‘I don’t thinkIam! You’ve had your marriage torn apart by these two. What’s my excuse?’
‘Thank you, Sam,’ she said quietly. ‘It’s really kind of you. But are you absolutely sure?’
‘Nope,’ he admitted. ‘Like I said, I think it’s bonkers, but I can see I’m not going to be able to talk you out of it. Your mind’s made up and that’s that. So the least I can do is go with you and make sure you’re okay, and you don’t end up getting arrested or anything like that.’
‘That would be terrible,’ she agreed.
‘It would. I have the reputation of The North Star to consider, after all.’
‘Eight o’clock tomorrow evening?’
He held out his hand. ‘Eight o’clock tomorrow evening.’
Jenna clasped his hand in hers and shook it. Sam dropped it immediately and got to his feet.
‘Right, well I’d better get on with cleaning up this place.’
‘Shall I mop the floor?’ she suggested but he shook his head.
‘You get off home,’ he told her. ‘I can deal with this now.’
‘But I don’t mind, honestly.’
‘Go home, Jenna,’ he said, not looking at her. ‘I’ll manage, and you’ve had an eventful day. I’ll see you tomorrow at eight, okay?’
Jenna wondered if he’d just realised how totally insane she really was. Had he changed his mind? But if he had, he would have told her. Sam’s honesty was one of the things she loved best about him.Likedbest about him.
‘Goodnight, Sam,’ she said, heading past him towards the door.
He raised a hand and waved but didn’t reply, and she closed the door behind her and headed over the road to Watersmeet with a strange feeling that, somehow, she’d missed something important.
14
‘I honestly can’t believe we’re doing this.’ Sam unscrewed the top of the Thermos flask and poured tea into the plastic cup. ‘I’m sure it’s illegal.’
‘What? We’re only sitting in a car talking,’ Jenna said. She dipped her hand into a bag of Wotsits Giants and munched thoughtfully. ‘No crime against that, is there?’
Sam gave her a knowing look. ‘We’re not just sitting in a car talking, though, are we? We’re spying. Stalking. There are definitely laws against that.’
‘I think,’ Jenna said firmly, ‘that I’m perfectly entitled to find out where my husband is living and who he’s living with.’
‘You already know, don’t you? His secretary, isn’t she? Nettie?’
Jenna wrinkled her nose. ‘Annette.Hecalls her Nettie. Pathetic.’
Sam’s eyes softened with sympathy. ‘Tea?’
She shook her head. ‘I’ve got a bottle of water here. Wotsit?’
‘I’ve got some sandwiches. Cheese and pickle, and tuna and cucumber. Want one?’
Jenna stared at him. ‘You never have!’
‘I have. And some sausage rolls and crisps. We’re set for the evening.’
She laughed. ‘Fancy you thinking of all that!’
‘I know. Anyone would think I made a habit of stalking women’s estranged husbands with them. Which window are we supposed to be looking at anyway?’
