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‘Do you think he’s hiding this elusive woman?’ she asked tentatively, not really wanting to hear his affirmation.

‘What I think doesn’t matter. But what I know is this. You lost her, that’s if she even exists, and Mr O’Shaughnessy is seemingly nowhere to be found.’

‘We weren’t looking for him, were we?’

‘Don’t be so pedantic. With all the activity around his house, wouldn’t you think he’d come running out of the shadows to see what was going on?’

She mulled that over. ‘Maybe he did.’

‘What do you mean?’ Even with his eyes on the road, she still had the uneasy sensation that he was staring at her.

‘Maybe he came up to the house and…’

‘Jesus. You think he took her? The woman?’

‘At this stage,’ she said, ‘I honestly don’t know what to think.’

35

Boyd was drinking a glass of tap water because he’d already had more than his daily quota of tea. By the stove, Grace stood rigid and tall, slapping meat onto a pan. Her mood warned him not to say he wasn’t hungry.

‘I cannot for the life of me believe you’re with that woman. She only thinks of herself.’

‘I thought you liked Lottie.’

‘I did. From a distance. Up close, I’m not so sure. Why are you even with her?’

‘I love her,’ he said.

‘Hmph, whatever love is.’

‘Don’t you love Bryan?’

Without hesitation, she said, ‘I like him, and he keeps me safe and makes me happy. If that’s love, then I do love him.’

Boyd wondered about his attraction to Lottie. He loved her, of course he did, but she rarely thought of her own safety, let alone his. He was happy. Wasn’t he? He missed Sergio and couldn’t wait to see him again at the weekend. He’d give Amy a ring later and ask to talk to his son. He helped ground him like no one else could. Not even Lottie.

‘And another thing,’ Grace said, ‘I don’t know what your Lottie said to my Bryan, but he’s been too quiet since she arrived.’

‘Don’t you think maybe Bryan said something to her?’

The meat sizzled and she smacked it with a spatula, grease bubbles splashing upwards. The smell of burning caught in his lungs.

She said, ‘What do you mean by that?’

‘Nothing, Grace. Forget it.’

He saw her lower the heat on the range. She turned around, the spatula a menacing weapon in her hand. ‘You started this, Mark, so God help you, you better finish it.’

‘No, you…’ The look she gave him made him sit up straight. ‘I think you need to speak with Bryan. There’s something on his mind and it’s none of my business.’

‘Oh, but you think it’s Lottie Parker’s business, do you?’ This was a side of Grace he’d never seen before.

‘It’s Bryan’s business, not hers. The thing is, he made it hers.’

‘Explain.’ She sat at the table and laid down the greasy utensil before hastily lifting it again, eyeing the stain on the wood.

‘I can’t. I just know there’s something on his mind and he may have spoken to Lottie about it.’