THIRTEEN
Kim put the magazine down and reached for her coffee, aware that she was taking nothing in. There was a really interesting article on Great British V-Twins but her concentration wouldn’t hold.
She reached for her coffee as Barney dropped his favourite ball at her feet.
During her convalescence, the two of them had spent many hours together out in the garden, although she’d tried to keep his routine similar by having Charlie come and get him every other day for his walk and shift of squirrel watching in Charlie’s garden. Although only gone for the afternoon, she’d always been happy to see him return a few hours later. The time alone had been spent in the garage, which looked nothing like it used to.
Evening time she had taken to spending an hour or two sitting outside with a cup of coffee and throwing the ball for Barney.
She was pretty sure her neighbours weren’t used to her using her outside space, and the positioning of the table meant she couldn’t be seen. She’d hear the family to her left, the parents threatening their three boys that if they didn’t behave, the ‘police lady’ from next door would take them away. She’d never met the mother, father or the children.
Kim wasn’t sold on the merits of threatening kids with police officers, but from the sound of it, those boys needed threatening with something.
On the right-hand side of her, she’d heard hushed conversations between the married couple about pretty much everyone in the street. It was how she’d found out that Edna, her neighbour over the road, wasn’t returning to her home a week before the ‘For Sale’ sign went up in the front garden. A subsequent whispered conversation had informed her that Edna’s daughter Barbra had kicked out her lazy husband and was moving in with her mother.
The guilty part of her was relieved she didn’t have to face Edna on a daily basis. Never would she be able to apologise for the damage that had been done to the elderly lady, all because a psychopath had wanted to hurt her and had chosen Edna’s house as his base. Edna had been tied up, starved and terrified so that Symes could watch Kim as she came and went. She shook away the guilt. It did Edna no good.
‘Come here, boy – bring your ball,’ she called as the anxiety started turning her stomach.Don’t think about it, she told herself over and over as Barney dropped his ball at her feet.
‘Jesus Christ,’ she said out loud as her phone sounded an activation. She had kept most of the safety measures installed by Leanne but had unregistered the system from the alarm receiving company. She didn’t want strangers showing up at her door because she forgot to set her alarm. But still the activations had the power to make her jump out of her skin.
Her breathing normalised as she looked at the familiar face on the door-cam.
‘What d’ya reckon, boy, shall we let him in this time?’
Barney picked up his ball and ran into the house.
There was her answer.
She reached the front door and paused. ‘You got Jenny’s lasagne?’ she asked before opening the door.
‘Chicken curry,’ Bryant answered.
It came a good second.
‘And?’
‘An apple for the prince.’
She looked to Barney, whose tail had started swishing at the sound of Bryant’s voice.
She turned the key and slid across the three bolts. Another habit she’d kept.
‘It was the apple that clinched it,’ she said, opening the door for him to enter.
The delicious aroma wafted out of the Tupperware tub he was carrying. She followed him to the kitchen while Barney began nuzzling the right-hand front pocket of his jeans.
‘Easy there, tiger,’ Bryant said, taking the apple from his pocket.
Barney immediately sat and Kim was grateful the dog had some manners.
Bryant gave him the apple and slid the curry halfway across the breakfast bar towards her. She pulled it closer.
‘Thanks. You can go now.’
He sat on the bar stool and glanced over at the half-full coffee machine. ‘No chance. It’s taken me two months and a lot of Tupperware to gain entry. I’m not leaving now.’
A heavy silence fell between them. She guessed he was waiting for an apology. It wasn’t coming. She hadn’t wanted to talk to anyone and this was her home. Her only concession was to reach for his mug from the cupboard.