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‘Mary, people around here listen to what you have to say and I know Mum does too,’ I persist. ‘Do you think you could sit her down and talk to her on her own? This so-called relationship is a disaster waiting to happen, and I know deep down you can see that.’
Mary shakes her head firmly. ‘I don’t think so, no.’
‘But it’s not right, is it? He can’t be trusted.’
She raises an eyebrow. ‘Paul mentioned that before he moved in, you were apparently sedating her with sleeping tablets.’
I tense up. ‘What?’
‘He told me he found several packets of prescription tablets in your name in the house. He can only assume you were giving them to Gwen.’
Damn it. I thought I’d removed them all but I must have left one behind. I must defend myself. ‘They were to keep her safe. You know that she goes wandering at night. What else has he told you?’
‘He said he once caught you yelling at Gwen for falling over. She was on the floor, cowering, while you screamed in her face.’
‘That’s not true.’
‘I’ve seen the video.’
‘What video?’
‘Paul took it shortly before he had to intervene.’
Now I remember him slipping the phone back in his pocket before he offered to help pick her up. I didn’t think for one moment that he’d been recording us. ‘She lost her balance and fell,’ I protest. ‘I was trying to help her back up when she attacked me.’
‘He says that you have a grudge against him because he has a connection with Gwen and not you. That you’re trying to sabotage their relationship.’
‘Mary, please listen to yourself. Are you really taking his word over mine?’
‘The evidence speaks for itself, doesn’t it? He and Gwen made several attempts to tell you they were going on a trip to Clacton-on-Sea, but you told the police he’d kidnapped her.’
‘That’s not evidence!’
‘What about her cash cards? Paul says you’ve been spending it in fancy supermarkets and on massages.’
‘Well yes, but not in the way he’s making it out. It was for one meal, thathe ate. It wasn’t a massage, it was to see an osteopath ... Oh, it doesn’t matter. He’s twisting the truth to suit himself.’
‘Paul says there have been large amounts withdrawn in the last few days ... hundreds of pounds at a time.’
I’m close to shouting my responses now, as she just isn’t listening. ‘Well not by me.’
‘He showed me the statements on his phone. Clothes bought at a woman’s boutique in town, spa day vouchers, even a car purchased in Italy in somewhere called ... what was it now ... Mongibello.’
‘That place doesn’t even exist! He’s making this all up and you’re falling for it!’
‘How could you do that, Connie?’
Mary’s husband Joe appears behind her at the kitchen door. As soon as he spots me, he backs away, hoping not to have been seen.
I shake my head, exasperated. ‘And you, Joe. I thought better of you,’ I say and turn to leave. ‘You’re mugs.’
My hands are trembling as I head back up the street, digesting all I’ve been accused of. Paul has deliberately targeted the village gossip in the hope – or expectation – that she has spread this far and wide. What must everyone else think of me? Clearly it’s not enoughfor him to only separate us, because now he wants to ostracise me from my own community. And why does no one but me care that they’re in a relationship? Has the world become so damn woke that people are too scared to stand up and say what’s right and wrong?
I open the banking app on my phone and try to log in to the account in question, to see if there’s any truth at all in what Paul’s told Mary. However, each of my three attempts fail and it locks me out for twenty-four hours. I make my way to the supermarket and slip Gwen’s card in the cash machine to check the balance, but the display screen tells me it won’t be returning my card and to ‘contact my service provider for further assistance’.
This is Paul’s doing. He has cut off all my access to her accounts.
Once again, he has the upper hand. And I have never felt more alone.
