Constable Matthews raised her eyebrows. “Not great, but, as you said, it’s over now.”
“What happened?”
“She saw you from the window. She knew who you were and she ran at Ash, accusing him of cheating on her with you.”
Jesus.
“Did she hurt him?” I asked, hoping they’d stopped her in time.
“No,” Sergeant Wright said. “We kept her away. But, I think you should be careful. She told Ash that she’d Googled you, so there is a chance she might have your number, and maybe even your address. We can keep her away from you if you feel the need for extra protection.”
“A restraining order?” I asked. I knew they had offered Ash that option, but it never occurred to me that I might need it too.
What kind of crazy was she? I might not have known him long, but Ash was not the kind of guy who would cheat, and she’d made extra sure of that by keeping him beat down and telling him how insignificant he was.
“Yes,” Sergeant Wright continued. “The chances of her doing anything to you are minimal since she knows she has a court case pending, and she is unlikely to want to risk making her case worse, but if you want that extra bit of peace of mind then…”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m not worried. If I see her anywhere around where I live, then I’ll reconsider, but for now, I’m happy to wait it out.”
Natalie might have been a horrible human being, but I didn’t think she’d want to risk jail time. As things stood, with what she’d already done, she’d probably get away with a warning or something equally as pointless. I doubted she would want to push her luck any further.
At least, I hoped not.
“Okay,” Sergeant Wright said. “We have everything we need for now. If either of you need anything, please give us a call.”
I nodded. “Will do.” I looked back at Ash who was sitting in my car, looking straight ahead. “I should go. I’ll drive him to the B&B a bit later. It’s probably better that he’s not on his own yet.”
“I agree.” Sergeant Wright walked with me to my car, helping me load Ash’s case in the boot. “There are a lot of resources available if either of you need them.”
“Thank you. The hospital gave me some phone numbers, and I know Ash has some too. I’ll make sure to check on him every day.”
“He’s lucky to have you in his life. I don’t want to think about what would have happened if he’d had no-one.”
With a long sigh, I said, “Well, I’ve been through some stuff too. I’m happy to be here for him as long as he needs.”
Sergeant Wright gave a small smile. “We’ll be in touch.”
Returning his smile, I said, “Thanks.”
As he walked away, I rounded the car and opened the door to the driver’s side, climbing in. Ash turned to look at me as I did.
“Are you okay?” I asked. I felt like that was the only question I’d asked him lately.
He nodded. “Yeah. I think so. I just want to get the hell out of here.”
I didn’t waste any time in granting his request. Although it was a little out of the way of his B&B, I decided it would be better to go outside of the city and head somewhere quieter. I knew of a small café back in Stockport that was cosy, comfortable, and just on the edge of town. It was one of my favourites, and Keely and I went there on days when she didn’t have the children with her. It wasn’t that it wasn’t child friendly, it was just that people rarely brought children in there. It was more of a Central Perk kind of vibe, but with booths instead of sofas.
Ash and I slid into one of the booths, sitting opposite each other, and once we’d both ordered coffee and a slice of Victoria sponge each, his shoulders started to slowly relax. It was as if he couldn’t calm down until he was as far away from his old home as he could get.
“She’s fucking insane,” he said after a while, blowing out a long breath as he played with one of the sugar packets on the table. “She cried, Evie.” He looked up at me. “She cried and apologised, after she accused me of having a thing with you and trying to attack me again.”
“Yeah. Sergeant Wright mentioned that,” I said, scrunching up my nose as I thought about how ridiculous she was. “Has she always been this paranoid?”
“Not until she got controlling. In the beginning, she was relaxed and okay with me having friends, male or female. It was just when we started living together. Once I was paying for everything, and working to keep us both alive, that was when she changed.” He shook his head. “It makes no sense to me. I never gave her any reason to be jealous. I worked hard. We used to go out together. It still wasn’t enough.”
“Ash, can I ask what happened… you know… the first time she did something to you?”
I was curious to know how it had all gotten so out of hand. As far as I was concerned, if a man laid a hand on me in a violent way, he’d never get a chance to do it again. But I also knew that for a lot of people, it was more complicated than just physical abuse.