The Back Road by Abbott Rachel

Author:Abbott, Rachel [Abbott, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Black Dot Publishing Ltd
Published: 2013-03-03T13:00:00+00:00

31

The hospital canteen was busy, but fortunately there was nobody there that Ellie knew well, so she was able to grab a corner table and sit by herself to have her break. The progress that day with Abbie had pushed all other thoughts to the back of her mind until now. She was so pleased that the girl was showing signs of recovery and the doctor was talking about taking her off the ventilator the next day, if all went well.

The story of how Abbie had been abducted was infinitely more disturbing, though. The village had always seemed such a safe place to live. Apart from what had happened to Fiona, of course - but that was different. Ellie had lived in Little Melham all her life, and knew practically everybody. Suspicion would be rife everywhere, and she could only imagine the havoc it was wreaking in some households as doubt was cast on the integrity of friends and neighbours.

So had this person abducted Abbie and then knocked her over? Perhaps they thought that an accident might hide the abduction. She had no idea, but she hoped and prayed that this wasn’t anybody she knew.

She wanted, more than anything, to be able to talk to Max about it. He knew kids of that age so much better than she did, and he might understand how it could all have happened. But she wasn’t sure she wanted to talk to Max at all. The thick, heavy sensation of sorrow settled at the back of her throat again.

Max. She had never wanted anybody else. Even when he was away at university, she had waited patiently until he was ready to make a commitment. Max had thought that it would be better if they were free to see other people, but even though she’d tried, nobody had lived up to him. As a student nurse she’d had a great social life, but it was common knowledge that she was only interested in Max Saunders. And he had been worth the wait. At least, until now.

Ellie couldn’t help feeling that she had already been abandoned by one man she’d loved and she couldn’t bear to be abandoned by a second. Much as she held out hope that her father’s disappearance was a foolish mistake that he’d regretted ever since, or that her mother had driven him away, the pain of realising all those years ago that he wasn’t coming back had been so acute, she was certain she couldn’t cope with that again. And this would be so much worse.

If she confronted Max, what would that gain? If he denied it, would she believe him? If it really wasn’t true, it would expose a weakness – a lack of trust – that might forever drive a wedge between them. And if it was true, she would give him the very opening he needed to say he was leaving.

No. She was going to fight, and her best weapon was silence.

The problem with Max was that subterfuge was never his thing.

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