Page 90 of Never Gonna Happen

‘It’s still beautiful though,’ she said. ‘It must be lovely to have all this space to yourself.’

‘I suppose it is,’ replied Mr Hunter. ‘I’ve never really thought about it.’

Emily heard a distant clip-clop noise and twisted around in the saddle to see a figure on a black horse approaching at a trot. ‘Who’s that?’ she asked.

Mr Hunter turned, then sighed. ‘Ah. Looks like Adam has decided to join us.’

Emily felt all her positivity and enthusiasm drain away. Nothing good ever came from being anywhere near Adam.

‘Hello,’ he huffed grumpily, pulling his horse to a walk beside his father. Every part of his riding outfit was black, including the sleek, shiny horse he was sitting on. Emily remembered Jamie telling her it was called Lucifer, which seemed appropriate – against his pale, waxy skin it made Adam look like one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. ‘I thought we were going riding this morning?’ There was a tiny emphasis on the ‘we’, just in case Emily was under any illusion about how welcome she was to this little party.

‘We were,’ said Mr Hunter. ‘Two hours ago. But luckily Emily offered to accompany me instead.’

‘So I see,’ said Adam, turning to look at Emily like she was a nugget of shit on his boot.

‘Are you ready?’ Mr Hunter asked Emily. ‘I’ve had all the gates opened, so we have a clear run all the way to Chapel Farm.’ Emily gave a nervous nod as she picked out the farmhouse on the horizon. ‘We’ll go nice and steady,’ he said reassuringly, kicking Chester into a trot, then a canter. Emily followed, pretending not to notice Adam’s narrow-eyed glare.

Mr Hunter kept a comfortable pace along the line of the fence – a little faster than she was used to, but still a gentle canter that gave her the time and space to focus on her posture. She kept Chester in sight between Rupert’s ears and enjoyed the buzz of adrenaline in her veins and the wind in her face.

She wasn’t aware of Adam overtaking on her left-hand side until she heard the swish of his riding crop and the change in rhythm of Lucifer’s hooves as he rose out of his saddle into a gallop. Rupert surged forward to follow him, taking Emily to a pace that felt entirely alien and terrifying. The rhythm was all wrong and she struggled to maintain her balance, clamping her lips together to stop herself screaming as fear and panic set in.

She clung to the pommel of the saddle for dear life as Adam overtook Mr Hunter, Rupert in hot pursuit. It took a few seconds for Mr Hunter to realise what was happening, and he immediately pulled ahead of her, putting Chester between Rupert and Lucifer. ‘Pull back on the reins!’ he shouted, gently slowing Chester down as Emily urged Rupert to do the same. Rupert slowed to a canter, then finally a trot.

‘Are you OK?’ asked Mr Hunter, bringing Chester down to a walk and coming alongside her. ‘What happened?’

Emily quickly wiped the tears off her face with the back of her glove, forcing a weak smile as she tried to catch her breath. ‘Rupert followed Adam’s horse.’ She strongly suspected that Adam had whacked Rupert with his riding crop, but there was no point telling Mr Hunter. She had no proof and Adam would almost certainly deny it.

‘He’s an idiot,’ said Mr Hunter furiously. ‘You could easily have come off.’

‘I’m fine,’ said Emily, trying to stop her knees from shaking. ‘Just a bit faster than I’m used to.’

‘You did very well. Kept a cool head.’

‘Thank you.’

He looked at her for a long moment; no doubt she looked white as a sheet and her hands were visibly trembling. ‘Do you want to head back?’

Emily nodded. ‘I think I need a cup of tea. You carry on and join Adam, I’ll be fine walking back on my own.’

‘Are you sure?’

Emily nodded, so Mr Hunter gave her a smile and trotted off towards the barn. She watched him move seamlessly into a canter, then rise into the gallop. One day she’d be able to do that, and then Adam could go fuck himself.

She clicked her tongue to get Rupert moving, then turned back towards the house. The day was still and silent, other than birdsong and the thunder of Chester’s retreating hooves. The realisation of what could have happened struck her, and a sob broke free from her chest. Another followed and she let them flow, releasing all the fear and tension until her face was streaked with snotty tears and her trauma was replaced by cold, hard fury. One way or another, Adam had it coming.

Chapter Forty-Three

‘Surprise!’ yelled Carol, clapping her hands like a performing seal as Emily stood in the doorway of the function room out the back of the White Lion. The shock on her face was entirely genuine – she’d been expecting a couple of drinks with her parents, maybe a club with Kelly then a dirty pizza on the way home, but this was an actual party with Happy 30th Birthday balloons and everything. ‘I’ve been busting to tell you,’ Carol babbled on. ‘It’s been a bloody nightmare, to be honest.’

Emily looked around, taking in the applauding people and the bunting and the DJ who appeared to be an actual professional with decks, rather than some random with a wireless speaker and a premium Spotify account. With hindsight she should have guessed something was up – her parents had been out for most of the day, claiming they needed to pick up Emily’s present because of some delivery issue or other. Emily had hung out with Kelly instead, getting her hair done at the salon then picking Beth up from Kelly’s mum’s and taking them both to Nando’s.

Emily squealed as she spotted her brother Simon and his husband Eric, who she now realised were the present her parents had needed to pick up. She hurtled across the room and hugged them both, unable to believe that they’d travelled all the way from Hamburg just to celebrate her birthday. She hadn’t seen either of them since the previous summer, and it felt like the best present she could have hoped for. David and Joanna were there too, their boys already doing knee slides on the dance floor while Beth ran around in frantic circles trying to get their attention.

The rest of the party was made up of Kelly, Beth and her parents, along with a scattering of old school friends, neighbours and relatives. But the biggest surprise was when the crowd parted briefly and Emily spotted Jamie and Leon at the bar. Her heart soared as she ran over and hugged them both.

‘Nice dress,’ said Jamie, leaning forward on his bar stool to give her a kiss. She was wearing the same sparkly number she’d worn to the Bowford Christmas party, figuring that only her parents would have seen it before. Jamie had put on a pale blue shirt and a grey jacket for the occasion and looked more gorgeous than ever. Even Leon had scrubbed up nicely; with a beard trim and a tight white T-shirt and leather jacket, he looked like a Faith-era George Michael.

‘Thank you,’ said Emily, giving them both a twirl. ‘I thought you weren’t coming.’