Page 21 of Beyond Repair
‘That is the last time you put make-up on my boys, mate.’
‘Okay, okay.’
‘No jewellery either, or any of that hair crap.’
‘You know, big man, if you repress them they’ll only resent you in the long term.’
‘Right, so when they can make a choice to wear that shit themselves they can have at it. Until then let’s give them a fighting chance, yeah?’
Russell sighed as he did up his trousers but wisely opted to keep quiet. Katie realized that she still had her hand resting on Sam’s chest.
‘Um …’ she muttered, pulling back her hand to tuck her tangled curls behind her ear, ‘so, anyway, what are you guys doing back so early and why … ?’ She trailed off, glancing up at Sam and back to Sarah.
‘Something came up,’ Sarah said evasively, and for some reason she flashed Katie a sharp look.
‘Well,’ Katie said, drawing out the word and scuffing her feet on the floor, ‘I’ll leave you guys to it then.’ There was no way she wanted to hang around if Sam was staying. She’d been humiliated enough for one day. ‘Come on, Russ, we’ll go and watchGoggleboxat mine.’
‘Katie, sit down,’ Rob said firmly, taking hold of her arm and steering her to the table. He then went as far as putting pressure on her shoulders to plant her arse in the nearest chair. ‘You may as well sit down too, Russ, this could involve you as well.’
Katie swallowed as she took in Rob’s grim expression and belatedly noticed the tense atmosphere. Russell just shrugged, and wasted no time in opening up one of the pizza boxes and digging in. Sarah retrieved beers and wine, and once everyone was set up she pulled out a chair opposite Katie, with Sam and Rob flanking her. She looked down at her hands for a second and took a deep breath before focusing fully on Katie.
‘Look, Sarah, I’m sorry about the mess, okay? I know I let them run riot but –’
‘I couldn’t care less about the bloody mess,’ Sarah said, cutting her off. ‘What I care about isyou.’
‘Um … okay …’ Katie rubbed her nose, then glanced at her hand, thinking that she probably should have used a mirror when she was wiping the cake mix off. She wiped the chocolate onto a napkin, and then for some reason glanced at Sam. He was focused on her nose, and she had to resist the urge to dart to the bathroom and check she’d got it all off. She bit her lip and watched as his gaze fell to her mouth and his hands tightened around the bottle of beer he was holding, turning his knuckles white.
‘Why couldn’t you tell us?’ Sarah asked, and the catch in her voice made Katie focus back onto her.
‘What are you talking about?’ Katie frowned in confusion.
‘I’m talking about Daniel.’
Katie blinked. Suddenly it felt like all the air had been sucked out of the kitchen. She felt her chest constrict and the familiar feeling of panic crawl up into her throat. ‘I … I …’
‘We’re your family. You can tell us anything.’
‘I just thought … with the baby coming and …’ She trailed off and looked down at her hands which she realized were shaking. ‘Look, it was nothing, okay? It wasn’t worth …’
‘Two months ago your bag was snatched in the car park of your surgery,’ Sam interrupted, his voice level and devoid of emotion. ‘A few days later it was returned; you found it one morning waiting for you on the desk of your consulting room. But your phone had been replaced with an upgrade, your wallet replaced with a designer leather one, and an extra five hundred pounds in cash was inside it.’
‘I …’ Katie twisted her hands in her lap and flicked a glance at Russell, to find that his face had gone very pale.
‘For the last eighteen months you have received a note every week, delivered to your door. At the start the note was accompanied by flowers, jewellery, expensive scarves, Harrods hampers, a watch; all of which you took to the police. For the last two weeks it has just been the notes. They all say variations of the same thing.’
‘Look, I went to the police, okay? They’ve known all about it from the beginning. And anyway nothing has actually happened. I think he must have somehow found out about Dylan and it made him angry. I thought it might stop after we broke up. I mean, we weren’t really together that long, but Daniel is … persistent. It’s just notes and stuff and I …’ Katie took a deep breath and felt her eyes start to sting as her voice dropped to a whisper. ‘It’s my problem, my mistake. I just wanted to forget it was happening, and if I told you I knew it would seem … real.’
‘God, what are you talking about “your mistake”?’ Sarah looked furious. ‘Some psycho stalking you is not your bloody mistake.’
‘I never should have got involved with him in the first place,’ Katie muttered, and Sarah rolled her eyes.
‘Katie, we can’t be held responsible for the mistakes we make at uni when we’re teenagers for the rest of our lives,’ Sarah told her. ‘I slept with Monty Bed-Swamper Peterson in my first year, and believe me he lived up to his name.’ Russell let out a bark of laughter at this, and Rob leaned back in his chair looking up at the ceiling, clearly trying to block out this unwanted titbit of information.
‘But you didn’t stay with Monty forthree years,’ Katie said, one hand tucking her hair behind her ear and the other going to her wineglass. But before she could get there Sarah’s hand had shot out across the table and grabbed hold of hers.
‘Monty bed-swamped on the first night,’ Sarah said softly. ‘You didn’t see Daniel’s true colours till much later.’
Katie shrugged. ‘Maybe not, but when I did, I should have …’
