The Scent of His Woman

by Maggie Pritchard

  ‘She’ll never keep him you know, he doesn't belong to her. It’s obvious she’s using him somehow. I don’t understand what the game is, but I do know there’s something wrong.’

  ‘Well I don’t know what it can be, he’s announced the engagement himself.’

  The two were just outside the open doorway, and even if they had looked inside it wasn’t likely they’d see her, sitting as high as she was. Lexie felt the shock of learning that this woman had somehow learnt about their deception and it shook her to her core. What if she said something, here tonight? It would all come out at the worst possible time and ruin the evening for everyone.

  ‘It’s written all over her face and I’m determined to find out. How did she get him to agree to marry her? It’s got something to do with that newspaper article, I know it has, she must be blackmailing him. That’s the only way a scruffy hippie like her could land a man like him. He’d never have agreed if she didn’t have something on him. Oh if only Ruth were here, this would never have happened, they’re supposed to be together, the wedding was all planned, her dress is still hanging in her room. He can’t have forgotten her, not Ruth. I won’t believe he’s moved on.’

  Relief and horror flooded through Lexie simultaneously. She didn’t know, she suspected maybe but no more, but who was Ruth?

  The two women were moving away, Sally in some distress and her friend soothing, comforting.

  Lexie climbed down, oblivious to the music, thoughts in turmoil. Geth was involved with someone, Ruth, the wedding was planned, the dress bought. It made no sense, what had happened? Where was she now? And for goodness sake why this charade? She made her way out of the barn, heading on automatic pilot for the safety of the cottage, she needed to be alone, needed time to think. Rather than head indoors she made her way to the back of the cottage, where a wooden seat provided a haven beside the small pond. It was sheltered by an arch covered in pink roses and she felt safe hidden in its shade. As dusk approached, she sat letting the evenings revelations free in her brain, and no matter how she twisted it and turned it, the conclusion was the same. Geth had been involved with a girl, Ruth, the planned wedding was off and Ruth was not in evidence. So there could be a number of reasons for his insistence on their deception and none of them was nice. He’d set out to make her jealous, hurt Ruth by presenting another woman as his fiancée. He was simply putting on a front, the great Geth Mathias, untroubled by whatever had gone wrong between him and his Ruth. Or he could simply be on the rebound. It all pointed to the same thing in essence she’d been used, again. She felt sick, and all of her instincts told her to run, to get away.

  It had taken ten minutes to throw her stuff into her bag, leave him a one word note, RUTH. Belinda started first time, but only had a quarter of a tank of fuel, no matter it would get her away and there was bound to be a petrol station not too far away. Thank goodness she’d refused that third glass of champagne and hadn’t even finished the others completely, or she’d have had to wait until morning.

  ‘Congratulations Mam, Dad, here’s to the next forty years.’

  Geth sipped sparingly again, not his drink champagne, putting the glass down on a side table he made his way out of the patio doors, looking for Lexie. She’d neatly sidestepped being included in the family photos, it was an indication of how uncomfortable she was with the situation. It was time for that talk, time to let her know how he felt, that he wanted her, needed her to stay. Making his way to the barn he passed Sally and her friend, the looks they threw his way would have soured milk.

  The barn was packed, but Lexie was nowhere in sight. It took him ten minutes to scour the place for her, then he headed for the cottage. Some instinct telling him to hurry.

  RUTH, one word, she’d left, driven off in that death-trap she called Belinda. How, who would have told her about Ruth? It made no sense, why would anyone have raked up the past like that? In his mind’s eye he saw again the sour faces, the venomous looks, Sally! It was the only explanation, she’d always been a bit spoilt, but he’d not have thought her capable of such spite. Not that it mattered right now, what he needed to do now was find Lexie before she killed herself in b****y Belinda. He’d need to borrow a car, find Rhys, get the keys to the 4x4. It took another five minutes to find Rhys and ten seconds more to put an end to his plan to follow her.

  ‘Of course you can borrow the car, in the morning. You can’t drive right now Geth, how much have you had to drink?’

