‘No!’ Lulu almost laughed. ‘No, of course not! He’s just . . . being back here is churning a lot of stuff up for him. Actually, that’s the reason we’re here.’ She explained about the therapy she was using to treat his PTSD.
‘PTSD?’ Yvonne snorted. ‘And the “therapy” is working, is it?’
‘It’s a process. It’s too soon to say whether it’s working or not, but the fact that he’s dealing with what happened, addressing his feelings about it –’
Yvonne shook her head with an expression almost of pity. ‘Look, Lulu, you seem like a nice girl. Nick’s my flesh and blood, but I’d be the first to admit he’s bad news. You need to get out of that relationship, and fast.’
Wow.
Lulu blinked. ‘I know he’s got issues –’
‘Oh yes, he’s got those all right.’
Lulu felt herself bristling. ‘After what he went through, it’s not surprising.’
‘Nick’s issues are nothing to do with what he “went through”。 He’s always been a little shit. A callous, calculating little shit.’
Wow.
‘No,’ Lulu said sternly. ‘Maybe he was a difficult teenager, but the Nick I know – and I do know him, although we’ve only been together six months – the Nick I know is a lovely man.’
Yvonne snorted.
‘He really is! He’s always surprising me with fun days out and weekends away. Just before we came up here, he booked a day at one of those adventure places and we were swinging through the trees and zooming down water slides like a pair of kids. I hadn’t had so much fun since I was a kid! You need to get to know him properly, Yvonne.’ She reached across the table and lightly touched the other woman’s hand. ‘It must have been hard for you, dealing with Duncan and Maggie and Isla disappearing like that, and Nick probably being a handful. There’s been a lot of water under the bridge since then, though, and I promise you, when you properly get to know Nick, you’re going to like him.’
Would he ever let Yvonne close enough to see the real Nick, though? Lulu pushed away the niggly little worry about how he was going to be when she got back. Would he give her the silent treatment for disloyally going out with Yvonne?
‘Lulu –’
‘Come to dinner!’ The suggestion was out of her mouth before she’d really thought it through. ‘You and Michael. Tomorrow night? Why not? Just a dinner?’
Yvonne wasn’t looking at Lulu. She was watching Pam collecting crockery from the table opposite. Finally, she met Lulu’s eyes. ‘Okay, fine. I suppose there are things we need to discuss, about the house.’
‘Great! Oh, and another thing I was going to ask you – do you have a phone number for Carol Jardine?’
‘Carol? Why do you want to talk to Carol?’
‘What you said just now about whether I was sure the therapy was working? When you’re dealing with trauma, it’s good to get independent confirmation that the person is accessing real memories. People with PTSD are at risk, sometimes, of producing false ones. Carol will be able to tell me if what Nick is apparently remembering is right or not.’
Yvonne plucked her phone from her bag and settled a pair of bright pink-framed reading glasses on her nose. ‘I think I have her number, yes. For all the good it’ll do.’
When Lulu got back to Sunnyside, she found Nick in the kitchen, washing up at the sink, and as he turned to her, she braced herself for the silent treatment. But he smiled as he dried his hands on the towel and asked, a little sardonically, if she’d had a good time with Yvonne.
‘It wasn’t as bad as I’d expected.’
‘What, so you were expecting it to be an ordeal, but anything was better than staying here with Mr Nutter? No, Lu, I don’t blame you! God, I’m such a pain in the arse these days.’ He came across the room and took her, very tenderly, in his arms. ‘I’m sorry for being such a brute. I’ve attempted falafels to make up for it – yes, from scratch, and with a lot of creative thinking required as we have none of the right ingredients. Do you think it’s acceptable to substitute sweetcorn for chickpeas?’
Lulu gurgled, ‘No!’
‘Yeah. I don’t expect you to eat them. It’s the thought that counts, though, yes?’
‘Yes.’ She reached up to put a hand through his hair.
‘Oh, and if you’re looking for Nero, forget it. I assassinated him. Drowned him in the loo.’