Damn. I move so there’s a patch of bare wall behind me. ‘Probably my four-panel screen, with a few dresses draped over.’
She isn’t hiding her shock. ‘It sounds like you’ve done a complete makeover. Did I see cushions?’
My stomach drops. ‘Only a couple.’
‘Jeez, Bets.’
I’m trying for my soothing voice. ‘Don’t worry. It’ll all disappear when I do.’
She sniffs. ‘Tate would have a fit.’
I blow out a breath. ‘That’s the whole point– I thought you’denjoythat.’ I move onto safer ground. ‘How about you? Are your evenings still fully booked and fabulous?’
The beat of silence is the giveaway.
She sighs. ‘None of them want to see me again. I didn’t want to be left hanging so before each date ended I gave them a list of future activities and time slots to choose from, and every single one politely passed up the offer.’
‘Oh Scarlett.’ My heart is breaking for her for all the reasons.
She’s shaking her head. ‘I can’t understand it. You’d think they’d put a value on outstanding organisational ability in a partner.’
I hold in my dismay. ‘Have you thought that guys may find it easier to commit to showing up for a coffee?’
Her lips are pursed. ‘I’m worth a lot more than ten minutes in Starbucks.’
I’m taking on board what Miles hinted at last time he spoke about her and Tate’s relationship. ‘You don’t think you’re being too prescriptive? People at the start of a relationship might warm to someone more collaborative?’
I’m not sure how much of this she’s taking on board.
She thinks for a moment. ‘Making decisions for other people is what I’m good at.’
I should be supporting Miles and spreading jam on my rolled-out pastry strips by now, but having told Scarlettsomehard truths, I can’t stop halfway.
I screw up my courage and launch. ‘But you could be waving a lot of red flags here?’
She looks horrified. ‘Excuse me?Which would they be?’
‘Pretty much all of it– when you stop to think.’ I ponder how best to carry on. ‘No one likes being told what to do, people prefer to give and take.’
She gives a defiant toss of her head. ‘Tatelikedme to choose.’
I’m hitting the hard balls here. ‘Are you sure?’
She wrinkles her nose. ‘Maybe not at first. But he did eventually. It wasn’t always me dictating, it washischoice for us to come to New York.’
I’ve got an answer to that. ‘New York was different. That washiswork trip that you jumped in on.’
Her voice rises. ‘What are you saying here, Betsy?’
I’m holding my ground. ‘I’m simply suggesting it’s good to examine what might have led to your break-up, so you don’t make the same mistakes again.’
Her face is filled with horror. ‘If you’re saying Tate and I separated because I told him what to do, that’s not true.We broke up because he had the hots for Virginia bloody Kemp!’
This is one of the hardest conversations of my life. ‘If Tate was truly happy and fulfilled with the life you shared,would he have left?’
‘You mean, this is more about me than her?’ Her eyes are wide. ‘Shit, Betty, if I’d becomethat muchof a nightmare why didn’t you tell me?’
I’m backing off. ‘I wasn’t living with you. But even as an outsider, you were very decided and hard to challenge.’
