Staring at the Sun Ch. 11

"I don't mean to pry, dear, but you did look in a bit of a state."

I smiled. "I'm OK. Don't worry. It was the storm, it caught me unawares."

She looked at me, her warm, grey eyes kind and I yearned to tell her the truth, but how could I? My attacker was her host.

"Well, you're welcome to stay here until your friends return. I'm surprised they didn't give you a key." She tutted and held my hand. "I dread to think what would have happened if we hadn't been here."

I agreed. With the cottage empty, Mike would have caught up with me and then what? Would he have tried to rape me here? Or dragged me back to the house? I shuddered and took a sip of the scalding sweet tea. I couldn't get his face out of my mind, how he had changed since this morning. Was it really this morning? I sat back on the sofa and closed my eyes. Somehow, I had to get away tonight and find a hotel to stay in until I could return to the Harpers farmhouse. As soon as I thought it was safe, I'd go back, pack my bags and leave. No matter what excuses Mike came up with, I would go. The situation was now too serious for me to ignore.

*

I'd made small talk with Sheila until a knock at the door heralded the arrival of Lisa, her face creased with worry and stress. She waited while I collected my wet clothes, the sight of them making my stomach twist with anxiety.

As Sheila waved goodbye, Lisa put her arm around my shoulders. "What happened? I came home to find Mike in a right state and you missing."

"I don't want to talk about it, Lisa. I just want to pack and go back to the Harpers tonight. It was a mistake to come here in the first place." I didn't trust her now. All I could think of was how I'd been manipulated into this situation and how I knew, without a doubt, that Jake was behind all this.

"Louise, please...don't go tonight. Mike's gone to see Pierre and won't be back until later. I can't let you leave like this." She started to cry, but I just stared at her.

"This has all been planned, hasn't it? To get me here on my own? Why?"

She cried harder and I marched into the house and up to my bedroom, my anger filling me with a huge rush of energy. I wanted to scream and shout, but instead I flung open the doors of the armoire and pulled my clothes from their hangers. Grabbing my suitcase, I stuffed my belongings into it, not caring whether they would be creased or not. I just wanted to get out, find some way of getting my life back on track.

Lisa followed me up to the bedroom and watched as I frantically flung my clothes and toiletries into the bag. "I'm so sorry, Louise. I hate myself."

I ignored her and stripped off Sheila's clothes, folding them neatly and placing them on the bed. "Can you give these back to her for me? Tell her I'm really grateful."

Finding some clean clothes I hurriedly dressed and threw my wet garments into the case before snapping it shut. "Thanks for everything. I'm off."

"Louise!"

I almost ran down the stairs, the suitcase banging against my legs and picked up my car keys from the entrance hall table. The feeling of freedom intensified as I opened the door and made my way out into the late afternoon sunshine. The storm had passed and the sky was back to a beautiful cobalt blue. I would find a small hotel, I decided, and have a day to myself. I needed to plan what I was going to do next and just hoped that Richard hadn't been stupid enough to sign any papers yet. Somehow, with what had happened this afternoon, I doubted it. I had a feeling that the part I had refused to play had been more important than I realised.