‘I’m just saying I need hope, Ebony, for Christ’s sake. I am a human being and I need hope. Don’t you understand that, in all the books you’ve read, all the studying you’ve done, don’t you understand the most basic of human values and emotions?’ asked Bella.
‘I understand that you don’t really know the impact you have on people. You are manipulative and ruthless and you only think about yourself. Yes – I accept you’re sick but don’t accept that you didn’t know what you were doing when you killed your lover. I will never help you get out.’
‘So you won’t even help your own mother?’
‘I am helping you by leaving you to get the treatment you need and serve the punishment you deserve.’
‘You cold fish, Ebony Willis. I gave birth to a lump of ice.’
Willis picked up her coat and the envelope containing her father’s photo and details.
‘Cold-hearted bitch,’ Bella said. ‘That’s what you are. Ebony?’
Willis turned and walked away from her mother’s bed.
Her mother screamed at her. ‘Ebony, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Ebony – please. Please don’t write me off. Tell your father that I will always love him.’
Willis stopped and turned to face her mother. ‘That’s the trouble, mum, you destroy the things you love. I’m not sure I’m ready to see that again.’
On her way out, Willis stopped at the nurses’ station and asked to see the sister-in-charge.
‘Miss Willis, how can I help?’
‘Something’s going on in there with my mother and the pregnant woman.’
‘It’s no concern of yours, or ours – merely interplay between your mother and the woman opposite. They seem to have a fair amount of animosity between them.’
‘No.’ Willis held up her hand for the sister to take a breath. ‘Let me tell you – my mother is a pressure cooker and she’s set to burst. You need to move that woman opposite.’
The sister was irritated. ‘We don’t have any more private wards available. They will have to share. When high-security patients come into us from Rampton, they just have to accept what we have to offer. We can’t be giving your mother her own private suite.’
‘Then move the pregnant woman to a maternity ward.’
‘She isn’t due to give birth yet. She has a month to go. She has come in with high blood pressure. When it goes down, she will go back to Rampton. I would appreciate it if you would let us deal with things. We are used to patients from Rampton.’
‘But you haven’t met my mother before, have you?’
Chapter 30
Emily finished unloading her carrier bags and put the steak in a black-pepper marinade. She made the salad and went into her kitchen cupboard to choose some wine for the evening. She belonged to a wine club and she got it by the case. She knew she drank a little too much wine, especially when Ellerman was staying. They seemed to bring out the worst in each other – that was why it worked between them. That was one of the reasons she knew they were meant for one another. No one else had ever freed her to be herself. No one had made her feel so passionate, so alive.
Ellerman arrived at three. He rang her to make sure she was in.
‘Come on up.’
He carried his bag up the sweeping staircase to her flat on the first floor. Emily lived in Taunton town centre. Her parents had bought the house for her after her first husband was paid off, after her breakdown. After the school had agreed to give her a job because she used to be a pupil and her parents had paid for the new library.
She clung to him as he got inside the door.
‘Lucky you were home,’ Ellerman said, stepping inside.
‘I should get you a key, then you can come whenever you like.’ She held on to him.
‘Yes. Good idea. What’s for dinner?’
‘The usuaclass="underline" steak and a lovely bottle of wine; I hope that’s okay?’
‘Marvellous. I look forward to it.’
‘Did you like the case I gave you last time?’
‘Wonderful. Much appreciated.’ He kissed her forehead. It was the case of wine he’d taken to Megan’s last week. ‘And I have something for you.’
He brought out the bottle of Angel perfume and gave it to her.
She kissed him, unwrapped it straight away and daintily dotted it behind her ears. She was happy. Ellerman was pleased with himself.
Emily opened a bottle of French white and gave him a glass.
Ellerman took it from her and sat down in one of the tapestry-covered armchairs; he leant his weary head back onto the chair as he closed his eyes and drank the cool crisp Sauvignon Blanc. He loved staying at Emily’s. There was a reliability about it all. Even her house was just as he knew it would be – every time. Emily had traditional taste in furnishings. The house was neat. The rooms were high-celinged with original Edwardian features: dado rails and architraves. There were heavy-framed portraits of moody-faced children and hunting scenes on the walls. It suited Emily because she looked like she belonged in a period drama. She was small-mouthed and large-eyed. Wiry and tall with a quiet elegance and strength.
‘Ah, it’s good to be here,’ he said.
She sat down opposite him. ‘I’ve gone part-time at work now.’
‘Don’t the school object?’
‘I’ve given in my notice anyway. My parents have offered me a chance to set up something for myself.’
‘Doing what?’
She shrugged. ‘I was hoping you might have some ideas.’
‘Me?’
‘Yes. Something we can do together, maybe? Craig will be leaving for uni and we can move on to the next phase in our relationship. That was always the plan, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes. Absolutely. A business together? That would be great. Let me think about it. Meanwhile, I’m really stuck for cash at the moment in Spain. The architect miscalculated something major. The idiot. He put the dining room over a bore-hole – stupid. That all needs sorting.’
‘How much do you need?’
‘Ten? Would that be possible?’
‘Ten thousand?’
‘Yes. Think of it as a loan.’
‘Or I could become your business partner?’
‘I’m not sure the Spanish business is the one to start with.’
‘Why not? I have put quite a lot of money into it already. My book-keeping skills could come in handy. Maybe it’s time you let me handle the financial side of it?’
‘People have different ways of doing things, don’t they? I’m not sure you’d approve of mine.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, I might do things differently than you. I’m self-taught – I do things my way. It may be too difficult to come in on the Spanish business, that’s all I’m saying.’
‘Nonsense! Good business sense exists or it doesn’t. It starts with good housekeeping. I think you could benefit enormously from my help. Cash-flow problems seem to plague you.’
Ellerman shook his head and sighed irritably. ‘It’s all so much more complicated than you think.’
‘I can make it simple for you.’ She smiled.
He reached out and squeezed her hand. ‘Thank you, darling.’
Mason woke intermittently and called for Sandy. She was never far away. She came back from her scavenging and wagged her tail as she sniffed Mason’s face. She whined and nudged him with her head. He knew what the nudge meant. It meant she was hungry and she needed him to get food for her. She had found water in the puddles in the car park but no food. It had been days since she’d had proper food and she was frantic. Mason drifted back to sleep; Sandy was uneasy.
In the evening she sniffed the air as she heard the sound of people passing on the road that ran beneath the adjacent arch. She smelt takeaway kebab. Laughter echoed beneath the arch.