His expression changed to one I couldn’t quite fathom.
‘Today? You only heard about it all today?’
‘Yes. Well let’s be honest again. Neither you or Adele have been brimming over with friendship and welcome, have you? And neither of you have been keen to chat, or to open up about yourselves. Now I think I understand why. I’m so sorry you had to go through that.’
He snorted another sardonic laugh. ‘I bet my name was mud. Adele hates me. But I suppose I can’t blame her.’
‘Actually, she didn’t say anything bad about you, really. But she was upset that you didn’t believe her. It’s none of my business, I know, but you two seem to have so much in common and it’s so sad that you were once good friends but now you don’t speak to one another.’
His face hardened and his jaw tightened and I wondered if he might throw me out, but then that light came back into his eyes and his smile was wistful, as was the small sigh that escaped him.
‘We were good friends once. Really close friends. I almost asked her out. But Jeff said he thought it might ruin ourfriendship, so I didn’t. And then I met Cara.’ His fingers turned white as he gripped the handle of his cup so tightly, I thought it might break. ‘Too much information. Sorry. But I shouldn’t have listened to Jeff, should I? Things might be so different now if I’d followed my … but it’s too late for that. Would you like to hear my side of this sordid little tale? Or did Adele tell you everything you want to know?’
‘I’d like to hear your side too, if you want to tell me. But that’s entirely up to you. It won’t change anything as far as I’m concerned. I want to be friends with both you and Adele, if that’s possible. And what’s in the past is in the past as far as I’m concerned. Unless it affects the present and the future. But I feel I must say one thing. Two things actually. I do genuinely believe that Adele only had your interests and your happiness at heart when she told you about your wife and your best friend. Those aren’t her words, they’re mine. She said she had feelings for you and admitted she was jealous of Cara, but I think it was Cara who was the bitch, not Adele. And the second thing is, it’s never too late to do anything. Whether that’s to follow your heart, or to follow your dreams, or to fly to the moon and back. Okay that last one might not be so easy. But if there is breath in your body and hope in your heart, then it’s not too late.’
He eyed me over his cup and remained silent for several seconds.
‘Thank you for that. I will tell you my side of it all one day. But not today, I think. I know I should probably be over it by now, but the cold hard truth is, I’m not. My ex-wife is marrying my former best friend this Christmas and to say I’m a little upset is possibly an understatement.’
‘These things take as long as they take. Is that why you don’t like Christmas?’
‘Who said I don’t like Christmas? Surely not Adele?’
‘No! But … well, you didn’t put any decorations up last year, and you didn’t thank me for my card, or send me one, so I sort of assumed.’
He nodded. ‘I see. Yes. I apologise for not doing that. The card thing, I mean. That was rude. I loved Christmas. So did Adele. Jeff and my ex could take it or leave it. But Jeff took my wife instead. Two years ago at Christmas. She moved into your cottage with him on Christmas Eve, so that Christmas was fun, as you can imagine. I did have decorations up that year, but I tore them all down on New Year’s Eve. Last Christmas, she sent me divorce papers, so that was another fun Christmas. I didn’t bother to buy new decorations, as you noticed. And this year, when I thought things might start to get better, I heard she and Jeff are getting married on Christmas Eve. Who, in their right mind, gets married on Christmas Eve? So, I think we’ve established that’s it’s highly unlikely that End Cottage will be decked in boughs of holly and twinkling lights this year either. Hmm. I think I might need something stronger than tea. Several somethings in fact. Luckily I have the afternoon off. Want to join me?’
I could hear Mum’s voice saying, ‘Drinking alcohol at lunchtime? And on a Monday? Surely not?’
‘Absolutely,’ I said. ‘I haven’t been drunk since Saturday night. Oh wait. I also had a few too many yesterday afternoon. Although I wasn’t drunk. But I’ll only have one.’
Where had I heard that before?
He raised a brow and reminded me a little of my dad.
‘Do you have a drink problem?’
‘No. It’s no problem at all. It slides down rather nicely. Sorry. I shouldn’t joke about that. I have been drinking a little more than usual over the last few months, but I don’t think I have a problem.’
‘Isn’t that what people with a problem would say?’
‘Yep. Probably. But seriously, I don’t. And I will just have one drink with you. A glass of wine if you have some, please.’
‘One glass of wine coming up.’ He opened the biggest wine fridge I’d ever seen outside of a restaurant. ‘Any preference?’
‘Cold, white, and wet.’
He grinned. ‘A true connoisseur.’
‘You’d better believe it.’
He poured a large glass and handed it to me. ‘Only one,’ he said. ‘I’ll drink the rest.’
‘Only one,’ I replied and took a large mouthful. ‘Oh my god! That’s like the nectar of the gods.’
‘It’s not a bad year.’ He sat opposite me again and leant forward in his chair. ‘That was the year I got married. As you can tell, I like to wallow in self-pity and literally, drown my sorrows. Or maybe drown in my sorrows. Cheers,’ he said, clinking my glass with his.
‘Cheers,’ I replied, sipping my wine and savouring the deliciousness of it, as he knocked his back in three large gulps and then refilled his glass.
