Scattering Like Light (19 page)

He grimaced. “‘Sweet’ wasn’t really the word I was looking for. I was hoping for irresistible.”

“I’m sorry,” I repeated lamely, mentally shaking myself. “But I love someone else, and that’s all there is to it.”

His warm fingers traced a line down my cheek. “OK, I believe you.” He bent down and briefly kissed my cheek before stepping back, hands raised in surrender. “But I think it’s only fair to warn you that the fight isn’t over yet. I’m not giving up that easily.” His dark eyes twinkled. “You need to watch out, Alex Walker. I’m a man on a mission!”

I quickly turned my attention back to the kettle so he couldn’t see the tears welling in my eyes. Tears that appeared from nowhere and which I didn’t understand.

Thankfully Josh reappeared soon afterwards, so I could make my escape. He gave me a pointed look as I left the kitchen and I realised the two of them had clearly hatched the plot together. I’d thought it was only girls who did things like that. Ignoring my big brother, I made for the garden, walking down to the chair that was hanging from a sturdy branch in the shadows at the end. I really hoped that Olivia had disappeared after she left me, and hadn’t hung around to witness the scene with Max. I didn’t want her getting the wrong idea and telling Callum before I had the chance to do so.

I called him as soon as I sat down. It was gloomy under the tree in the fading light, so I didn’t worry too much about anyone in the house seeing me talking to myself. There was no instant response and yet again I began to panic. What had she heard, and what had she passed on?

“Come on!” I muttered to myself, willing him to appear. At that moment the tingle was back.

“You’re very impatient this evening,” observed Callum, his voice even.

The only thing for it was to tell him everything. “I’m just really glad you’re here. Max just turned up out of the blue with
Josh and it all got really awkward.”

“Yeah, I saw him just now,” he said. “He’s sitting in your kitchen drinking a beer.”

“Oh no, is he still here? I thought the two of them would have gone down the pub by now.”

“You’re in trouble, Alex, you know that? You need to be careful.”

I felt my mouth open wordlessly like a fish. There were too many possible ways in which I could be in trouble, and I had no idea which one he was talking about. Was he about to leave me because of Max? Were some of the Dirges coming to get me? Did he know about my conversation with Veronica? “What … what do you mean?” I managed finally.

“Max. He’s pretty determined to win you over. I overheard a bit of their conversation as I came through.”

“Oh. Really?” I tried not to sound relieved that it was only Max he was referring to, though that was bad enough. “What was he saying?”

“He was telling Josh how frustrating it is that you are so loyal to your boyfriend,” he started.

“Well, I am loyal,” I interrupted. “It’s perfectly true.”

“But that as the boyfriend lives in Venezuela he reckoned it was worth another go.” I felt him stroke my cheek in exactly the same way that Max had done, only the touch was infinitely lighter. It made me wonder if he had been watching. “And that soon enough he’d wear down your resistance.”

“He’s wrong, as you know.”

“Don’t burn all your bridges, Alex,” he said in a voice so soft I struggled to hear it.

“What? What are you talking about?”

“He seems to care, and he’s persistent. I guess he really likes you.”

“So?”

“I’m just trying to be realistic. Going to find Catherine is a wild goose chase, and even if you do track her down, there’s no guarantee she’ll give you the magic formula for bringing us all back to life. In the end, you’re going to help us die because you know that’s what we want. And when that happens you’ll be pretty upset, and it would be good to know that there was someone around to comfort you.”

“Are you telling me to go out with Max?” I hissed. “That’s too creepy for words. And I don’t want him, I want you!”

I felt the tiniest squeeze as his arms tightened around me, and to my surprise he laughed. “Good answer!”

“Were you testing me?” I tried to turn the relief in my voice to outrage.

“Oh, maybe just a little. Give me a break, will you? The guy looks like a male model.”

“He’s not a patch on you.”

“You poor deluded creature,” he answered, and I could hear the smile in his voice. I wished I had the mirror in my pocket to enjoy another look at his mesmerising blue eyes.

“Did you see Olivia just now?” I asked. “I had to get her to go in rather a hurry, and I’m not sure she’s all right.” I didn’t want to spoil his good mood, but I was worried about her.

“No, I haven’t seen her. Is she upset about something?”

