"Where on Earth have you been?!"
At such an attack of angry words as he stepped through the doors, Gordon instinctively began to react defensively. But looking at his wife's face, he paused, took a deep breath, and forced himself to respond calmly. "I went out for a drink with Jeff."
"You could have called me! I've been sitting here, waiting for you!"
"I lost track of time. I'm sorry." He glanced at his watch, wincing at the time; it was much later than he'd thought. "I am sorry." He looked back at Jill, seeing the tears that had gathered in her eyes, held back only through grim determination on her part. The sight made his breath catch, as a surge of love suddenly took him by surprise. Here was not the anger of an over-bearing wife. Here was the fear of his Jill, who had stood strong with so much against her.
He moved swiftly forward then, sliding his arms around her waist. "I'm so sorry my darling." Eventually, after a few seconds of hesitation, she returned the embrace.
He shifted, an arm tightening around her waist, the other moving down behind her knees. With a swift motion, he scooped her up. She made a small noise of surprise, her arms tightening around his neck. He carried her the short distance through the doorway and into the living room, setting them both down on the settee. He supported her with an arm around her back, whilst her legs lay over his, her feet resting on the cushions the other side of him.
"I'm sorry about what I said." He sighed, after a few moments of silence. "I do love you, nothing can change that. I'm just worried about you, and I wish you'd admit when something's wrong-. Jill!" He cut himself off, and tightened his arms around her as she attempted to escape from his lap. "It was wrong of me to try and force you. I just want you to know that I'm here for you, alright?"
She nodded after a long pause, obviously reluctant to agree, seeing it as a sign of weakness even to merely agree that she knew she could rely on someone should she choose to.
"Can we talk about what happened at the beach?" He frowned a little when she tensed, but she didn't go straight into denial as before, so he assumed some progress had been made. "Sweetheart?" He prompted gently when she remained silent. "You said you saw him?"
Slowly, she nodded, huddling down further where she sat.
"Are you sure?"
"I think so." She nodded again. Gordon had to bend his head closer to her, in order to hear her quiet mumbles. "I wasn't sure, but I couldn't take the risk."
He placed a kiss to her forehead before speaking. This was the most revealing she'd been about it all, and he hoped she wasn't about to clam up. "Could you give the police a better description now do you think?"
"He was quite a distance away, and the sun was behind him so he was practically a silhouette. I don't know. Something, his build I suppose, just seemed to trigger in my memory." At the last word, she sniffed, blinking back the tears that had formed.
He nodded understandingly, holding her a little tighter, formulating his next words carefully; he didn't want to sound accusatory. "Why didn't you tell me Sweetheart, when you saw him?"
"I didn't want to worry you." She shrugged, her voice quieting even more, so Gordon had to shift her in his arms to allow him hear her. He tilted his head closer to hers so he could feel her stilted breaths against his cheek as she spoke. "And I just had to get you off that beach, just in caseā¦"
He didn't speak, couldn't find the words to address such fear. He merely held her tighter, pressing his lips to the top of her head, hoping he could make her feel at least a little safer and relaxed.
His words the night before were desperately regretted; how could he dismiss her fears with such ease, and belittle her as well? He hoped she'd believed his apology, and that he did love her, despite what he said. Just to be sure, he whispered the sentiment into her hair.
