Page 18 of The Forever Cottage

Every moment spent with Charles simply confirmed to Tess that their marriage was over and done with. She wanted him out of her house as quickly as possible.

‘Look, I’ll tell Mum you were asking about her. How about that?’

‘Yes, please do, and send her my love, won’t you? I’d be very upset if anything were to happen to her.’

Now it was Tess’s turn to sigh, but she managed to cover it with a tight smile.

‘Of course, I will do,’ said Tess, walking towards the door, hoping Charles might take the hint.

‘There was one other thing.’ Charles bent down to make a fuss of Barney, who treacherously rolled over onto his back, legs in the air, relishing the attention. ‘I miss my boy terribly, and I was thinking it might give you a break if I were to have him for a couple of weeks.’

‘What?’ said Tess, having no idea what Charles was going on about.

‘Barney. He could come and stay with us for a while. He might enjoy the change of scene and Melody has a decent-sized garden where he can get a good run around. She likes dogs.’

‘Good for Melody, but absolutely not. Barney’s my dog. The family dog. This is his home. If Melody wants a dog then buy her one, but she’s not having mine.’

‘I’m not suggesting I take him permanently. It would be like a holiday. For both of you.’

Tess couldn’t hide her incredulity, looking at Charles as though he was mad.

‘Barney doesn’t need a holiday. And when I need a holiday, either Barney will come with me or I’ll make arrangements to have him looked after, but until then, he’s not going anywhere.’

‘Jeez, do you have to make everything so difficult?’ he asked, shaking his head. ‘I hoped we could be civil and reasonable about these things.’

‘Did you?’

Tess was relieved when Charles headed for the door, but he stopped suddenly, his attention taken by something in the garden. He placed his hands on his hips, dropping his head to peer through the French doors, his eyes narrowing to see what was going on.

‘Who the heck is that?’ he demanded of her.

Tess felt a worm of unease travel down her spine.

‘Rob: a friend of mine. He’s just cleaning his tent,’ she said, wondering why she felt the need to explain.

‘And why would he be doing that in our garden? Who the bloody hell is he? I’ve never heard of Rob.’

‘Well, why should you? He’s my friend, not that it’s any of your business,’ she said dismissively.

‘Actually, it is. It is very much my business. This is my house, in case you’ve forgotten. I have a right to know what’s going on here.’

‘Right! So this is your house now, is it?’

‘I didn’t mean it like that, I meantourhouse, but that’s irrelevant. What is important is who might be living in it. Is he actually living here? Is he your boyfriend, Tess?’

‘No, of course not. Don’t be ridiculous. Not that it would matter if he were, but?—’

‘Oh Christ, what’s he doing now? He’s gone into my office. What the hell? Should he be doing that?’

‘It’s not your office any longer, if you remember. Rob’s my guest and he’s staying in the annexe for a couple of weeks.’

‘The annexe?’ he blustered. ‘But why?’ Charles held his palms open and Tess shook her head. She didn’t owe him any explanations.

‘Don’t bother. I’ll go and find out for myself.’

‘Why would you do that? He doesn’t have to talk to you. Charles, stop!’

But it was too late. Charles was striding out to the garden with Tess following closely behind. A sense of dread rose in her chest. Charles could be pompous and overbearing at the best of times and she didn’t know how Rob might react. From the little she knew of him, he clearly had a temper. She only hoped he wouldn’t rise to Charles’s bait.

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