Air gets trapped in my throat. ‘Relieved?’ I croak.
She sits up and wipes her eyes. ‘This situation gives me a way out.’
‘A what?’ I stare at her.
Something flickers across her face. She sits up straighter. ‘If I’m honest, my relationship with Frank has been stale for years. I spend a lot of my time lusting after other men. Frank’s new baby has given me a golden opportunity.’
‘Look, you’re upset?—’
She stands and puts her hands on her hips. ‘I know what I need to do.’
‘Don’t make any rash decisions.’
‘Nelly, this situation needs rash decisions.’ A smile spreads across her face. ‘I’m going to leave Frank. This heartbreak is a blessing in disguise.’
Oh, God, the heartbreak has made her delusional. ‘Miranda…’
‘Nelly, you will need to close the shop. I have things to do.’
Before I can say another word, she’s hurried away to the back room.
Even though she claimed it was a blessing in disguise, I believe the shock of Frank’s infidelity and the arrival of his child will eventually catch up with her. Tonight, she’ll be teetering on the brink of a nervous breakdown while his mother enjoys her favourite meal. There’s nothing positive about heartbreak; this is why I’ve avoided it like the plague for years.
34
‘How was your evening?’ I ask as Oliver climbs into bed behind the pillow wall.
When I got home from work, I found a note he’d left saying he was going to bathe Alfie and read him a bedtime story. At the bottom, he’d underlined the words,I will be back for our bed-sharing, so don’t fall asleep. His note had given me a burst of much-needed happiness.
‘It was okay,’ he says, with an optimistic tone to his voice. ‘Rory was home. It was a little awkward, but after, I avoided going into town and went to play Xbox at Jamie’s flat.’ He laughs. ‘I took out all my frustration on the aliens in Jamie’s new game.’
‘How was Alfie?’
Oliver chuckles. ‘He always makes me laugh. It’s nice to be back doing baths and bedtime.’
That’s odd – why did he use the words ‘be back’?
I’m about to question him when he answers for me. ‘Molly banned me the other week from seeing Alfie. It was after I’d argued with Rory in a pub and he punched me on the nose.’
‘I see. Did Rory start the fight?’
He shakes his head. ‘Rory made a comment about how he picks up Alfie from nursery. It made me cross. I tried to punch him, but I missed. He tried to calm me down, so I went in for another punch. Rory blocked it and gave me a whack to the nose.’
‘Oh…’
‘Molly had every right to ban me from seeing Alfie. Fighting has never been one of my strengths, Nelly.’
‘Perhaps you should stick to things you are good at.’
He pauses. ‘Then, later in a club, I decided to go home with his sister.’
We both go silent. The thought of Oliver getting intimate with Rory’s sister makes me feel uncomfortable. I turn away from the pillow wall and face the opposite side.
‘I didn’t sleep with her. I stopped myself just in time. It was a stupid revenge tactic.’
His words send my stomach on a nauseating spin. I remind myself that just because Oliver and I share a bed, it doesn’t mean he can’t still sleep with other women.
‘It wouldn’t have been right to sleep with her just because I was angry at Rory and Molly for not letting me see Alfie.’
