It was only now that Hal fully comprehended the depth of Angel’s interest in archaeology. Her knowledge of surveying techniques and excavation practices equaled his own, and she also brought an understanding of settlement patterns and movement of peoples from Roman Britain right through to the Middle Ages that went far deeper than his.
If she hadn’t already won him over by then, this would have done it. Having someone who not only understood his passion but could match his knowledge and teach him things he didn’t already know was a wonderful bonus.
Plus, she was hot, and she was into him. Was there ever a bigger turn on than that?
To his delight, Angel’s sex drive was on par with his own, and every evening—and sometimes in the morning as well—they curled up on the mattress in front of the fire and made love. Sometimes it was fast and furious, sometimes slow and sensual. Either way was fine by him.
The week slipped away, and even though they managed to cram plenty into each day, time was going too quickly. After making his offer, Hal had wondered whether they might tire of each other before the week was out, but that showed no signs of happening.
On the evening of New Year’s Eve, Angel had spent the afternoon at his cottage, and had decided to take a bath ready for the party in the pub they were going to later with Ian and Cheryl.
Leaving her to soak, Hal picked up his mobile, went into the kitchen, closing the door behind him, and rang Rebecca.
He hadn’t spoken to her since Christmas Eve, when she’d told him she’d only gone with Charles to make him jealous. He felt guilty about not having rung until now. Angel had gently suggested it a couple of times, but he’d just shaken his head and changed the subject, not wanting to deal with all the drama.
Luckily, she answered. “Hello?”
“It’s me,” he said, feeling an odd twinge deep inside at the realization that, in the future, there would come a time where she would say Who?
“Hey.” Her voice was soft.
He leaned against the workbench and shoved his hand in his jeans pocket. “How are you doing?”
“I’m okay.”
She didn’t sound it. He frowned. “Look, I’m sorry I haven’t rung before now, but I want to say I’m sorry for hanging up on you last time.”
She didn’t reply for a moment. Then she said, “It’s all right. I understand why you did.”
“I was frustrated, that’s all.”
“Yes, I know.”
He waited for more, for accusations, recriminations, but she remained silent. He chewed his bottom lip. “Is everything all right?”
“Forgive me for being short with you, but I don’t think you really want to know what’s going on in my life, do you? You made that quite clear. So why ask?”
“I still care,” he said truthfully. “I want to know you’re okay.”
“Well I’m not. I think Charles and I are going to break up.”
Hal’s eyes widened. “For real?” he said. “How do you know it’s not just a bad argument?”
“It’s one bad argument after another. That’s all it is at the moment. He’s just so angry all the time. And I’m tired of being his punching bag.”
Hal went cold. “He hasn’t... hurt you?”
“Jesus, no. I meant metaphorically. You know me better than that. I’d walk in the opposite direction if that happened. He’s not an ogre, Hal. He’s a good man at heart.”
Hal pursed his lips, but decided not to contradict her. “What are you arguing about?”
“That’s not really any of your business.”
She’d said that Charles had accused her of still having feelings for him. He’s right, she’d said. If Charles had asked her, and she’d waited even a millisecond, it would explain why the guy was angry.
Once upon a time, Hal would have felt gleeful at that, thrilled to think that his old enemy hadn’t matched up to him. But now he just felt frustrated and sad. He wanted it all to be over. Except that he’d never be entirely free of the relationship because of the children.
And what if Rebecca and Charles did break up? She liked to think she was strong and independent, but she was emotionally needy, and she was terrible with money. Even though Charles refused to pay any debt connected with Hal, including the mortgage, he still supported her with food and spending money. It was only then that Hal realized how relieved he’d felt at knowing she was someone else’s responsibility. He didn’t want to look after her anymore.
Ian would say that it was his duty to pay his maintenance and child support and that was it—anything else was her problem. But she looked after the children. And Hal had loved her once. It wouldn’t make him a very nice human being if he just turned his back on her.
“What do you want?” she asked tiredly.
He moved a small stone across the floor with his toe. “I wanted to ask you whether you would consider having the kids for one more night. I know I’m supposed to pick them up tomorrow afternoon, but I wondered whether I could pick them up on Tuesday instead?”
It was Sunday evening, and Angel was due to leave on Tuesday. He loved his kids, but he needed one more day with her.
“We have people coming over for dinner tomorrow,” Rebecca said.
“I’ve never asked you before,” he pointed out.
“I suppose I shouldn’t ask why,” she said.
He ran his hand through his hair, and didn’t say anything.
“They’re your kids,” she said, somewhat bitterly. “They should come first over anything—and anyone—else.”
He gritted his teeth. He wasn’t going to let her make him feel guilty. Even though sometimes he was late home from work, he never missed a week with them.
“I’m sorry,” she said before he could say anything. “All right. One more day. They can go to bed early when our guests come.”
Jamie wouldn’t thank him for that, but Hal promised him silently that he’d take him to a football match or something to make up for it.
“Thank you,” he said. “I appreciate it.”
“All right. Well, I’d better go.”
“Rebecca,” he said before she could hang up.
“What?”
