Page 98 of The House Swap

His reasoning made perfect sense, but still she stalled, glancing back at the taverna. The staff were closing, stacking chairs and switching off lights. As much as she was worried about bumping into Sue and Ian, she didn’t want to wait here in the dark either.

‘It will be five minutes, I promise.’

Poppy forced a smile. ‘Okay.’

They drove mostly in silence, Jem taking it steady, guided by just the one headlight, and her stomach churned as he turned off the main road, the cluster of villas visible in the distance. It immediately brought back unwelcome memories. Being in Ian’s car, everything that had happened in the Pritchards’ house, then how she had fled along the track in the dark, desperate to get away from them.

She spotted their villa immediately. It was the only one glowing warmly against the night. Did that mean they were still up? Poppy clenched her hands into fists and willed her breath to steady, her heartbeat to slow.

‘You can come inside and wait if you like.’

‘Okay. Thank you.’

Although Jem’s place was shrouded in darkness and he quickly killed the engine, every sound as they exited the car was too loud in the silence. The closing of the doors, the crunch of gravel underfoot, the jingle of keys in the lock.

Poppy watched the neighbouring villa like a hawk for any sign of movement, but there was none. As Jem moved aside to let her go in first, she quickly stepped into the hallway, the knot inside her loosening as he closed the door behind them.

‘Sorry about the mess,’ he apologised, flipping on the light. Boxes were piled high in every direction. ‘I’m still sorting through everything.’

‘It’s fine,’ she told him. ‘I can’t imagine how much work this has all been for you.’

He gave her a tight smile. ‘Just a bit. Look, I’ll just be a couple of minutes, okay. Make yourself at home. Living room and kitchen are straight ahead.’

The villa was less polished than Tom’s and more tasteful than Sue and Ian’s. Despite the clutter of boxes, the place had a warm and homey appeal. It was simply furnished but seemed loved. A box of picture frames on the floor in the living room drew her attention. She could see that the photos on top featured a small boy with curly hair. Jem, she guessed. It must have been difficult for him having to go through all of his dad’s things, especially given their estranged relationship.

There was a small dining table in the room, covered in books, and she wandered over, browsing through the titles. Jem’s dad seemed to have been a prolific reader, his tastes veering from thriller to horror, and spy to history. She recognised big names such as John le Carré, Ian Rankin, Stephen King and Ken Follett, but among those were worn paperbacks from authors she had never heard of.

She stopped dead, recognising one cover. The familiar Roman Killian character design jumping out at her and the author’s name in bold yellow letter at the top of the cover.

Simon Daley.

Jem’s dad owned one of Simon’s books.

Just holding it in her hand was enough to bring the rush of humiliation back at how Simon had tried to destroy her. Her face hot and nausea curdling in her stomach.

She put the book down, careful to bury Simon’s underneath the bigger names, but even though she could no longer see it, she could feel the stain from where she’d touched it.

Wandering through into the functional kitchen, she washed her hands at the sink, drying them on a tea towel. On the counter sat a stack of paperwork. Most of it looked like legal documents.

There was no intention to pry. She just happened to glance at the top sheet and it was there in plain sight. A typed invoice to Jem. His name and address at the top.

Jeremiah Daley

14 Pine Drive

Salcombe

Devon

Poppy double blinked, realising he had never told her his last name. There had been no need. She had never told him hers either.

Jeremiah Daley. Simon Daley. It wasn’t a rare surname. Not unusual enough to mean anything. And Devon. Plenty of people lived in Devon. That didn’t prove anything either.

Still, she found herself looking at the name again.

Was it possible they were related?

No, that would be too big a coincidence.