Page 60 of Promise Me Love

Beth searched his face, desperately seeking something that would tell her that wasn’t so, that her recent, precious hopes were justified, but there was nothing there to ease her tortured mind. She had to face the truth that Maggie had been wrong, so very wrong in her assessment of the situation. David had asked about her out of a sense of responsibility, nothing more, and nothing remotely like she wanted him to feel.

‘I’m sorry, David,’ she said quietly. ‘I was a fool to come.’

‘What do you want me to say, Beth? That I’m sorry?’ His eyes were dark and troubled, strangely veiled so that they revealed little. ‘You know how I feel and how I regret what happened.’

Regretted what? That he had married her, suggested that they should try to make a life together? Pride forbade that she should ask. She nodded, avoiding looking at him. ‘I know that. At least we’ve managed to clear the air between us. I hated the thought that we were enemies, David.’ She looked away, feeling her control slipping bit by bit. This was the last time she would ever come here, the last time she would stand in this room where once she had been offered hope and a chance for the future. She owed David a lot. The best way to repay him would be to leave now without embarrassing him any more.

She held her hand out, smiling bravely as she met his eyes. ‘Thank you, David. For all you’ve done and all you tried to do. I…I shall never forget you or your kindness.’

He took her hand, his fingers cool against hers, filling her mind with memories. ‘How will you manage, Beth? That room you’re living in is no place for you.’

She drew her hand back. ‘There is nothing wrong with it. It will do me for now until I can afford something better.’

‘There is no need for you to just manage. I can find you somewhere. Leave it to me.’ He slid back into the role of cool arrogance with such ease, taking over her life once more, but she couldn’t allow that to happen now.

‘No. Thank you. You don’t need to worry about me. I am no longer your responsibility. I have a job and somewhere to live, so your commitment is at an end. Eventually I should be able to repay most of that money you paid me too.’

He swore roughly. ‘You earned that money, Beth. It wasn’t charity!’

‘Maybe not, but I would prefer to repay you anyway.’

‘So that you can wipe the slate clean? Fair enough, Beth. Whatever you decide I’ll be happy to go along with.’ He glanced pointedly at his watch and Beth took the hint and hurried towards the door. Just for a moment she paused in the doorway, her eyes lingering on his face, then turned and ran down the stairs, ran and ran until her lungs felt as though they would burst, but she couldn’t run from the bitter-sweet pain of all those memories inside her head.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THERE was a party going on in the flat upstairs.

Beth sat on the bed, hearing the thumping sound of the music pounding through the ceiling, but it felt as though it were coming from a million miles away. Nothing felt quite real any more, not even her.

With a ragged sigh, she got up and started to undress for bed, pulling a robe on over her long cotton nightgown. She had to go to work the following day and if she didn’t get some rest she would be fit for nothing, although she couldn’t imagine how she would sleep after what had happened.

Pain flashed through her as she remembered that confrontation with David and she bit her lip to hold it at bay. She couldn’t break down now; she had to find the strength from somewhere to go on and rebuild a life that would never have David as its central point. She’d thought she had accepted the breakup of their relationship that night after Maggie’s party but now she knew that somewhere deep in her mind she’d harboured a tiny, foolish, fragile dream that they could work it all out some way. Now there was no longer even that hope to cling to, only the cold realisation that this was the end. David had had his chance to tell her if he cared for her at all tonight and had not taken it. There was nothing left to add.

She didn’t hear the knock at the door at first for the noisy throb of the music. When it came again, long and angry, she started nervously. Who could it be at this time of the night? Cautiously she eased the door open a crack, then gasped when she saw David standing outside.