  With a groan Geth sank onto the bench, he’d found Rhys on the patio, sipping one last whiskey before calling it a night. Mam and Dad had retired, worn out, and he and Becca had decided to go up too, leave the dancing to the teenagers.

  ‘What do you want the car for so urgently anyway, what can’t wait until the morning?’

  Then it hit him, how much had Lexie had to drink? Thinking back carefully, he could only remember two glasses of champagne, small ones at that and she hadn’t finished either. Ok so she was not over the legal limit, but she was upset, and in that rattletrap car, on unfamiliar roads. Anything could happen, panic threatened to take full control and he had to take a deep breath to stay in control.

  ‘It’s Lexie, she, we... it’s a misunderstanding, she drove off. Took her stuff and just went.’

  ‘Ah, and just what did you do to upset her?’

  ‘Nothing, well not directly.’

  ‘But indirectly? When will you learn Geth, you finally find a nice girl and still you mess it up. You get after her in the morning, put it right, and don’t let Mam know you fluffed again. Haven’t seen her so taken with a girl of yours since Ruth.’

  ‘Huh, thanks for that, Mam likes her, so it’s wedding bells is it?’

  ‘Will you listen to yourself? Geth she’s crazy about you, anyone can see you feel the same and yet here you are too stupid to do anything permanent about it. If you let your phobia about commitment ruin this it will prove what I’ve said all along.’

  ‘Oh yeah, and what’s that?’

  ‘That you might well be the ‘golden boy’ rich,successful and all that, but when it boils down to it, you’re a coward, afraid to take the most important chance of your life, love. It might be scary, but what is a life without it boy? So get yourself over to the cottage, sleep off Dad’s whiskey, and in the morning go after her.’

  Rhys turned, shaking his head as he made his way indoors, leaving Geth with no choice but to take his advice and head for bed, as he walked he took his mobile out and hit speed dial.

  Chapter 10

  It was morning, at long last after a nightmare drive home, and a night of tossing and turning, the sun rose, as it always did, oblivious to her misery. Lexie got up, made her way downstairs in her PJs and put the kettle on. Nursing a cup of her morning tea mix of peppermint, lemon balm and raspberry leaves, she wandered out into the garden, sat heavily on the bench and sipped. The invigorating infusion, combined with early morning sunshine began to lift the gloom a little, she was home, safe and well and that was something to be thankful for. She’d sit here a while, then get dressed, Geth would follow, she was sure of that, surprised thinking about it that he hadn’t already. It would be easier to deal with him properly dressed. Or maybe she would just not deal with him, there was no law that said she had to open the door to him. Yes that was it, she’d ignore him, oh had he tried to contact her? Where was her mobile? Buried in the bottom of her bag, that was where. Retrieving it, she found six missed calls and four text messages from Geth, all very late last night, there would be voice messages too. Not ready to hear his voice, not yet, she opened the messages.

  “Call me cariad”, four times, she turned the phone off and flipped it shut, huh in your dreams mate, and don’t think I’m letting you in when you eventually turn up here.

  It was a long day, made longer by the need to check out front every time she heard a car pull up, or a car door slam. She tried to ignore the compulsion, but to no avail. What was wrong with her? Why was she letting him get to her like this. Nothing had
changed, the break-up was just a little premature, that was all. So why was she on pins, waiting for him? Because she was waiting. Oh she’d pottered around pretending to be industrious after she’d dressed, but truth was she’d failed to complete one task. She gave up, it was time for the usual run of teatime TV quizzes, she’d relax a bit, oh when would he get here? She needed to get this over with, get back some control. Pointless had been just that, followed by Eggheads, equally banal, it took minutes of searching for something else to fill the empty moments before she gave up. Time to get a grip, she’d watch the news, then get up and start dinner. There was no use denying it any longer, he was not coming after her. The national news had just ended and the headlines for the local Welsh report just flashing up. More job losses in Cardiff, an announcement from the Welsh Government about the rural economy, an update on the Welsh rugby team’s line-up for the next game and a construction worked injured in Llan-aberth.

