Page 3 of The Runaway Wives

He coughed. ‘Well, I thought I’d test the waters. So I asked an estate agent to come out and value the property…’

Phew! Not his fancy woman then. But an estate agent? He’d had an estate agent valuing their house? Babs stared at him, hardly believing he had arranged this behind her back. ‘You’ve had the house valued?’ she squeaked, plonking herself down onto the sofa.

Geoff nodded. ‘And guess what, she said that we could easily get over four hundred thousand for it.’ Excitement crept into his voice. ‘That’s quite a bit more than I expected. She said houses like ours are in great demand at the moment and she expects it to sell very quickly.’

Fury burned inside her. ‘How bloody dare you arrange to have someone value the house while I was out. What a sneaky thing to do! Well, you’ve wasted your time because we are not putting the house on the market.’

Geoff played with his shirt collar. ‘I sort of already have.’

‘What the hell, Geoff?’ She got to her feet. ‘You can’t be serious!’

‘Oh, come on, Babs, what harm will it do to take a look? We could fly over to Spain and see what we can get for our money?’ He paused. ‘Actually, truth be told, I’ve already gone ahead and booked us flights over there for next weekend. There’s a nice little villa on the outskirts of Alora and I’ve lined up appointments with estate agents to view some spectacular properties. I was going to tell you this evening. I want us to be ready to go as soon as our house sells.’

Babs could hardly believe it. How dare he?

‘Look at this one.’ Geoff picked up the iPad from the coffee table, swiped the screen and tapped on it, then turned to show Babs a photo of a small white house surrounded by what looked like a forest of trees. ‘It’s got a pool.’ He swiped the screen again and up came images of a large pool with a crack running along the stones at the top. ‘And there are five bedrooms.’ He swiped again and Babs stared in disbelief as image after image of small, dark bedrooms came up on the screen, then a galley kitchen that looked as if there wasn’t room to swing a cat, and a largish lounge, but again very dark. ‘And look at all the outdoor storage. I’d be busy in that garden all day.’

‘And what do you think I’d be doing while you’re in the garden?’

Geoff flicked an astonished look at her. ‘Sunbathing. Or swimming in the pool. You’ll love it!’

‘I will not love it. There’s no one around for miles,’ Bab said through clenched teeth.

‘What about this one then?’ With a couple of taps Geoff brought up a photo of a large mustard coloured villa. ‘This is light and airy.’ He swiped to the next photo. ‘And look at those views. Aren’t they amazing?’

Babs eyes almost popped out of her head. ‘It’s halfway up a bloody mountain, Geoff! I am not going to live halfway up a bloody mountain!’

‘There are plenty of other properties. I’m sure you’ll like one of them. I’ve booked us a few viewings each day,’ Geoff told her.

Babs silently counted to ten in her head. ‘What part of “I don’t want to move to Spain” don’t you understand?’ she demanded. ‘I’ve told you over and over.’

‘But you love Spain. We’ve been there loads of times.’

‘I enjoyed holidaying in Spain, lying on the beach and drinking a few cocktails. I don’t want to uproot and live there.’

‘You’d love it if you gave it a chance, all that sun, and fresh air. Imagine waking up to a view of the mountains, orange and lemon trees growing in the garden, swimming in our own pool.’

‘Miles away from Molly and Lennon and everything we know. And what happens when they settle down and have kids? We won’t see our precious grandchildren grow up.’ Babs flopped down onto the sofa. ‘I’m not going, Geoff. I’m not selling up either, so you’d better tell the estate agent that the house isn’t on the market. And you can cancel all the flights and holiday villa viewings too.’

‘You’re being unreasonable!’ Geoff told her. ‘You could at least consider the idea.’

‘Me? Unreasonable? That’s rich coming from a man who wants to sell my home from underneath me!’

‘I can’t believe you’re being so selfish. You know how much I’ve dreamed about this. We both said when we sold the shop that we were going to relax and enjoy our life now. Live our dream.’

‘This is not my dream, it’s yours. I’ve made it perfectly clear that this is not what I want to do with my life,’ Babs said firmly. ‘I mean it, Geoff. I’m not selling up. Not now. Not ever. So you can jolly well tell the estate agent that you’ve made a mistake.’

‘I don’t actually need your permission to sell up,’ Geoff told her, tilting his chin defiantly.

Babs sprang forward and narrowed her eyes. ‘What are you saying?’

‘This house is in my name. You can’t stop me selling it.’

As the words came out of his mouth he looked guilty and stared down at the floor, avoiding her eyes. He was ashamed of what he’d said, she realised. And so he jolly well should be. Yes, the house was in his name. He’d inherited it when his parents had died within a year of each other thirty years ago, along with the corner shop they’d owned. She and Geoff had lived in the house and worked in the shop ever since, until the shop had been compulsory purchased last year to make way for a new major road. The house and shop might have been in Geoff’s name but they’d been married for thirty-seven years and she’d paid towards all the repairs the house needed, helped with the additional mortgage they’d needed to update it, and contributed to the expenses. She’d also worked unpaid in the bloody shop whilst bringing up Molly and Lennon, which hadn’t been an easy feat. There were times when she’d wished she could spend more time with their children, but she’d buckled down and got on with it. She was Geoff’s wife, she had stuck by his side through thick and thin, and now he was threatening to sell their home from underneath her.

‘Of course I don’t want to do that. I want you to come with me,’ Geoff said, he had that stubborn look on his face. ‘But I’m going to live in Spain. I want to enjoy the last years of my life. And if you don’t want to come… well, maybe I’ll go without you!’

He wouldn’t do it. Not Geoff. He wouldn’t sell the house and leave her homeless.

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