Page 17 of The Forever Cottage

‘It’s wonderful to see you too. I just wanted to see how you were doing. I still care about you. You don’t stop having feelings for someone you were married to for thirty years. Can I come inside?’

‘This is not on, Charles. You must call before coming round. I might have visitors. There is no open-house policy any more. You gave up that right.’

‘I get it.’ He held up his hands to his ears as if to block out her noise. ‘But look, I’m here now.’

She sighed, holding open the door to let him in, his presence bringing all her repressed emotions to the surface of her skin so that it tingled with intensity. She wouldn’t cry, even though it would be easy to give in to her feelings. She wouldn’t give Charles the satisfaction. It had been a difficult few days with her mum being in hospital, and despite Marjorie’s assurances that she would be back, fighting fit, soon, Tess was well aware that her condition could deteriorate as quickly as it might improve.

‘I’ll have a coffee if you’re having one,’ Charles said, making himself at home and climbing onto one of the kitchen stools. ‘How is Marjorie? I’ve heard she’s not terribly well.’

Tess turned abruptly from where she was filling the kettle at the tap.

‘Really? Who told you?’

‘Dilly,’ he said, quirking an eyebrow, as if there could be no other answer to that question. ‘I popped by the other day; I wanted to collect some boxes from the garage. She told me you’d had to rush out.’

Tess turned her back on Charles, busying herself with spooning instant coffee into mugs, a minor act of aggression, as she knew how Charles much preferred freshly ground coffee brewed from the machine. When she’d poured water on the granules, she handed over a mug to him, moving away to lean against the worktop.

‘Mum has an infection. She’s on an intravenous drip, antibiotics and fluids, so hopefully, they’ve caught it in time. She’s looking very frail, but she’s still as positive as ever. I think she believes she’s invincible.’

‘Well, she’s always been very upbeat, one of her many admirable qualities. Which ward is she on? I’ll pay her a visit.’

Tess almost spluttered on her coffee.

‘Honestly, I’d rather you didn’t. You’re the last person she’d want to see. She’s very vulnerable and seeing you will only raise her blood pressure. Funnily enough, you’re not Mum’s favourite person at the moment.’

‘Oh come on, darling, you’re treating me like I’m a social outcast. I’m still family. You know Marjorie and I have always got on very well.’

‘Yes, but that was before you betrayed me. Us! You’ve relinquished your rights to be a part of this family. You left us, Charles, and you have a new life now. You can’t have a foot in both camps.’

‘For Christ’s sake, it doesn’t have to be like that. Can’t we do this amicably? Be grown up in the situation?’

‘Maybe, that’s easy for you, because you’re the one who’s been driving the change. You’ve got exactly what you wanted, but you don’t get to tell everyone else how we should feel or react.’

Charles dropped his head into his hands before looking up and across at Tess.

‘I’m still Hannah’s father. That’s not going to change.’

‘Of course it’s not. Nor would I want it to. That’s for you and Hannah to work out between you.’

‘Well, I would if she would only talk to me, but she’s not taking my calls. She’s acting like a teenager. I didn’t expect all this.’

‘What did you expect? A round of bloody applause? Look, I think Hannah’s focus is on her trip, which it should be. And she has a new boyfriend who is keeping her occupied.’

‘A new boyfriend? See, I didn’t even know about him.’

He sounded suitably indignant before he gave a sigh, but Tess couldn’t feel any sympathy towards him. Her gaze ran the length of his body. She knew this man so well, so intimately, but in some ways, it was like looking at a stranger. His greying hair had been cut short on the sides, with the front styled upwards in a youthful flip with the help of some product, and he was wearing very blue jeans with gleaming white trainers. She could only imagine Melody was behind the change in style, but Tess couldn’t help thinking how she much preferred the mark one version of her husband.

‘Did you really think that your actions wouldn’t impact on anyone else? That you didn’t expect your wife, daughter and mother-in-law to be entirely pissed off with you?’

Charles placed his mug down on the counter and prised himself off the stool, wandering around the kitchen, his gaze taking in all the small changes Tess had made, which irritated her even further. How she wished he would leave and go back to Melody. She was welcome to him! What was he even doing here?

‘Shouldn’t you be at work?’

‘I’ve taken a couple of days off to get a few things sorted.’

‘Good. Well, you can take all the boxes from the garage for a start. Anything you leave, I’ll take to the tip.’

‘Please! I’ll take it all away, I promise, but Melody’s place isn’t huge so you need to give me a bit of time.’

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