Birds Of A Feather Episode 35
Jess stared at Ben in horror. Had she just made things a hundred times worse for Sam?
Ben’s face softened.
“Don’t waste your sympathy on him, Jess. The guy’s a serial offender. He’s already done time for burglary.”
“But when I saw him with Kevin Brigstocke they looked quite friendly. If he was going to burgle the place, he’d hardly knock on the door and introduce himself, would he?”
Ben shrugged.
“According to Mr Brigstocke, Sam Weston came to ask him for some casual work, but Mr Brigstocke didn’t like the look of him and said no.
“He said that Weston became threatening and told him he’d be sorry. Mr Brigstocke now thinks that Weston’s only reason in coming to the house was to commit burglary.”
Jess bit her lip as she remembered how Sam had appeared to storm off.
Had she read him wrong after all?
Certainly the first time she’d seen him at Shauna’s she hadn’t liked him very much, but since then she’d begun to feel sorry for him.
But he had been extremely upset when he heard her tell Ben that she’d seen him at Billington Grange. Was Ben right, then?
It made sense. Yet for some reason she couldn’t bring herself to believe it.
“I’m off duty in an hour,” Ben told her. “Do you fancy going out for a drink or a meal? We need to talk, don’t you think?”
Her head was in a whirl and she needed to get things straight in her own mind before she sat down with him.
“I’m sorry, Ben. I’ve got things to do this evening,” she told him.
He stared at her, his eyes narrowing.
“Is this anything to do with Frank Ryan?”
She lifted her chin and returned his gaze steadily.
“I didn’t like the way you spoke to him, certainly.”
He gave an exasperated sigh.
“I was doing my job, Jess. If you can’t handle that, then maybe I should take that job in Manchester after all.”
“You mean you were going to turn it down?” Jess was stunned.
“But you were all set to take it. It’s what you’ve always wanted.”
“I know, but I’ve thought about it and realised that I love being close to my grandmother. And you.”
He stopped and gave her a long, searching look as if trying to read her mind, then shrugged.
“Well, it doesn’t matter now, does it? The Manchester job is still open. I’ve got until the end of the week to decide.”
“Then maybe you should take it.” Jess’s throat was so tight, it felt as if her words were choking her.
“It wouldn’t do for an up and coming member of CID to be seen consorting with the granddaughter of a traveller, would it?” she added.
“Is that what you think of me?” Ben’s eyes blazed with anger, his mouth a thin, hard line.
“You don’t know me at all, do you?”
“Obviously not,” she retorted, then watched as he got back into his car and drove away.
“That went well, Alfie, didn’t it?” she murmured.
But the dog wasn’t answering. And for once there was no twitching curtain from Elsie, who had gone to visit her sister.
That was one blessing. Jess would have hated Elsie to have witnessed that particular scene.
But Jess had done the right thing, encouraging Ben to take the job in Manchester, particularly when she was so uncertain of her own feelings for him.
But if it was the right thing to do, why did it feel so wrong?