They walked in time and in silence until they reached the driveway, where Joe halted abruptly. Lottie slowed to a stop and turned to look at him. His head was low. He slowly looked up. ‘I am truly sorry for what I put you through, Lottie, but I still think it was the right decision.’
She didn’t answer him. She wasn’t sure what he wanted from her, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it was all okay – because it wasn’t. When she didn’t respond he gave a nod of understanding and walked past her up to the house.
She waited there for a minute, watching him disappear up the drive. He was standing by his decision. His decision to leave Henbourne; to leave her. Fine, at least now they both knew where they stood. The sooner she got away from here, the better.
When Lottie came inside, there was no sign of Joe. The smell of the cooking turkey was a welcome assault on her nostrils; she breathed it in deeply. She checked her face in the hall mirror, marvelling at how blotchy it could get from a few tears. She ran her fingers through her short hair, redid her special Christmassy hair clip and straightenedher shoulders. She only had to get through today, then she could forget about Joe Broomfield and move on with her life – something she thought she’d done nine years ago.
Zach came into the hallway, his eyes alight with mischief. ‘I think I know where I’ve seen Scott before.’
‘Great.’ Lottie put her hands on her hips.
‘Don’t sound so enthusiastic. You’re going to love this … What’s wrong? Have you been crying?’
Lottie closed her eyes. She didn’t want to cry again. It was silly, but she couldn’t help it.
‘Hey. Is it dinner? Because I bet we can get someone to open up the village stores and get a load of pizzas. I quite fancy pizza.’
He wasn’t even joking. She gave him a shove and rubbed at her eyes. ‘No. Dinner is fine.’ Although she did need to go and check on her timings. ‘It’s Joe.’
Zach had the look of every confused male. ‘What’s he done?’
‘Nothing new. He just said that he felt leaving me was the right decision. And it hurt a bit. But I’m fine.’ To prove her point, she slapped on a fake smile, which Zach seemed to take as genuine.
‘Okay. Great. Let me tell you about Scott.’Are all men completely insensitive, or simply oblivious?thought Lottie.
The drawing room door opened and Dayea came out, heading for the stairs. She stopped, turned around and approached Lottie. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked, her eyes seeming to reflect Lottie’s sadness.
‘I’m fine. But thanks for checking,’ said Lottie, trying her best to sound bright.
Dayea took her hand. ‘Thank you for inviting me. I’m having a very lovely Christmas.’
‘I’d hold fire with the compliments until after lunch, ifI were you, Dayea,’ joked Zach. He received glares from both women in response.
‘You’re one of the family now,’ said Lottie.
‘That is a kind thing to say but then you are a kind girl.’ Dayea patted her hand before continuing upstairs.
Zach led Lottie down the hall nearer to the kitchen. He held up his hands to big up his revelation. ‘I thought I’d met Scott somewhere before. It turns out I haven’t, but I haveseenhim somewhere before.’
‘Right. Where?’ Lottie was losing interest and the cauliflower cheese was calling her.
‘In a porn film!’
‘What?’ Lottie’s mouth had fallen open. She shut it again. ‘Are you sure? You have been drinking.’
Zach waved her words away. ‘Certain. The whole trimmer thing was probably code, or a cover story or something.’ Zach was nodding excitedly. ‘He’s definitely a porn star. You didn’t need to get him a present – you could have given him coal. He’s a very naughty boy.’ Zach was giggling.
‘How sure are you about this?’
‘Certain. Trust me, I’ve seen him in loads of porn films.’
The sound of someone dropping something in the kitchen drew their attention. They both peered around the door to see Emily looking shocked. Lottie was pleased that it wasn’t her mother. That would be no way to find out that your new partner was a porn star.
Emily was staring wide-eyed at Zach. He was still grinning, but his smile dropped at Emily’s stony expression. ‘I don’t usually watch porn,’ he said, directing his words to Emily but twisting to look at both women. Emily stormed out of the kitchen and upstairs.
‘Shit,’ said Zach.
‘I think you’ve got some explaining to do.’ Lottie pointed after Emily. ‘Go after her, you dunderhead.’
