Chapter 22

22

Megan pulled the handbrake up and looked across the lay-by towards the row of trees that shielded her from the road. In the few minutes it had taken her to drive here, the sky had unleashed the storm. Sheets of rain covered the windscreen and could be heard hammering against the roof of the car, and the wind had picked up, bombarding the trees she'd hoped would protect her from the worst of it.

Leaning forward, she put the windscreen wipers on, her visibility only improving for a millisecond before rainwater flooded the windscreen again. She could hear the low rumble of commuters as they inched forward along the road beyond, their vision as obscured as hers.

She jumped as a particularly strong gust tore twigs from the trees, throwing them against her car. Would she be safe here? There was a branch just ahead of her, a large gnarly branch that was swinging dramatically as the wind pummelled it, which was worrying her. Would it hold or would it be torn off the trunk? If it did come down, then it would be thrown this way, and she didn't much like the chances of driving her car away unscathed.

Megan reversed a little, backing up further down the lay-by. She was closer to the road now, still over enough so not to prevent other vehicles from driving into the lay-by, but further away from the tree with the dodgy branch. She glanced behind her. Her car was likely visible from the road but at least she'd feel a little safer.

With the evening drawing in and further darkening the sky, Megan checked the clock on the dashboard once again before turning the ignition off. It was only half past seven. She'd tried to stay at Wagging Tails for as long as she possibly could, but with Flora worrying about people driving in the storm, she hadn't been able to stay indefinitely. Never mind, she was here now, and the storm wouldn't last forever.

Crossing her arms over the steering wheel, she fixated on the branch dancing in the wind. With each gust, she could hear the wood creak and splinter from the trunk. Should she move from the lay-by? Try to find somewhere safer? But where was there? She couldn't park up in a car park due to parking restrictions.

She closed her eyes, letting her forehead dip to her arms. She could feel the tiredness creeping in and if she'd still been at the bed and breakfast she knew she'd have been asleep within minutes of her head hitting the pillow. But here, with the wind and the rain battering the car? She kept her eyes squeezed shut. She might just be able to fall asleep. Even a nap would be better than nothing at all.

A loud bang echoed, visions of a giant yellow vehicle, a bulldozer hitting the side of a building. Another bang, louder this time, encroached on her dream. A version of herself watching as the old marital home was razed to the ground. Lyle was there. Grinning from ear to ear, telling her that if he couldn't have the house, then no one would. He was happy. She wasn't.

Again, the giant iron ball smacked into the brickwork, the house falling like a pack of cards around her.

‘Megan!'

Who was calling her? She turned and looked at Lyle, his eyes still fixated on the house as the glass from the window smashed around them, a million little pieces snowing down on them.

‘Megan! Wake up!'

Jolting to consciousness, Megan blinked and stared out of the windscreen. The branch had fallen, missing the bonnet by half a metre.

Another bang, a loud tap this time, to her right. She turned and jumped as Jay's face came into focus. Winding the window down, she spoke, her voice thick with sleep.

‘Jay? What are you doing here?'

‘I could ask you the same question. It's dangerous out here. Why have you pulled up?' He held the hood of his coat over his head, the wind trying to tug it from his grasp.

‘I…' She looked in the rear-view mirror. He'd parked behind her, the orange of his hazard lights flickering on and off.

Peering through the window, the muscles in his cheek twitched. ‘Follow me to my place.'

‘What? Why?' She started the ignition. ‘I'll just get back to the bed and breakfast, that's all. See you tomorrow.'

She wound the window up again, the sheet of glass obscuring his words.

Jay tapped on the window again, waiting for her to open it once more.

‘You're sleeping in your car, aren't you?'

‘No. Of course, I'm not. Why would I be?'

How did he know? She'd have to get going somewhere else, anywhere but here, pretend everything was fine.

‘Megan, please?' His voice was almost lost as a huge gust tore past them. ‘Just come back to mine and we can talk. Or I can take you to Flora's if you don't want to come to mine. You can't stay out here. The road is flooding and there's already been one tree down and that's just between Wagging Tails and here. It's only going to get worse.'

Megan looked out of the windscreen. He was right, from the little she could see through the sheets of rain cascading down from the sky, the wind was relentless. He was right, she couldn't stay here. If she did and the car became damaged, she'd have nothing.

She nodded.

‘Follow me back.' He indicated his car before running towards it.

Megan waited until Jay had reversed out of the lay-by before doing the same. She couldn't pull forward, not with the huge branch lying across the ground. Back on the road, she gripped the steering wheel as she followed him, keeping the speed low and the windscreen wipers on high. Not that it was making much difference. She could barely see the red glow from his back lights, let alone anything else.

As they approached West Par, Jay's car stopped suddenly and Megan slammed on the brakes, her bag on the passenger seat falling to the floor, her clean, damp clothes spilling across the footwell. She wound her window down as she watched Jay running towards her.

