Page 31 of Summer at Croftwood Cinema
‘I left him. I haven’t seen him for three years. I didn’t think he knew where I was.’
‘Well, I can understand the shock then. So my first impression that he’s not a nice guy was right?’
‘Yes. He’d always been controlling and over time, it became worse. I don’t think I noticed it to begin with, maybe he hadn’t been like it to start with, I can’t remember. And when things didn’t go his way… I didn’t know what he’d do so I waited and took my chance. I left everything, just took what I could fit into a bag.’
‘He must have had an inkling you were in this area to have seen the newspaper though.’
‘Maybe, I don’t know. It was bound to happen one day. When I first left, I expected him to walk into Oliver’s every time the door opened. I thought I was still expecting it on some level but then when I saw him today, I realised that I’d got complacent and let my guard down.’
Matt gently took her hand and stopped walking. ‘Do you know what he was asking about?’
She shook her head. ‘I can’t remember what he said.’
‘Something like, he knows what you’ve got and he wants it back.’
‘I don’t have anything of his. I left with barely anything of my own.’
‘Perhaps I mis-heard. I only caught the end of what he was saying.’
Patsy covered her face with her hands. ‘I can’t believe I led him here with that stupid article. I’ve been so careful.’
Matt moved her hands away gently until she was looking at him. ‘It is not your fault. I agree it was probably always going to happen, but it wasn’t because you have tried to move on with your life instead of waiting for that piece of shit to walk through the door.’
Patsy shrugged, a rogue tear rolling down her cheek. ‘I should have been ready. I didn’t want him to see that he can still make me feel like that.’
Matt pulled her very slightly towards him and looked into her eyes, searching for an objection before he pulled her into his arms.
‘None of this is your fault, Patsy.’
Being in his arms made her feel safe. The terror that she’d felt at seeing Dan again had gone and she was left with the grim reality that he knew where she was and she was going to have to decide what to do about that.
When he pulled away, she looked up at him and smiled. ‘Thank you. I don’t know what I’d have done if you weren’t there.’
‘I think if you’d screamed loudly enough a builder would have come to your rescue.’
They carried on walking.
‘You haven’t told me why he called you Cleo.’
‘Short for Cleopatra.’ She expected ridicule but she saw surprise and who could blame him for that.
‘God, that’s quite a bold name. I’m not surprised you go by Patsy. Or Cleo.’
‘My mum was a massive fan of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton and the love affair that started when they were filming Antony and Cleopatra and she felt the need to celebrate that through me.’ It was years since anyone had known that was her real name. ‘Dan’s the only person who calls me that now. Are you surprised, about all of this?’
He shrugged. ‘I don’t know much about you except that I can’t even imagine anyone messing with you.’
Patsy smiled. ‘Well, you do a good job of winding me up on occasion.’
He grinned at her. ‘Ditto.’
They’d arrived outside Patsy’s house. ‘Do you mind not mentioning this to Oliver?’ she said. ‘He doesn’t know but I need to tell him.’ Now that Dan knew where she was, she needed the people around her to know what she was up against. That was her best defence because they knew her as the confident woman she’d tried hard to rebuild over the past three years and hopefully, the next time she saw Dan — because she was sure there would be a next time — she would be ready to face him knowing that the people in her life knew what was going on and would be ready to support her. The fact that Matt had been that for her today was a surprise, but a good one.
‘No problem. It’s your business, not mine. But if you need anything, even if it’s someone on the end of a phone so that he knows you’re talking to someone who knows where you are, please don’t hesitate. I mean it.’
‘Thank you, Matt, thank you. I just need to get my head round it and make sure I’m ready when I see him again.’
‘Take care. I’ll see you soon.’ He did a weird kind of salute, smiling as he waited for Patsy to let herself in before he turned back the way they’d come.