“I don’t like Charles, but he’s good to you and he’s good with the kids. We broke up our family to give us both a fresh start. It would be a shame if everything we’ve been through was for nothing. Try to make it work.”
“Goodbye, Hal.” She hung up.
He put the receiver down, then just stood there, leaning on the counter, his shoulders slumped. He hated that every time he spoke to her, he felt as if he’d been run over by a lawnmower that had gone backward and forward half a dozen times. Ian had suggested he only communicate with her through his lawyer, but it was too hard when they were sharing custody of the kids. And besides, what kind of man did it make him if he couldn’t at least keep things civil between them?
The kitchen door opened, and Angel came in. She stopped in the doorway and looked at the phone on the counter.
“Are you okay?” she asked softly. “I heard you on the phone.”
He nodded, leaning on the counter, and looking at the floor.
She went up to him and put her arms around him. He buried his face in her neck. She still smelled of Christmas, a smell he knew he’d always associate with her now. Putting his arms around her, he molded her body to him. She was always so soft, so yielding.
“I’m not picking the kids up until Tuesday afternoon,” he told her. “So we’ve still got tomorrow together.”
“Oh, Hal!” She moved back a little. “Are you sure? I don’t want to take up the time you have with your kids.”
“It’s one day. It’ll be fine.” He kissed her nose.
“Did Rebecca make a fuss?”
“No, not really. She was okay.” He didn’t want to talk about Rebecca. He had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, but he wasn’t sure why.
She cupped his face and bent to look in his eyes. “Are you okay?”
“Because she was your wife. And she’s the mother of your children. It’s a testament to your relationship that’s it’s difficult to break away. If it had been easy, it wouldn’t have said much for your marriage.”
“I suppose.” He touched his nose to hers. “You always know what to say to make me feel better.”
“I’m glad.” She reached up on her tiptoes to kiss him.
She was wearing his bathrobe, and when he tugged on the tie, he discovered that she wasn’t wearing anything underneath. Her body was damp and glowing, and he grew hard at the thought of kissing down to her breasts, sucking her soft nipples, and plunging inside her.
He began to move her backward to the door, and she laughed, cupping his erection with a hand. “Honestly, Hal. I’ve just had a bath.”
“I feel like making you dirty again.”
“Oh jeez.”
He kissed her and tugged off the robe so she was naked in his arms. “I’m tempted to wait until midnight so I get to make love to you for a whole year.”
“I can’t wait that long,” she said breathlessly.
Smirking, he picked her up and carried her through the bedroom, and proceeded to make the most of her heavenly body.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Forty-five minutes later, Angel let herself into Cuddie’s Cottage and threw her keys on the table. She went into her bedroom, stood in front of the mirror, and stretched, smiling at her reflection. Her body felt warm and malleable, despite the cold weather, relaxed from Hal’s lovemaking. It had been a wrench to get up and walk away, but she wanted to change for the party and she’d left her outfit in the cottage. They were supposed to be meeting Ian at eight, so she didn’t have long.
She chose her black jeans and a sparkly sweater she’d brought with her just in case she’d ended up in society for New Year’s, braided her hair, and pinned it up with a sparkly clip, leaving some strands to curl around her face. She was just applying her makeup when the telephone rang.
It made her jump, loud in the silence of the house. She walked into the living room and frowned at the receiver. Hal, Lesa, her mother, or anyone else who knew her would have rung her mobile. Maybe it was George, wanting to tell her something about the cottage, although why wouldn’t he have popped around? She picked the receiver up and answered, “Hello?”
“Angel?” said a woman’s voice.
“Yes, speaking.”
There was a moment’s pause. Then the woman said, somewhat icily, “It’s Rebecca Carlson, Hal’s wife.”
Angel’s eyes widened, and she froze. Fuck. How did Rebecca know about her? Had Hal mentioned her? Or maybe the kids had.
She cleared her throat and couldn’t stop herself saying, “Ex-wife, I thought.”
“Not yet.”
Angel closed her eyes. This was going to be a horrible conversation. “How did you get this number?”
“I have friends on the island.”
Angel was tempted to hang up, but she hesitated just in case it was something to do with Hal or his kids. “What can I do for you?” she asked, determined to be polite.
“I want you to stay away from my husband.”
Angel didn’t say anything.
“We have two children,” Rebecca said. “And for their sakes, we need to try to make our marriage work.”
Resentment boiled up inside Angel. “You had an affair,” she pointed out. “How was that trying to make things work?”
“I don’t know you,” Rebecca continued as if she hadn’t heard Angel at all, “but I’m hoping you’re a decent sort of person, and you wouldn’t break up a family.”
“Your family is already broken,” Angel snapped. “Your divorce comes through in a few weeks!”
“Let me make it easy for you. If you don’t stop seeing my husband, I’m going to apply for full custody of the children.”
Angel’s heart shuddered to a stop. “You wouldn’t,” she whispered. “You wouldn’t do that to him.”
“And I’ll get it,” Rebecca said. “He’s always working late, and when he’s supposed to have the children they always end up with a babysitter.”
“Because your partner makes him work late on purpose.”
“Don’t believe everything you hear. So, do I make myself clear?”
