Free Don't Stand So Close by Luana Lewis Page A

bathtub in Hilltop was in the bathroom attached to the master suite at the top of the staircase. As Stella led Blue through the door of her bedroom, she tried not to dwell too long on how it felt to have a stranger invading her sanctuary. The cast-iron, French antique bath was spectacularly deep, as good as any drug at helping Stella to relax, and she hoped it might have the same soothing effect on Blue. She balanced on the side of the bath and turned on the taps full blast while the girl rested on the armchair.
    Stella once had visions of sitting in that same chair, a glass of wine in her hand, talking to Max while he soaked in the bath.
    Blue looked drained. Her face was now so pale it was ghost-like, with shadow half-moons, like bruises, under her eyes. But her eyes were wide open again, and fixed on Stella, in a permanent state of watchfulness.
    The tub filled quickly as water thundered from the spout. The water pressure in the house was spectacular. Stella added bath foam to the water and then a generous amount of lavender bath oil. ‘It’s ready,’ she said.
    For the first time since entering the house, Blue took off her jacket. She did so with some reluctance, taking ages to fold it and place it carefully over the back of the armchair. Then, facing Stella and with no hint of self-consciousness, she pulled off her cropped T-shirt. She stood in her bra, a delicate white lace. Stella stiffened, trying to hide her unease. She couldn’t help but look at Blue’s body: her milk-white skin, her pink nipples showing through skimpy lace, the curve of her hips. Blue stepped out of her leggings, pulling them off and tossing them on to the floor. Half wary, half defiant, she reached behind her to undo the clasp of her bra. She stripped off her underwear.
    Naked, she stepped gingerly into the deep water. She sank down into the bubbles and lay back, looking up at the rainbow crystals of the chandelier.
    Stella felt as though she had been hypnotized. She forced herself to look away, to find something to do. She picked up Blue’s clothes from the floor and dropped them in a pile on the chair. She looked in the cupboard under the basin and found two fresh towels. She placed them over the towel warmer. She rubbed the condensation from the mirror. In front of her was a dull, fearful person she did not recognize. She was thirty-two, but the person looking back at her was much older.
    She looked down and washed her hands. She massaged them with chamomile hand lotion. She was careful to avoid her engagement ring: a two-carat round-cut diamond set into a platinum band. Proof of her husband’s commitment to her, of his loyalty. The ring had belonged to Max’s mother; it was beautiful but not to her taste.
    She turned back to Blue. ‘I’ll get you a glass of water,’ she said. ‘Take as long as you like.’
    ‘Don’t leave me,’ Blue said, turning her head.
    ‘Are you still feeling sick?’
    ‘No. But I don’t want you to go.’
    Stella knelt down next to the bath. ‘You need to use the shampoo,’ she said.
    ‘I’m too tired.’
    ‘I’ll do it for you.’
    Stella scooped handfuls of warm water over Blue’s fair head. She rubbed lavender-scented shampoo into the girl’s scalp, massaging it into a lather, keeping a firm pressure against her head. Stella felt calmer.
    ‘Are the police going to come?’ Blue asked.
    ‘Are you in some kind of trouble?’
    Blue rested her arms on the sides of the roll-top bath and Stella could see her scars, patches of thickened white lines along her forearms. ‘You seemed frightened, when I talked about the police. Has something happened? If you tell me, maybe I can help you.’
    ‘I don’t like the police. I don’t trust them. I haven’t done anything bad.’
    ‘I wish you would trust me,’ Stella said.
    ‘Why should I?’ Blue submerged her head under the water, her eyes closed. A stream of small bubbles passed through her lips, rising to the surface as her hair fanned outaround