Page 4 of The Forever Cottage

‘None whatsoever. Isn’t that what they say? That the wife is the last to know?’ She pondered on her own words for a moment before demanding of her friends, ‘Did you two know?’

‘No, of course not!’ said Gina. ‘We would have told you if we’d had even the slightest whiff of something going on. I would have bloody murdered him! I still might. Who is she then? This woman. Do you know her?’

‘Melody. She’s an accountant, apparently. He met her through the Chamber of Commerce.’

‘The bitch!’ said Gina. ‘Has she not heard of sisterly support? I hope you’ve confronted her, told her what an utterly despicable thing it is that she’s done?’

‘No.’ Tess shook her head. She couldn’t even contemplate that. ‘What would be the point? I met her once at some business awards. She was utterly charming. Young, I think she’s only about thirty-four, and attractive. It simply didn’t occur to me that there might be something going on between the pair of them. He’s old enough to be her father, for goodness’ sake! I feel like such an idiot. Everyone at work must have known.’

‘Not necessarily. I expect they went out of their way to keep it secret. Sounds to me like your typical midlife crisis. Older man running off with a beautiful, younger woman. Such a cliché. Honestly, what is Charles thinking? I can’t see it lasting,’ said Suzy. ‘Can you?’

‘Well, I bloody well hope it does,’ Tess said vehemently. ‘For his sake. To turn his back on our marriage, our family and our home to simply satisfy his frail masculine ego on a whim seems such a terrible waste. It has to be bigger than that. Besides, from the way he was talking, it sounds as though it was a coup de foudre.’ This was accompanied by a roll of the eyes from Tess. ‘Honestly, I didn’t recognise the man sitting opposite me; it was like coming face to face with a love-struck teenager.’

‘He’s bound to come to his senses sooner or later. It’s one thing to conduct an illicit affair with all the excitement that comes from running around having secret, intense meetings, but when the mystery and intrigue is taken away and it becomes the new reality, well, that’s something entirely.’

Tess shrugged, not convinced by Suzy’s reassurance.

‘I don’t know that he will. He seems like a man reborn. Besides, even if he did change his mind, there would be no going back. Everything we had has been destroyed. This was my whole life.’ Tess lifted her hands to the air, taking in the beautiful surroundings of the cottage. ‘I thought we were in love. That what we had together was sacrosanct. That I, along with Hannah, were the most important things in his world. How could I get it so wrong?’

This time, Tess was unable to hold back the emotion that had been brewing in her eyes and she took big gulps of breath as the tears ran down her cheeks. Immediately, Gina and Suzy rushed to her side, wrapping her in an embrace as she collapsed back into her chair.

‘Honestly, Tess, he’s not worth your tears. After everything you’ve done for him. You’ve built this wonderful home, you’re bloody gorgeous and clever and funny, and if he can’t see that, if he’s so easily swayed by some pretty young thing, then really, you’re better off without him.’

‘I loved him. I love him,’ she corrected herself. ‘We were happy, I didn’t imagine that. Why would he want to change what we had?’ She looked from Gina to Suzy, who shook their heads sadly. ‘Who am I without Charles at my side? I’ve been with him since I was a teenager. I don’t know how to be without him.’

She’d mopped up her tears with the tissue that Suzy had handed her, but they were still brimming behind her eyes, especially as she remembered the first time she clapped eyes on Charles at a freshers’ event at university. He’d been so handsome and gregarious and everyone had flocked around him, her included, but it hadn’t been until the end of their first term that they’d got together as a couple. She knew then, even though she’d never let on to Charles, that she would end up marrying him.

‘Pah!’ Gina gave an ungainly snort. ‘Don’t worry. You’ll soon get the hang of it. When Dave left me, it was as if my whole word had collapsed, but little did I know that he’d done me the biggest favour ever. He was a chancer, only I didn’t fully appreciate it at the time. He spent far too much time down the golf club and the pub, and by all accounts, he still does. He split up with the woman he was seeing and there’s been a whole string of them since – once a cheater, always a cheater, that’s what I say. I look on it as a lucky escape. And you will too. I would never have done half of the things I’ve done if I was still with Dave: setting up the business, moving into The Dairy, going on all those holidays. Meeting Ryan,’ she added with a dreamy smile.

Tess knew that Gina was only trying to make her feel better, but she resented the fact that by implication, Gina had been comparing Charles to Dave when, in reality, there was no comparison between the two men. Dave, a kitchen fitter, had a reputation for being flaky and unreliable, with a roving eye, while Charles had always been a thoroughly decent man, a stalwart of the local community, loved and admired by everyone. She checked herself, shaking her head in a moment of realisation. Who was she kidding? Of course the two men were similar. They were both cheaters, their marriage vows obliterated in a lustful moment.

