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‘What is?’
‘They way mum’s been behaving. Look, Dad’s been working away, and one night I was woken up by a sound of a car. I thought it was Dad, back from London. But when I looked out of the window, I saw Mum backing the car out of the garage.’
‘She left you two alone?’
Toby sighed. ‘We are thirteen.’
Thea didn’t know at what age you should leave children home alone. She guessed that was down to the parent to decide. ‘Perhaps she just needed to pop to the shop for something.’
‘At midnight? It’s not London, you know. There’s bugger all out here.’
‘Language, please, Toby.’
‘Sorry.’
Thea regarded him for a long moment. Perhaps Jenna had just been unable to sleep and had needed to go out for a drive to clear her head. She told Toby her thoughts.
‘Yeah, okay, but it wasn’t just a one-off.’
Thea knew that Jenna had a lot on her mind, what with the baby, the financial issues, and Mark returning to work during the week in London. It was little wonder she couldn’t sleep, and was going for late-night drives. But Toby wasn’t aware that his mum was pregnant, and Thea couldn’t tell him.
‘It had crossed my mind that she was just going out for a drive. I mean, Mum and Dad are, like, rowing a lot when he’s home. I’m actually glad he’s working away now. At least I don’t have to listen to them shouting all the time.’
Thea pursed her lips. Although she loved her job, and was happy in her flat, there were times when she did feel envious about her sister’s life – especially when she had moved out of London with Mark and the kids and had bought the farmhouse. But she didn’t envy them right now.
‘Anyway, one day I decided to find out where she was going.’
Thea sighed. ‘Like I said, she was probably just going for a drive. And anyway, how on earth did you follow her?’
‘Easy, I hitched a ride in the car.’
‘How – without her noticing?’
‘She doesn’t lock the car when it’s in the garage. So, when she thought I was in bed asleep, I stole down to the garage and hunkered down in the boot behind the back seat.’
Thea could see how that could work. Toby wasn’t very tall, and they drove a hatchback. ‘Where did she go?’
‘She went to the bookshop.’
Thea sighed. Of course. She had the key, after all. It was the perfect place for Jenna to clear her head. It occurred to Thea that her sister could have gone there during the day. But whatever she was going through just then, if she was having trouble sleeping, and she needed to get out of the house, it made sense she’d go to the bookshop for somewhere for a change of scene; somewhere calm.
She looked at Toby. ‘You know, there’s nothing to worry about.’
‘Isn’t there? Because when I followed her down the lane into Cobblers Yard, I saw that she was meeting someone there.’
‘What? Are you sure?’
‘I saw a guy waiting for her outside the bookshop.’
Chapter 37
Callum was about to turn the van around in a small car park by the beach. He was intending to cruise slowly back down the high street and see if could spot the turn-off for Cobblers Yard. So far, apart from the side streets leading to the promenade, he’d seen no indication of a side street that led to a pedestrianised yard with more shops. Callum realised he was assuming he could drive the van into Cobblers Yard.
‘I think I would be better off walking down the high street,’ said Callum to Dickens, who had re-joined him in the front, having got over whatever huffy mood he was in.
Dickens let out a stilted meow.
Callum smiled. ‘Yes, I think it’s a good idea too.’ He pulled into the car park and discovered it was free to park after six in the evening. ‘Perfect.’ Of course, he expected that he couldn’t park there overnight, but he decided he’d deal with one problem at a time. First, he wanted to find the bookshop.
