Jasper looked at his watch. ‘An hour was more than enough. That guy’s a total arsehole. Sorry,’ he said, turning to me.
‘No, go ahead, I agree. What did he say?’
Jasper sighed and flopped down on the sofa beside Cass. ‘Where to start?’
‘Start with what’s happened to all our money.’
‘OK. Well, it turns out Rob went into business with some guy he met while playing golf. It was meant to be this amazing opportunity to invest in a new eco housing estate. Only, it turned out the guy was a crook and the housing estate a total fantasy.’
‘And Rob invested everything into it?’
‘Yep, and not just your money, either. He put in a massive chunk of the money he got from Hugo, plus he staked his entirebusiness on it. Oh, and a few more of his golfing buddies chipped in tens of thousands to boot.’
‘Crap.’
‘So there’s no way of getting any of it back?’
‘It was hard to get a clear picture, given Rob was already wasted by the time I got to the pub, but it seems not.’
‘But why hasn’t he told me any of this? I’m hiswife!’
Jasper shrugged. ‘Like you said, he’s a coward. To be honest, I almost felt sorry for him. I got the impression he was trying to impress his parents with this latest deal. Mind you, to still be courting their approval at his age is a bit pathetic.’
‘Where’s he staying?’
‘He wouldn’t tell me, but it’s not with Hugo and Marion. I don’t think he dares face them.’
‘Did he ask after me or Bertie?’
‘Sorry, Liv. He seemed interested in nothing and no one but himself. I told him he needed to speak to you, but he said he needed time to work things out.’
‘Bastard.’
‘Arsehole.’
‘Polla.’
I looked across at Cass and raised my eyebrow. ‘You knew about Dad’s pet name for Rob?’
Cass blushed. ‘I may have heard him use that name once or twice…’
‘You know Bertie got in massive trouble at school for calling his friends that word? Dad told him it meant cool, so he started calling all his friends polla.’
‘He didn’t?’ Cass’s own eyebrows shot up, and the muscles in her face danced beneath her skin as she tried to control her emotions.
‘Cass… don’t.’
Cass spluttered into her wine. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she said. ‘I know this isn’t a laughing matter and you’re going through a ton of shit. But… p… p… polla. My God.’
Her laughter was infectious. Despite my entire world crashing down around my ears, it felt good to laugh. Our giggles turned hysterical, tears rolling down our cheeks until mine became confused by their origin and I bent over as sobs lurched my body back and forth.
‘Oh, you poor thing,’ said Cass, dropping to her knees on the floor beside me and stroking my hair.
‘I wish Mum was here,’ I said, once my breathing became under control.
‘I think we all do, sis. I’m afraid I’ll have to do.’ Cass handed me a clump of tissues and a glass of water.
‘Mum trained you well. As substitutes go, you’ll do.’