“I was leaving on the second anyway. There was no need for this kind of drama.”
“I just wanted to make sure you weren’t tempted to stay.” Someone called in the background, and Rebecca said. “I have to go. Happy New Year.”
She hung up.
Angel replaced the receiver, her hand shaking, feeling nauseous. Would Rebecca really take away Hal’s kids? Could she do that? She was the one who’d cheated. But ultimately, Angel knew that even if the courts decided against her, it would still cause awful emotion strain for Hal. At the moment, he and Rebecca were just about keeping civil, but this would turn their relationship acrimonious and affect the kids, and that would make him terribly unhappy.
She walked back into the bedroom and sat on the bed. She was leaving on the second anyway, so it wasn’t an issue, was it?
But she was fooling herself. She knew Hal was going to talk to her about staying, and she wanted to consider it. Everyone would think they were crazy, and it had only been a week, but she’d had an amazing time, and she wanted to continue to see him. She wasn’t quite sure what she’d been planning to do or how it would work out, but she was certain it wasn’t all over yet.
But now...
What should she do? Should she tell Hal about the phone call? It would make him furious, which would be a shame on New Year’s Eve, especially if they only had one more day together.
Should she keep it to herself, not tell him, and just leave? That would mean that Rebecca would have scared her away, which rankled deeply. But did she really want to be in the middle of this family drama? Did she want to watch Hal going through hell every time he tried to see his kids? Whether or not Rebecca would ultimately win, did Angel want to make things worse for this already broken family?
One of the biggest questions had to be whether Hal had any interest in getting back with Rebecca. He’d told Angel that he hadn’t, but maybe he’d feel differently if she wasn’t in the picture. Would it be the best thing for their children? She couldn’t believe he’d be happy going back to the family home. But maybe that didn’t matter. If you had kids, maybe you’d do anything to try to give them a stable life.
She glanced at the clock on the bedside table. It had gone eight—Hal would be wondering where she was. She could still feel his hands on her body, his mouth on hers as he moved inside her. For the first time in a long time, she’d thought she could see a happy future for herself. But now she wasn’t so sure.
Well, she couldn’t just not turn up. Her mind in a whirl, she rose and finished putting on her makeup, gathered her purse, slid on her coat, and headed out.
They’d met Ian and his wife a couple of times in the week, and Angel saw them as soon as she walked into the pub. Hal wasn’t there, but she spotted him up at the bar, getting the drinks in. Usually, she would have gone up to him, but tonight she joined Ian and Cheryl at the table. It was already busy, and noisy, and there would be a pub quiz starting soon. There wouldn’t be any chance of an in-depth conversation tonight. She didn’t know whether to be pleased or frustrated about that.
“Hey.” Hal came over with a tray of drinks, and placed them on the table. “I didn’t see you come in.” He bent to kiss her on the cheek, lifted his head to look at her, then kissed her on the mouth.
Angel let him, feeling a heaviness inside her at the memory of the phone call with his ex. She should tell him. He deserved to know what Rebecca was trying to do. But there was no chance of doing it now, so when he moved back, she just smiled and turned to Cheryl, who was talking about what they were going to call their team for the quiz.
The next few hours passed quickly, with sever
al rounds of questions interspersed by some karaoke and plenty of drinks. Hal had told her that he wasn’t into karaoke, but Ian made chicken noises until he finally rose and said he’d give it a go, and he made her join him for a duet, singing Huey Lewis and Gwyneth Paltrow’s version of Cruisin.
Hal had a great voice, and they sang the whole song perfectly, Hal barely taking his eyes off her the whole time. And at the end of it, Angel was ready to bawl her eyes out.
Saying she had to visit the ladies’, she pushed her way through the crowd and out the door into the cold night air. It had started snowing again that morning, and although it wasn’t laying, flakes fluttered down around her as she walked a little way along the street, then sat on a low wall and put her face in her hands.
Fuckety, fuckety, fuck, fuck, fuck. What the hell was she going to do?
Maybe she should go back to the cottage, get in her rental car and just head for Chepstow right now. But she’d had several glasses of wine, and even though she didn’t feel drunk, she didn’t want to risk it.
“Angel?”
Her head snapped up. Hal stood there, hands in the pockets of his jeans, shoulders hunched against the cold. He took a few steps toward her and said softly, “Was my singing really that bad?”
She tried to force a smile onto her face. “Hey.”
He walked up and stood before her. “What’s up?”
She shook her head and looked at the floor.
“Is it because you have to go soon?” he asked. “Because I was going to talk to you about that tomorrow. It’s why I asked Rebecca to have the kids another night.”
Angel got to her feet. There was no point in not telling him. It didn’t matter if it did ruin everything. She was dumb to think she could have kept it a secret.
“Rebecca rang me tonight,” she said.
Hal stared at her. “What do you mean?”
“At the cottage. I don’t know how she found out where I was—she said she still had friends at the village.”
All emotion disappeared from his expression. “What did she say?”
Their breath frosted in front of their faces, intermingling, which seemed so intimate in one way, and yet all of a sudden she felt a mile away from him.
If Kisses Were Snowflakes Page 19