  Dread spread through her, cold, heavy. She wanted to move, not to listen to the report. If she didn’t watch it, then maybe it would not be. With excruciating slowness the newsreader worked his way through each headline, colouring in the detail of each story. The accident headline had been the last one, so she had to sit through the whole ten minute update before he got to the part she was dreading. She spent those minutes trying to convince herself that it could not be him. Geth was in Cardigan, not in Llan-aberth. The reason he had not followed her was because he didn’t want to. It probably wasn’t him anyway, some other poor soul, but not him. “Oh please don’t let it be him.”

  ‘A worker was injured earlier today in a construction site accident. GLM boss Gethyn Mathias was attempting to extricate a crane that had become entangled in power lines, threatening to cut the supply to the village of Llan-aberth when a cable snapped and he was thrown twenty feet onto rough ground. He was rushed unconscious to the Heath Hospital by air ambulance and his family have been with him throughout the day. A hospital spokesman issued this statement earlier this evening.’

  ‘Mr Mathias has sustained a number of injuries as a result of his fall. None of these are life threatening, but he has not yet regained consciousness and this is, in itself a cause for concern. His family are with him and ask that he and they be left in peace during this worrying time.’

  The newsreader continued but Lexie hardly took it in.

  ‘Gethyn Mathias, charismatic boss of GLM construction is well known across the principality for his...’

  She was moving on automatic pilot, checking her phone, there were a dozen missed calls but she didn’t recognise the number, she rang it, no answer. If it was one of the family they’d be in the hospital now with the phone off. Collecting her bag, a cardigan, her phone, the car keys, she locked the door and got into Belinda, how much juice did she have? She turned the key, Belinda spluttered weakly but wouldn’t start. There was a fine drizzle, it had started about an hour ago, quite long enough to seep into the workings of the ancient motor and make her sulk, Lexie cursed, unsure what to do next. Then her phone rang.

  ‘Lex, where are you, are you at the hospital? I just saw the news, how is he?’

  ‘Florence, I don’t know, I’ve been home all day, I just saw it on the TV, on my way to the Heath now, but Belinda won’t start. Oh Flo, we... I left the farm, came home...’

  ‘Don’t move, I’m on my way, I’ll drive, you can’t be in any fit state. You can fill me in on the way. Lex, can you hear me get out of Belinda, and wait for me, I’ll be ten mins no more. Promise me you will wait. Lexie?’

  ‘Yes, I’ll wait, please hurry, please.’

  Florence made it in eight, the longest eight minutes of Lexie’s life. At least she thought they were, but the journey to the hospital seemed to last forever. All the way there she offered up the same prayer, over and over. “Please let him be ok, please.”

  ‘You go, find out what’s happening, I’ll lose the car and follow as soon as I can. I want to ring netia anyway, put her in the picture, go on go.’

  Lexie ran, she couldn’t have walked, her legs seemed to take over, rushing her to Geth. Across the car park, through the automatic doors, into A&E. The place was packed, staff moved with quiet confidence about their work, steadily working through the endless que of sick and injured. This was the wrong place, how silly of her to think he’d be here, severe cases would be brought in a different way, dealt with somewhere else. She went up to the reception desk. The woman behind the glass looked harassed.

  ‘Please can you tell me where they’ve taken Gethyn Mathias?’

  ‘Sorry, I can’t give out information like that, are you a relative?’

  Lexie could see the woman thought she was dealing with a gawper, some sad obsessed fan of the rich and famous. She found herself answering with a confidence she certainly didn’t feel.

  ‘Yes I’m his fiancée, Alexandria Owen, would you like me to prove that?’

  She made as if to reach into her bag for identification.

  ‘Oh no Miss Owen, there’s no need I’ll ring up now.’

  Three or four minutes later, an orderly appeared and she was escorted up to the private ward. The suite was plush, filled with hushed efficiency. Lexie was shown into a spacious family room, and assured someone would come to speak to shortly. Within two minutes the door burst open and the carefully orchestrated peace was shattered by a tearful Mared.

