Page 4 of One Year After You
‘I’m just saying…’ Val went on. ‘I watched a documentary about that Shania Twain…’
‘I saw that!’ Nancy blurted, but there was a knowing amusement in her voice. ‘You know, that lassie, Shania, is not far off our age, and she hasn’t got a line on her face, and from what I could see, her boobs still point forwards. The aging process is a selective bugger, it really is.’
Val brushed right past the commentary. ‘Anyway,’ she said pointedly, ‘Shania Twain’s man and her pal had a secret affair and took off together and you know what happened? Shania and the pal’s husband got together and they’ve been madly in love ever since. Just saying.’
Tress grinned. ‘You mean,hinting?’
‘As if I ever would.’
Noah pulled on his jacket, the corners of his mouth turning up as he winked at Tress. ‘Of course not. That might be only the… what? Third? Or maybe the fourth time we’ve heard the Shania story?’
‘At least,’ Tress agreed, playing along. ‘But she’s definitely not trying to influence us. Absolutely, totally not.’
Val refused to succumb to the teasing, mostly because, Tress knew, she really thought it was a great idea. They all loved Noah’s girlfriend, Cheska, but the A&E doctor had made it absolutely clear that, much as she and Noah had a great relationship, her medical career came first, and she had no intention of prioritising her personal life. Not even for the total catch that was Noah Clark. While Noah was perfectly happy with the terms of their coupling, Val and Nancy had apparently grown restless for a happy ending, and for the two aunties, that happiness now seemed to be Tress and Noah getting together. Loose ends tied up. The big fat fly in Cupid’s ointment was that Tress and Noah just didn’t think of each other that way. They were friends. Joint survivors. As close as brother and sister. But romantic? No. There was way too much baggage for them to even think like that. Their spouses had been having an illicit affair for years behind their backs. The thought of that betrayal, that dishonesty, that brutal secret that ended in tragedy, had a way of knocking the hearts and roses right off any romantic possibilities.
And besides… Tress felt her face flush and hoped that Val and Nancy’s eagle eyes wouldn’t spot it. She wasn’t ready to share yet, because it was probably nothing. No big deal. Just a guy at work, who had asked her out. Someone who had no shared baggage. Someone who could become so much more than just friends. Six months ago, she’d have immediately refused his invitation to go on a date. Two months ago, she’d have considered it for a moment, before politely declining. Now?
Today was her son’s birthday. It was the anniversary of the day she’d found out the most unfathomable truth about her husband.
And it was the day that Tress was going to stop living in the past and start building the kind of life that would make her jumpout of bed in the morning. With or without her Power Rangers pyjamas.
Today was the day she was going to say yes to starting something new.
3
NOAH CLARK
Noah poured some more coffee into his travel mug and leaned his six foot two inch frame down to kiss Tress on the cheek, then did the same with Val and Nancy before giving Buddy a high five. He’d spent weeks teaching him that and the little one now had the waving, the high fives and the fist bumps down to perfection, all of which gave Noah the same level of thrill as his favourite football team winning the league. ‘Right, I’m heading into work.’
‘Weren’t you supposed to be on a late shift tonight?’ Nancy asked him. She had his schedule memorised.
‘I was, but I took the day off.’ He didn’t need to say why. The truth was, he just wanted to be free to be around if Tress needed him. ‘And then I had three patients who couldn’t make my clinic yesterday, so I agreed to see them today. I only need to go in for a couple of hours or so, then I’m planning to grab a late lunch with Cheska. You know, mygirlfriend. Please apologise to Shania for not following her blueprint.’
‘You’re a huge disappointment, Noah Clark,’ Val tutted. ‘Apart from, you know, the successful career as a paediatrician, the lovely personality, the big heart, and that handsome face. But apart from that, nothing going for you at all.’
‘I was thinking the same thing,’ Nancy concurred woefully. ‘All that perfection is exhausting. I mean, I said the same to George Clooney last time I met him in Aldi.’
That set the two of them off, while Tress met his gaze, grinning as she shook her head. ‘Run while you can. Save yourself.’
He returned the smile. ‘I’m running like the wind. I’ll give you a call later and see how your day is going.’
An innocuous statement on the surface, but he knew that Tress understood that it was so much more than just a flippant comment. For the last twelve months, they’d been through the wars and they were still standing, mostly because they propped each other up whenever the grief or the regret became too consuming. That happened less and less now. This was their normal. They’d come out the other end.
Part of him wanted to stick around Tress’s kitchen, because as long as he was there, with Val and Nancy blasting his eardrums with hooters, his mind wouldn’t wander to the sad stuff. Today was the anniversary of the best and worst things that had happened in his life. Buddy’s birth was at the top of the miracle list, and he was grateful every day that the little guy had made it into the world, even though it was in the worst of circumstances.
That night, Noah had made the hardest decision of his life, when he’d resolved not to tell Tress that Max was hovering between life and death in another ward in the hospital, until she’d safely delivered the baby. He’d held Tress’s hand in the delivery suite as she’d moved to the late stages of labour, before bringing her boy into a family that had been turned upside down.
Focusing on Tress and her newborn that night had distracted Noah from the bomb that just exploded in his own life. In the midst of the heartache and trauma was the discovery of the affairbetween his best friend and his wife, Anya, that had destroyed their marriage. She had been the love of his life, his partner of almost twenty years, his wife for eleven, and he’d adored her. Even now, a year later, it was tough to say what hurt most. Her betrayal. The fact that it was with his best friend. Or the realisation that he’d been so wrong in believing that they were solid, that they would never hurt each other, that he’d promised forever to someone who could lie to his face.
Afterwards, he and Anya had half-heartedly tried to fix their relationship, but the damage had been terminal. As a doctor, he’d seen people overcome heart-crushing pain and devastation, and for a moment he’d thought they might be able to do the same. But no. The affair was carnage enough, but the consequences were insurmountable. Heartbreak. Death. Grief. Rage. Resentment. It was too much.
Months after the accident, Anya had packed up and gone back to her parents’ home in New York. They’d communicated a few times on legal stuff, but other than that, the woman he’d loved with his whole heart since he was twenty-one years old had become a ghost. And he was glad of it. Especially today, when everything that had happened to them seemed a little more vivid.
Today, just like every day, Noah had two choices: dwell in the pain of the past or be grateful for the good stuff. And today, like most days, he chose the latter.
He’d just jumped into his car, started the engine and reversed out of Tress’s drive when his phone rang and MUM flashed on the screen. He answered straight away. ‘Hey, Mum, how are you doing?’
‘I’m only on for a minute because I’ve got a million and one things to do. It’s crazy in this office today. Her royal highness is on her high horse about something and we’re all hearing about it. Thank God I finish early on a Friday.’
