Page 119 of Playing for Keeps

“How did she seem when she left you?”

Allie winced. “Pretty angry.”

“Angry people are unpredictable. Don’t sleep at the clubhouse. In fact, could you stay somewhere else altogether? What about Hugh’s place?”

“No,” she said automatically. “His daughter’s there. Plus, we still haven’t worked through the whole thing about me not telling him I own the club.”

“So he knows now?”

“Yes, but with Emmy coming home and all this business with the club we haven’t had a chance to talk it over properly.”

“But he’s okay about it?”

“I think he will be, yeah. But I need to give him space, so I can’t stay there. I really think you’re overreacting anyway. I’ll be fine here.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Also, I wanted to tell you something else that happened today.”

“What?”

“Hang on a sec … listen to this …” Allie drew the golf club back and this time put more power behind her swing. The crack of the club against the ball was wholly satisfying.

“What was that?” Bella asked, while Allie balanced another ball on the tee.

“That …” She paused and swung again, then watched the ball fly. “That was the sound of me at the driving range.”

“Who are you with?”

“Just me.”

“That was you hitting the ball?”

“Yes,” she said, then sent another bright white ball out into the green expanse. “That was me hitting the ball with no pain.”

“No way!” Bella sounded genuinely delighted. “That’s amazing.”

“It feels pretty great,” Allie agreed.

They continued to chat about how brilliant it was until Allie had gone through all the balls in the bucket. She was tempted to fetch another until Bella gently suggested she shouldn’t overdo it. As enjoyable as it was, she decided there’d be plenty of time for it later. The thought of walking the course and playing a full eighteen holes popped into her head, and she felt a spark of hope.

That was quickly overtaken by a sense of foreboding once she’d got off the phone and walked around the building, turning off lights and trying not to let her imagination run wild. Her cousin was prone to blowing things out of proportion, so she really shouldn’t take any heed of her worries about Allie being alone there.

That’s what she told herself as she locked the front door and set off across the car park. Previously, it had never felt even remotely eerie, but tonight she kept glancing over her shoulder and looking closely at every shadow that caught her eye. She felt like a nervous wreck by the time she reached her door.

Scuttling inside, she locked the door behind her and sank onto her bed.

She suspected she wasn’t going to get much sleep that night.

CHAPTER 42

After tossing and turning for most of the night, Allie had finally slipped into a deep sleep when the banging on her door started. Given how twitchy she’d been at the slightest sound, it was surprising how the noise seemed to drift through a fog of sleep to reach her ears in a muffled state.

Sleep had taken all her apprehension with it, and she moved to peer out of the window without hesitation.

“I need to speak to you,” Daisy called, catching sight of her.

Allie moved to open the door. “I need to wake up and get dressed, then I can meet you over at the clubhouse …”

---