She should have told Drew the truth from the beginning, like he’d asked her to, and trusted him not to turn the situation into something it wasn’t. It had been the legacy of all those years with Jesse that had persuaded her it was easier to lie and that it would be safer that way. Somehow, he’d managed to come between them from hundreds of miles away, but it was Eden who’d allowed that to happen and she only had herself to blame. She’d ruined things with Drew and hurt a man who didn’t deserve anything but the honesty he’d asked for.
Eden had to try and put this right. The train would be stopping in Bodmin Parkway and she’d get off there, then catch the next train back to Port Kara, or jump in a taxi, whatever it took to find Drew as soon as she could. She just needed the chance to try and explain why she’d done what she’d done. Maybe then he’d understand that however idiotic it had been, her intention was to protect him and she’d done it out of love. She wanted to tell him so much more too; that the last couple of months had been the best she could ever remember and that she’d found exactly what she’d always wanted, when she hadn’t even been looking. She needed to tell him she loved him, even if it might seem too soon and completely the wrong time to do it, because none of that mattered any more. It could be her last chance to say any of those things and she didn’t want to miss it.
Eden would just have to message Sadie and tell her she wasn’t coming down to London to help look for Jesse. She was angry with herself for ever having agreed to it, and if Sadie tried to plead with her again, she wasn’t going to let herself be coerced into changing her mind. Jesse had robbed her of her freedom for years, and she didn’t owe him anything. She didn’t want him to come to any harm, but it wasn’t her responsibility to keep him safe, not any more. It never really had been.
She was scrolling through her contacts to get to Sadie’s number, when the screen flashed with an incoming call. She almost dropped the phone when she realised it was Sadie.
‘I was just about to ring you.’ Eden braced herself to explain why she wouldn’t be coming, but she didn’t get the chance.
‘Jesse just called me. He’s in Port Kara and he said he’s going to find your new boyfriend.’
‘What do you mean my new boyfriend?’ Eden’s head felt as if it was spinning. She’d always known that by going home to her parents, Jesse would easily be able to find her if he wanted to, but he couldn’t possibly know about Drew. She didn’t have any online presence and they didn’t have any mutual friends any more either. Her mother might have been a bit of a blabbermouth at times, but if Jesse rang there was no way she’d have told him anything. She’d have almost certainly have slammed the phone down instead.
‘After you didn’t get in touch on his birthday, he started trying to find ways of contacting you. You’d changed your mobile number and the emails he tried sending you bounced back too. Nothing came up, but when he called he told me he’d finally found something two days ago: photographs of you at a fundraiser for the hospital opposite your parents’ place. You’re in the background of one, standing with Teddie and this guy, who Jesse is convinced is your new boyfriend. He said he had his arm around you.’ Sadie’s tone sounded almost accusatory, as if Eden had been caught cheating on Jesse, but his sister had been subjected to even more of his twisted mind games than she had. Jesse had a way of being able to convince people that night was day if he put his mind to it, so it was no wonder Sadie sounded angry about the photograph, but she couldn’t stop her own anger from bubbling up inside her. She’d risked everything she had with Drew to help Jesse’s sister and it had been thrown back in her face. She’d been so stupid; she should have listened to her gut and stayed away, but it was too late now and Jesse was out there somewhere, filled with righteous indignation over a photograph he had no right to have any opinion about. Eden knew exactly when it must have been taken, it had been just after she’d been reunited with Teddie.
‘Did Jesse say if he’s going to my parents’ house?’ Eden’s stomach lurched. She didn’t think he was capable of being violent towards her family, but she wasn’t certain. He was a complicated and damaged person, and he’d come close to lashing out at her physically, even before he’d shaken Teddie by his shoulders. The thought made her shudder as her greatest fear took hold. If he hurt Teddie… She was almost sure he wouldn’t, butalmostwasn’t enough and she was more desperate than ever to get off the train. She needed to warn Drew too, and as she pictured Jesse confronting him she shuddered again. That was something Jesse was more than capable of and she felt sick to her stomach at the thought of anything happening to Drew. Her family knew Jesse, and they were capable of handling him, but Drew shouldn’t be involved in this mess and if Jesse did anything to hurt him it would be Eden’s fault for dragging him into it. What Sadie said next did nothing to reassure her.
‘He said he found another photograph of your boyfriend on the hospital’s website and that’s where he found out his name. He’s going there to tell him to back off from you and Teddie.’
‘Who the hell does he think he is?’ Anger was surging through Eden’s veins now and if Jesse had been standing in front of her, she might well have been the one capable of violence.
‘He is Teddie’s father and?—’
‘No, he’s not.’ Eden cut her off. She wasn’t going to listen to this. ‘A father doesn’t act the way Jesse did towards Teddie. He barely paid him any attention all the time we were together, except when he lost his patience. Jesse doesn’t care about Teddie and he’s incapable of accepting him for who he is. So if he’s coming back to try and stake some kind of claim on either of us, then he’s out of luck.’
‘I know you’re angry, but?—’
‘You’re damn right I’m angry.’ She cut Sadie off for a second time, not caring about the couple sitting opposite her, who were openly listening to the conversation. ‘If you speak to Jesse, tell him to call me and I’ll meet him somewhere to discuss this like grown-ups. But if he goes to the hospital, or to my parents’ house and tries to stir up any kind of trouble, I’ll make sure he never sees Teddie again.’
