I headed down the slope that led to the house and felt the paperwork burning a hole in my bag. Reaching in, I retrieved the envelope and began opening it as I walked along.
Dear Mrs Huntingdon-Jones,
We are in receipt of your latest correspondence and have consulted with our client as to how he might wish to proceed.
In order to try to bring this matter to a swift and final conclusion, our client has decided to agree to the terms detailed in the previous correspondence, although he wishes it be known that this is only because he is ‘rather tired of the situation’ and would prefer it now closed as soon as possible.
I took a few deep breaths, the cool sharp air of the winter morning filling my lungs as I did my best to remain calm. I’d only ever asked for what was mine out of that marriage but my ex had made things as difficult as he could from the beginning, from emptying the joint bank account once he realised I wasn’t coming back – an idea I wish I’d thought of first – to questioning every single point with regards to the divorce, probably knowing that each query would cost me in both money and time. Anything he could do to make life difficult, he’d done. And now suddenly he was ready to settle, and as soon as possible. Whatever the reason for this sudden about-face was nothing to do with him being fed up of dragging things on. I’d watched him do this in business and in his personal life for years. If Jeremy could drag something out and make things uncomfortable for someone, he would. No, whatever this was, it was in order to make things easier for him and him alone. Which probably meant he’d met someone. Well, good luck to her. She was going to need it.
I felt a weight lift off me as I stuffed the paperwork back into my bag. I’d been getting by with the waitressing and cleaning jobs, but I knew I hadn’t realised how privileged I’d been, never having to even think about, let alone worry, about money before. I understood that now and, although it seemed like I was going to be in a far more comfortable position again now that Jeremy had deigned to agree to what were already pretty damn reasonable terms, I knew I’d never again take my situation for granted. I decided not to make any rash decisions about whether to give up the waitressing or not yet – I actually enjoyed meeting the customers and working with Ned, Carrie and Eloise. Corinne and her attitude, however, were a different matter and something I definitely wouldn’t miss if I left. Anyway, until the ink was dry on those documents, I still didn’t trust my ex-husband not to renege, so I wouldn’t count any chickens just yet.
‘You look like you’ve got a lot on your mind.’ The quiet, deep voice drifted into my thoughts and I snapped my head up. My mind busy, I’d arrived at the house quicker than I expected, and seeing Nate leaning against an open doorjamb, Bryan resting against his chest, brought a smile.
‘Nothing important,’ I replied, tickling Bryan under the chin as he basked in all the attention.
‘Come in. I’ve just unwrapped what looks like a very delicious apple cake and it’d be a shame to eat it alone.’
I stepped into the warmth of the house and pulled off my boot which Bryan, now back on the floor had a good old sniff round as I yanked the other one off, over balancing slightly and reaching out blindly for whatever was closest to steady myself. That something turned out to be Nate and the chest I landed against felt as solid as the wall I was aiming for.
‘Woah, you all right?’ His hands rested gently at my waist as I looked up.
‘Umm… yes.’ I dropped my hands from his chest so that I, temporarily, stood as straight as a toy soldier. ‘Sorry.’
‘No worries,’ he said as he stepped back, my body suddenly cool from the loss of contact. ‘Tea or coffee?’
‘I’m supposed to be working,’ I grinned, following him and the dog into the kitchen.
He looked round at me. ‘Sorry. I’m sure you have plans after this. I wasn’t thinking.’
‘No,’ I reached out and laid a hand on his arm. ‘Actually, I don’t. I… I guess I just feel a bit cheeky sitting here drinking tea and eating cake with you when I’m supposed to be working.’
‘You’re hardly a slacker, Sophia. This place always looks sparkling after you’ve been. It makes me feel bad to use anything after and mess it up.’
I laughed. ‘Please, mess it up all you like. A home is supposed to be lived in, not look like a museum piece or a show home. It can always be tidied up again.’ I had too much experience of being afraid to sit there or touch that which is why I’d been so thrilled at Nate’s compliment the other day about my flat looking homely. ‘Thanks,’ I said, as Nate put a steaming mug of tea, the perfect colour, down on the breakfast bar in front of me along with a very generous slice of cake.
‘It’s a good job I’m doing the housework after this,’ I said, peering at it. ‘I’ll need to burn some of those calories off.’
He gave me a look. ‘There’s nothing of you.’
Not entirely true, but kind. I’d always kept in shape and never really eaten what I wanted at home, mainly because that’s what everyone else did. But the stress of an unhappy marriage and the act of finally walking away from it and, as it turned out, the rest of my life, had resulted in me losing more weight than I’d planned. I’d gradually put some of it back on, but it had been slow going. But that, like everything else, would settle in time. That was the motto I’d created for myself, and one I did my best to live by. I took a forkful of the cake as Nate picked his up with his fingers, nodding at me.
‘I figured with that accent you’d want a fork.’ The tease flashed in his eyes and played at the corners of his mouth and I tried not to think that, right now, he looked about as delicious as the cake in front of me.
We sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, eating our cake and watching the sea through the glass.
