‘You don’t want me,’ she said, urging herself to believe it. ‘You’re just playing dog in the manger.’
‘Yeah. Good title for a track. Might use it.’
‘Deano! I’m serious. I’ve moved on. No going back now.’
‘If you’re so sure about that, why are you in Bledburn? If that’s not going back, I don’t know what is.’
She sighed into the phone. He had a point. Even she wasn’t quite sure why she had come back – something to do with a sense of having lost part of herself, but nothing she could clearly articulate.
‘You’re thinking about the past, babe,’ he continued, his voice gentler, pursuing his moment of advantage. ‘Believe me, I understand that. I’ve been doing it a lot myself just lately. Have you been to the covered market yet?’
This wasn’t fair. She wasn’t going to get sucked into his manipulative nostalgia trip.
‘No and I’m not going to,’ she said. ‘Now, is there a point to this call, or can I get on? I’ve a very busy day ahead of me. It’s Jason’s birthday, you see, and I want to get him the best present possible.’
She ended the call, feeling a bit petty for rubbing Deano’s nose in her new relationship – but then, what did he expect?
‘Git,’ she muttered, then she pulled up her favourite shopping apps to search for gift inspiration. Deano was not going to get a second more of her attention today.
Chapter Three
KAYLEY WAS BORED. It turned out that being in hiding from vengeful criminal forces wasn’t as exciting as it sounded. Her dad was a good enough bloke, but he had been installed in front of Test Match Special with a four-pack of Stella for hours now. Her friends kept texting to ask where she was, and she had had enough of telling lies for one lifetime, so she thought it easier just to ignore them.
The day outside was burning hot, more like June than the start of September, and the house was stifling.
She went upstairs to the little box-room of Dad’s two-bedroomed semi. It was a new build, all nicely finished and shiny, but poky as hell. She could touch the opposite walls in her bedroom at the same time. All she could fit in there, along with Dad’s boxes of sporting magazines and memorabilia, was her airbed and three binbags of random possessions, quickly gathered together the day before.
As camping trips went, it was pretty rubbish.
She sat on her air mattress, moping for a while, before coming to a decision.
She couldn’t spend another breathless minute cooped up here. She had to get out for a walk.
But she would have to look as anonymous as possible. She wouldn’t wear any of the pretty, stylish clothes she had recently bought herself from Zara and Topshop – far too identifying. Instead, she scrabbled in her bag for the old estate uniform of dark hoodie and trackpants. She didn’t even know why she’d packed them – she’d been on the verge of giving them to a charity shop.
It was funny how such a simple thing as changing outfits could give you a completely different attitude, she thought. Once out of her white shell top and flower-patterned shorts and into the old gear, she felt suddenly embittered and aggressive. The core of her hardened, and she was defensive and on alert. She had forgotten what bloody hard emotional work it was to live up there.
Thank God I got out. Well, God and Jenna.
She pulled her newly styled hair up into a skin-tightening ponytail and put up her hood.
There was no mirror in the room so she had to go into the bathroom.
She gave her reflection an appalled smile. She looked so dangerous, so hostile. Had she really walked the streets like this, thinking nothing of it? If the new Kayley met the old one in a dark alley, she might run away from her.
She put her phone in the pocket of her hoodie and tried to make it to the front door with ninja stealth, so Dad wouldn’t hear her.
She wasn’t quite there on the ninja front though, apparently.
‘You going out, love?’ he called from the living room, turning down the soundtrack of leather on willow.
‘Just fancied a bit of a walk. Might go down by the lakes,’ she said with exaggerated casualness.
‘Is that a good idea? You know that Harville fucker’s out and about.’
‘Oh, don’t worry, Dad.
He’ll be busy wheeling and dealing with his shady mates somewhere. He’s not going to be walking the streets round here.’