Page 26 of The Girlfriend’s Secret

‘Yes, it is!’ I repeat, blocking his way whilst hoping he doesn’t try to push past me. ‘I told you she is my son’s girlfriend, and she is currently living in my house, so I have a right to know exactly what kind of woman she is and what she might be hiding.’

‘She’s not hiding anything.’

‘Really? Because I feel like she is, just like I feel she is very, very interested in the money my son is inheriting from his grandmother’s death. My mother’s death. Money she worked hard to save over an entire lifetime. So forgive me if I seem nosey, but I will not stop until I know for sure that my mum’s money is not going to be taken by somebody with an ulterior motive.’

Calvin has listened to everything I just said without trying to get past me or run again, which is helpful because I definitely don’t have the energy to chase him one more time. Then he shows another sign that he is done with running, opting to walk over to the wall that surrounds the perimeter of the park we were in before taking a seat on the edge of it.

I walk over and sit down next to him before looking at Calvin to do the talking.

‘My sister has been through a lot in her life,’ he says. ‘We both have. Our parents weren’t there for us, so it’s good to hear that you are trying to be there for your son. But Haven doesn’t have anyone to look out for her, so that’s why I will always be there for her if she ever needs me. But one thing I can assure you of is the fact that she is not trying to steal any money from your son or anybody else. She is a good person, and if she is with your son, then she likes him and he must make her happy. If so, it makes me happy too.’

That was not what I was expecting to hear.

‘You say you have both been through a lot in your lives,’ I ask. ‘What kind of things? What happened with your parents?’

‘It’s personal.’

‘I need to know. My son is involved now.’

‘No, you don’t,’ Calvin replies. ‘What you need to do is stop prying into Haven’s life. What you’ve done today was ridiculous, and you have wasted our time.’

Calvin goes to get up off the wall then, but I put out a hand and I’m glad he stops.

‘Just answer me this,’ I say. ‘If you and your sister are so close, why does she only have your number on a simple scrap of paper? Why aren’t you two in more regular contact? Why have I never heard about you before? My husband asked Haven about her family and she just said it’s complicated.’

‘Complicated is the right word,’ Calvin replies. ‘And it applies to our relationship too. Just because I care for her, it doesn’t mean we talk every day. She doesn’t want to see me all the time because I remind her of the past. When she went to Australia, I didn’t even know if I’d see her ever again. I thought she might stay over there and that I’d lost her forever. I wouldn’t have blamed her because it’s not as if either of us has anything here. That was until she got back and randomly turned up on my doorstep. She told me she had met a guy while travelling and was staying with him. She also told me she had a new number and wrote it down for me. So I wrote a note for her too and she took it before leaving. I haven’t seen her since.’

‘Wait, when did she visit you?’ I ask. ‘I was at the airport when she got back. She arrived with my son, and they have been staying with us ever since, so I don’t know when she could have visited you.’

‘I’m not making it up,’ Calvin replies. ‘She came to see me.’

‘When, exactly?’

‘Last Tuesday,’ he says simply.

But that is not a simple answer for me. Not in any way whatsoever. That’s because I greeted her and Joel at the airport on Sunday. So how could she have been in England before she got back from Australia?

‘You must be mistaken,’ I say. ‘She didn’t get back in the country until Sunday. It was just before my mother’s funeral.’

‘I know when I saw her,’ Calvin reiterates. ‘It was definitely Tuesday.’

‘It can’t have been!’ I cry, but Calvin stands to leave, forcing me to stand too. ‘Please, just wait. I’m only trying to understand all of this.’

‘Haven doesn’t need you snooping around behind her back,’ Calvin tells me. ‘I would get in touch with her, but I don’t know which number to trust anymore.’

‘Come with me to my house and you can speak to her there,’ I suggest, but Calvin shakes his head.

‘No, she wouldn’t like that,’ he says, and now he really is going.

‘Please, wait,’ I try one more time, but he walks away, and as he crosses the road, I decide not to try and chase him again considering what almost happened the last time I did.

As I watch him leave, there are still so many questions that remain. But I guess there is one main question that I need answering more than any other, so I call out to him across the street whilst he is still within earshot.

‘Are you sure that she is not going to be trouble for my son and my family?’

Calvin stops and turns around, looking back at me across the road as a car drives in between us.

‘I’m sure,’ Calvin calls back before ominously adding, ‘Unless you are trouble for her.’