“She wants to know what’s going on. She’s heard the rumours going round over there and she’s fed up being treated like a child and having everyone exclude her from their plans.”

“How did they find out about it so soon? That’s all I need.
Anyway, there aren’t any plans, not yet.”

“I know that, but she obviously thinks there are.”

“Well, I wish she hadn’t found out. She’s too young to have to worry about all this stuff.”

“Me, too,” I said with feeling.

I felt his arms move around me. “Don’t let’s talk about this now. There’s no point. Let’s enjoy the time we have together.” I nestled back in his embrace and tried, unsuccessfully, to forget. Callum was gently stroking my arm when he suddenly stopped.

“Oh, and guess what? I came across another of your admirers this afternoon.”

I sat up in surprise. “Who?”

“Rob. Yet another man captivated by your beauty and sunny temperament. Ow!”

The swipe I’d aimed at his head had obviously found its target. Rob had very briefly been my boyfriend before I met Callum, and he had ended up working with Catherine to steal the amulet and sell its story to the papers. I had only just stopped him, and that was when I had inadvertently killed Lucas. In the fight Rob had lost all of his most recent memories but otherwise seemed OK. He had forgotten what a terrible boyfriend he’d been, and that I didn’t want to have anything to do with him any more.

“So come on, where did you see him?” I asked impatiently, tapping my foot.

“I saw him in the pub when I was on my way to the cinema. He was on the phone, talking about how he had been planning to ask you to go down to the place that his family had rented over the summer.”

“Oh no, not that again. It’s such pain having to say ‘no’ to everything twice with him. Did he say anything else?”

“Actually, he must have been talking to someone who knows you, because he said something like ‘When I bring her down you’re going to have to leave. Even if she’s your friend I want the place to ourselves, if you know what I mean’. It was perfectly clear what it was he had in mind. He’s a right charmer, isn’t he?”

I agreed absent-mindedly. Something was niggling at me, something that was important. I searched back through all our mutual friends to see who the mystery person on the other end of the call might have been, what the link was, but nothing came to me.

“Hey,” said Callum after I had been brooding on it for a while. “Come on, it’s not that important. Do you want me to start stalking him again? Not that I fancy the idea much.”

“Nah, don’t worry, he’s not worth the effort. He’s not worth
any
effort, the little worm,” I added with some feeling. I was about to expand on that when Beesley leapt up and raced towards the house, barking wildly.

“It looks like Lynda’s home and come to collect. I’d better go inside.”

“Time for me to go and find Olivia then, make sure she’s done enough gathering for the night.” He gave another stroke of my hair. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I’ll be here, I’m not disappearing on my road trip just yet, not when I don’t know where to go.”

“OK, till tomorrow then.” There was a brief silence, then I felt a gentle touch on my lips. “I love you, Alex,” he said quietly, and with a sudden flurry he was gone before I could reply.

“I love you too,” I whispered into the gloom, before walking slowly towards the house where I could see Mum talking to Lynda. I really wished Rob would take a hint. It was so annoying that he
couldn’t remember important conversations, or how abominably he had behaved, trying to lure me and then Ashley into his little love nest in Cornwall.

“Cornwall!” I stopped dead in the middle of the lawn. Rob had been talking to someone about being in Cornwall. Could that have been a coincidence? Was it possible that he had been talking to Catherine? I ran upstairs, making my excuses as I went through the kitchen, and fired up the laptop. It was always grindingly slow in the evening, and I wished we had a faster Internet connection. I had checked Rob’s page when I had been looking for Catherine and there had been nothing useful there. Nothing had been added since then, and I pushed the laptop away in frustration. I was going to have to wing it.

The easiest way of getting information out of Rob would be to tackle him face-to-face. It wasn’t a pleasant prospect but, given he still seemed interested in me, I had the opportunity of manipulating him to get what I needed. I didn’t even feel guilty at the idea: Rob definitely deserved it.

Looking at my watch I saw that I might get him before he went out so I pulled my mobile out of my pocket and scrolled through the names.

“Oh crap, crap, crap,” I said to myself as I realised it was yet another of the numbers I had lost when I’d drowned my phone. I had re-entered most of them, but I hadn’t expected to need Rob’s details. I looked down the list to try and decide which of my friends would have his number and wouldn’t mind giving it to me. Probably not Ashley, I thought with a half-smile. Jack would be the best one, I realised. I pressed the number quickly.

