Page 46 of Mending Hearts at the Cornish Country Hospital (The Cornish Country Hospital #6)
‘Please tell me you’re not really going down to London because you feel you need to protect that idiot from his own actions?
’ Eden’s father shook his head, and for a moment she wanted to laugh.
It was ironic that Dave felt so strongly about the idea, given that he’d spent years protecting his wife from the consequences of her own actions, but maybe love was what made the difference.
If you loved someone, protecting them was what you wanted to do, even if it cost you dearly.
Except she didn’t love Jesse and yet, here she was, willing to put her life on hold to chase after him.
No wonder her dad sounded so shocked. She could hardly believe she was doing this either, but she’d witnessed so much death and bereavement in her job, and she’d seen what that had done to the people left behind.
Jesse had made the same threat so many times and he’d never acted upon it, but his threats still had a hold on her and so did her sense of responsibility towards his sister.
‘I’m doing it for Sadie, not him. He’s the only family she’s got left and…’ She’d been about to compare their situation with what she and Felix had gone through, but that would just rake up all sorts of pain that none of them needed to relive, especially not now.
‘You’re a good person, Eddie.’ Felix dropped a kiss on her head, before looking across at his parents. ‘Some might say too good, but we wouldn’t really want to change that about her, would we?’
‘Of course not.’ Their mother’s smile was tight, as if there were a hundred things she wanted to say, but she wasn’t allowed to say any of them.
‘Just be careful. There might be reasons why Jesse has disappeared that you don’t want to get mixed up in.
I want you to promise me that if anything feels off or weird, you’ll get on the next train home. ’
‘I will.’ Eden nodded, before exchanging a brief look with her brother.
It was hardly any surprise that their mother was already coming up with her own theories about what might have happened to Jesse, but Eden didn’t have time for that now.
‘I’ll be staying two nights at the most and then I’ll be back.
If we haven’t found Jesse by then, I’ll try and persuade Sadie to report his disappearance to the police, but either way it won’t be my responsibility any more and I’m going to tell her that this is the last time I can ever get involved. ’
‘Two nights.’ Her father nodded. ‘If you’re not back after that I’m coming to get you to make sure you’re safe.’
‘Okay, Dad.’ Eden smiled, a warm glow spreading inside her.
It might be a bit late for her father to become the overprotective dad she’d missed out on during her childhood, but it felt good to know he cared so much, and that her mum and Felix would be looking out for her too.
Right now Sadie didn’t have any of that kind of support, and if it was wrong for Eden to try and bridge that gap for a couple of days, then she’d just have to be wrong.
* * *
When Drew had got Eden’s message, it hadn’t surprised him all that much to learn that she was planning to be there for an old friend.
It was just one of the things he loved about her, the fact she was willing to put herself out for the people she cared about.
There he was, using that word again: love.
There was no denying it any more though.
Just the thought of how much he was going to miss her when she was away convinced him of that and he really wanted to see her before she left, even just for a few moments.
It was probably a ridiculous idea to offer to drive her to the station, she could have walked there if she needed to and she had family who’d be only too willing to take her if not.
He didn’t care, he was still going to ask her.
He assumed Teddie would be staying with her parents and Felix, but he wasn’t sure, and the thought of not seeing the little boy for the next few days was almost as much of a wrench as not seeing Eden.
He hadn’t been certain he was capable of love, or even that he wanted to be, not when it put you at risk of so much hurt, but Eden and Teddie had found a way into his heart.
They filled up the space that had felt so empty since losing Flora and his mother and he never wanted to lose them.
Drew rang Eden early on the morning she was due to leave, hoping it wouldn’t take much persuasion to let him drive her to the station. Although he knew she’d hate the idea of putting him out. Her phone was answered on the third ring.
‘Hello.’ The voice didn’t sound like Eden’s but it had to be.
‘It’s Drew,’ he said, despite the fact his name must have come up on her caller display.
‘Oh hi, yes, sorry Drew. It’s Karen, Eden’s in the shower. I thought I’d better answer her phone in case you need to speak to her urgently, before she leaves for Sadie’s place.’
‘Sadie.’ He repeated the name. It wasn’t particularly common and he knew it was what Jesse’s sister was called. Even so he was still hoping it was some kind of crazy coincidence, until Karen continued.
‘Yes. She seems to think Eden is the only one who can help her track Jesse down. Sometimes I don’t understand my daughter at all, even after all this time she doesn’t seem able to cut ties with Jesse completely. I suppose it’s all to do with Teddie.’
‘It probably is.’ Somehow he managed to get the words out and sound almost blasé, despite the fact he felt as if his insides had turned to stone.
‘Can I give her a message for you?’
‘No, don’t worry. I’ll text her. Thanks Karen, see you soon.
’ Drew maintained his upbeat delivery in the hope that Eden’s mother wouldn’t realise she’d put her foot in it.
He wanted to give Eden a chance to be honest about where she was really going, when they were face to face, not just because her mother had tipped her off.
He needed to be certain it was because Eden wanted to tell him the truth.
If she didn’t, he knew he was going to be devastated, but not because he thought she might still have feelings for Jesse.
Perhaps she did, but Karen had been right that sharing Teddie meant there would always be some kind of bond between the two of them, however tenuous.
