‘Because I wanted it to be special!’ she cried, exasperated. ‘Because we’re not going to be seeing each other for nearly three weeks.’
‘Perhaps that’s a good thing,’ he said with a coldness that stopped her in her tracks.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘I think you know exactly what it means.’
The heat of her anger cooled, was replaced with a shiver of alarm. ‘What’s wrong, Paul? What’s going on?’
‘In what sense?’
‘You don’t sound like your normal self, is there something you’re not telling me? Has something happened at work today that’s upset you?’
He looked away from her, returned his attention to the meal she’d spent so long preparing. ‘Shouldn’t we eat?’ he said. ‘It’s getting late and I have an early start in the morning.’
‘Then I’m surprised you bothered to come at all,’ she muttered, pushing him out of the way to pick up the platter of open sandwiches, which she then pointedly banged down on the table, rattling the cutlery. She had a sudden vision of behaving exactly like her mother when she was cross with Dad.
‘If you’re going to be like this, then maybe I should just go home.’
‘Yes, Paul, why don’t you?’
He put his bottle of beer on the worktop behind him. ‘I’ll ring you in the morning. When you’ve calmed down.’
Incensed by his patronising tone, she stared at him, confused. ‘What the hell’s happened to you, Paul? It’s like you’re a completely different person to the one who said he loved me.’
When he didn’t say anything, she said: ‘I asked you before what was wrong, and I’m asking you again. Why are you behaving this way, as though you’re doing me a big favour by being here? Or rather, like you’d prefer to be anywhere but here with me?’
He blinked and let out his breath. ‘Okay, I’ll come clean; I was with Paula earlier. That’s why I was late.’
‘Paula,’ Rachel repeated. ‘Your ex?’
‘Yes. She texted me and asked if we could meet for a drink and a chat.’
‘And you agreed?’
‘There seemed no reason not to.’
‘Funny that; I can think of any number of reasons. So while I was here slaving away in the kitchen trying to create a perfect evening for us, you were catching up with your ex for, don’t tell me, old times’ sake. Is that right?’
‘Do you have to be so sarky? It’s very petty.’
‘Oh, pardon me for not sounding deliriously happy at the thought of you and Perfect Paula having a cosy little drink together, and more to the point, that she took priority over me.’
‘Please, Rachel, don’t, you’ve had too much to drink.’
‘I’ll be the judge of that, thank you very much!’
He frowned. ‘You’re not making this any easier for me, or for yourself. And don’t call her Perfect Paula, it’s beneath you.’
Rachel rolled her eyes, reached for the jug of what remained of the aquavit cocktail and refilled her glass. Too much to drink? She’d show him! ‘Go on,’ she said, after she’d taken a large mouthful and forced a smile to her lips. ‘This is me making it easy for you.’
Paul took a deep breath. ‘I know this isn’t what you want to hear, and I’m sorry to break it to you like this. I honestly wish there was a better way to explain it, but the thing is, Paula and I have so much shared history and … and we’re going to give it another go.’
With one fluid movement of her arm, Rachel threw the glass in her hand at the wall and screamed at Paul to get out.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The following morning Frankie was at the Sewing Bee in Chelstead.