Eden had no idea whether she had the power to carry through her threat, or what the courts might decide if it went that far. All she cared about was protecting the people she loved – Teddie, Drew and her family – and she’d do whatever it took to make that happen.
* * *
Drew headed back to work after dropping Eden at the hospital and sending her the text he’d desperately wished he hadn’t had to send. Even when he was writing it, he wasn’t sure he should send it. Maybe he should have given her the chance to explain, but then he thought about how often his mother had given his father chances like that, and how many years she’d wasted falling for his excuses and lies. In the end, his father hadn’t even bothered lying any more. He had so little respect for his wife that he just did whatever he wanted and didn’t care about the consequences, because there weren’t any, at least not for him. Drew couldn’t live like that, and he didn’t want Teddie to be caught up in the middle of that either. As much as his heart ached at the thought of losing them both, it would be better for all of them if he walked away now.
Drew was still telling himself that as he pulled into the hospital car park. It was a mantra he was almost certain he was going to have to repeat for a long time, because another voice was still nagging away at him too, reminding him that he’d never felt like this before and there was a very good chance he never would again. He wasn’t even sure what he was coming back into work for. He couldn’t imagine being able to concentrate on writing up reports, or anything else for that matter, but he needed to try.
The parking space with Drew’s name on had been allocated because of the nature of his on-call work with the police and coroner’s office. Today he was grateful that he didn’t have to fight for a parking space, because he’d have driven away again if he did and there was no way of knowing where that might have led. A big part of him still wanted to go after Eden. He couldn’t trust himself not to answer the phone if she called, so he’d switched it to silent. If he could just get to his office and bury himself in work, maybe he’d be able to stop thinking about her. He doubted it, but even a little bit of respite would have felt like a huge relief. Any kind of let-up felt pretty damn appealing right now.
Drew didn’t see the man standing in front of the neighbouring car at first, but the aggression in his tone as he addressed Drew made him look up sharply.
‘I should have known it would be someone like you, but I thought you might at least have had a better car.’ The stranger staring at him gave a bitter laugh. He was taller than Drew, with a muscular build, but it was the look in his eyes that was worrying: a kind of vacant stare that made it seem as if he might be on something. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had confronted Drew. The nature of his job meant there’d been a couple of threats in the past, but he’d never had someone lying in wait for him before and a frisson of apprehension prickled his scalp.
‘I’m sorry, do I know you?’ He kept his tone even and non-confrontational, but he made sure not to turn his back to the man.
‘No, but you’re about to and I don’t think it’s going to be a happy acquaintance, seeing as you’re shagging my wife and doing your best to take my place as my son’s father.’ The man grimaced, his eyes darkening and the vacant look seeming to clear. He looked far more focused now he knew he had the right person, and his identity was no longer a mystery to Drew either. It had to be Jesse. His description of Eden as his wife was the only thing that didn’t fit, but there was always the chance that was another secret she’d kept from Drew.
‘Jesse.’
‘Oh, so you know I exist then?’ Jesse took a step towards him, but Drew stood his ground. From what Eden had told him, her ex had been verbally aggressive and manipulative, rather than physically violent, but that didn’t mean he could rule it out. Drew wasn’t a coward, but he was far from being a fighter either. He had more chance of talking himself out of the situation, than using his fists. He might not be a natural at small talk, but when it came to the bigger, more important kinds of conversations, he could more than hold his own.
‘Of course I know you exist. Eden’s told me a lot about you.’ Drew was still being careful not to give away anything in his tone. He’d sometimes been accused of sounding emotionless in the past, when stressful situations had made him want to detach from reality, but suddenly that aspect of his autism felt like a superpower. He could almost pretend it wasn’t him standing in front of Jesse, having a conversation he didn’t want to have. What he really wanted to talk about was how badly Jesse had let Eden and Teddie down, and to ask how he could possibly have turned his back on his son, or loved him less because he didn’t fit an ideal Jesse obviously held. He couldn’t say any of those things, though, not if he wanted to find out what Jesse was really here for, and to try and protect Eden and Teddie from that. Drew was just glad she wasn’t at the hospital, because it meant whatever Jesse’s motivations might be, at least she was safe.
‘And what exactly did she tell you?’ A muscle was going in Jesse’s jaw, and his hands were clenched into fists. Drew wasn’t going to lie, it wouldn’t help any of them to pretend Eden had painted Jesse as something he clearly wasn’t, but he needed to pick his words carefully. From what she’d told Drew, Jesse needed help and if Eden was ever going to know true peace, they needed to make sure he got it. She couldn’t cut the father of her son out of her life completely, so they had to find a way of managing his presence that was right for everyone, especially Teddie. Even as the thoughts were rushing through Drew’s head, he realised that he was still thinking in terms of ‘us’ and ‘we’, as if he would be a part of whatever happened after this. He had no idea if that was true, or even how they were going to get past the confrontation Jesse had engineered, but suddenly he knew without question that he wanted to be a part of Eden and Teddie’s lives. She might have lied, but with Jesse standing in front of him, Drew could understand why she might have felt she didn’t have a choice.
‘She said you were together a long time and that you tried to make things work after Teddie came along, but in the end you couldn’t do it.’
‘That was her choice, not mine. I wanted Eden to stay, but she came running back here to Mummy and Daddy.’ Jesse almost spat the last few words. ‘She was always a little princess, having that option to fall back on. She’s got no idea what it’s like not to have anyone.’
