In the morning, Claire woke early. She quickly came to. The ambulance, lights flashing as it drove away, Claire had not dared to watch, and the memory was still too vivid. Sitting at the kitchen table, Claire phoned the hospital. James was receiving attention for a broken right leg, several broken ribs and smashed right arm from his shoulder and a gash in his back. But he also had a more serious head injury. There was a bleed on the left side of his brain which had shown up on a scan, and that would need emergency surgery.
That was the stark message – his injuries were serious. And it left Claire with the certainty that sitting at the bedside of James in hospital was not something she could face. It would raise her antagonism against him to a new level. Scraping the money back that had been raked off came first, and then the time would come to silence his aggression for good.
Her phone rang as she was preparing to have a bath. Sitting on the end of the bed at that moment, Claire was not sure she wanted to answer it. But after thirty seconds, she gave in. She stood, walked to the window and thumbed it on. There was no “hello”, just a burst of words.
‘What on earth’s going on?’ Rick asked.
Claire felt her arm tremble and she held the phone away from her ear. Rick’s voice was sharp.
‘You know James, you brought him on the site, news from the hospital is he’s lucky to be alive,’ was all Claire could say.
‘How can this suddenly flare up? Most contractors and tradespeople around the site just want to get on with their work; goodness knows we’re paying enough for it. Hope you’re being serious about rebuilding Arrow Hall.’
‘I stood and watched James’s aggression flare, not for the first time. He’s gone, and I don’t ever expect him to come back. And I’m going to take a few days off from the site,’ Claire said.
‘How long will James be in hospital?’
‘He’s not good, surgery for bleed on the brain, broken bones – it’s too early to know.’
‘I don’t think you should be staying away from Arrow Hall at this time. It’s already a high-cost building, and where’s that going to end?’
‘Lay off please, Rick. I’ve spent a lot of time on the site getting the building to where it is. I’ve dealt with testy planners, architects who think they know it all and I’ve been controlling James. His arrogance alone put him in hospital. I didn’t; he did it himself,’ Claire said.
Claire was now seething; her arm was shaking; and her voice was rising to a level which was very unusual for her.
‘I’m having to spend a lot more money than I expected to complete the wine estate down here. And that’s going to make a difference how much I’m going to lay out for Arrow Hall. I now urgently need the update on exactly what has been spent and what’s still to be done to finish it all off and what the new completion date will be.’
‘I can’t do that without James; I’ve pressed him twice but he was not cooperating, just dodging away from every question. And now you know where he’ll be for several weeks. And I’ve tried to tell you, if only you would listen, that because of James, there’s some fraudulent and forged invoices, overpayments, accounts paid twice. Getting the money back is not going to be so easy.’
‘Rebuilding Arrow Hall is running away from you all. And how’s it all going to work while James is in hospital and you’re taking a rest from the place?’
‘I’ll talk to each of the builders, and they’ve all got my phone number. I can be back in an hour if I need to, but the site’ll run on for a few more days, and more easily without James,’ Claire replied.
‘You know what I’m feeling about it all; you know the money is tight. And I gave you Arrow Hall to rebuild but I didn’t think it would turn like this. But I’m in a hurry now; I’ll have to go. I’ll call again soon to get an update.’
Rick’s voice was distant and, as ever these days, his time was short.
Holding the phone from her ear, Claire pressed it off and sat on the edge of the bath. She felt the cold distance that had been growing between them. This was not how she had ever talked with Rick in the past. Perhaps those days were gone. Forever. What had come between them to make that happen she was not sure. But it left Claire very unsettled; she did not like it.
Living in her own flat, this confined space, and spending time in Brighton with Harry Stone – how could she ever tell Rick about that?