Chapters (64)
‘No, Oliver. You took mine. And all you’ve given me since you’ve been back is grief. I can’t bear the thought of seeing you all the time. You’re a reminder of what I did. What you did to cover it all up. I can’t live with that on my conscience.’
‘We’ll see,’ Oliver said. He got up from the table and left the house without a backward glance.
36
THE DRONE
Friday p.m.
She owed Tiff an apology. And the truth. She’d left it yesterday, deciding it would be best to let things cool down – she knew Tiff would be busy and preoccupied with the church event anyway. Today though, Louisa had to pay her a visit – explain why she’d been so stabby on Wednesday. After her awkward chat with Oliver this morning she needed to see her friend – to set things straight.
Louisa had run through it all in her mind. From the moment just over two weeks ago that she’d found the text message from Tiff on Brian’s phone, she’d allowed her thoughts to go into overdrive. Conjuring all sorts from nothing, like a magician pulling rabbits from an empty hat. It was possible she was also doing the same with Oliver: blowing something up out of nothing. Oliver was right: she had received a shock, one that had rocked her very foundation. The fallout from that might be why she was now over-reacting to everything. Seeing things that weren’t there.
The last two weeks had been hell. Today, her actual birthday, could go by without celebration as far as she was concerned. The card from Oliver was torn in half and placed in the bin, despite it having been the only evidence it was her birthday. She’d not even had a ‘Happy Birthday’ greeting from Brian when she’d awoken that morning. It didn’t matter though; Louisa just wanted to forget all about it. She’d had the fuss, the cards, presents – the party – so there was no reason to mark the occasion now anyway. And if she was honest, hitting forty – which she’d been dreading already – had been the catalyst for everything bad that had happened since.
She wished she’d stayed thirty-nine. Wished Brian had never even considered throwing her a surprise party. Most of all, she wished Tiff hadn’t hacked into her Facebook account and wreaked havoc. While she did regret her behaviour on Wednesday, she couldn’t let her off the hook. In the end, this was all Tiff’s fault.
She wasn’t the one who killed someone, though, was she?
If she hadn’t done that, then none of this would be happening now.
The fault was her own.
Louisa tapped out a long message.