‘Another tree has just come down; we'll have to turn around and go the other way.' His voice was laced with urgency.

‘Okay.' She nodded before he retraced his steps back to his car.

What had she done? If anything happened to Jay on their way back to his… She shook her head, turning her thoughts instead to focusing on the road, to turning around down the narrow lane, to following his car.

She hadn't asked for him to come and find her. In fact, she'd done the exact opposite. She hadn't told anyone where she was sleeping. She hadn't mentioned Lyle cutting her off. She'd tried desperately to keep attention away from her situation.

Although what was she thinking? He'd probably just spotted her car on his way home. He might not have driven out to look for her. She took a deep breath. It didn't make any sense. How had he known where she was? He couldn't have followed her back from Wagging Tails, if he had he would have got to the lay-by when she had and yet he couldn't have spotted her on his way home either as Flora would have ensured he'd left with everyone else. That only left the scenario, that he'd come looking for her. But would he have? Why?

She gripped the steering wheel tighter and leaned forward. She needed to focus on driving instead of thinking about how Jay had found her. She'd find out soon enough.

As they inched towards the ‘Welcome to West Par' road sign, she took a deep breath in. They'd made it. She watched Jay pull into a driveway next to a whitewashed thatched cottage and drew her car in behind him, hearing the unmistakable crunch of gravel beneath the tyres.

They were safe. She reached down and squashed her clothes back into her tote bag before opening the door, clutching the door handle as the wind tried to rip it from its hinges, and stepping out.

She ran across the driveway and reached the porch just as Jay swung the front door open.

After letting Megan through first, Jay shut the heavy wooden door and slipped out of his rain-drenched coat.

‘That's crazy weather,' he said.

‘It sure is.' Megan took her trainers off and then just stood there awkwardly.

‘Come on through, I'll get the kettle on.' Jay indicated the door behind her.

Nodding, she stepped into the living room. The whitewashed walls here were hung with photographs, and the back of the door decorated with paintings and drawings stuck haphazardly onto the wood. A pink play kitchen stood in the corner of the room, plastic bricks overflowing from a nearby tub, and a small child's tent had been erected beneath the window overlooking the front garden, a line of teddies positioned in a group by its entrance.

‘Excuse the mess. Mia has made me promise not to touch a thing.' Jay grinned. ‘She was in the middle of a game when her mum picked her up the other day and, believe me when I tell you that she knows exactly how she's left everything and if I so much as move one of the teddies a millimetre to the left, she'll spot it as soon as she walks through the door.'

Megan smiled.

‘What would you like? Tea, coffee, squash?' Jay began to walk towards the back of the room where Megan could see another door open leading through to the kitchen.

Clutching her tote bag in her hands, she tucked her hair behind her ear. She closed her eyes momentarily, adjusting to the quiet of the room, the wind muffled by the glass. Opening her eyes, she glanced out of the window, rain was still drumming against the glass and the storm still raged but in here it was warm and dry and for the first time since she began sleeping in her car she felt safe.

She looked around the kitchen as Jay filled the kettle with water before switching it on. Everything was so clean, so tidy. She looked down at her hands, her fingers were greasy from the last packet of crisps she'd eaten for dinner and she dreaded to think how her hair looked – she could feel how dirty it was. She felt out of place as it was here, knowing that he was now privy to her secret, but even more so because of how dirty she felt. The last thing she wanted to do was to put him out further but if she didn't ask him she might not have another chance for a while. ‘I know this sounds really cheeky, but could I have a quick shower, please?'

‘Umm, yes, of course. I'll get you a towel.' Jay indicated the door.

‘Thank you.'

Her hair now wrapped in a towel, Megan used her palm to wipe condensation from the mirror and looked at the reflection staring back at her. She looked awful. The dark circles under her eyes had only increased and her skin was paler than ever. She took the towel off, shaking her hair out and using her fingers to comb it through. She might look a mess, but she felt better than she had since she'd begun sleeping in her car. She felt clean, refreshed.

She folded the towel before placing it in the dirty laundry basket in the corner of the room. Taking a quick glance around the bathroom, she ensured she'd left everything as it had been, before opening the door and as she made her way along the landing and down the stairs, she took a deep breath in. Jay was cooking. The aroma of tomatoes and onions hit the back of her throat, and her stomach began to growl with hunger.

She pushed open the door into the living room, where the smell of food was stronger. The radio was on and Jay was singing along to a cheesy eighties song, his voice cracking as he attempted the high notes of the chorus. Unsure whether she should announce her arrival or not, she walked slowly into the kitchen and stood in the doorway.

The song ended, and the DJ began talking, his soft tone filling the kitchen.

Shifting position in the doorway, Megan cleared her throat. ‘Thanks for that.'

