Page 36 of The House Swap

Was it Greg or her parents?

Poppy quickly messaged back.

I understand. Please just tell me everyone is okay. xx

She waited for the message to be delivered, but as before, only the one tick was on the screen. The second one never appeared.

15

Without Keira there, the villa felt bare and imposing, and far too quiet.

Earlier, Poppy had been running on adrenaline, unable to settle, but as evening approached, knowing her friend was back in England and she was here all alone, the vast and hollow emptiness of the place was making itself known.

For a while, she kept the patio doors open, just to hear anything other than her own breathing, but after watching the sunset, darkness gathered quickly and the chill that crept in with it was even less inviting. Eventually, she shut them and turned the lock.

Ordering herself to relax, she switched on lights she didn’t need and played music to banish the silence.

She picked up her phone again, wondering if there was any more from Keira.

It was such a cryptic message she had sent. Wanting to reassure but not really explaining anything. Poppy read the words again, conscious that they explained everything, yet told her nothing, and not liking that, as before, there was no second tick on her reply.

Had something really bad happened? Was that why Keira had her phone switched off?

Not knowing left Poppy feeling isolated.

Had her friend been active on Facebook at all?

Despite her reluctance to go anywhere near social media, thanks to Simon Daley, she made herself log in for Keira’s sake, but she did it fast, half-blind, refusing to look properly. She checked Keira’s profile, found no sign that she had been active, then logged straight back out again.

If she had Greg’s number, she would message him, but she didn’t. The pair of them weren’t close, despite having Keira in common. And Keira’s parents lived in Spain. Poppy had met them a handful of times, but she had no way of contacting them. Short of getting a flight back herself, there was nothing she could do except wait for Keira to get in touch.

As tension thrummed through her, she started to pace again, the marble floor beneath her bare feet cold and almost hostile.

With Keira not reading her messages or updating Poppy on what was happening, she really needed someone else to talk to.

Jem was too new and didn’t understand their friendship. After letting him know she had heard from Keira, his reaction had been a thumbs up and a brief message back:

Great news. Glad all OK.

In his defence, he barely knew Keira. Of course he wouldn’t think it was out of character for her to do something like this. Just as he didn’t know Poppy well enough to understand that she wasn’t someone who overreacted unnecessarily.

She was still pacing when her phone rang.

Tom.

She answered immediately, her heart lifting at the sight of his name.

‘Hey,’ he greeted her. ‘I was just thinking about you. How are things?’

Something in his voice was different. He sounded lighter than when she had previously spoken to him.

‘How’s James?’ she asked, avoiding his question.

‘That’s actually why I am calling.’ She could hear the cautious relief now in his tone. ‘They’ve started bringing him out of the coma. It’s very early stages and the doctors are being careful about what they’re promising, but they’re saying critical, but stable. Milly is…’ He paused, and she heard him compose himself. ‘She’s been incredibly brave. We all have everything crossed.’

‘Tom, that’s such good news.’

‘It is. It really is. Now he is hopefully out of the woods, I should be okay to fly to Paris for the wedding.’ There was another pause before he shifted the subject back. ‘Anyway. Enough about here. Tell me how you are. And don’t just say fine, because you don’t sound it.’