‘Fine.’
‘And we’ll look at selling the house and all that boring stuff.’
Doug put both his hands on the table, as if to steady himself.
‘We’ll always have our boys to tie us together. And I genuinely hope that we can stay friends.’
Charlotte had a sudden vision of Doug as a young man dashing through the rain to meet her at the station and twirling her round, drops of water flying everywhere.
Her voice caught in her throat a moment.
‘Look at me, Doug. Friends?’
He reached for her hand again and stared deep into her eyes.
‘Friends it is.’
Chapter Twenty-Six
Maddie and Sofia were waiting for her when she walked back into the hotel, their worried little faces at odds with everyone else in the bar.
She joined their table, and the waiter was at her side in a moment.
‘Three brandies please.’
Charlotte sat back in the chair and reached for their hands.
‘It’s done.’
They waited in silence, hands entwined, until the arrival of the drinks. Charlotte lifted her glass towards the others.
‘Yamas!’
TheYamas!in response was decidedly muted, and she could see that Sofia especially was desperate to know the outcome of her talk with Doug. Charlotte took a good swipe at the brandy before she spoke. She wasn’t sure how her news would be received by Maddie, given she was voluntarily calling time on her husband, but it was too late to worry now.
‘It’s over. I’m getting a divorce.’
Sofia punched the air.
‘Yessss!’
Maddie put her finger to her lips.
‘Calm down, Sof. The end of a marriage isn’t usually something to be celebrated.’
‘It is in this case.’
Maddie turned to Charlotte.
‘How are you feeling, love?’
‘Everything under the sun. Sad, relieved, exhausted, you name it, I’m feeling it. But the overwhelming emotion is relief, so I know deep down I’ve down the right thing.’
‘Good for you. It can’t have been easy.’
‘Weirdly, when it came down to it, it was surprisingly easy. I shocked myself at how quickly I knew it was over once I’d spent a few minutes with him.’
Charlotte waited a beat for her racing heart to calm.
