‘Iwould,’ said Kitty. ‘You’ve pushed me too far this time, James. Using Rae to get to me was a low blow, even for you.’ She hovered her thumb over her phone. ‘Now, am I going to make that call?’
James glanced from Kitty to Nick to the phone. ‘I’ll go,’ he said tightly. ‘But don’t think this is over.’
‘Actually,’ said Kitty, ‘itisover. I’ve had enough of you ruining my life.’ She stood squarely in the road, hands on her hips. ‘If you want to come down here and leave notes on my windscreen or follow me, so be it. Of course, I will report you for stalking. Just be aware I refuse to let you get to me anymore, James. We’re over.’ She paused, took a breath, realising the truth. ‘We were over the moment I walked out of our London home and leftyou, and my old life, behind. The sooner you get that into your head, the better. I’ve moved on. You can’t control me anymore.’
‘You’ll regret this,’ said James, storming into the house. ‘You’ll all regret this.’
Kitty and Nick waited on the pavement in awkward silence.
Five minutes later, James barged through the door, bag in hand. ‘This isn’t the last you’ll hear from me,’ he said.
‘It hadbetterbe,’ said Kitty. ‘And if it’s not, you’ll need to contact me through mylawyers.’
‘Yourlawyers?’ said James.
‘Yes,’ said Kitty. ‘I’ll be instructing a local firm to begin divorce proceedings. I don’t want a thing from you, but if you choose to make my life difficult, I’ll go for everything I can get. The choice is yours. Goodbye, James.’
Kitty stormed past her ex-husband and into the cottage, a mix of emotions swirling through her – relief, anger, shame she had been fooled once more.
The strongest emotion was pride. Pride that she’d finally stood up to the man who’d bullied her for so long. Pride that she’d finally put a stop to his manipulation.
She pulled a bottle of wine from the fridge, and when she turned to collect a glass from the cupboard, she found Nick hovering in the kitchen doorway.
‘Are you all right?’ he asked tentatively.
‘Yeah. Fine,’ said Kitty. She set the glass on the countertop and unscrewed the wine bottle. She wasn’t sure she could deal with Nick at this moment.
‘I’m sorry if you feel like I stepped…’ he began.
‘It’s not about what Ifeel,’ said Kitty, whipping around, bottle in hand. ‘It’s what youdid. You were like a pair of schoolboys fighting in the playground. Both of you out to prove who was the most macho.’ She huffed. ‘It had nothing to do with me or myfeelings, and everything to do with your own male pride. I told you I needed space, Nick. I thought you’d respect that.’
‘You’ve sent James packing. That’s good,’ said Nick. ‘Doesn’t that mean we…?’
‘There is nowe,’ said Kitty. ‘Don’t you understand, Nick? I need time to sort my head out. I need to figure out who I am. This strange mix of Catherine, Kitty, who I was… who I became… and who I’ll be in the future.’ She lifted the bottle in emphasis. ‘I can’t do that if I rush straight into a new relationship. Can you appreciate that?’
‘I get it,’ said Nick. He shuffled his feet, stared down at them, then lifted his head. ‘I’ll be waiting, Kitty. If you ever change your mind.’
Before she could reply, he walked away. The door closed gently rather than the slam she was expecting, and Kitty wondered if she’d done the right thing… or whether she’d thrown away a golden opportunity.
Chapter 58
Nick nursed his beer and tried to get a grip on himself. Before Emily came into his life, the last time he cried, he’d been seven years old. It had been after he’d fallen out with Luke. The look on his dad’s face on finding his son sobbing over another boy had been enough to convince Nick not to show his emotions so openly. It had also been the last time he and Luke had fallen out, so it wasn’t all bad.
This hurt was different.
Emily had been confused by Carla’s arrival, unsure whether she was happy to see her mum or sad to say goodbye to Nick. She’d given him the tightest squeeze before climbing into the car, and although it would only be a few days until Carla brought her back to Saffron Bay for the Summer Extravaganza, things wouldn’t be the same again.
And then there was Kitty. Another goodbye he hadn’t wanted. Another person he hadn’t been able to hold on to.
He walked along the hallway and opened the door to the spare room. There was nothing left to suggest Emily had ever been there, and he wondered if things could be how they had beenbefore. Much as he’d deluded himself he used to be happy, he couldn’t imagine anything worse than returning to those lazy days spent alone, whiling away the hours of his life with no purpose and no one to share his time with.
Nick sat on Emily’s bed and put his head in his hands. He shifted, and something crackled beneath him. When he peeled back the covers, he discovered a piece of paper.
He uncurled it. It would be one of Emily’s drawings, but Nick was completely unprepared for what she’d captured. The drawing was of the beach. Emily sat on the sand beside a woman with red curly hair, building a sandcastle. To the left were a man and a woman. What set Nick’s tears off again, and what turned them from a sniffle to a tsunami, was the labels on the drawing.
An arrow pointed to Kitty, and Emily had written “Mrs Brown” with a big heart next to it. Another arrow pointed to herself with the word “Me”. It was the arrow pointing to the man and the woman that made Nick wonder if his tears would ever stop. Carla’s was labelled “Mum”, and next to it, in big round writing, Emily had written the word:
“Dad.”
