Page 33 of Cupcakes and Kisses in Micklewick Bay

TWENTY

How does he know my name? She continued to hurry along, panic pushing her faster.

She was desperate to get home, and thankful Zak and Chloe weren’t with her.

A couple of cars drove by, their tyres swishing through the puddles.

She heard the sound of a car door closing nearby and her heart rate accelerated. Why is the creep following me?

‘Oi! Get here! There’s summat I wanna say to you.’

She darted a look in the direction of the voice to see a short, skinny man walking towards her with an exaggerated ape-swagger. Ignoring him, she continued along the path, panic shooting through her as she realised there was no one else around, her heart thumping hard in her chest.

‘I said, I wanna word with you.’

Hearing the thud of his shoes as he bore down on her, she went to run, her heart now hurling itself against her ribcage.

In the next moment, she felt the grip of his fingers digging into her shoulder.

She tried to yank herself away but found herself being pulled back by the soaked fabric of her T-shirt.

Every instinct told Jasmine to fight and scream at the top of her lungs. ‘Get off me! Get off me!’ she yelled loudly, pinching the fleshy underside of his arm, digging her nails in as hard as she could and twisting the skin.

‘Argh!’ he yelped.

She yanked herself free, her green eyes ablaze. ‘Touch me again and you’ll get a kick in the balls! I know how to look after myself. You’ll come off worse.’ Thunder echoed around them. Jasmine wiped the rain from her eyes, her chest heaving.

‘That bloody hurt,’ he said, rubbing where her nails had left their mark. ‘I could sue you for assault.’

‘Don’t fancy your chances, buster,’ Jasmine said, as she moved away from him.

A lightning-quick appraisal told her he was only a couple of inches taller than her and on the puny side.

‘Men like you who think it’s okay to intimidate women are pathetic and despicable.

’ She spat the words out, rage coursing through her.

‘You should be locked up and the key thrown away.’

Her words must’ve hit a nerve as, before she knew it, he’d pushed his chest out and started walking towards her. ‘That right?’

She felt utterly fearless. He’d picked on the wrong woman. ‘Yes! that’s right! There’s no room for the likes of you in this world anymore.’

He pulled his top lip back in a snigger, showing his mouthful of snaggled, rotten teeth.

‘All I wanted was to have a word. That’s not unreasonable.

What was I supposed to do if you wouldn’t listen?

You didn’t give me any choice, did ya?’ The ape-swagger was in full swing and his voice had taken on a sinister tone.

‘I don’t know who you are, you can have nothing to say to me. So you’d better keep away!’

‘That’s where you’re wrong, Jasmine Ingilby.

We do know each other.’ He smirked, drawing closer, his eyes mean and hard.

‘It’s got back to me that you and your brats have been causing trouble for my kids.

And I’m seriously brassed off about it. You need to back off running up to school and telling tales to the teachers like you and your pathetic friends used to do for me when we were there. You won’t get away with it this time.’

‘What?’ No! This was Jason Scragg? Had he been deliberately driving around looking for her to get this message across?

Fear that things weren’t as under control with the Scragg children as she’d hoped pushed to the forefront of her mind.

She was half aware of the pounding of feet nearby as Scraggo moved closer.

‘Jingilby! Are you okay?’ In the next moment, Max was standing beside her, his arm sliding across her shoulders. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Who the hell…?’ Jason Scragg stepped back, glancing up at Max, his callous sneer replaced by a look of alarm.

‘I could ask you the same thing, and why you’re bothering my friend.’ Rain splashed up from the pavement.

‘Keep your hair on. And anyroad, it’s nowt to do with you, I was just having a word, that’s all. Nowt to get het up about.’

‘Didn’t look like nowt to me, looked like you were making a nuisance of yourself.’ Max towered over Scraggo, his eyes hardened in a way that took Jasmine by surprise.

‘Aye, well, you were mistaken.’ Scraggo backed away. ‘I’m off now.’

They watched as he scuttled over to his car, all trace of the ape-swagger gone.

‘What was that all about?’ Max asked, looking down at Jasmine, his shirt drenched.

‘I’m afraid that was Jason Scragg – I daresay you remember him.’ She watched Max’s reaction, his eyes betraying his feelings as realisation dawned.

