Bethany stepped through the front door and into the hallway with her handbag balanced on her wrist.
Relief rushed through me. I placed my hand over my heart as she stepped in further, craning her neck to peer up the stairs.
‘I’m over here,’ I told her, moving away from the basement and out into the middle of the kitchen.
Bethany did an amused double-take when she saw my appearance. I realized I must have looked almost as stressed and crazed as I felt.
‘What are you doing back there?’ she asked. ‘And why is your front door open?’
She was wearing a fashionable raincoat that was belted at the waist and a bright statement scarf, like a TV news reporter about to do a live broadcast. Her heels were killer. Her make-up looked freshly applied. She was mid-twenties but she acted older. She had the confidence and bearing of someone for whom life was working out exactly as she’d planned.
‘Where’s Donovan?’ She removed her gloves, folding them in her hands, fussing with her hair.
‘I’ve been calling you,’ I said.
‘Have you?’ Her brow furrowed in a pantomime of surprise. She parted her handbag, delving inside to remove her phone. ‘Oh look, I’m sorry, I think I had it on silent and—’ It took her a second to process what she was seeing. ‘Three missed calls?’
I swallowed and glanced back at the basement.
‘Lucy? Is something the matter?’
‘Yes, something’s the matter,’ I said, keeping my voice low as I pointed behind me. ‘He’s gone into the basement and he won’t come out.’
‘Sorry?’ Her laugh was stagey, tinkling. ‘Are you saying that you’ve lost him?’
‘No.’ A kick of temper but I got it under control, taking a step closer, wanting her to understand the importance of what I was telling her. ‘He went into the basement but now he’s not answering me when I call down to him.’
‘Riiight.’ She said it slowly, infuriatingly. ‘And you didn’t go down with him?’
I didn’t say anything to that.
‘Well, have you been down to check on him, at least?’
‘Not yet.’
‘O-kay.’
I didn’t explain why.
It was clear she already thought I was overreacting and I’d never mentioned my claustrophobia to Bethany before. It simply hadn’t come up. Sam had been here with me when she’d valued the house, so he’d been the one to show her the basement. And the viewings she’d arranged since then had always been conducted when I was out.
‘I’m sorry, but you’re being very serious, Lucy.’
‘Because it’s odd,’ I told her. I was still clutching my phone and now I became aware that Bethany was glancing at the way my knuckles had whitened around it. ‘I don’t know if he’s trying to scare me, or if he thinks it’s funny, or—’
‘Bethany?’ I jumped at the sound of Donovan’s voice booming out from behind me. ‘You made it.’
‘Donovan!’ Bethany opened her arms, breezing past me as Donovan emerged from the top of the basement stairs with a mildly puzzled look on his face. ‘We thought we’d lost you! It’s so wonderful we can finally meet.’
Bethany went up on her toes and air-kissed his cheek, her fingers gently stroking the sleeve of his overcoat as she pulled away, as if she was appraising the quality of the fabric.
Donovan seemed a bit taken aback by her greeting, but after checking her out in return he caught up to it soon enough. ‘I was beginning to think you’d stood me up.’
She fake-gasped. ‘I would never!’
Her hand returned to his arm and I was reminded of the way the woman had touched him outside, though Bethany was even more predatory. Donovan had to be at least ten years older than Bethany, but from the appreciative smile he was giving her he obviously had no problem with that.
And why should he? Bethany was beautiful. Single.
‘So . . .’ She twisted at the hips, finally removing her hand from him and tapping a finger to her lips. ‘What do we think?’
‘Of?’
‘The house, silly.’
‘I think it’s everything you told me on the phone and more. Lucy’s done a really terrific job showing me around before you got here.’
That was generous, and we both knew it, but we both also knew that something wasn’t right here and I wasn’t about to let it go.
‘Bethany—’ I began.
‘Did she show you the back garden?’ Bethany continued, talking over me.
‘Yes, we covered that,’ Donovan said.
‘The kitchen has everything you need?’
‘Everything for ordering in a takeaway, anyway.’
‘Oh, you’re one of those men. And upstairs?’
‘I could make that work.’
‘Mmm, I just bet you could.’
‘I’m sorry,’ I blurted. I knew I sounded rude. I also knew I looked angry and haggard and probably unhinged, but I really didn’t care. ‘I was calling to you,’ I told Donovan.
‘You were?’ His face contorted with apparent confusion.
‘Yes, when you were in the basement. I was calling down to you and you didn’t reply.’
‘Really?’ He shot Bethany a mystified look. ‘I didn’t hear you.’
I should let it go now. I knew that, too. I clearly wasn’t going to get anywhere with it. And yet . . .
‘I was shouting pretty loudly.’
‘Well, then,’ Bethany said, clapping her hands, ‘doesn’t that just go to prove how solid your basement is?’
‘It could have been my fault.’ Donovan pulled a face and raised a gloved hand in a placatory gesture. His palm was about the size of a bear’s paw. ‘The truth is I get embarrassed about it, but I do have some trouble with my hearing. An old rugby injury. If I’d heard you, I would have come back up, Lucy. I did actually call to you at one point. Did you hear that?’
Something rippled under my skin. A feverish squirming.
I suspected he was lying, but he was looking back at me so casually, and Bethany obviously couldn’t see a problem, that it was difficult for me to challenge him further without escalating the situation.
‘Well, it’s great that we’ve settled that one,’ Bethany said, slipping her arm through Donovan’s and guiding him forwards. ‘Come on, I’m going to show you the bedrooms again. I don’t want you leaving here with any doubts in your mind.’
They began to climb the stairs.
Again, I knew I should have left things, but again, I couldn’t help myself.
‘I thought you had an appointment?’ I said to Donovan.
‘Oh, please,’ Bethany said. ‘You’ll make time for me, won’t you, Donovan? Why don’t you make yourself comfortable, Lucy? We won’t be long.’