‘Thanks for the offer, Lynne, but maybe another time, eh?’
‘No probs, matey. Just give me a shout when you’re up to it. I’ll be waiting for your call.’
‘Cheers, buddy,’ he said, ending the conversation.
As soon as the line went dead, the brief light that had shone into his mind was gone. Her company was something he could have used, but a part of him recoiled at being the guest of honour at anyone’s pity party.
He knew people felt sorry for his lot in life. He didn’t have the same freedom as most guys his age. In the wake of his mother’s death, Jasper was his number one responsibility and would always be his top priority.
Fifteen
Lynne fought the disappointment that rested heavily in her stomach as the phone went dead in her ear. All day she’d been looking forward to spending a couple of hours with her old colleague.
She’d known she was going to miss him when he transferred out of West Mercia. Their easy working relationship had grown into a firm friendship she valued and intended to maintain. Her working day was so much longer without her partner in crime.
She smiled sadly as she remembered their years working together. For a damn good police officer, he didn’t notice some things that were staring him in the face.
Over the years she had watched him wrestle with the decision to leave his old team to move back home to his ailing mother. She’d watched his commitment to his younger brother, for which he wanted no comment or praise.
She had taken him out for a drink on some of his tougher days.
It was only once he’d left that she’d realised she looked forward to going to work more than she looked forward to going home, and that Penn was a big part of that feeling.
She had wanted to see him tonight in the hope that he’d finally start to take notice.
She wanted him to see that she didn’t seek his company out of pity, that she genuinely wanted to spend time with him. She’d wanted him to notice her new hairstyle and the touch of make-up that she rarely applied for work.
But mostly she had wanted him to notice the absence of the engagement ring on her finger. Yes, there was a part of her that wanted to wave her left hand in front of his face, but what if he didn’t feel the same way? Did she want to risk ruining a genuine friendship and lose him altogether? For her that wasn’t an option. If he did feel the same, she would just have to wait for him to wake up to his own emotions in his own time.
But that wouldn’t be tonight, she thought as she saw the light illuminate in the front bedroom.
She started the car, glanced at the pizza boxes on the passenger seat and slowly pulled away from the kerb.
Sixteen
It was after eleven when Kim let herself into her home.
‘Hey, boy,’ she said, reaching down and stroking Barney’s head.
Charlie from down the road had dropped him off around 7 p.m., said his text message, followed by an emoji of a panting dog. There was something surreal about a man in his early seventies discovering emojis.
‘Did you have a good day, buddy?’ she asked as he followed her to the kitchen.
His day had started at 6 a.m. with a run around the park before another soul appeared. Barney had never reacted well to other dogs, and she had never forced the issue. She didn’t play well with others either, and efforts to force her to do so were met with hostility and aggression, just like Barney. He was far more interested in human interaction, and she wouldn’t lose his trust by forcing him to be anything else.
‘Had a good afternoon with Charlie?’
Worryingly, she could swear he nodded.
It was a great arrangement that worked well for everyone. Charlie had lost his own beloved dog a few years earlier and missed the company, but no longer wished for the responsibility of vet visits and illness. What had started as Charlie popping in to let Barney out for a bit had developed into him collecting Barney for an afternoon walk around the block, taking him back to his home and spoiling him for a few hours before bringing him back. It was how she envisaged treating nephews and nieces if she’d had them. Get all the good bits but none of the responsibility. Luckily, Charlie was not against the occasional overnight stay if the need arose.
And she’d considered that tonight, but the thought of returning to an empty house had stopped her from making the call.
‘Oh, come here, you big doofus,’ she said, lowering herself to the floor. The day had been long and hard, and she needed just a few minutes’ break from her own head.
Barney ran into the kitchen and returned with the carcass of a stuffed toy he’d ripped open and gutted a couple of days earlier. The scraggy piece of material was now his new best friend.
‘Give it here,’ she said, tugging on what might have been a tail or an ear.
He pulled back, wagging his tail, his eyes bright and alive.
‘Mine,’ she said, feeling the stresses of the day lift as she played tug-of-war with the dog.
After a few minutes, he dropped the toy and nestled into her body.
‘Aah, this is what you want, eh?’ she asked, scratching at the skin beneath the dense fur.
‘Time for Aunty Dawn to come get you, my boy.’
Barney had developed a tolerance for the groomer. She came and collected him at the end of the day to keep him separate from her other clients.
He nuzzled Kim and looked up at the counter top. The place she always deposited his leash.
‘Okay, boy, let’s get the coffee on first,’ she said, getting to her feet. She opened the back door in case he was desperate to pee.
He knew the routine. Coffee pot went on before their late-night walk, whatever the time.
Sleep experts would be shaking their heads at her right now. She knew that counting down the hours until she was back at work did her no good. Neither did making a fresh pot of coffee before bed or taking a brisk walk with her dog around midnight, but she’d tried it their way and that hadn’t worked for her either. The relaxation tapes had annoyed the hell out of her, and sleep hygiene was a set of rules she just couldn’t follow.
Only one thing had the power to fully relax her, she thought, opening the door that led from the kitchen to the garage.
The last motorcycle she’d restored had been sold a week ago to a Japanese collector. The money she’d received was already in the account of Enterprise Electronics, ready to update the communication equipment used by Lucy Payne, a smart, courageous teenager with muscular dystrophy she’d met during one of the team’s first big cases. The girl and her father didn’t know the source of the anonymous donations, and that was fine by her.
But the working area of her garage was now empty. Her tools were clean, tidy and in their rightful place. A thin layer of dust covered the iPod full of classical music, and she’d never seen anything so depressing in her life.
She closed the door, stepped back into the kitchen and took out her phone.
The call was answered on the fourth ring by a voice thick with sleep.
‘What the fuck?…’
‘You got that frame for me yet, Dobbie?’ she asked. He was the local scrap merchant and the provider of many of her bike frames.
‘Fuck me. Do yer know what fucking time it is?’
‘Yeah, but I’m your best customer. So, have you got it yet?’