  ‘Oh Lexie...’

  ‘She got no further, she threw her arms around Lexie and just held on tight.

  ‘Thank goodness you’ve come, we’ve been at our wits end, not knowing where you were, would you come. Rhys seemed to think you’d had a spat, and you didn’t answer your phone. He’s still not awake, it’s frightening, Mam’s beside herself, oh thank goodness you came.’

  Bemused, Lexie tried to make sense of the tumble of words. She might have succeeded if her brain had not been so frozen with fear. It took Rhys to fill in the gaps, following on the heels of his sister, he gave a clear enough update. Geth had been on his way to follow her, sort out whatever had gone wrong between them, when he’d received a call from Alun. The problem at the Llan-aberth site threatened to plunge the village into darkness and halt work for some time, so he’d gone there first. Around lunchtime, Dad had received a phone call from Alun saying that Geth had been hurt, was on his way to the Heath and the GLM helicopter was on its way to get them from the farm. Mam and Dad had flown directly to the hospital, he, Becca and Mared had followed by car. They had been trying to contact her and were preparing to send Alun to find her even as they spoke. Geth had fallen badly, but apart from three broken ribs and extensive bruising, there was nothing to explain the prolonged unconsciousness. Scans, tests all came back clear, and the doctors were optimistic he would wake as soon as the trauma to his brain eased. There was nothing to do but wait. Mam was bearing up, Dad was quiet, and Mared was hysterical.

  ‘Well that about brings you up to speed, I’ll go and get Mam and Dad now, take them down for something to eat, a walk to the canteen with do them good and they’ll be happy to leave you with him. Mared will stay with you.’

  Rhys left, efficient, calm, a rock, but without mentioning the one other person Lexie needed to know about, so she asked Mared.

  ‘But what about Ruth? Is she here? Surely she would want to be told.’

  ‘Ruth? I don’t understand, how could she be here?’

  ‘But I thought, they were, aren’t they in love?’

  ‘OMG, he hasn’t told you has he? Is that why you quarreled, why you left.’

  ‘So there is something to tell, he does love her.’

  ‘Yes he did, but Lexie, Ruth is dead. She has been for three years, it was in all the papers, don’t you remember?’

  ‘I don’t read papers, or watch much celebrity gossip. Dead, then why did Sally think...’

  ‘Ruth was Sally’s sister, she never really got over her death, it was hard on us all. You see we’d all been close, grown up together. Ruth and Geth, well it was like strawberries a
nd cream, you know, meant to be. Then one day she was thrown from her horse, she broke her neck and died instantly. Geth was devastated, we all were, but he’s never been the same, not until you.’

  ‘Until me?’

  ‘Yes you, I knew in London that first time we met, and Rhys, Dad and Mam saw it too as soon as they saw him with you. You see he’s been flitting from one casual relationship to another since she died. It’s as if he was making sure he never went out with anyone he could feel for. Then you came along.’

  ‘But we aren’t a proper couple, not really.’

  ‘Tosh! he’s nuts about you, we can all see it, surely you can too, and I know you love him, it’s written all over you. Now come on, I’ll take you too him, maybe when you speak he’ll hear.’

  Lexie followed on automatic pilot, Ruth was dead, her heart went out to them all. The girl, lost so young so soon, the family, still in grief, and Geth, poor Geth, who’d shut himself away from loving again. Could it be true, did he love her. He’d certainly been loving, but was that the same? All of a sudden she knew she needed it to be, she needed him to love her, because she knew with certainty she loved him. Loved him with all her heart and acknowledging it seemed to lift the weight that had been hanging over her. She loved him, so she would tell him and hope he really did love her in return.

  The room was shaded and hushed, Mared moved to the bedside and lexie followed. Geth was still, linked up to monitors, oxygen, all the paraphernalia of hospital. His hair was mussed, she reached over, smoothed it, ran a finger down his cheek, it was warm, slightly rough with stubble. Tears flooded her eyes, she couldn’t help herself, he was too still, looked so vulnerable. She needed him to be vital, strong, as he should be, this was too scary.