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I stood up. ‘Calm down, Skye. I can’t imagine a picture of you coming out of a shop with a friend is going to have the world’s tongues wagging.’
‘But you don’t understand, Rori,’ she wailed. ‘It was theparticular shopand the things we’d just bought!’
‘Go on.’ I studied her nervously. It must be something bad to make Skye lose her cool like this. She was actually trembling.
‘Marie’s sister’s getting married and she’s organising her hen party. So we went and looked at all sorts of sexy toys and underwear... that kind of thing.’
‘Right.’ I knew the shop she was talking about. ‘And?’
‘Well, when we came out, we were laughing about which...object...would be the most, erm,satisfying... sizing them up, you know? And then out pops the slimeball of the century, that bloody Gerry Jackson, and takesthe shot.’
‘Ah.’ I glanced over at Milo, who was hanging on Skye’s every word.
‘The upshot being, tomorrow I’ll be pictured in the paper getting all excited over an unfeasibly large and very pink dildo.’
‘If he’s a freelance photographer, he might not be able to sell it,’ pointed out Milo, who I could tell was trying hard not to smile.
‘That’s true, Milo. Very true.’ I pounced on this sliver of possible comfort. ‘Anyway, let’s get you inside. Do you really think he knows where you’re living?’
Even as I was asking her the question, I was remembering the figure with the backpack and the baseball cap, smoking on the village green. Was that Gerry Jackson staking out the flat? Had he then followed Skye on the train into Guildford?
‘He knows, the scumbag,’ she replied dully. ‘I can’t believe he tracked me down so fast. It’s a record, even forhim!’
I said a quick goodbye to Milo and hustled Skye up the stairs to the flat, where she flaked out on the sofa and declared she was giving up acting for good this time... either that or she was going to have major surgery so people like Greasy Ger wouldn’t be able to recognise her...
I told her that might be a little extreme and suggested that maybe she should think about living somewhere else in the light of what had happened that day?
She nodded. ‘I thought about that. Marie offered to let me stay at hers but she’s just got a tiny one-bed flat and her boyfriend’s always there. It would be awkward.’
‘So... um... why not go and stay with Ada and Blossom for a while?’ I muttered, stating the obvious but already bracing myself for the storm that would surely follow this suggestion.
But to my surprise, she gave a resigned sigh. ‘I guess I’ll have to. If I want to shake him off. Otherwise, I’ll be a prisoner here.’
*****
Later, Skye borrowed a case and packed her things, and I drove her over to Ada’s house.
I called in and Blossom made some coffee and chatted away about her gardening blog, while Skye leaned out of the window and smoked a cigarette.
‘You’d better not let Ada catch you doing that,’ I warned her.
She flicked her eyes to the ceiling but said nothing, and Blossom and I exchanged a grin.
‘Good luck,’ I said to Skye as I was leaving. ‘And try to behave yourself.’
‘Don’t worry. I will. And if you see Gerry Jackson, tell him I’m living in Aberdeen now. That should throw him off the scent for a while.’
I chuckled. ‘Okay. I will.’
I drove back to the flat. It seemed strange without Skye’s belongings cluttering every surface, and I found myself half-wishing she was back.
At least I had the day at Lutterworth Grange with the girls to look forward to...
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The spa day arrived, and by the time Jaz drew up to collect me, I was ready to go, bag packed and waiting outside.
It was such a relief to be getting away for the day. It would be a laugh, all girls together, and hopefully the spa treatment Maddy had lined up for us all would help to loosen the knots in my neck and shoulders from being permanently on edge lately.
