Tideline by Penny Hancock Read Free Book Online Page A

path as they reached Commercial Street and she had to brake. The lights in front turned to red. She could feel her blood pressure rise.
Why did everyone go on about Jez all the time? Maria had phoned every night this week to see how her son had got on with his interviews, to check up on what he’d eaten, to remind Helen how
talented he was. Maria treated Jez like a pedigree creature rather than an ordinary teenage boy. Now his girlfriend was professing similar adulation and it was annoying. The effects of the wine
were wearing off and she felt a headache approaching. Helen craved another drink. She shouldn’t have offered to take Alicia all the way, should just have said, ‘Out here if you
don’t mind, I need to get home.’ You offered an inch and . . .
    ‘I’ll make him ring you, I promise,’ said Helen.
    As she turned the car round after dropping Alicia home she wondered whether she felt relieved that Ben hadn’t been at the opening after all. She no longer had to go
through the kind of tumultuous feelings Alicia described again. No more waiting for an email to arrive in the inbox, the ping of a text coming in. No more agonizing nerves at the thought of seeing
someone again. No more crazy romantic rendezvous in impractical locations. The foot tunnel, of all places! She had dealt with that side of things once and for all. Why would she want to open a
recently healed wound?
    ‘Think of all the civilized things you and Mick can do now that’s all behind you,’ Helen told herself as the car descended between towering brown walls into the dark mouth of
the Blackwall Tunnel. ‘You’re going to do more together than you ever used to: the theatre, city breaks, good food. You’ve both agreed to focus on your relationship. You’ve
done the right thing.’
    By the time she was home and turning the key in the lock, she was anticipating the warm smell of a meal ready on the kitchen table. Mick stood in the entrance to the sitting room, a newspaper
under one arm, his face grave. There was no welcoming smell from the kitchen. The fire was unlit and the hallway was cold.
    ‘Maria’s been on the phone,’ he said. ‘Jez was supposed to be going back to Paris today. He hasn’t arrived.’

 
CHAPTER SIX
Saturday night
    Helen
    Helen followed Mick into the sitting room and unscrewed the cap of a bottle of Pinot Grigio he’d put out for her on the table.
    ‘Was Maria sure he was going back today?’ said Helen. ‘I asked him to tell us which train he was getting, but he didn’t. He must still be here.’
    ‘When did you last see him? I don’t think I’ve seen him since Thursday.’
    Helen sat down. The room felt bleak. It needed flowers. She leant across to put the lamp on over the fireplace.
    ‘Thursday too, I think. No. I saw him yesterday lunchtime. That’s right, he was here when I got in . . . after work. Have you put any supper on?’
    ‘Helen. We need to sort this out. Where is he now?’
    ‘Not with Alicia. I just gave her a lift home from the private view. She says he stood her up in the foot tunnel yesterday. He’ll be with the boys.’
    ‘The foot tunnel?’
    ‘Apparently they meet halfway between south and north. It’s rather sweet.’
    Mick jumped out of his chair and ran his hands through his hair.
    ‘We ought to know where the boy is! What are we telling Maria when she phones back?’
    Helen filled her glass.
    Mick looked at her pointedly.
    ‘This is urgent,’ he said. ‘Maria was beside herself.’
    ‘My sister beside herself. That makes a change.’ She raised her eyebrows at her husband expecting his collusion in an old joke.
    ‘This is not about Maria. It’s about Jez. I’m concerned.’
    ‘Hey! It’s not like you to worry. Now you’re making me anxious.’
    When their boys were younger, Helen was the one to fret about their safety, check the booster seats in the car, make them wear cycle helmets, shin pads, armbands. She was the one to see that
their chests rose and