Page 16 of An Ill Wind in Seabury
‘Bog off!’ she muttered, gripping the steering wheel tightly.
The phone rang out, and then started to buzz all over again. Claudia sighed, reached over to silence it… then let out a high-pitched scream as she glanced back at the road.
The junction at the top of the hill had crept up on her far too fast… she wasgoingfar too fast!
Claudia pumped the brakes and yanked at the steering wheel. The car squealed, leaving a quadruple arc of rubber on the road as it slid across the junction.
A horn blared at her, and shaking in fear, Claudia met the terrified eyes of a man in a red van… a man she’d nearly wiped off the face of the earth. If she’d hit that junction just a second later, he’d have been a goner. They both would.
Claudia waved at him in desperate apology, willing him to understand, but all she got in response was several long, loud, angry blasts from his horn as he drove away.
‘Shit. SHIT!’
Claudia thumped her fist against the steering wheel. That had been close. Too close! She might be unhappy, but she really didn’t want to end up in a mangle of broken glass and car bits.
And she definitely didn’t want to be the reason someone else got hurt… or… worse!
The minute she spotted a pull-in at the side of the road, Claudia indicated and slowed to a careful stop. Breathing hard, she applied the handbrake. Tears welled in her eyes, but there was no way she was going to let them fall. She was going to take a second to catch her breath, and then she was going to drive—very slowly and carefully—to Seabury House. As soon as she was done vetting the poor, unsuspecting Pepper brothers, she was going to find somewhere safe to leave the car… and never set foot inside the thing again.
CHAPTER 7
GEORGE
George fumbled for his lunchbox on the passenger seat and nearly sent it flying. His hands were still shaking, and a quick glance in the rearview mirror confirmed that he looked like he’d seen a ghost.
That had been close. Too close. A split second’s difference in timings, and he had a horrible feeling that the SUV would have ploughed straight into the side of the van – and that would have been a big fat GAME OVER for both him and the other driver.
Putting the lunchbox down without even opening it, he rubbed his face and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his racing heart. He’d already been sitting in this little layby overlooking the town for a good fifteen minutes, but it had done nothing to ease the flood of adrenaline.
The shock was making him feel decidedly funny.
George shook his head and let out another long, slow breath. It wasn’t just fear coursing through his system, there was a good dollop of anger in there, too. He’d let out a string of curses and hammered on his horn as he’d driven away from the lunatic.Shemight not have a problem with dangerous driving, but he certainly did.
He hadn’t wasted any time before pulling off the road. One thing was for sure—he wasn’t in any state to carry on with his round until he’d calmed down. A lot.
‘What I really need now is a sugar hit,’ he muttered with a shaky laugh, eyeballing his disappointing lunchbox. It was all well and good being saintly when it came to his lunch, but pasta salad followed by a couple of pieces of fruit wasn’t going to be any help in getting over his near-death experience!
George leaned back against the headrest and closed his eyes, doing his best to focus on making his breath calm and even. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was only halfway through his round, he’d head home and take the rest of the day off sick. But there was no way he was going to let a little scare stop him from doing his job. He had mail to deliver!
Even so, perhaps a proper break before he finished off his deliveries might be a good idea. He definitely needed a cup of something hot and sweet… and maybe a little chat with a friend to help him balance out a bit before he was safe to navigate the narrow lanes again.
For a moment, he was tempted to head back down to The Sardine… but he didn’t trust himself to drive that far while he was feeling so shaky. Besides, it didn’t take much for the little café to get busy, and the last thing he needed right now was a crowd.
‘What about Seabury House?’ he muttered.
The turning was just back down the road, and from what Connie had said earlier, it sounded like both Matt and Ewan would be at home. Maybe he could drop in on them for a bit of moral support… and beg a sweet cup of tea while he was at it.
Besides, he had Ewan’s wool delivery in the back. He could drop that off and give them a heads-up about their unexpected visitor—especially considering she was speeding around thelanes like a woman possessed, probably hunting for them as she went.
For a brief moment, George wished that baby Melody would be there too. He could do with another cuddle from the giggling little lump. Her sweet face and clear, innocent eyes had done something strange to him earlier. George loved his life in Seabury, but for just a moment while he’d been holding her, he’d felt a pang of longing he hadn’t understood. A deep desire for something… more…
Suddenly, it felt like a hot, heavy hand had landed on his throat. George coughed, doing his best to swallow the lump of emotion. His eyes heated up, and he blinked hard.
For heaven’s sakes, what was wrong with him?!
‘It’s just the shock,’ he muttered on a little sob, blinking faster.
Clearing his throat again, George fumbled with his seatbelt, clipping it back in place before starting the engine. With one last shake of his head, he checked and double-checked the mirrors before pulling out in a wide arc and heading back in the direction of Seabury House.
