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My legs were shaking with relief as I heard him taking the stairs two at a time. It was all too much. But at least now I could tell Lance everything that had been happening to me... explain why I’d turned from a once reasonably grounded, logical person into a quivering wreck half the time. Was my traumatised mind seeing monsters that weren’t even there? I didn’t know what to think any more. When I tried to puzzle it out, my brain seemed to just go round and round in circles of confusion and fear.
If anyone could make sense of it all, calm me down and give me some perspective, I was certain it was Lance...
I pulled open the door and he was standing there already, barely out of breath. I remembered he was a regular gym-goer and how I used to enjoy our chats in passing when I’d been a member of the same Guildford leisure club for a while. When I was wrecked and in despair after another battle with Nash, Lance had always seemed such a calming presence.
‘Hi! Come in. Sorry, Lance, you must think I’m a total weirdo not answering the buzzer and then peering out into the garden at you so suspiciously, but honestly, I think I might be going mad!’
His eyes were gentle as he guided me back inside, his arm around my shoulders, and led me to the kitchen.
‘It’s okay. It’s going to be okay,’ he murmured. ‘I’m going to make you some tea and you can tell me all about it.’
I nodded gratefully and sank down on a chair. ‘I feel so stupid talking about it, but the weirdest things have been happening lately.’ I sat forward, elbows on the table, digging my handsdespairingly into my hair. ‘It started when I arrived here, in Sunnybrook. I kept getting the creepy feeling I was being followed... that someone was out there, watching me. And then one night I saw a dark figure in the back garden out there, staring up at my bedroom window. At least, IthoughtI did, but then I started to think that maybe it was my mind playing tricks on me – you know? After everything that happened with Nash?’
Lance clicked the kettle on, fetched two mugs from the cupboard and turned. ‘Rori, you’re not going mad. Believe me. You’ve obviously been through a terrible time with Nash and maybe that’s colouring how you see the world right now. That’s all.’ He smiled. ‘You definitely don’t need to worry about your sanity.’
‘You think not?’ It was a genuine question.
He reached over and laid a calming hand on my shoulder. ‘Definitely not,’ he said and went back to making the tea.
I sighed, only partly reassured. ‘But other things have been happening to me, Lance. Like someone left a flower on my doormat.’
‘Lucky you.’
‘No, but I don’t think it was aromanticgesture. It was creepy because it was a single hellebore.’ I shrugged. ‘Hellebores are flowers that bloom –’
‘At this time of year. Yes. Nowadays, they represent serenity and peace, although in Victorian times, they signified delirium and madness.’
I groaned, watching him remove the teabags. ‘Well, that would make sense, judging by how my grasp on reality seems to be eluding me these days.’
He placed a mug in front of me with a smile. ‘Tea with just a splash of milk and one and a half sugars.’
‘Thank you.’ I took a grateful sip. ‘Well remembered.’
He sat down opposite with his own tea. But instead of drinking, he leaned back in his chair and studied me with a sad little smile. ‘You really have been through the mill, haven’t you?’
‘Oh, I don’t know.’ I shrugged. ‘I just wish I knew who sent me the bouquet at the spa because it had to be someone who knew that hellebores were my favourite flowers. I’ve been painting them at my art class with Janey, and I was even worried it might have been Cal, our teacher.’
Lance frowned. ‘I can see why you might be worried. But maybe the hellebores were from a true admirer. Someone who’s liked you from afar?’
‘But if you like someone, surely you try to get to know them... talk to them. You don’t do things like leave a single hellebore on the doormat. That’s just plain creepy.’
‘Perhaps they just wanted to cheer you up?’ He shrugged. ‘It might be no more dark or complicated than that? Everyone knows you’ve been through a really bad time with Nash.’
‘That’s true.’ I smiled at him. His presence was calming me down. I was starting to feel better. And I liked that he understood and didn’t think I was actually going crazy with all my suspicions. ‘I didn’t know you were into gardening, by the way. I thoughtIwas the only one who knew about hellebores!’
‘Ah, well, there’s a lot of things you don’t know about me that might surprise you.’
I smiled. ‘Janey always claims she’s the gardener in your house.’
‘Just because I hate cutting the lawn doesn’t mean I can’t be interested in plants. And I can really understand your fascination with hellebores. They... give the appearance of being shy and rather delicate. And yet they’re hardy enough to survive the harshest of winters.’ He smiled. ‘Like you.’
I laughed. ‘Like me? I wish that was true.’
‘It is.’
‘Well, I’ll take that!’ I grinned. ‘Although I’m not sure I’ve been surviving this particular winter very well.’ I frowned, something occurring to me. ‘Sorry, I’ve been rambling on about my pathetic story, but I haven’t even asked why you’re here? Is Janey all right?’ I asked in a sudden panic.
‘Janey’s fine. She mentioned that you... seemed a bit shaky the other day and could probably do with some company. So I thought I’d pop in as I was passing and make sure you were all right.’
