Page 9 of The Runaway Wives

‘Nothing. You’re right. Nigel should have remembered and this might make sure he does in future,’ Dee said, sounding stronger.

Babs bit back a sigh. She loved Dee to bits, but truth be told, she couldn’t stand Nigel. He was selfish, pompous and Dee was far too good for him, even though she couldn’t see it. Babs had, in fact, felt a little sorry for Dee over the years, thinking that she and Geoff had the stronger marriage. Nigel had behaved badly in the past and Dee had forgiven him, not wanting to disrupt the children’s lives by having to take them out of their private schools and moving from their gorgeous home. But Babs had never forgotten.

Meanwhile, Geoff, for all his faults, had never treated Babs badly – and they’d always worked as a team. Until now. He could be single-minded, yes, but he’d never made a major decision like this before without consulting her. Ever since he’d retired though, he’d been restless. She knew he was bored, and could understand that he wanted a change but why was he so obsessed with moving to Spain? And how dare he think that she should have to go along with what he decided? Like hell she would!

She pulled herself out of her thoughts and looked over at Dee who was calmly sipping her coffee.

‘We’re going to make this birthday really special,’ Babs said. ‘Did you say you’d been to Port Telwyn before?’ Dee had mentioned it when they were looking for holiday cottages to let last night; they’d been lucky to get something last minute.

‘Yes, we went on day trips there a couple of times when we were holidaying in Cornwall with the kids when they were young. Beautiful place, although it could well have changed now.’ She took another sip of her drink. ‘Don’t think you have to make a special effort, Babs, I’m fine about my birthday and looking forward to staying in the cottage for a week. Don’t feel you have to stay there for the whole week either. If you want to go home anytime, then please do it.’

‘Oi! Don’t you want me with you? Well tough, cos I’m staying and that’s that. I’m not leaving you by yourself!’ Babs told her.

‘I’m used to being by myself, and quite happy just to have a change of scenery.’ Dee leaned over and patted Babs’ hand. ‘It’s great to have your company, but you are not responsible for making sure I have a wonderful birthday. And you have things to sort out with Geoff. That must come first.’

‘Huh! Well Geoff isn’t exactly putting me first, is he?’ Babs scoffed. ‘Let’s forget about the men and concentrate on having a good time. It’s been years since we went away together.’ She tittered as a memory crossed her mind. ‘Do you remember that week in Kos when we were only eighteen and we hooked up with that stag party who were staying at our hotel?’

‘Oh God, yes! We had some great nights clubbing with them.’

Babs chuckled. ‘What about that evening they all went out dressed in tutus and left their keys in their rooms? We had to sneak them all into our room and let them sleep on the floor until the next morning when the cleaners came around and opened the door of their rooms. The cleaners’ faces were a picture when these hulking guys dressed in pretty tutus strutted in.’

‘As if I could forget? They were a bit wild, weren’t they?’ Dee laughed. ‘It was such a fantastic week.’

They’d had some good times, her and Dee, Babs thought. They both went back a long way, friends since they were twelve and Dee had moved to the local high school that Babs attended. She was a bit shy but Babs had taken her under her wing and they’d been friends ever since, often going on holiday together in their late teens and early twenties. Babs and Geoff had been the first to get married. Dee had been focused on her teaching career until she was swept off her feet by smooth-talking Nigel as soon as she met him. ‘I can’t believe he’s interested in me, he could have any girl he wanted,’ she’d told Babs. That was the trouble with Dee, she didn’t know her worth.

Dee never liked to argue, or cause any kind of conflict. Whereas, Babs always stood her ground, fought her corner; she wasn’t going to be a pushover for anyone. She and Geoff had had their arguments over the years, but they’d always had each other’s back. Once Geoff realised that Babs was serious about not moving to Spain, surely he’d drop the idea. Meanwhile, she might as well have herself a holiday with her best friend.

6

DEE

‘I hope Sylvia’s got it right this time,’ Dee said as she followed the instructions and took the very sharp bend to the left. Sylvia was Babs’ nickname for the voice of her Google Maps phone app, because she said the woman speaking sounded like one of the regular customers at the shop who was called Sylvia and always spoke with a fake posh accent. Thank goodness Dee was in her Clio and not Nigel’s BMW because Babs’ Google Maps had taken them along some narrow and windy roads. Not that she’d have been able to use Nigel’s car as he’d taken it to the airport and left it in parking. She was getting tired now and her head was aching a little. She’d be glad to get there. It had been a long journey with a fair amount of traffic, and the satnav instructions had been constantly punctuated by texts and phone calls from Geoff urging Babs to come home.

‘I’m so sorry, maybe we should use your phone for Google Maps,’ Babs said. But Dee had left her phone in her handbag in the boot of the car, so in the end Babs had blocked Geoff’s number. ‘I’ll unblock him when we get there,’ she said.

Dee turned the corner into a long narrow road going down a cobbled street lined with quaint little houses, and there at the bottom was a blue ribbon of sea. Port Telwyn.

‘Oh wow!’ Babs exclaimed from the passenger seat. ‘That’s gorgeous!’

It was spectacular. The advertisement had boasted sea views but Dee hadn’t expected this. When she’d visited before all those years ago, they’d been in a hotel in a nearby town and only visited the harbour front on a short day trip.

‘Continue straight for 250 yards and your destination is on the right,’ Sylvia the Google Maps lady said.

‘Thank goodness we’re near the bottom of the hill. I wouldn’t want to be walking up here every day from the beach,’ Babs said. ‘I don’t know how you’re going to park here though, the road is too narrow.’

‘It said on the website that there’s car parking around the back.’ Dee looked out for a turning on the right. Ah, there it was, just before the row of cottages – one of which she presumed was Sunset View. She took the turning and drove past the side of the end cottage to an open patch of land at the back, noticing there were already a couple of cars parked on it. ‘I think this is where we’re meant to park,’ she said, pulling up. ‘We’ll leave the car here and walk to the letting agents. They’re apparently only a couple of streets away.’

‘That’s fine, I could do with stretching my legs,’ Babs said as they both got out of the car and looked at the row of gated high walls enclosing the back gardens of the cottages. ‘I wonder which one we’re stopping in.’

‘The name might be on the back gate.’ Dee grabbed her handbag from the boot and locked the car, putting the keys in her bag before walking over to the row of gates and reading the signs on them, Babs beside her. ‘Maritime Wanderer, Primrose Cottage, Dun Roaming – that was an old classic – ah, here we are, Sunset View.’

‘Hard to tell what it’s like from the back with these high gates, can’t wait to look inside,’ Babs said. ‘And to have a cuppa.’

A cuppa – or a glass of wine! – was Babs’ answer to everything, although Dee had to admit she could do with a nice hot drink too.

‘How about we collect the keys then walk on down to the harbour and find a nice café to have a drink in?’ she suggested.

Babs nodded. ‘Suits me! I can smell the sea air and I’m dying for a paddle.’

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