Page 67 of A Cornish Love Story
‘Shit.’ I put my hand on Ethan’s arm, but wasn’t sure he noticed. ‘But she’s OK?’
‘She was shaken up, she sounded frantic when she called me. She asked me to come and meet her, to not tell Mum and Dad.’
‘You didn’t tell them?’
He looked up at me. ‘She’s been in so much trouble. She got a caution in York for criminal damage, and—’
‘She’s been in trouble with thepolice? Oh my God.’
‘I went to meet her. I had to walk, because I didn’t have any other way of getting there, and …’ He leaned back against the pillows, covered his eyes with a hand. ‘Mum’s car was on fire.’
‘She’d set it onfire?’ It came out as a squeak.
‘She hadn’t, but she spun the car when she crashed, and the back end hit a rock in the verge. She damaged the fuel tank, and … she wanted me to fix it.’
Anger hardened inside me. ‘Ethan.’
He shrugged, looking defeated, and I tried to squash it down. ‘She didn’t know what to do, but the car was on fire and there was a farm building, some kind of barn, so I didn’t have a choice. We couldn’t just pretend it hadn’t happened or drive the car away from the scene.’
I felt cold all over. ‘What did you do?’
‘I called the police, the fire brigade. I said that I’d been driving the car, that I’d crashed it.’
The chill shivered through my body. ‘You told themyou’dstolen it?’
He nodded.
I got off the bed, walked the three paces to the door, then came back. ‘Why would you do that?’
‘Because it isn’t as bad if I’vetaken Mum’s car without her permission. I can drive, I’m on the insurance. And Sarah’s been in enough trouble.’
‘And she keeps getting away with it, because you keep bailing her out.’
‘That’s not fair. Mum and Dad come down so hard on her.’
‘Because she’s being an idiot,’ I said. ‘Though I didn’t realize it was acriminalidiot. Ethan, you cannot cover for her.’
‘She’s my little sister.’
‘Yes, and she makes her own choices.’ I flung my arms wide. ‘She makes her choices, and you make yours. You’ve got such big plans – you’re going to be an architect. You need a degree and credentials and a good reputation and forpeople to trust you with their stuff.You can’t be convicted of stealing and destroying a car.’ My throat thickened, the reality of what he was risking seeping into my bones. ‘You just can’t.’
‘But it’s a first offence,’ he said. ‘Mum and Dad won’t press charges, so it’s mostly that I caused the crash, started the fire. Dad has a good lawyer, so—’
I slumped onto the bed. ‘So you actually did it? You’ve been interviewed and cautioned and …’
Ethan nodded. He was looking at me warily, but there was something closed-off about his expression, too. He felt far away from me. ‘They just released me. They think I’ll get off with a caution – or a fine – for careless driving. It’s a first offence, a mistake.’
I shook my head, my tears falling freely. ‘You can’t do this. You’ll have a criminal record, and you think it’ll make Sarah change her behaviour?’
‘It’s done now. I can’t go back.’ Agitation crept into his voice when he added, ‘It was the right thing to do.’
‘It wasn’t.’I got up again, not knowing where to put myself. ‘What about your future? You have worked so hard, and you’re such agoodperson. You’re messing up your whole life for her.’
‘I’m not. It’ll be fine.’
‘And if they work out you covered for her, you’ll get done for that … that perverting the course of justice thing. That’s serious! I can’t believe your dad agreed to this!’
‘By the time he knew about it, it was too late. Georgie, please don’t cry.’ I wiped frantically at my eyes, and saw that he was holding his arms out. I wanted to crawl into them, to comfort him, but I couldn’t believe he would risk everything like this.