‘Do you mind if I walk back up to the village with you when you’re done? I need to drop something at the post office.’
I thought of the paperwork in my bag. ‘Not at all,’ I pulled my bag towards me. ‘I’ve got something I could do with sending too, actually.’ Reaching in, I withdrew the large envelope and rummaged through for a return envelope. Nothing.
‘Bloody cheapskates,’ I muttered.
‘Everything all right?’
‘I don’t suppose you’ve got a spare envelope, have you? I need to return something and they haven’t included one.’
‘Sure.’ He got up and went across to a bureau Holly had renovated in the palest shade of soft green and opened one of the drawers. ‘This OK?’ He called, holding up a white A4 envelope.
‘Perfect.’
Nate crossed back to the kitchen stool and laid the envelope in front of me.
‘Thanks.’
‘Looks important.’ He nodded at the paperwork. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to seem nosy. I just… you look more serious than I’ve become used to seeing you now we’ve got over our bumpy beginning.’
‘Oh, don’t remind me!’ I laughed, happy for the distraction.
‘I’m really glad we worked it out.’
I looked up at him, smiling, pleased to see his own shy smile appear. ‘Me too.’ I glanced back at the paperwork. ‘And I’m fine. Hopefully I’m getting to the end of all this malarkey now. It will be good to be able to move on properly.’
Nate frowned. ‘What is it?’
I pulled a face. ‘Divorce papers. My ex-husband hasn’t exactly been the most helpful so it’s rather dragged on. Of course, now he’s suddenly agreed to things and seems to want it all tied up as soon as possible so I’m guessing something’s changed in his life that he needs to be free of me for.’
‘Funny how that happens.’
‘Isn’t it? Anyway, I’m just happy the end seems to be in sight now.’
‘I’m hoping mine will be a bit less stressful than yours sounds to have been.’
‘Oh God, Nate. I’m so sorry. That was thoughtless. I didn’t mean to—’
He laid one large, lightly tanned hand over mine. ‘It’s all good. Really.’
I didn’t fee
l convinced and he gave a gentle squeeze of my hand. ‘Really. You don’t need to walk on eggshells with me. In fact, it’d be a relief if you didn’t. I feel like that’s how people have been forced to be around me for way too long because of my relationship with Serena. I didn’t see it before but it’s amazing how things become more clear when you put some space between you and a particular situation. I know it hasn’t been easy for my family and I feel bad about that.’
‘You shouldn’t. It’s only putting extra pressure on yourself and they wouldn’t want that, I’m sure. All they want, and all they’ll ever have wanted, is for you to be happy.’
‘Sounds so easy, doesn’t it? Two little words. Be happy.’
‘It does. And those who are make it look so simple. I know you haven’t met Holly in person but you said you Skype Gabe?’
‘Yep. Holly’s been there sometimes and I know what you mean. Everything looks easy and relaxed with them. I’m not sure I ever truly had that with Serena. I was so busy being completely head over heels and wanting to do everything that she wanted, just to make her happy, I kind of missed that things were perhaps a little more one sided than they should have been.’
‘I’m sure she loved you. She married you, after all,’ I smiled. I wasn’t entirely convinced that always went hand in hand, speaking from my own experience but then Nate thankfully hadn’t had generations of ancestors and long standing traditions to try to appease with his wedding.
‘Yep,’ he nodded, his mind clearly somewhere else. ‘I think she did. In her own way. At least for a while.’ He gave a little headshake. ‘You don’t need to hear all this.’
‘But I’d like to. If you want to tell me.’
He splayed out his hands on the cool granite worksurface. ‘There’s not much to tell really. Beautiful girl, completely smitten bloke. It all seemed fine to start with. I loved doing things for her, and got a kick out of it, making her happy. But then work sometimes meant I couldn’t make a particular party or I’d want to visit my parents instead of some friends of hers that I barely knew and really had nothing in common with. I’d always been close with my parents. Gabe and I both were, or are. Even living over here he seemed to do a better job of keeping that bond than I did living just down the road.’
‘Didn’t your wife get on with your family?’
‘I think they saw through things a hell of a lot quicker than I did, and that kind of got Serena’s back up.’
‘That she couldn’t get away with the same stuff as she did with you?’
‘Pretty much. Funnily enough they weren’t influenced by the beautiful face and hot body.’ He gave a small smile and I sucked in my stomach a little.
‘Mum and Dad are pretty easy-going and so’s Gabe, so I was surprised that things seemed strained when we all got together. Of course, I couldn’t see what they saw and just ended up resenting that they couldn’t accept my choice of partner.’
‘Not always that simple, is it?’
‘No,’ he said. ‘Gabe and I had a proper falling out one time he came home which of course, upset Mum and Dad.’
‘Oh dear.’
Nate ran a hand across his chin, a day’s dark growth shadowing the hard planes of his face. ‘Yeah. They rubbed each other up the wrong way from the start, him and Serena.’
‘Gabe’s so easy-going, usually.’
‘He is. I guess he’s also got pretty good at reading people. Assessing them. I’m sure it helps in his job. And Serena apparently made a pass at him quite early into our relationship.’
