‘So, you’ve come to a decision?’
I nodded.
‘What will it be? Are you going to fight me in the courts, or do the sensible thing and come back to Rob?’
I couldn’t bring myself to say the words out loud.
‘Olivia?’ said Marion, tapping her foot against the path beneath her. ‘I’d rather not wait all day. It’s raining, if you hadn’t noticed.’
‘I’ll come back.’
‘Pardon? I didn’t catch that.’
‘I said, I’ll come back. I’ll come back to Rob. I’ll cancel the divorce proceedings. If that’s what it takes to keep Bertie with me, I’ll do it.’
‘What a sensible girl,’ said Marion, patting my knee. I wanted to grab a flannel and wash the invisible imprint of her hand from my skin. ‘I thought you’d make the right decision, so I’ve already put various arrangements in place. We’ll come on Sunday to collect you and take you both to your new home.’
‘New home? I assumed we’d be living with you?’
‘Goodness no, we don’t want to be getting under each other’s feet like that. No, Hugo and I have rented you a house on your old estate. It’s not as large as your last house, but big enough. Living somewhere smaller should encourage Rob to get his new business off the ground faster. We don’t want to spoil him too much, or he’ll get too comfortable.’
‘What about Bertie’s school?’
‘His old school has agreed to take him back. We’re covering the fees, of course.’
‘Of course.’
‘I expect he’s excited about getting back to his friends.’
‘I haven’t told him anything about this yet. I assumed you’d let us stay here long enough to see out the school year.’
‘Whatever for? The quicker you’re out of this dump, the better. Bertie should get a proper education, not some airy fairy curriculum in a backwater school.’
If I’d had any sort of weapon with me, I can’t say I wouldn’t have used it on Marion. I wanted to punch the cheery, smug smile from her face. In fact, at that moment, I would have been quite happy to see her with a gravestone of her own.
‘What time will you come on Sunday?’ I asked, standing up but still not looking at her.
‘You can expect us at ten sharp. Make sure you’re ready, we don’t want to be waiting around for you.’
I walked away from Marion, determined not to cry. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing she’d broken me, even if it was true.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Icouldn’t face going straight back to the farm, and there was something else I needed to do. I paused beside the school gate, my hand clinging on to the metal. My heart hammered, making my ears ring and breaths come fast.We’ll come for you on Sunday. Marion had given me next to no time to extricate us from the life we’d built, and I couldn’t delay what had to be done.
I pushed open the gate and walked up to the school entrance. The pink-haired receptionist was in her usual position and today I noticed she was chewing gum.
‘Hello, Mrs Simmons. How can I help you?’
‘I was wondering if Mrs Grange is free for a quick meeting?’
‘Hmm, let me see.’ The receptionist flicked through a large diary, chewing on her pen as she ran her finger along the page. ‘She has a meeting at one, but is free until then. Take a seat and I’ll let her know you’d like to speak to her.’
I sat in the reception area watching a TV, which played photos of smiling children on a loop. The school was so creative in its approach to learning, and the thought of removing Bertie from its nurturing environment broke my heart.
‘Liv, this is a pleasant surprise.’
‘Hi, Mel. Are you free for a chat?’
