At the word ‘walk’ Chandler barked his disapproval at being kept waiting for his. ‘No, no, that’ll be lovely,’ Vic replied, and meant it.
‘Give me a minute, mister.’ Joti ruffled the impatient terrier’s ears and went inside. She appeared, fresh-faced, wearing a smart beige mac and black, knee-high boots. Her long, black, poker-straight hair was brushed flat, accentuating just how shiny it was.
‘I didn’t recognise you with your proper clothes on,’ Vic commented. ‘You look gorgeous.’
Joti laughed. ‘Yes, I still brush up OK when I can be bothered.’
As they headed out of their close and on to the road towards the river path, they passed a tall blond man carrying a huge bouquet of red roses.
‘Someone’s a lucky girl,’ Vic exclaimed when he was out of earshot.
‘Or not,’ Joti replied darkly. ‘If I never have a man again, it will be too soon.’
‘Oh dear. You got divorced, didn’t you? I remember you saying when we first met, and I was in the middle of abusing you.’ Vic felt a surge of guilt at being rude to the clearly kind and soft-hearted woman walking by her side.
Joti sighed. ‘Yes, my dear darlingMisterJohnson had an affair.’ She accentuated the word ‘mister’. ‘And woe betide anyone who dare call the bastardDoctor, for he is aMister! A surgeon, same as my dad was. Rob was a brusque Glaswegian – and the reason why I ended up in Edinburgh, following my cheating husband’s career dreams of being the best heart surgeon in Scotland.’
‘Were you together long?’
‘Ten years.’
‘Wow! So, yes, then.’ Vic tightened Chandler’s lead as another dog owner approached them.
‘It was great at the start, as it always is. In fact, the honeymoon period was a long one. But I’ve always wanted kids, Vic, and although we discussed it and he said that when the time was right, he would be open to it, when the conversation arose, he wasn’t sure. And I wasn’t going to have kids with someone who didn’t really want them – and at the grand old childbearing age of thirty-eight, I didn’t have the luxury of time to wait. So, the arguments began, as did his affair. She was the clichéd model – ten years younger than me, and despite him saying he had always preferred dark-eyed Eastern beauties, she had long blonde hair and made no demands, I heard, other than being therecipient of regular gifts and her promise to him of no-strings-attached, regular sex.’
‘Oh, shit,’ was all Vic could muster.
‘As you can hear from my voice, I’m clearly not bitter.’
Both women laughed.
‘Are they still together?’
Joti’s voice assumed a sarcastic tone. ‘Yes – and guess what? She’s only gone and got herself pregnant.’
‘Oh, Joti, that’s terrible.’
‘Yes, heartbreaking. And one of the other reasons that I moved to the other end of the country – so I never ever have to see them playing happy families.’
‘I’m so sorry. So Adams is your birth name, I take it?’
‘Yes. A good old common English name – my mum was Sri Lankan. And please don’t be sorry. Shit happens and I’ve got to get on with it now. I guess the only good thing that has come out of it is the divorce settlement, which has enabled me to buy a house in a lovely part of the world, and I have no mortgage on it. I could also take some time out of work, too, but I don’t want to. Nursing is a vocation and I love my job.’
‘So why Windsor?’
Joti’s voice wobbled slightly. ‘It’s a long story.’
‘It’s a long path.’ Vic smiled as they reached the river entrance opposite Browns. Swans were streaming onto the concrete riverbank area as excitable kids threw them bread and grains bought from the café on the front. Vic loved these magnificent birds when they were swimming gracefully on the water, but if they dared to stretch their wings and come towards her, it reminded her of when she nearly toppled into the river when she was just five, and which caused her to scream every time they came close, even now.
With Chandler barking like crazy at the majestic birds, the two women quickly made their way through them and, reaching a quieter spot on the path, were able to hear each other again.
Jake was having a smoke on the deck when Vic and Chandler reached his boat. Joti had held back to take a quick call from someone at work about her shift pattern. On recognising Chandler, Jake whistled, then on seeing Victoria, looked slightly surprised. ‘Oh hello, young’un. I expected to see your mum at the end of that lead.’
‘So that means she’s been out walking, then?’
‘Yes, yes. She has.’
She couldn’t be sure, but Vic thought maybe Jake’s cheeks had gone a light shade of pink.
