‘Are you hungry? I’m starving after all that exercise and I’ve got a lovely selection of cheeses and breads we could have back at the cottage, if you fancy it?’
She’d bought them specially, along with some olives, stuffed peppers and crackers, knowing how much Rob enjoyed a cheeseboard. She had popped a French dry white wine in the fridge to chill, and there was a bottle of red on the dresser, if Rob might prefer that. She’s also prepared a bowl of fresh berries that she would serve with some meringue swirls and a dollop of cream. It had become something of a routine after they’d completed one of their long walks over in the woods, to return to Hollyhocks Cottage and have a leisurely lunch, but Tess never took it for granted as a definite arrangement. Especially not today, now she came to think about it. She’d sensed that Rob was distracted. He was making a good attempt at hiding it, but she’d caught him checking his phone a couple of times, his forehead furrowing as he read the insistent messages that had been buzzing none too discreetly in his pocket.
‘Honestly, Tess,’ he said, exhaling a sigh, ‘there is nothing I would like more, but I think I’m probably going to have to go. There’s some family stuff I need to sort out.’
‘Oh, of course,’ she said, taken aback, trying to quash her disappointment, the rest of the day now stretching out interminably. ‘Are Josh and Issy okay?’
‘Yeah, they’re fine. It’s not the kids. It’s Jennifer.’ Tess noticed the quirk of his eyebrow as he mentioned his wife’s name. ‘I’m sorry to let you down like this, but I need to get this sorted,’ he said, looking at his phone regretfully.
‘Sure.’ So many questions sprung into Tess’s mind. Rob rarely said his wife’s name aloud. The wife who’d had an affair with Rob’s friend and business partner, Jack, which had led to Rob walking away from everything he knew in his life: the successful design company, his marriage and, briefly, his kids, although not before first taking a hammer to Jack’s expensive sports car and inflicting thousands of pounds’ worth of damage. That small act of rebellion may have gone some way to making Rob feel better for a brief, fleeting moment but it also landed him with a suspended sentence and a hefty fine. Rob had reached rock bottom then, but had slowly, over several months, and with some not inconsequential help from Tess, rebuilt his life. He’d found a new home and job, saw his teenage children on a regular basis and was rediscovering his creative flair, working with his hands, making things, and in particular, painting, for which he seemed to have a natural talent. ‘She’s not ill, is she?’
The thought struck her in a flash. That would explain why he was distracted and concerned.
‘No, she’s not ill. Just very upset. Apparently, she and Jack have split up.’
‘Oh…’ She felt the words like a punch to her stomach. Her immediate reaction was to think what it might mean for her. She felt irrationally angry towards a woman who she didn’t know, but who had caused so much heartache and upset to Rob. Tess had seen Rob at his lowest, when he didn’t even have a job or a roof over his head, and now, just as he was taking positive steps and moving forward with his life, his ex-wife pops her head up again when she’s feeling down and expects Rob to drop everything and go running back to her. ‘That’s tough,’ managed Tess, trying to keep a lid on her own emotions.
‘Look, I’m really sorry, Tess. I know this isn’t ideal. That you probably had plans for us back at the cottage, but to be honest with you, I wouldn’t be the best company today, with this playing out in the background.’
‘It’s not a problem. You go. We can do this some other time.’
Rob finished off his drink before standing up.
‘Thanks, Tess. For being so understanding. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.’
He leaned forward and kissed her on her cheek perfunctorily, and she was tempted to pull him into her body, to recapture the closeness of earlier, but she could tell he was anxious to get away. She watched him dash out of the garden, without even a glance over his shoulder, leaving Tess bewildered and deflated. It took her right back to the day Charles had announced he was leaving her for another woman. She’d been totally blindsided then, her whole world upended in that moment, but was she simply foolish to be experiencing a similar sense of rejection and loss with Rob? She’d only known him a few months, admittedly a heady, intense period of time, when they had supported and leaned on each other emotionally, but had she put too much importance on their fledgling relationship? After all, Rob was still married, as she was. For all she knew, if Jennifer’s split from her new man turned out to be permanent, then Rob and Jennifer might want to give their relationship another try. She knew that Rob had a great listening ear and a solid shoulder to cry on so would his ex be taking full advantage of those qualities and if so, where on earth would that leave Tess?
