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No, this all had to come to an end now. It had already come to an end.

It was over.

Chapter Twenty Nine

Tilly walked out of the police station into the cold night and didn’t know where to go. She couldn’t stand to be in the station any longer, and as much as the kids were sweet, she couldn’t handle them at home tonight. Even the thought of sneaking into her own flat made her heart hurt. There were too many memories of Sophie there, she couldn’t do it yet.

In the end, she made her way down the road to the pub, because where else could she sit undisturbed with her thoughts?

She’d seen it on Sophie’s face the second she’d turned around. She’d known that there was no getting out of this, that she’d sacrificed whatever they’d had or were going to have in order to do her job properly.

And now she felt like she was torn in half. One half hating the other. Her chest felt heavy and tight, and she didn’t think anything was going to set things right again.

Jules was not behind the bar, which was the first good thing that had happened all day. She ordered a gin and slimline tonic and took it to a table as far away from the bar as she could get.She just wanted to sit in the warm until she was tired enough that she thought she might be able to fall asleep.

“So,” Billy said, pulling out a chair opposite Tilly. “How is the practicing going?”

Tilly looked up in alarm. She hadn’t seen Billy coming and on the list of things she really didn’t want to deal with right now, talking about the winter concert was fairly high. “I, uh, I was just leaving,” she said, ignoring the full drink on the table in front of her.

“No, you weren’t,” said Billy. “You literally just got here.” She put her own glass down on the table. “We don’t have to talk about choir if you don’t want to. But if we’re not going to, then I’d just like you to know that you can sing. I’m very happy with what you and Sophie have done with your solos. You’re going to be the stars of the night.”

Tilly knew that she’d blushed when Sophie’s name had been mentioned. And, she supposed, she was going to have to deal with things sooner rather than later. She sighed. “About that.”

“Oh no,” Billy said. “You can’t pull out now.”

“I don’t want to,” Tilly said, stung at the idea that she might be unreliable.

Billy narrowed her eyes. “What is it then?”

“I… there’s been a development,” said Tilly weakly.

“Is this about you and Sophie sleeping together?”

Tilly looked up in shock and Billy shrugged.

“Jules said not to say anything, that it would be more diplomatic. But honestly, it was pretty obvious. You two have been making eyes at each other across the room since you met.” She paused. “Um, there’s no rules against it or anything. In the choir, I mean, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“It’s absolutely not what I’m worried about,” said Tilly, who hadn’t even considered it. “It’s more the fact that I’m pretty sure Sophie currently wants to kill me and she definitely never wantsto see me again. So you can see how singing together might be a bit tough.”

“What did you do?” asked Billy, picking up her beer.

“Arrested her.”

Billy burst out into laughter. “You’re kidding?”

“Nope.”

“Huh. Well, I can see how she might be a bit cross. I’m assuming that there was some kind of misunderstanding or something? I can’t see our Sophie as a master criminal.”

Tilly pulled a face.

“What happened?” asked Billy.

“I can’t—”

“Psh. Tell me. It’s my concert at stake here, I’ve got a right to know. Besides, you look like you could use a friendly ear. I’m offering. It won’t happen again, so if you’re going to tell someone, then you’d better get started.”

Tilly found herself spilling the whole sordid tale to Billy, though she hadn’t intended on telling anyone at all. When she was done, Billy shook her head.