“I’m not leaving you. I’m asking you to respect my wishes. Please, I need to be by myself.”
“With your sister?” he asked.
She took his hands away from her face kissing both of them in turn. “I’m not asking you to understand my decision, James.”
“Then what are you asking for?”
“Time and patience. I know I’m hurting you, and I’m sorry. Two weeks ago I would laugh at the thought of being away from you. I couldn’t bear the thought of spending a day away from you.”
“Then why are you leaving me?” he asked. They were causing a scene. James didn’t care. If Prudence left with Veronica he feared he’d never see her again.
“Because I’m different, James. I couldn’t even bear for the door to be shut on my room last night. I’m not the same woman who was taken. I can’t give you what I promised.” Tears spilled down her cheeks. He stared over at his friends seeing the pity on their faces.
“Fine, Prudence. I’ll give you the time you need.” He cupped her cheeks kissing her again. “I want you to remember that I love you, and I’m never letting you go.”
She nodded then moved away. Veronica opened her arms, hugging her close.
He watched them leave the airport, and he felt his heart was being ripped out of his chest.
Her sister came back minutes later.
“What do you want?” he asked. “Have you come to gloat?”
“I’ll take care of my sister, and I’ve not told our parents what happened. I won’t poison her mind against you, James. I actually tried to convince her to go with you.”
Her words shocked him.
“You’re not good for me, but you’re good for her. Please, don’t give up on her.”
She turned to leave.
“Anything she needs you call me, do you understand? I’ll take care of everything.”
Veronica nodded then left the airport.
He stood for the longest time watching the doors waiting for Prudence to run back to him.
“She’s not coming, James. Come on, we’ve got to get home.”
Stephen pulled him along. After the longest time, James followed him.
****
Prue stared out of the window. Her face was badly bruised as she saw it in her reflection. Veronica came back and climbed in the front.
“Why did you need to go back?” she asked.
“James has a right to know that I’ll look after you.”
Her sister started the car. “You shouldn’t have gone like that.”
She’d phoned her sister while James had been in the bathroom that morning. After being in his arms and the incident with the door Prue needed time to herself. She hated leaving him at the airport looking so lost, but this wasn’t about him. This was about her.
“He wouldn’t have let me go if he’d known what I planned.”
“How do you know this? That man loves you, Prudence. I mean, head over heels in love with you.”
She winced at the high pitch of her sister’s voice. “I love you dearly, Veronica. Please, don’t yell so loud.” Rubbing her temples, Prue tensed when she saw him getting into a waiting limo. He didn’t see her passing in her sister’s car. The sight of him hurt her heart. He looked broken-hearted. She never thought she’d be the cause of his pain.
“I know you’ve been through hell. I can’t begin to imagine what’s happened to you, but hiding away from him is not going to help you.”
Prue turned to her sister. “I thought you hated him.”
“I never hated him. He loves you, and I can’t deny his feelings for you. James almost strangled me with his desperation to get you back, and he knocked Daniel out.”
“What?”
“I’m not holding it against him. That envelope you gave I was told to deliver to James. I was such a f**king coward that I got you to deliver it, and you saw James. If I’d delivered the stupid letter then none of this would have happened.”
“How do you figure that out?” Prue asked.
“You wouldn’t have gone back to him, and you wouldn’t have been in a relationship with him. This is all my fault.”
“Get over yourself,” Prue said, annoyed. “What happened just happened. It’s not anyone’s fault. It’s not yours or mine or James’s fault. I don’t blame anyone but the man who took me, and he’s f**king dead. I saw him dead with my own eyes.”
Prue let out a breath, exhausted.
The streets passed her by. She needed to get her head around everything that had happened. Work, time to herself, and anything she could do to occupy her thoughts would be welcome.
“Is Daniel home?” she asked.
“No, he’s taken the kids on a fishing trip down south. We’ve got the house to ourselves for the weekend.”
“Could we stop off at my place?” Prue asked.
“Yes, I’ve got the keys.”
Prue laid her head against the head rest.
“What happened while you were gone?” Veronica asked.
She knew her sister would worry until she was honest with her. “I wasn’t raped or anything. I think I had it pretty easy compared to a lot of the girls.”
“Your face looks pretty bad.”
“I was hit a lot.” Her hand had been bandaged by the hospital. “I never thought of killing myself. I spent a lot of time looking in the mirror speaking to myself.”
Veronica grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. “You’re a strong woman, Prudence.”
“I don’t feel it.”
“You survived.”
She didn’t highlight the other faults that had come from surviving. She didn’t point out that she was scared of being confined to one place or the nightmares she got. Prue hadn’t been lying to James. She wasn’t the same girl who’d been taken.
An hour later they arrived at her house. She stared at the plain brick work and the crappy garden she owned. James had purchased the house for her. At the time she’d been so annoyed at his heavy handed approach, but now she was thankful.
She climbed out of the car then made her way to the front door. Veronica opened the lock, and she stood inside her house. The place needed airing out from being closed off, and it was cold. She wrapped her arms around her body trying to keep the heat inside.
“You’re freezing.” Her sister wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. “You need to get a coat and some gloves.”