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His stable at the rear of Oak Tree Cottage had already been demolished during her brief absence, and its timbers cut up for firewood. While the field where he'd grazed had been bought by a neighbouring farmer and ploughed for barley.
She'd been here, on this same spot, leaning on the fence, staring at the dark furrows and crying when Nick had found her.
'Cally.' His hands had been gentle on her shoulders, turning her to face him. 'What is it? Is your grandfather worse?'
'No. The doctors say he'll make a full recovery.' Her face was blurred and swollen with tears. 'But—he sold Baz while I was away. Got rid of him to some awful riding school in the North and never told me. He says that money's tight and we have to make savings.'
He was silent for a moment, then he said quietly, 'If you want to ride, you can use one of my horses.'
She shook her head. 'It's not that. You see, I've known Baz all my life—and he's just—gone. I can't believe it. I'm going to miss him so much.'
He'd said nothing more, she remembered. Simply drawn her close and held her. It was the first time he'd ever taken her into his arms, and she'd sobbed all down the front of his shirt. A child needing comfort rather than the woman she'd wanted to be.
She wondered suddenly if Nick remembered too, but knew she was being ridiculous. He was only interested in his own private vengeance. And besides, it all seemed such a long time ago.
She crossed the lane and unlatched one of the wrought-iron gates. It opened with a screech of rust. The path to the house was barely visible amid the weeds and coarse grass that flanked it.
And when she'd fought her way through the encroaching brambles there was little to see. Just the same sad pile of fire blackened stones, from which she and her grandfather had escaped with nothing but their lives, she thought, shuddering.
She turned abruptly to go, and nearly cannoned into Nick, who had come quietly up the path behind her.
'Seen enough?' His hands descended on her shoulders, steadying her.
'It's still a ruin.' She freed herself, stepping backwards. 'I— I thought the whole place would have been cleared by now.'
'It's your ruin, Cally. The site belongs to you, and it's for you to say what should happen to it.' He paused. 'I thought you might want to rebuild. Provide yourself with a sanctuary for the future, when our marriage has finally ended.'
'No, thank you,' she returned coolly. 'I plan to be a long way off then.' She glanced back at the fallen walls and gaping window frames. 'Too many bad memories here.'
'And not just for you,' he said abruptly, looking past her. 'Thank God I was driving past that night, and realised what was happening.'
'You took a terrible risk.' Her voice shook slightly. 'But I'd never have got my grandfather out without you.'
'What woke you?' he asked. 'Did you ever remember?'
She looked down at a broken flagstone. ‘I wasn't asleep. I was sitting on the window seat in my bedroom, thinking of you. Remembering how angry Grandfather had been when he saw you from his couch by the window, comforting me over Baz.
'Like father, like son.' He sounded so bitter. 'Anything in a skirt. Keep out of his way, Cally, do you hear? He's no good for you. No good at all.'
And I said. 'Yes, if that's what you want,' because I knew that anger was bad for him, and he needed to stay quiet and rest.
Aloud, she said flippantly, 'My guardian angel, I suppose. Who now seems to have deserted me.'
It had all seemed totally surreal, she thought, standing outside in the darkness as the fire service had fought the flames. As if she was looking at a medieval painting of an inferno. She
still couldn't believe how quickly the fire had taken its hold. The heat had been intense, and the stench...
There'd been a sickening roar as the roof collapsed, and Nick had turned her in his arms, pressing her face against his shoulder so that she couldn't see how swift and overwhelming the destruction was.
"The ambulance is just leaving with your grandfather,' he'd whispered. "There's nothing we can do here, so let me drive you to the hospital.'
And she'd nodded numbly, and allowed him to lead her away.
At the time she'd been too thankful to question what he'd been doing in the locality at that time of night. How he'd happened to be driving by. It was only much later that she'd realised Vanessa Layton's cottage also lay on the bottom road.
'A smoke detector might be more reliable than an angel another time.' Nick's dry tone forced Cally back into the painful present.
'I'm sure you're right.' She shook her head. 'I suppose I always knew the wiring was old and needed attention, but I didn't realise we were sitting on a time bomb.' She paused. 'Or that we had no insurance. It was quite a shock to find that we were homeless and penniless too.'
