Page 132 of Her Last Walk Home

‘It was a car crash. Nothing to do with him. He knows that.’

‘He’s eight years old and?—’

‘I know what age he is…’ Boyd stopped when he saw the hurt flash across her eyes. ‘I’m sorry, Amy. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Yes, you’re right about his mother. He spent most of his life with her. I hope he doesn’t think my reticence to talk about her is me blaming him in some way. I’d have thought the therapist would have addressed it with him by now.’

‘A therapist can only do so much. You need to be open and honest with him.’

‘I’ve given him so much attention. I’ve been with him constantly and I’m only a few days back at work…’ He let his thoughts drift. Where was he failing?

‘When you were with him day and night, he probably didn’t dwell too much on thoughts of his mother or her death. Now that you’ve returned to work, he has more time to brood over all that happened. He almost died. He’s harbouring trauma. I know what that’s like. You need to talk to him, Boyd. Be more open with your son.’

He was only half listening. ‘I wonder if Grace said something to him. My sister is liable to say anything.’

Amy shook her head wearily. ‘You’re passing the buck again. You need therapy yourself. You’ve been through a lot. Your cancer. Your complicated relationship with Lottie, and then there’s your ex and all the trouble associated with her.’

‘How do you know so much about my life?’

‘Larry likes to talk.’

‘I should have known he wouldn’t hold his water.’ He grinned and she returned it. ‘I agree with you, Amy. I need to face up to all that’s gone on in my life and what I want for my future with Sergio. And with Lottie.’

She sipped her coffee before continuing. ‘Talk to him, Boyd. Don’t be a closed book to your son.’

‘Okay, and thanks. I think I needed that pep talk. Where’s Kirby the snitch anyhow?’

She laughed. ‘Sergio is showing him how to use a PlayStation controller.’

‘You have a PlayStation?’

‘No, but Larry phoned Grace when I agreed to have Sergio. She’d gone back for her suitcase so she brought the device over in the taxi before she left for the station. Now there’s a wise woman if ever I met one.’

‘Grace?’

‘Yes. She’s not afraid to express in words what she feels and thinks. There’s a lot to be said for being so open.’

‘My sister has no filter and she breaks my heart, but I love her.’

‘Grace is honest with herself and is happy with her lot, and with Bryan. It’s a lesson for us all, don’t you think? You can’t go it alone.’

‘I agree. Thank you, Amy.’ He instinctively gave her a hug, then wondered if that was the wrong thing to do. ‘I hope you don’t mind, but I was being open and expressing my feelings.’ He winked.

‘No need to mock.’ She slapped him away playfully. ‘I appreciate the gesture. Now go get your son and rescue Larry. I’m sure his head is fried with all that technology.’

92

Diana hugged her grandson sitting on her knee, tablet in his hand, watching a cartoon on YouTube. She’d ditched her phone and bought a cheap one with cash. She’d rented a car with more cash and driven to a holiday home village at Doon Lake, miles outside Ragmullin. She’d paid cash to the owner at the door. She hoped being dropped at the train station was enough to throw others off her scent. She needed time to think on her next move, knowing she was still too close to Ragmullin.

The house took for ever to heat up. She was cold to her bones, mainly with fear. Everything was her fault. Her beautiful daughter was dead. All because of her and the choices she’d made. She’d kept the secret buried for thirty years and now it was in danger of being blown wide open. Maybe it already had been. And there was more than her own safety at stake. Laura’s death proved that.

She wept uncontrollably, her tears dampening Aaron’s hair. Her daughter was dead. Murdered. What had it gained, only loss and sorrow? A gaping, empty void into which Diana was unable to stop herself sinking.

She’d been so careful. Too careful maybe, too regimented, to a point where her daughter found it difficult to grow. To be herown woman. Had it started when she got pregnant with Aaron? Had Diana’s loud cries been the catalyst to send Laura into the depths of depression, only to soothe it with illicit drugs and end up at Cuan?

Or was it the fact that all her impositions had driven Laura to seek out a place of her own? And then to be turned down for a mortgage. But Pine Grove! Anywhere but there. Anyone but Gordon Collins. That man! She shivered as she thought of how he used to strut around Ragmullin displaying his wife and daughters like trophies. Diana was sure he was the root cause of all evil. She’d tried talking to him, but that had been a disaster.

And he was involved in everything, including Cuan. She’d nearly choked that day when she’d seen him there. But that was quickly superseded by shock when she spotted the young woman. With her thin hair brushed back, her jawline sharp, her eyes so familiar that she wondered how anyone could deny her existence.

But she had. Diana Nolan and others had denied her once before too. The old memories surfaced and she’d almost run from the room. She did run eventually, leaving Laura behind. And that, Diana firmly believed, was what had caused a spree of murders almost twelve months later.

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