Jay turned around, the tinge of embarrassment reaching his ears. ‘How long have you been standing there?'

Megan laughed. ‘Long enough.'

‘Ah.' Jay looked down at the ladle in his hand as a splodge of red sauce dripped onto the glass hob. ‘Then I apologise.'

Megan grinned and shook her head. ‘You've got a nice voice.'

Jay chuckled. ‘You're only being polite because I'm cooking dinner.'

‘Ha ha, maybe.' She walked towards him and leaned awkwardly against the counter as he stirred the sauce into a pan of pasta. Keeping her eyes fixed on a framed picture of Mia on the opposite wall, she spoke quietly, her voice catching in her throat. ‘How did you know?'

Jay filled two bowls and passed her one before indicating the pine table in the corner of the room. Sitting down, he poured them both a glass of juice and set the carton down.

‘The clothes in the washing machine, you not wanting anyone to drive you home after you sprained your ankle, trying to change the subject when Flora began talking about visiting Lisa from the bed and breakfast…'

Megan grimaced and stabbed a pasta shell with her fork. ‘It was that obvious?'

Jay shook his head. ‘No. Not to everyone.'

‘But to you?' She took a mouthful of pasta, the tangy flavour of tomato filling her mouth. She'd missed this. She'd missed home-cooked food. Heck, she'd missed food other than crisps and biscuits full stop.

Jay took a sip of orange juice and shrugged.

‘Are you sure nobody else realised?' she asked.

Jay smiled. ‘I'm sure. Don't you think Flora would have had something to say about it if she had?'

‘That's true.' Megan nodded. Flora would have. ‘And you won't tell them?'

‘I won't. But I think you should.'

‘What? No. No, I can't do that.' She shifted in her chair.

Why would she tell them? Anyone? She hadn't even wanted Jay to know.

‘Why not?'

‘Why? Because…' Wasn't it obvious? ‘I don't want to. I just don't want their pity.'

Jay frowned. ‘They wouldn't pity you.'

‘Of course they would. A few months ago, I was living in a huge five-bedroom detached house and now, now I have nowhere. I have nothing. Of course, they'd pity me.' She swiped a tear that had slid down her cheek. ‘I'm supposed to be doing this on my own. I'm supposed to be able to.'

‘And you are.' Jay gently touched her hand. ‘You are doing this on your own, but sometimes people need to take a bit of help from others.'

‘No, I'm not. And that's final.' She laid her cutlery down across her plate and pushed her chair back, standing up. ‘Thank you for the shower, but I'm going to get going now.'

‘Megan.' Standing up, Jay looked at her. ‘Don't go. The weather's awful. Anything could happen.'

Slumping back in her chair, Megan covered her eyes with her hands. ‘I just can't do this. I left him and he's still trying to control my life. He's still there.'

‘Lyle?' Moving his chair closer, Jay wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

‘Yes, Lyle. All these years I've stuck by him, I've done what he wanted to, when he wanted to and now, now I'm left with nothing.' She leaned her head against his shoulder, allowing the tears to run, her body wracked with sobs.

‘It'll be okay. This won't be forever. When the divorce has gone through and the financial agreement has been finalised, this will just be a blip in your memory.'

Megan looked up at him and wiped her eyes with the back of her cardigan sleeve. She knew she looked a mess, even more so now she'd been crying. ‘It won't. This is it. This is my life. I signed a prenup. I won't get a penny from him.'

Jay opened and closed his mouth, seemingly looking for something to say.

‘See what I mean? He's still playing with my life. I'm being punished by trying to do the right thing, but what else could I do? I couldn't stay with him, not after everything he put everyone at Wagging Tails through. I saw him for who he'd become. He wasn't who I married, he wasn't who I wanted to stay with for the rest of my life. I had to leave him. But now, now what?'

‘Megan, I'm so sorry you're going through this.' Jay swallowed. ‘Things will get easier, though.'

She nodded. His words were empty, but she knew he spoke the truth. They would. If this was rock bottom, then there was only one way left to go.

‘I can only go up, right?'

‘Exactly. I know it probably feels impossible, but you'll get through it. You'll be able to carve a life for yourself again. One that you want this time.'

‘I suppose so.' She leaned back in her chair and looked at him. ‘I'm so sorry.'

‘What for?'

‘For everything. For not telling you about Lyle to begin with, for risking your life out there.' She indicated the window, the storm still raging outside ‘For using your hot water, for eating your food, for crying at you.'

He chuckled. ‘You've nothing to be sorry for. I should be apologising for the awful food. I'm not trying to poison you, I promise.'

She smiled, her eyes sad. ‘The cooking is good.'

‘Why don't you get some sleep? I can't imagine you've had much over the past few days?'

Megan nodded. At the mere mention of the word, she could feel her eyes wanting to close. Sleep would be good.