Jack was one of my oldest friends; our families had been socialising together since Jack’s brother and Josh had been in
primary school together. He was currently going out with Grace, which I was delighted about. The two of them made a great couple and clearly adored each other.

“Hi, Alex, what’s up?”

“Hi, Jack. Oh you know, the usual. Not seen you for a while. I hope you’ve been behaving yourself while Grace has been away?”

“Are you checking up on me?” he asked with a smile in his voice.

“As if! I’m sure you’re looking forward to her coming back tomorrow even more than I am.”

That was pushing him too far; he was never going to admit that, even to me. “Is it tomorrow? I’d forgotten.”

“You’re such a terrible liar! Don’t worry, I won’t tell her how much you’ve been pining, I promise. I was just after a favour, actually.”

“Really? You stun me. Come on then, what do you need?”

“Rob Underwood’s mobile number.”

That did stun him. “What on earth for? Have you forgotten all the grief he gave you?”

“No, course not. I just need to talk to him, that’s all. Can you text me his number, please?”

“OK, but be careful, Alex. He’s acting really strangely. That memory-loss business has messed with his mind.”

“I will, don’t worry. So when are you and Grace off to the Gower?”

“Later this week, so I’m sorry, you’re not going to get much time with her.”

“I know, it’s all right for some, skipping from one holiday to another. I shall prise her away from you for at least one night out before you whisk her away though.”

“Good, she’ll want to do that. OK, so I’ll send you Rob’s number now.”

“Cheers, Jack,” I said. “See you soon.”

Seconds after I put the phone down it beeped. Rob’s number had arrived. I sat for a moment rehearsing in my mind what I wanted to say, then took a deep breath and picked up the handset again.

“Rob, it’s Alex.”

“Oh, hi, Alex, how are you?” The surprise was evident in his voice.

“Fine, thanks. Look, I was just wondering if you were around tomorrow?”

The surprise was instantly replaced by smugness. “Well now, let me see … yeah, I think I can squeeze you in somewhere.”

“Great. Coffee maybe? Hampton Hill High Street?”

“Sure, I can do that.”

“OK, so how about ten o’clock outside the theatre, then we can see which café has space?”

“Whoa, ten o’clock? That’s a bit early.”

“No point wasting the day, is there?”

“I’m glad to see you’re keen. OK, for you I’ll do ten o’clock. See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah. See you, Rob.”

He was going to be unbearable but I needed to get the information and he was much more likely to give it to me if he thought he was in with a chance. The thought of spending any time with him made my flesh crawl. He had proved just how shallow and mercenary he was when he tried to sell the amulet, and I had no regrets at all that he had lost his memories of all those few weeks. I also didn’t feel at all guilty about manipulating him; I
couldn’t think of anyone who deserved it more.

I had a quiet evening, planning how I was going to get the information out of Rob without making him suspicious. Josh and Max had gone out, and my mum was curious about why I hadn’t chosen to go with them.

“You two seemed to be getting on so well in Spain,” she suddenly started as we loaded the dishwasher before she went up to bed. “Why didn’t you want to go to the pub with them?”

“I just didn’t, that’s all.”

“I mean, it’s pretty clear that Max fancies you.”

“Oh, Mum, please stop! I really don’t want to discuss this.”

“But he seems like such a nice lad.”

“He is a ‘nice lad’, Mum, which is why I don’t want to encourage him. It wouldn’t be fair.”

“Not your cup of tea then?” she pressed.

“No, not my cup of tea.” I turned my back and picked up a stack of plates, hoping that it would end the conversation, but she wasn’t done.

“In that case, you may want to scarper. Max is going to be staying the night, and they’ll be back soon.”

I stopped dead, rattling the crockery I was carrying. “Oh, right. I’ll just load these and get out of the way then.”

Mum lifted the plates out of my hands. “Go now, before you drop something. I can finish off. What are you doing in the morning?”

“I’m meeting some friends in Hampton Hill at ten, so I’ll get the train. They’ll still be sound asleep that early, I’m sure. Goodnight.”