How could she know, she wondered, as she hooked her leg over the bench and picked up Barney’s lead, who leapt to his feet, looking up at her expectantly. At least she had one faithful male in her life! What she did know was that she hated the way the uncertainty with Rob made her feel. She shook her head and bit on her lip to stop an undercurrent of emotion from overwhelming her. She’d been a fool to get so close to him in such a short space of time, mistaking their friendship and closeness for something else, projecting her hopes for something more serious onto him. Humiliation swept over her as she walked through the pub garden, her skin smarting as she imagined all the other customers looking at her, recognising what a fool she’d been.
‘Come on, Barney,’ she said, holding her head high and brazening it out. ‘Let’s get you home.’
6
‘I suppose it took me by surprise, that was all. We were having a lovely day, the sun was shining and we were sitting outside in the pub garden, laughing and chatting, with the whole of the rest of the day ahead of us. He’d been checking his phone the whole morning, which is unlike him. Normally, he’s very good in that he gives me his full and undivided attention, but I realised something must have been going on in the background. When he checked his phone again, the whole mood changed. I guessed something was wrong, but I never thought he was going to tell me he needed to leave to go and see his wife.’
They were gathered at Suzy Matthews’s house who lived at Brook End, in a small close of five properties, that were relatively modern, having been built thirty years ago, but were constructed from the same honey-coloured Cotswold stone that was so prevalent in the village, and which could have you believing that the houses had stood for hundreds of years instead.
‘Honestly, I would have been mightily pissed off too,’ said Gina.
Gina and Suzy were Tess’s old friends who she’d first met at the mother and toddler group in the village, when their children were small, and they’d formed a close bond that remained until this day. They’d always met up over the years on an ad-hoc basis, but over recent months, since Tess’s separation, they’d made more of an effort to get together at least once a month, over dinner, taking it in turns to host at their respective homes in Lower Leaping. The Three Musketeers, Gina had called them, upgrading them to The Four Musketeers when the latest recruit, Dilly joined the group. She’d been an unlikely but constant support to Tess over recent months, who had the ability to take Tess out of her own head by regaling her with her gloriously indiscreet tales of her hairdressing clients, making her laugh until her sides hurt. Her honesty and outspoken humour had meant she slotted in easily with the women’s friendship group as though she had always been there.
‘It made me realise how vulnerable I still am. Charles has already broken my heart this year; I don’t need to go through that upset again. Maybe I am guilty of giving too much of myself to Rob too soon.’
They were sitting around Suzy’s dining room table having enjoyed a supper of pan-fried salmon with wild rice and asparagus. Tess pushed her plate to one side, then took a sip from her glass of wine, mulling over her relationship with Rob. At least with her friends, she could fully relax and let her guard down.
‘Yes, but that’s all part of being in a relationship, isn’t it?’ said Suzy, the voice of reason. ‘If you grow close to someone, as you have with Rob, then you open yourself up to being hurt and rejected. Obviously, you hope that’s not going to happen, but it’s all part of opening your heart to love.’
‘I suppose,’ said Tess. ‘Although honestly, if Charles called me to say he’d split up from Melody, and how upset he was, I’m not sure I would have been quite so understanding. I certainly wouldn’t have rushed round there to console him.’ She stuck out her bottom lip before chuckling. ‘Although that probably shows what a nice person Rob is compared to me.’
‘Have you heard from Rob since? Do you know what happened?’ Gina asked, picking up the bottle of the wine from the cooler and topping up everyone’s glasses.
‘Oh yes, he texted me that same evening and apologised again for rushing off, but he didn’t give any details as to what had happened with his wife, and I wasn’t going to ask.’
Was she being hypocritical? It wasn’t as if Charles didn’t still play a prominent role in the goings-on around Hollyhocks. The difference was she was very open and upfront about her ex, finding it helpful to talk it through with Rob, whereas he was more guarded when talking about his family.
‘I’m sure Rob would tell you if you asked him. He’s always struck me as being totally on the level.’ Dilly was Rob’s biggest fan, having got to know him well while he was living at the annexe, especially as he came to her rescue on several occasions when she had some pressing DIY issues.
‘Yes, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to hear the answer,’ she said with a sigh. ‘We’ve spoken a couple of times and everything seems okay, as it ever was, but I suppose it’s unnerved me a bit. I don’t really know what’s going on with him and his wife. I’ve put off seeing him this weekend because I’ve said I want to be around for Hannah, now that she’s talking to Billy again, in case that should blow up, which is true, but it will give me a chance to get my head and heart together,’ she admitted.