‘He’s a hard one to forget,’ he said coolly, watching the car screech away. ‘He didn’t hurt you, did he?’

Jasmine shook her head. ‘It was the other way round. And I left him in no doubt that I wouldn’t hesitate to fight back if he gave me any crap.’

‘Still fearless, then, Jingilby?’ He drew her closer to him, smoothing his hand over the top of her arm, oblivious to the rain.

‘You’d better believe it.’ She was aware of her body pressed against his, the warmth he was generating seeping through her saturated clothing.

‘That’s good to hear,’ he said, grinning down at her, his eyes soft.

‘I hate to say it, but he’s landed back in town, has two kids the same age as Zak and Chloe – Connor, too,’ she added reluctantly, knowing how it would worry Max. ‘They haven’t been here long but already they’ve made their mark at school.’

‘Which can only be bad news.’

‘I know. It wasn’t pleasant at first, but I feel confident that school has got it under control. The headteacher’s brilliant, won’t tolerate bullying. She’s fully aware of the situation.’ She glanced up at him. ‘She’s nothing like Old Troutface.’

‘I’d be hard to be worse.’

Jasmine was struck by a thought. ‘How come you’re here?

’ she asked, looking up at him. With the adrenalin that had been pumping through her only moments ago now draining away, she was suddenly aware of how cold she felt.

She was soaked right through to her underwear and her clothes were clinging to her skin. She started shivering uncontrollably.

‘I saw it had started to rain and I remembered you didn’t have a coat, thought you might need a lift.’

She glanced over to the shiny vehicle she’d seen parked on the gravel at his house. ‘But I’m absolutely drenched, I’ll leave a soggy puddle in your car,’ she said through chattering teeth.

‘You think I’m bothered about that kind of thing?’ he asked, as thunder reverberated around them. ‘Come on, let’s get out of this crazy weather.’

Lightning lit up the sky again, illuminating the grey storm clouds that were angrily tumbling over one another. Max took Jasmine’s hand and they raced over to the car, her feet squelching in her sandals. He opened the door for her and she jumped in gratefully.

‘Ugh! I feel liked a drowned rat!’ She ran her hand over her hair that was plastered to her head. She was sure she must look a sight.

‘Well, you’re the prettiest drowned rat I’ve ever seen.’

‘No one’s ever said that to me before.’ They both burst out laughing at that. If there was a compliment in there, Jasmine chose to ignore it.

‘Right then, Jingilby, let’s get you home. It’s Rosemary Terrace, isn’t it?’

‘That’s right, the less salubrious part of town.’

He looked across at her but didn’t say anything.

With the wipers swishing frantically back and forth on the windscreen, she guided him along the streets to her home, thinking she’d never been in a car as fancy as this one.

The seats – which had taken her completely by surprise by growing warm – were plush leather.

‘I make no apologies if I start steaming,’ she joked.

The dashboard had a variety of screens that she thought were more akin to an aircraft’s cockpit.

It was a far cry from the ancient little banger she drove – when it was working, of course.

And then there was his mossy cologne that lingered.

She inhaled deeply, her senses sitting up and taking notice.

‘Now, don’t be shocked by my home. I dare say it’s probably half the size of your garden shed,’ she said as they pulled up outside it.

‘Size isn’t everything.’

She gave him a sideways look, catching his eye. ‘Bet you say that to all the girls,’ she quipped, and they both burst out laughing.

‘I can’t believe I just said that.’ Max clapped his hand to his forehead. ‘I just meant something doesn’t have to be big to be… Ugh!’

Jasmine watched him squirm, her eyebrows quirking in amusement. ‘I get your point. Now, would you like to come in for a cuppa, or do you need to get back to the party?’

As grateful as she was for the lift and thought it only polite to invite Max in, she really wanted to make a start on planning her next cake or it was going to be another late night. She didn’t even want to think about the pile of ironing that would be waiting for her.

‘Much as I’d love to, I’m aware you’ve got things to do, and I should probably be heading back to Connor and his mates.

I could drop Zak off in the morning, if you like?

Or whenever suits, he’s welcome to stay with us as long as he fancies.

I know Connor would love that. I could maybe grab a cup of tea then, do a bit more catching up, if you’ve got time? ’