What mattered was whether or not Eden lied about it.
She understood how much that mattered to him and she’d promised him she wouldn’t do it.
Typing a text to Eden, Drew pressed send before he had a chance to rethink it.
I wondered if I could drop you to the station? I’m writing up reports, so I can take an early lunch break any time. I’d like to have the chance to see you before you go, however briefly. I’ll really miss you and Teddie xx
For the next twenty minutes, Drew paced around the kitchen of his flat, earning himself a series of scornful looks from Marmalade. He was probably giving the cat indigestion with all his fidgeting, but he couldn’t help it. When his phone pinged with an incoming text, he snatched it up.
Thank you, I’d love that. I’m catching the 12.25 train, but Teddie will be staying with Mum and Dad. If you come at 12, you can give him a hug goodbye too. Although be warned, I might cry on your shoulder about how much I’m going to miss him, and you too of course xx
Drew replied straight away.
It’s a date. See you then xx
He still had no way of knowing whether Karen had tipped her daughter off about their conversation.
A big part of him even hoped she had, because that way Eden would almost certainly tell him the truth once they met face to face.
He was already praying she would, because if she looked into his eyes and lied to him, when he asked her a direct question, there’d be no road back.
The thought of things being over between them was more painful than he would ever have believed, but it was better than a lifetime of lies.
He hoped to God it didn’t come to that, but the terrible sense of dread creeping over him said otherwise.
* * *
When Eden had asked Teddie for a hug goodbye, she hadn’t been certain he’d do it.
As loving as her son could be, things like that were never guaranteed with Teddie, but this time he delivered in style.
He’d hugged Eden tightly and planted a kiss on her lips, and he’d hugged Drew too.
When she’d watched them together, that sensation of seeing everything she wanted in front of her had washed over her again.
All she needed to do was to get these next few days out of the way and she couldn’t wait for them to be over.
The drive down to the station was far too short, and as Drew pulled up outside, Eden knew it was going to be a wrench to say goodbye. She’d seen his text when she’d got out of the shower, and her mother had shouted something to her from the other room about having missed a call from Drew.
‘It’s alright, he’s sent me a message,’ she shouted back through to her mum, smiling to herself at what Drew had written, before quickly sending a response.
No one she’d dated had ever been this thoughtful before and, if things went the way she hoped they would, she was determined never to take Drew for granted.
‘Thanks for driving me to the station and for coming to say goodbye. It means a lot to me that you wanted to.’
‘Of course I wanted to.’ He took hold of her hand. ‘You’re such a good person giving up your time off to be there for your friend.’
‘That’s what Felix said, but anyone would do it for someone they cared about.’
‘Not everyone cares the way you do.’ Drew was still holding her hand. ‘Do you know her family? Can the trouble between them be sorted out?’
‘I don’t know, but I’m not going down there for her family’s sake I’m going down to support Sa…
Samantha.’ She could so easily have told him the truth, she very nearly did, by accident, and she wished she had.
It was too late now, though. If she backtracked and told him that Samantha was really Sadie, it would all sound so suspicious, when the truth was there was nothing to it.
Maybe it was just as well, she didn’t want to hurt him, even inadvertently.
That was the whole reason she’d decided to hide the truth from him in the first place.
If he thought she was doing this because she still loved Jesse, it would cause him unnecessary pain.
It was better this way and she squeezed his hand, hoping he’d realise just how hard she was finding it to say goodbye.
‘I’ll be back before you know it, but I’m really going to miss you.’
‘I’m really going to miss you too.’ There was something in his tone that made her scalp prickle; it was almost as if they were saying goodbye forever.
Pushing the thought out of her head, she silently berated herself for blowing things out of proportion.
She was reading far too much into his tone because she really didn’t want to go.
If she didn’t get out of the car soon, she was going to make a complete fool of herself and start crying or something else equally ridiculous.
She was only leaving for a couple of days after all.
It had to be love for her emotions to be this heightened.
‘Bye, Drew.’ She kissed him gently and then pulled away, grabbing her rucksack and forcing herself to open the door.
‘Goodbye, Eden.’ There it was again, that same finality in his tone, and she shivered despite the warmth of the heavy coat she was wearing. It was just the prospect of seeing Jesse again making her twitchy, that was all.
Less than three minutes after she’d got to the platform, her train arrived, and another minute later it pulled out of Port Kara station.
Her mind was still on Drew and she didn’t even last until the next stop before pulling out her phone to text him.
She’d switched it to silent before she’d left home, hating the buzzing and pinging of messages in the quiet of the train.
It was why she hadn’t realised that a message had already come through from Drew, and she couldn’t help smiling to herself.
At least she wasn’t the only one who had it bad.
But the smile slid off her face as she opened the message, her heart thudding and nausea rising in her throat.
I wish you’d told me you were going to see Sadie to help her look for Jesse.
I understand why you’d want to do that, but what I can’t understand is why you lied about it.
The one thing I asked was for there not to be any lies between us, but now there are.
I care about you so much, Eden, but I can’t do this.
Take care of yourself and Teddie, I really will miss you both.
The words were blurring in front of Eden’s eyes. She’d been so incredibly stupid, and all she wanted now was a chance to put things right, but she had a terrible feeling that it was already far too late.