‘Hearing about the almost kiss and knowing you were with Mateo did instigate my visit.’ He looked at her now. ‘But not because I’m angry and wanted to have it out with you. It made me realise how long overdue our talk is, that I should’ve confided in you before now.’
Oh God. Hewashaving an affair.
‘I promise you I’m not cheating,’ he said.
And then something else dawned. Something far worse. ‘Are you sick?’ Gayle’s upcoming return had probably triggered the thought. Had she totally missed the mark with her suspicions?
‘No, I’m not sick.’
‘Then what is it?’
Instead of answering, he looked around. ‘Where is everyone?’
She explained the dash to the hospital, the emergency and the stay in Guernsey. ‘I tried to call you back a couple of times to tell you everything. Gayle was taken by marine ambulance. They couldn’t accommodate any extra passengers so Mateo stepped in and took us.’
‘So that’s why I heard Mateo in the background.’ He looked so relieved she could’ve wept.
‘We wouldn’t have been able to get to the hospital without him.’
He held out a hand and waited for her to take it. ‘When I thought you were with Mateo, I panicked. I thought I was going to lose you.’ He took a deep breath. ‘I’ve not been myself for a while, I know that, and I’ve pushed you away every time you tried to get to the bottom of it.’
So hehadnoticed.
‘I haven’t been entirely honest with you,’ he said. ‘It’s the practice.’
‘What’s happened?’
He looked her right in the eye when he confessed, ‘It isn’t doing well at all. It’s in trouble financially.’ His expression negated any need to ask whether it was really that bad. ‘That’s what the fancy dinner was about. I took a potential investor out and tried to woo them. With no success, unfortunately.’
‘Why did you never mention it? Not just the dinner, but any of it.’
‘I didn’t know how to. We were both doing so well and then all of a sudden, I wasn’t. I kept it hidden out of pride, because I thought I could fix it. I knew your dad had lost his café, and whenever you talk about that time in your life I can tell how sad it makes you. I didn’t want my practice to go the same way. You always wanted to help and fix Addie. I didn’t want you to feel you had to do it with me too.’
‘I never felt I had to with you. You’re my equal, in every way.’
‘I just wanted to be the one who made life easier for you, never the other way round.’
He rested his arms on his legs, palms clasped together at his knees. ‘The practice has seen a reduction in the volume of patients coming through its doors – the cost of living probably has a lot to do with it. Patients who liked a check-up and clean every six months are pushing it to twelve or more, and there’s much less uptake on non-essential procedures. At the same time our costs have increased – utility bills are high, equipment prices have been hiked up, and maintenance is costing more than it ever did. Our inventory system wasn’t as efficient as I assumed either – there’s been wastage, pushing up our expenses.’
He shifted his gaze from her face to his hands. ‘I’ve let you down.’
‘No, you haven’t.’She’dlethimdown by not trusting him and by almost seeking comfort with someone else.
‘I think I’m going to have to sell the practice,’ he said. He looked so despondent.
‘Is it that bad?’
‘It is. And that’s another reason why I didn’t want to tell you. I wanted to find a way out of the mess, but nothing I’ve tried has worked.’
‘Alex, I’m in property law, not family law, but I’m pretty sure we’re supposed to be a team. I wish you’d shared this before now.’
‘I wish I had too.’ He shook his head. ‘I’m sorry. It’s all such a big mess.’
She moved to sit in his lap and wrapped her arms around him. She’d missed this closeness more than she realised.
‘It’s my work,’ he said. ‘It’s my job to sort it out. I wanted to give you a good life, and here I am messing it up. We talked about converting the loft, but we don’t have the money. We discussed holidaying next year, but we can’t afford that either, and we definitely don’t have the funds for the driveway that needs repaving.’
‘None of that is the end of the world.’
