Free PICTURES OF YOU: a gripping psychological suspense thriller by Diane M Dickson Page B

“Just exactly what do you think Bill would have said, eh, your husband, how do you think he would have reacted? Well, I thought I knew you, but I was wrong I would never have believed it, never in a million years. It’s horrible.” With that she pushed back the chair and flounced from the little restaurant leaving Mary with tears rolling down her face, hands shaking and bile rising in her throat. As she bent to retrieve her things the phone pinged again.
    See you later? xx
    She ran out of the building and down the front of the shops towards the car park. Her mind was in turmoil. Jane had vocalised all the thoughts that she had been trying to quell, had opened the Pandora’s Box of fear and guilt. She reached the car park but her feet carried her on down the road, on and on, blindly away from the awful scene, on and on thrusting between Saturday shoppers and loitering teens anywhere that was away from what had just happened.
    By now she was crying wildly, attracting interested glances from people as she hurtled past. She was gasping, her coat flying behind her, bag dangling madly from her arm. Still she ran on, past the shops, out away from the town centre and up to the park, in through the gates and down towards the lake. By now the headlong flight had eased. Shortage of breath slowed her and she plonked onto a wooden bench, lowered her head into her hands and sobbed as she hadn’t done in all the years since first hearing that she was to lose her beloved husband.

Chapter 25
    The storm passed. Gulping and wiping at the tears on her face, Mary tried to regain her senses. What had she expected, really?
    It, the wonder of Jacob, had happened quickly. It had all been so quick, so unexpected that she hadn’t thought beyond the moment, those precious moments in his arms, wallowing in the bliss of sex and amazement.
    Of course, there had to be a reckoning. Life had taught her that pleasure brought pain, there was always a time to pay and here it was.
    She tried to clear her mind and consider. After the horrible things that she had heard, how did she really feel? Was Jane right? Had what they had done been wrong, had it been disgusting? She wrapped her arms around herself, swallowed hard and blinked back the new tears.
    The phone pinged.
    It was Jacob. – Are you on schedule? I’m free now; let me know when you get home. Have a nice day with your friend. – She didn’t know how to reply, should she tell him not to come? Turn him away and move beyond him, draw back from the new intimacy. She took a deep breath and glanced around. The park was deserted, the only sounds were the birds in the trees and shrubs and the shush of the water against the hulls of the little rowing boats all tied together beside the jetty. It was peaceful and pleasant but she couldn’t stay. She would see him tonight and talk to him. The direction of the talk was yet to be decided. She needed time before then to sort her scrambled thoughts.
    Jane had been her friend for a long time and had seen her through so much. She had been the strong arm to lean on, and seeing the shock and the disgust on her face had been painful. If that was to be the way that everyone would react, her mum and dad, her other friends, then maybe it really was wrong. It had been a mistake, irresponsible and now this was a whack on the side of the head, a warning that she had taken steps down a forbidden path and must turn back before it was too late. Again the tears, she dabbed at her face with a soggy tissue and stood up. Leaving the peace she trudged back to the car and once inside fished in the bottom of the big handbag to find her phone.
    On my way home. See you soon. – As she responded to his text there was a stone in the place where her heart used to be and a lump of sadness choked her throat. It was going to have to stop now, this pleasure wasn’t for her, what had she been thinking? A boy, as Jane had said, just a boy and surely then, out of bounds. She had been