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And miraculously, my favourite of the watercolours was among the few that hadn’t gone up in flames.
It was called ‘Hellebore’.
*****
Next morning, I woke up at Janey’s and over a gloomy breakfast, Lance said we all needed some fresh air and he suggested we take a walk up to Tumbling Dell Waterfall, a short drive away.
I nodded. ‘Great idea.’ The last thing I wanted to do was return to the scene of the fire. Not yet. A walk would blow away the cobwebs and give me time to think about what had happened.
So we hiked up the steep path to the waterfall, and stood at the top admiring the view and breathing in the glorious fresh air.
There was a narrow ledge at the top of the gushing falls, and Lance dared Janey to slither down the bank and stand on it beside him. She refused, laughing, so he went down therehimself and stood there, holding his face up to the spray and accusing us of being chicken.
‘Idiot,’ grinned Janey. ‘Look, are you going to be okay, Rori?’
‘I’ll be fine. I’ll have to go back and talk to Nash. I just want to know how it happened, you know? The fire.’
She nodded. ‘Well, as long as you don’t let Nash persuade you to go back to him.’
‘No, I won’t. This is the start of my new life.’ I grinned. ‘And to prove how brave I am, I’m going to join Lance on that ledge.’
‘No, you’re not,’ she squeaked.
‘Yes, I am. Move over, Lance, and make room for me!’
I scrambled down the little bank, feeling very daring, and joined him on the ledge. It was quite scary because it was slippery with moss and much narrower than it looked from above.
Lance grinned and took my hand and held my arm up in the air in a gesture of triumph, and I laughed and thanked him for the walk because it was just what I needed.
‘I’m glad you’ve left him,’ he murmured. ‘He wasn’t good for you.’
I nodded. ‘I know. I’m glad, too, Lance. I should have left long ago.’
‘Well, you’re here now. And you’refree!How great is that?’
I smiled. ‘I wish Nash was more like you. You never get angry.’
He laughed. ‘You haven’t seen me when Janey leaves the top off the toothpaste.’
‘Don’t believe him,’ called Janey, who was now scrambling down the bank to join us. ‘He’s an absolute sweetie all of the time.’
‘Aw, shucks.’ Lance gave a modest grin and we all laughed.
And I thanked my lucky stars I’d had these two on my side at just the right moment, when the going got really tough...
*****
I’d planned to leave Nash before the fire happened. But in the chaos of the clear-up and the problem of where I was going to live, I let Nash persuade me to stay at his until the tenants vacated my own house.
It seemed the obvious solution and I knew he’d be on his best behaviour, for a while at any rate. He must have been really scared I was going to leave this time because it was a good few months before he let down his guard and exploded with rage at me again.
And that’s when I ran, packing a bag and fleeing one night to take refuge at my lovely Auntie Christine’s.
Nash and I were finally over . . .
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
It was the night of my date at the fairground with Kurt, and when I ran downstairs and got into his car, the first thing he said was, ‘Are you okay? No more intruders in your back garden?’