When Tess first got to know Gina and Suzy when their children started pre-school together, exchanging small talk at the school gates and light-hearted conversations at social events, she’d met their husbands too, and the women’s friendship was cemented over shared parenting experiences, lots of laughter and several glasses of wine. Tess hadn’t warmed to Dave’s brash and over-familiar manner, so she wasn’t surprised when Gina confided that Dave had been cheating on her with one of his customers, and after turning into an ace private detective, Gina had uncovered a whole host of other misdemeanours, including the web of lies Dave had told her, several other women he’d been involved with and a worrying pile of accumulated debts. Gina had thrown Dave out of the house, into the arms of his other woman, leaving Gina to bring up her small son, Adam, alone, and Tess and Suzy had stepped up to support Gina through that emotionally trying time.

Sadly, Tess hadn’t really had the chance to get to know Suzy’s husband, Martin, because it was only a couple of months later when he died suddenly from a massive heart attack. The trauma had rendered Suzy into a state of disbelief and shock and it was only her friends rallying round, providing meals and helping out with the school run, that had got her through those dark days, which still cast shadows over Suzy’s life today. In some ways, Tess believed that Suzy had never really got over it. She went through the motions, held down her job as a school secretary and had brought her twin boys up to be thoughtful, kind and caring young men. Toby was now working in the theatre as a sound technician and Miles was a financial analyst in the City. Martin would have been so proud, but Tess couldn’t help thinking that Suzy had never quite recovered her spark and zest for life that had been there before her husband’s untimely departure.

All three women had reached a point in their lives where their offspring had flown the nest and they were readjusting to a new stage where their main focus was no longer the children, but one where they could now concentrate on themselves and build a different kind of future. The friends had often spoken about what they would do with all their free time once they had shaken off the daily parental duties: the spa days they would indulge in, the theatre trips to London and the short European city breaks for shopping they would plan. Tess had also imagined spending more time with Charles, anticipating that he might take early retirement from the law practice where he was a partner, sell his share of the business and free up some money to travel to far-flung places, but those dreams had evaporated into thin air now. Charles clearly had plans of his own which didn’t involve Tess at all.

‘Do you think he’s done it before?’

Tess’s brow furrowed as she was interrupted in her musing by Gina’s question. ‘What?’

‘Charles?’ Gina urged. ‘Do you think he’s done this kind of thing before? I mean, it wouldn’t be that surprising, now we know what he’s capable of. He’s an attractive man: persuasive, eloquent, and charming. It’s not a huge stretch of the imagination.’

‘No!’ Tess wasn’t sure why she’d felt the need to defend Charles, not when he’d betrayed her, but she knew Charles better than anyone, and she would have known with certainty if he had ever cheated on her before. Wouldn’t she? She let out an audible sigh. Why did this have to happen now, just when they should be stepping back and enjoying their autumn years together?

She glanced from Gina to Suzy and gave a smile, grateful to them for being there, even if Gina’s sometimes pertinent questions made her hackles rise, but then Gina had always been forthright and outspoken; she shouldn’t have expected anything less.

Both her friends would support her through this new, unwelcome stage in her life, but Tess was angry and annoyed that she even found herself in this position. Tess had always been comfortable – now she wondered if she’d been smug even – being at the centre of their tight friendship group, offering her support and words of wisdom when the others had needed it, not believing for one moment that the tables would be turned and she would be the one in the midst of an emotional trauma, needing their support.

‘The thing is, I know that Charles loved me. He was a good husband and father, supportive of our family, so I just can’t understand why he’s done this.’

Tess was certain she was repeating herself, but it was as though she was searching for answers, waiting for someone to tell her why it had happened.

She might have known that Gina would give it to her straight.

‘Stop!’ Gina was on her haunches beside Tess’s chair. She took hold of her hands, looking at her imploringly. ‘You’re not getting it. Charles has let you down, big time. He’s lied to you and cheated, and whatever way you look at, that’s no way to support his family. He may have been that man you talk about once, but he’s not that man any more. It hurts, I know, but you have to accept what’s happened. You have to think of yourself now and secure your own future. You can’t rely or depend on him any more because he’ll only be looking after his and this new woman’s interests.’

Gina’s words cut Tess deep into her heart and she wanted to rail against her, to make her stop talking, from saying such hurtful and unkind things, but then it wasn’t Gina who was at fault, she knew that, but Charles, the man she loved, however much Tess might not want to accept that reality.

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