My eyes widened. ‘No!’
‘Not that he told me. I only found that out more recently. And now I know he certainly wasn’t the only one.’
‘Nate, I’m so sorry. You’re a lovely man. You deserve better than that.’
He turned, his blue eyes holding my gaze. ‘I’m sure if I’d told you that the first time we met, you’d have said I deserved everything I got.’
‘No, I wouldn’t have. No one deserves to have their heart broken. Even if they do come across as rather grumpy and appear to question my brilliant cleaning skills.’
He closed his eyes but a smile played at the corners of his mouth. Opening them again, he looked back at me. ‘Was I that bad?’
‘Yes. But luckily I’ve forgiven you.’
‘Lucky.’
‘Yes, you’ve grown on me.’ I pushed the breakfast stool back and slid down. ‘Like a fungus.’
He laughed, the sound filling the room with joy.
‘I’m not sure whether to say thanks to that or not. I think I’m pleased about the first bit, but I might have to come back to you on the fungus part.’
I swiped the plate from in front of him and made a move towards the mug.
‘I can do that.’
‘I’m here to clean.’
‘I can put stuff in the dishwasher.’
‘You’re supposed to be writing.’
‘I will be, shortly.’
‘Good. Right,’ I said, grabbing the cleaning caddy. ‘I’m going to start upstairs so you can get stuck in.’
Nate smiled, raised a hand and turned back to where his laptop sat on the table.
I fluffed the cushions one more time, stepped back to the door and snapped a picture on my phone.
‘Why do you photograph things when you’ve cleaned?’ The deep voice broke into my cleaning fairy reverie and I jumped.
‘Jeez, where did you come from?’
‘Downstairs,’ he answered honestly.
‘How can someone so big be so quiet?’
He shrugged broad shoulders. ‘Serena’s a really light sleeper. I guess I got used to creeping around when I had an early start.’
‘Well, try to make some noise now, if you can. You’re going to give me a heart attack popping up behind me like that.’
‘I’ll work on it.’
‘Thanks.’
‘So,’ he nodded his head at my phone. ‘What’s with the photographs?’
I gave a shrug. ‘I’m sure you’ll think it’s daft.’
‘I doubt it.’ His face and words were sincere.
I leant against the wall. ‘When I moved here, I deleted all my social media accounts and stuff. I wanted a clean break away from my old life. But I missed following some of the old accounts I’d liked, and I had always enjoyed the record keeping aspect of it. So, I started up a new Instagram and just followed a few people. When I started the cleaning, I was kind of surprised how much I enjoyed the rhythm of it all, and the results.’
Nate frowned at me. ‘You’d never cleaned before?’
‘I can see you trying not to wrinkle your nose,’ I grinned. ‘I didn’t live in a hovel. I just… was lucky enough to have a cleaner.’
‘Your whole life?’
OK. I wasn’t exactly prepared for these questions right now. But neither was I ready to let everything out just yet either. I knew I’d have to, one day. Just not now. Instead I gave a shrug and carried on.
‘Anyway, I enjoyed trying out new tips and when I found a good one, I shared it in my stories, and it’s picked up a bit of traction. The photos of a gorgeous room looking perfect make me happy and seem to be quite popular.’ I suddenly looked up at Nate. ‘I did check with Holly and I never share the location. I don’t even mention the county.’
‘I didn’t doubt any of that. Can I see it?’ He pulled his phone out of his back pocket.
‘What?’
‘Your feed.’
I blushed. ‘Oh, you don’t want to see that. It’s just a bit of fun.’
‘Contrary to popular opinion, I’m not averse to fun.’
‘I didn’t mean it like that, and you know it.’
He gave me that smile again and I forgot everything for a moment. ‘I know,’ he said. ‘So, come on, what’s it called?’
‘You have Instagram?’
‘I had strict instructions to like all of Serena’s posts so I kind of had to get it. But actually I’ve found a couple of accounts I enjoy so it’s
not been a total loss.’
I told him the account name and he found it under a search. ‘These are cool. I like the mix you have.’
‘Thanks. I know these brand people say everything should look similar and have a similar theme but I’m not doing it as a business. I like the eclectic look. I think it’s more interesting. At least I find it interesting. Basically, if I see something I like, I take a picture, hence it being rather a hotch-potch of beaches and sunsets, flowers, yummy food – all sorts really – as well as the house type stuff.’
‘Was this on your wreath making course the other day?’ He was looking at the picture of the girls and me with Billy.
‘Yes, that’s it.’
‘I ran into Ned as he was putting the little one in the car to come and get you all. Looks like you had a good time.’
‘Yes, it was fun to do something different and spend time outside work with Carrie and Eloise.’
‘No Corinne?’
‘She turned her nose up at the invitation, although when she saw that picture, she seemed a bit put out.’
‘Because of him?’ Nate pointed at Billy.
‘How did you guess?’
He remained silent for a moment, looking at the pictures.
‘Mind if I follow you?’
‘Keeping an eye on your brother’s place?’
Winter at Wishington Bay Page 12