Free Someone Special by Katie Flynn Page B

his firm grip on her upper arm beginning to make Hester’s muscle ache. She tried to pull away but he held on.
    ‘You must know him; Matthew Coburn. He lives at the lodge,’ Hester said. Suddenly she did not want to tell John she was married to Matthew. Let him guess, she thought, staring up into his grim face. He never told me he worked here when we met in Rhyl. ‘I thought you said you were going to put me on the right path?’
    ‘Yes, but I didn’t know it was you, then,’ the man said. ‘What happened to you? You disappeared.’
    ‘So did you,’ Hester pointed out. ‘Look, I must go, and you’ve left that window hanging open. If the wind gets up it’ll probably swing and break. Show me the path home, please. I’m late already.’
    ‘You live locally; right on my doorstep and I never guessed,’ the man murmured. ‘Hester, I …’
    ‘John …’
    He drew her into his arms and Hester found herself clinging, raising her face to his as she had raised it once before, only then there had been bright summer stars above them, and the lights on the promenade had twinkled and shone, then the sounds of the funfair had drifted to them on the breeze and presently the sand had been cold and soft beneath her shoulders, his body warm between her and the dark night sky. And she had clung to him as she was clinging now, her lips parting for his kiss, her body tingling to his touch.
    On that enchanted night last summer he had made her forget everything but his arms, his touch; now it was the same and she only came to her senses when she felt her shoulders against the castle wall and the warm weight of him leaning on her, trapping her against the stones. Abruptly she realised that anyone could look out, anyonecould see, as he had seen, out of that lighted window. And it was different now, she was a married woman, she could not, must not, should not …
    ‘John, no! Don’t, I mustn’t … think if anyone else looked out of the window. Let me go.’
    Rather to her surprise he sighed and pulled her away from the wall, to rest against the breadth of his chest.
    ‘Foolish little Hester! There’s no one up there, I was alone. Will you come with me, into the castle, up to my room? We can be comfortable there, you can tell me how you came to be here.’
    ‘I can’t do that,’ Hester said. ‘I can’t just go with you, I’m not, I’m not …’
    ‘You’ve changed,’ John said. He stroked gently down the swell of her breasts, making her heart skip a beat, then double its pace. ‘You were a sweet, wild child. Now you’re a woman.’
    It was useless to deny it once he had noticed the change in her; indeed it would be very wrong to deny her marriage, her motherhood.
    ‘Yes. I’m married now. I have a child.’
    He nodded, eyes still steady on her face. ‘I should have guessed; is that why you went?’
    In her turn, Hester nodded. It was too complicated to tell him the whole story.
    ‘Yes. And why I must go now, if you please.’
    He took her shoulders and swung her round, to face away from the castle and the golden light from the window.
    ‘Of course, if that’s what you want. See the drive? I’ll walk down to it with you, then we must both return to our own places.’
    They walked in silence to the drive. Reaching it, he stopped and turned to face her.
    ‘Who did you marry?’
    ‘Matthew Coburn; at the lodge.’
    To her surprise, he grinned. She saw the flash of his teeth in the starlight, the laughter crease in his cheek deepened.
    ‘Really? We’re neighbours, then. Did you say you’d got a job up at the castle?’
    ‘Yes. I’m going to work there.’
    He touched her cheek with the backs of his fingers, then lowered his voice, the tone of it as intimate, suddenly, as the most tender of caresses.
    ‘Then we’ll see each other again. I’m glad. Take care, little Hester. There’s your road.’
    She half expected him to kiss her, at least to squeeze her hand, but he simply turned away, walking with the