I found myself rubbing my hands again. Then I started scratching at the sore skin on the fold next to my thumb. I shoved my hands deep into my jeans. “I couldn’t come with them all out there. A black transit van kept following me around all day today.”
“It’s all right,” Jake said. “I know you couldn’t come.” He pulled me into a tight embrace and whispered into my hair, “I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve needed you all day.” Then he took my hand and led me over to the sofa and sat me down next to him. “Emma, it was awful. They kept going over my statement, picking it apart. It was ten years ago, how am I supposed to remember? Everything was so blurry with the flood happening. I just don’t understand why they keep asking me these things.”
“It’s okay,” I said. I pulled him closer to me, but some of the adrenaline from earlier was still rushing through me. There was a part of me that wanted to push him away, not bring him closer. My skin prickled where he touched me. “It’s over now. They didn’t charge you with anything so you must have cleared up whatever issue they had.”
“They have nothing because I’ve done nothing.” Jake glared at Denise. “Maybe you can tell that to your mates down the station.”
Denise shuffled awkwardly from one foot to the other. “I think it’s probably time I headed home. I’m glad that everything has been sorted out, Mr. Hewitt.”
I noticed that Denise never called him Jake. Perhaps it was because Jake still carried the air of a teacher even when he was outside the classroom. Or perhaps it was because Denise didn’t feel completely comfortable around him. Or maybe it was more indicative of the patronising way she tried to pal up to me. Always calling me Emma and ‘popping the kettle on’. On the other hand, Marcus struck up the occasional conversation about cars or football—probably in the hope that it would ignite Jake’s attention and get him onside. It could be sickening at times.
The door closed behind her and I heard a few reporters speak to her as she made her way to her car down the street.
“They’ll get bored soon,” I said. “They’ll stop hanging around after dark soon anyway.”
Jake pulled me closer. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
I tried not to allow my body to stiffen, but all I could think about was Aiden sitting across the room from us. I tried to disentangle myself from Jake’s arms. “Hey, Aiden’s here, you know.”
Jake gave him the barest of glances. “Oh yeah.”
“Maybe we could stick the telly on for a while.”
“What, and watch more Disney? What is it this time? Aladdin? Sleeping Beauty? The boy’s sixteen. He doesn’t need to be subjected to more of that claptrap.”
“What happened at the police station?” I asked. “You’re far more agitated than I would be after being asked to clarify something simple.”
Spittle flew from his mouth when he answered. “How do you think it went? I knew what they were meaning when they asked me those questions. They were insinuating I did it. They think I could take a six-year-old boy. It’s disgusting.”
“What questions did they ask you?”
“What didn’t they ask me?” He sighed. “It was a breakdown, basically. They wanted to know every second of my whereabouts for the entire day. Of course it was impossible to answer. It was ten years ago and everyone was rushing around like a blue-arsed fly trying to find a dry classroom in that leaking cesspool of a school. I thought I’d been with Simon from IT for most of the day but apparently he says he wasn’t. I distinctly remember us going into E6 to check on the roof there. It’s all ridiculous. As if I would have even had time to do such a thing. Ten years!”
“That’s what I said.”
He pulled me closer and kissed me on the mouth. “My Emma. My beautiful wife. To think our little daughter will be here to meet us soon.”
I pushed him back. “Jake. Aiden’s here.”
“Aiden, dear boy,” he said, imitating a stereotypical public school teacher. “Perhaps it’s time for you to go to bed now. I have some things to discuss with your mum.”
“Actually, it is getting a bit late,” I said. “Maybe we should all go to bed.”
“Has he eaten?”
“Denise made him a sandwich.”
Aiden made his way out of the room, closing the door behind him. My heart sank to see the way he plodded along the floor with his stiff, cumbersome gait. It was getting a little better each day, but I wondered whether he would ever stride or run in the same way as the other young men and women.
“Where were we, Mrs. Price-Hewitt? Hmm, maybe one day we can ditch the Price.” He landed a few small kisses down my neck.
“Jake, come on. It’s been a horrible day. Can we just sit and chill for a bit?”
He pulled away and crossed one leg over the other in a fluid motion. From the way he held his body I could tell he was annoyed.
“It’s just… I’m so stressed out. And… look, we’ll have some sandwiches and watch an hour of TV and then see how we’re feeling, okay? I just need to decompress.” I started rubbing my hands again. “Someone keyed my car. I was at the doctor’s and this woman was talking to me—”