He Loves Me Not: a gripping psychological thriller by Lorraine Murphy

Author:Lorraine Murphy [Murphy, Lorraine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inkubator Books
Published: 2024-08-25T00:00:00+00:00

26

Paula could go to hell; they were finished.

All day Ruth seethed. After tucking Beth into bed and reassuring her Dixie was in the best place, she lit the fire, made a cup of camomile tea and called Dave. He’d called earlier and had texted throughout the day, but she hadn’t replied.

Dave answered immediately. “Ruth! Thank God, I was getting worried.”

“Sorry, it was a terrible day. I couldn’t talk to you.”

“Are you alright? How’s the dog, and Beth?”

“I’m okay. Dixie is still in critical condition, and Beth is distraught.”

“Oh no. We can postpone things for now.” He exhaled loudly. “What I mean is, I don’t want to postpone, but I understand if you need to, and I’m here to talk at any time, day or night.”

Ruth had been thinking of what Paula had said all day.

“Dave, I think we should leave it. There’s so much going on in my life at the moment, and it doesn’t feel like the right time to start anything new.”

“If that’s what you want.” His voice trailed off.

“It is. I’m sure we’ll bump into each other at the lake.”

“But maybe we could⁠—”

“I’m sorry, Dave, it’s for the best.” Ruth ended the call before he could talk her around, then tidied up the dinner dishes and headed up the stairs to bed. She stopped at Beth’s door and watched her sleep. So soft, so pink, her thick eyelashes flickered as she turned over in bed. The most important person in her world.

Sure, it was possible Beth lied about the fence, but there was no way she would hurt a dog. No way. Ruth had backed her up, but any mother would do that for their child, wouldn’t they? Well, except her own, of course. She’d sold her daughter down the river and couldn’t even make contact.

Ruth tossed and turned, Paula’s words turning over and over in her mind. No, stop it! Don’t stack. Not this time. If one thing went wrong, she had a tendency to build a case against herself, thinking of all the mistakes she’d ever made, compiling them to prove to herself that she was a bad person. She’d borrowed a book from the library that talked about this, calling it anxiety, claiming there was medication that could help. Probably sponsored by Big Pharma, but still, Ruth finally had a name for her experience.

She’d worked so hard to stop stacking, but with the school issues, Dixie and now falling out with her best friend, Ruth struggled to not build a tower, but it was constructing itself, so high that it threatened to topple over and crush her. She had to stay strong for Beth.

At some stage in the early hours, she’d nodded off on the couch only to be woken by her phone beeping, echoing around the silent room. A message.

She felt around the floor and found her phone. One new message from Paula.

Dixie’s dead. I never want to see you again.

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