After loading his cases and bag into the back of the taxi, Dave gave the driver Penny’s address. He thought he might just as well let the company pay for the trip.

Penny had controlled everything perfectly, from making Alan give him a job that didn’t exist, to telling Fran about the affair once he had nowhere else to go. He could only imagine the sense of betrayal Fran would be feeling, and he wasn’t about to make things worse for her by trying to beg her to talk to him about it all.

But Penny had not allowed for the fact that she had finally given him nothing to lose. She was promoting herself as the only option for his future, and callously ignoring the damage done to her own sister and niece.

Knowing he had been weak and easily manipulated didn’t help, but things had gone too far now, and he was tipped over the edge.

Already waiting at the door as the taxi stopped, her smile was nothing less than triumphant. And as he carried the bags past her into the hallway, she was already telling him how their life together was going to work.

“Alan’s death changed everything, you must see that. There was our chance, and no need to carry on deceiving Frances any longer. We can live anywhere we want now, with no need to worry about jobs, or what anybody thinks of us. We will have so many years of happiness together to look forward to my darling. I will arrange to pay off any outstanding loan on your cottage, and Frances and Sinead will cope well. She has her job, a car, and she is young enough to start again”.

If she noticed that he was not speaking to her, she didn’t mention that. In fact she was opening some sparkling wine as she carried on rambling excitedly.

“How about a short holiday to start with? Might just be what we need to take our minds off recent events. A city break would be nice, how about a few days in Rome? I have never been, and I think it would feel romantic to go there together”.

He was sipping his wine, ignoring everything she was saying.

Perhaps she had just run out of things to say, or possibly realised it was all too much too soon, but Penny finally calmed down.

“I’m going to make us some lunch. What do you say to a nice ham and cheese panini? Give me a chance to get some use out of the panini press stuck at the back of the cupboard”. Without waiting for a response, she began busying herself preparing the food, glancing back at him to see if there was going to be any reaction.

But he stayed silent.

Never good at being patient or keeping her temper, Penny managed both long enough for them to eat lunch and finish their glasses of wine before she cracked.

“For god’s sake say something, Dave! I’m laying it all out for you here, a good life with no stress or worry, and all you are doing is staring into space. Have an opinion, tell me how you are feeling, argue with me if you want to, but I cannot stand the silent treatment”.

He turned to her and finally managed a weak smile.

“Can I borrow your car please, Penny? There is something I need to go and buy. I can’t say what it is, because it’s a surprise”.

Her vanity overruled any suspicions she might have. Convinced he was going to buy her a gift, she went and got her handbag with the car keys inside. Dangling them in front of him, she cautioned him not to be too long.

“Now hurry back, and don’t spend too much. We have the rest of our lives, don’t forget. You will learn to be happy with me, I promise you”.

His first stop was at a local service station to buy a five-gallon plastic container for petrol. He then filled it up with unleaded and paid the cashier. From there it was a short drive to his old house.

There were signs of work on the conversion already. The roofs of both houses were covered with tarpaulins, and scaffolding had been erected. But there were no workmen doing anything that afternoon, perhaps they had already left for the day. No sign of Mark’s car either, reminding Dave what Fran had told him.

Mark and Ginny had decided to go away while the main conversion work was taking place.

Not trying to avoid any cameras or the Ring Doorbell that recorded visitors, Dave walked up to the front door and screwed the filler nozzle onto the can before emptying the contents through the letter box into the hallway. The smell of petrol was stonger than he had expected, and he stood back to light the cleaning cloth he had soaked with petrol.

The flames took hold quickly, and he leant against Penny’s car and watched as they spread up into the roof.

He would just wait for the police to arrive, as he had nowhere else to go.

The End.