Rich Promise Read Online Free Page A

would come with me to Barrow? It’s conveniently close to his zoo. We could go there. I could ask him.
    But I won’t. There’s no reason for him ever to find out about Barrow. He need never meet my mother, never see that hateful little house. It’s better that way.
     
    * * * *
     
    I leave Black Combe at around four o’clock to drive up to Keswick. Nathan has lent me his Discovery for the trip. Nathan seemed very fierce and quite daunting when I first encountered him, but under the outer shell lurks a very, very soft center. And I’ve been doing a good job. I’ve earned a bit of time off.
    My thoughts drift to Freya as I head up the M6 toward Penrith. She’s still holed up on her own in Leeds, though I understand her horse is showing some improvement. I’ve been over to see her a couple of times. She’s desperate for Nick to contact her, but he remains aloof. I wonder if I should perhaps try to see him as well this weekend. Maybe I could talk to him—or Dan could.
    I dismiss that notion as quickly as it formed. No good will come of external influence. Freya and Nick need to resolve their differences themselves. Dan is confident they will, and I trust his judgment. In any case, what on earth could I find to say in Freya’s defense? I’m as mystified as anyone else.
    The long drag of the motorway passes by in a monotonous gray blur, the sky darkening as I head north. It’s fairly slow going, as the road is crowded with Friday afternoon trippers leaving places like Manchester and heading for the great outdoors. I manage a steady fifty-five miles an hour, frustrated at every minute with Dan lost to the relentless vagaries of rush hour traffic. By the time I pass the Preston turn off, it’s quite dark, a steady drizzle hitting my windscreen.
    Keswick is a fair bit farther away than Kendal, so I hope Dan is able to sort out his move soon. I asked him why he lives so far from his work, and he explained that he settled in Keswick as a newly qualified vet because he landed a job in a practice there. It was convenient back then and he bought a house on the outskirts of the town. His house has been on the market for a couple of months, but rather than waiting for the sale, he’s thinking of moving into a rented place and leasing his house out. Freya’s apartment would be ideal for him, but of course any discussion of that is shelved until she and Nick sort out their future.
    I leave the motorway at Penrith and head across Cumbria toward Keswick, finally reaching the town a little after six-thirty. I check the satnav, pleased to see that my destination is now less than three miles away. I’ll be there in seven minutes. I follow the directions through the town, and exactly six minutes and twenty-seven seconds later pull up in front of a row of smart, newly built town houses. Dan lives at number seventeen. I scan the doors to pick out his house. I know I’ve found the right place when I spot his motorbike parked in the drive. The curtains are closed downstairs, but there’s no light showing behind. Even so, I have no doubt he’s in. Waiting for me. My stomach is quivering with suppressed excitement as I park the Discovery alongside the bike.
    I knock on the door. Maybe I could just walk in—after all, he didn’t knock when he turned up at my flat a couple of days ago. But it seems polite to knock, so I do that and wait patiently on his doorstep. The neighborhood looks smart enough, though it’s not easy to tell really in the dark. There’s no one around, but I notice that most of the other houses have lights on. I wonder if Dan knows his neighbors, if he has friends here. I suppose he does. Will he introduce me to the people he socializes with? Is ours that sort of relationship? Even though I know Dan intimately, I’m still not sure what to expect of him.
    Is ours the sort of relationship where I could take him to meet my family? Even if I wanted to? I’d value his support in trying to reason with my mother but