassurance from Alec, the way he looked at me like I was a treasure. The way he made me feel every day, like it had been worth it. Like I was worth it. His soft praise and his never-ending patience astounded me, made me see a whole new side of him than just the absolute sex-god I’d fallen for. He was so much more than my father’s enforcer, or the man sent to drag me home, or even than the man who knew how to make me come until I begged him to stop.
We were forming our own little tribe. I sincerely hoped Eva and Jock could be part of it too. I wouldn’t blame them at all if they told us to get lost after I brought so much chaos to their door.
The taverna came into view as we rounded the top of the hill, sweat clinging to my brow as I panted. I hoped I’d get used to the beastly walk up if we stayed.
Gladys let out a delighted whoop, startling some birds and making Alec laugh. Warmth encased me at the sight of them.
‘Oh Esther, it’s just as lovely as you said it was. I could go a cold gin too after that walk,’ Gladys said with a grin.
‘Last time they saw me, they blew a hole in their wall trying to kill me. I wouldn’t be counting on that gin just yet.’ Alec looked nervous, his eyes scanning the taverna.
‘It feels like home. Which is insane, seeing as I was there for such a brief time, but I do feel like I’m coming home.’ The taverna had been the first place I’d felt accepted without the last name I’d been birthed into or the money and respect that had always surrounded my family. The first place I could just be Esther. Well, Emily. But still.
I spotted Eva first, a smile breaking out as I waved sheepishly, hoping that she’d look just as pleased. Her eyes widened as she spotted me, her smile beaming as she made her way to me and pulled me into a crushing hug.
‘You came back!’ she said, her eyes tearing up as she held me at arm’s length, her eyes wetting at the corners.
‘I did. Is that okay?’ My stomach roiled.
‘More than okay. I’m thrilled to see you.’
Eva rounded on Alec, his arm still looped through Gladys’s. She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘I hope you’ve learned some lessons since your last visit.’
‘So many,’ he said, shifting from foot to foot under her gaze. ‘I’m sorry. For last time.’
‘Good. Then let’s say no more of it.’ Eva grasped my hands in hers. ‘Will you be staying?’
‘I hope so. There was an incident before we left and I’m hoping that they didn’t tie it to us?’
Eva frowned before nodding. ‘He was a wicked man, and there was no-one willing to fight on his behalf and bring the police into it. It’s done.’
I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that Alec wouldn’t be cuffed for killing my mugger.
‘We have some money and are hoping to find somewhere for Alec, Gladys and I.’ I smiled down at my stomach. ‘And the baby.’
