Into the Dark (ORIGINAL AND UNEDITED EDITON)

Eight

I wave my hand at him. "Oh, I know that. But's it's for all the other things you do too. The weeding and sweeping of the driveway, and the little DIY things you've helped out with. I'm hopeless at all that as you know - I'm a terrible neighbour. Call it the yearly dividend." I smile.

He shakes his head in a sort of weary acceptance as he begins unloading the items one by one, making little silent 'O's with his mouth at each one.

The red wine was just your usual French fayre, but it was sweet and light because I know they aren't fans of the fuller bodied stuff. There's half a dozen french cheeses in there too that I'd had to ask the hotel to keep in the fridge for me. Comte, Banon, and Brillat-Savarin, which I'd almost eaten my body weight in over the time I was there.

Delmas's cheese selection was to die for, though some reason, the idea of eating any more of it makes me feel slightly queasy. Clearly I'd overdone it in France.

"Can I get you a drink of something?" he offers as he stands at the open fridge. Because I don't want to just dump and run, I accept 'whatever he has that's cold' and he pours me a tall glass of cloudy lemonade with ice, which we then take back out into the garden as we make some small talk. Apparently there's no village gossip to speak which I pretend to look shocked about. 

The sun really is hot today - I can't sit out here long or I'll sizzle.  Shifting on my chair, I try in my head to work out a way of asking for what I came over for without sounding too blunt.  Turns out its impossible.

"Ed, I was hoping I could steal those spare keys back I gave you?" I smile, lifting my glass to my mouth.  The lemonade is sweet but with a refreshingly bitter aftertaste. "Just until I get another set cut that is - I'd still like you guys to have a set in case of emergencies," I add.

"Sure, they're on the hook in the kitchen. You want them now?"

I smile and nod. "Please. I stupidly gave my own set away,"

Not stupidly. Willingly. I gave Jake a set of keys to my house because I wanted him to have a foothold in my life. I had made it seem like it was about Mark, but it wasn't. It was because I wanted him to have access to every single part of me. Including my house

Ed gives me a confused smile. "You gave them away?"

"Well, not quite. I'm seeing someone, and I wanted him to have a set."

"Ahhhhh, I see," Ed nods, smiling. "No problem, gotcha, I'll go get them," he stands up and disappears back inside the house, returning a moment later to hand me my spare keys with the cat keyring on them.

"Thanks, Ed, I'll get another set cut on Tuesday when I'm back at work and bring them over."

"Sure thing Alex,"

"I'll have to introduce Jake to you both as well. You'll probably be seeing him quite a bit," I smile, feeling smug for some reason.

"Look forward to meeting him then," He nods.  His smile really does remind me of my dads. His expression changes then, and his eyes go a little distant. "You look happy Alex, happier than you were when you went away that's for sure. I'm glad. Bets and I were worried about you."

From nowhere a rush of emotion washes over me. Ed and Betty had noticed too then.  So heartbreak was obvious on the faces of those drowning in it.

I nod. "I am happy," I say.

I ignore the voice right at the back of my mind which niggles at my happiness. It's telling me not to forget that Jake is in mortal danger, and not to forget the perilousness of this deal that he's made. In a nasally tone, it also reminds me that I'm still delusional when it comes to my relationship with Jake.