Page 55 of The Last Saturday In July
She was way too tired for this. ‘Look, Kate, I’m really sorry Simon rang in the middle of your date – he shouldn’t have bothered you at all. Nana broke her foot and had to go to the hospital, so I collected her and took her home. I left Simon a message to tell him I wouldn’t be there.’
‘Oh no! Your poor nana! How is she now?’
‘She’ll be fine. Mam and Dad came over this morning but I couldn’t leave her on own yesterday.’
‘I understand, sure.’ Kate sounded puzzled when she spoke again. ‘The only thing is, Simon didn’t get any message.’
‘What?’ For a moment, Jess was speechless. ‘I left him a message.’
‘Well, he mustn’t have got it in time.’
This was beginning to feel like a lecture. ‘It’s fine, Kate.’ Jess knew she sounded cool, but she couldn’t help herself. ‘Simon’s not helpless. I’m pretty sure he figured something out. Listen, how was your date?’
‘It was nice.’ Kate was annoyingly noncommittal. ‘I just felt bad that there was nothing I could do for Simon.’
Jess felt a surge of frustration. ‘Simon needs to let you have your own life. So, are you seeing David again?’
‘We’re coming to your dance class on Friday, remember?’
Jess suppressed a sigh. ‘Great, I’ll talk to you soon. Thanks again.’
She hung up, unsure why she was thanking Kate, but determined not to say something she’d regret. She felt ... irritated. And she could sense Kate’s annoyance too. Kate was the sister Simon had never had, and Jess had always encouraged their friendship. But there were times she wondered if she’d done too good a job.
Jess poured herself a glass of wine when she got home that evening and eyed the meat in the fridge. It was far too much for just her and Simon. Maybe they could invite Kate and Luke over at the weekend? Or Zoe and Finn. No, Zoe would spend the whole time baiting Simon. And Finn didn’t eat red meat. Kate and Luke, then. Hopefully it would smooth things over with Kate, too.
She sighed and opened the icebox. There was a packet of handmade sausages that Simon liked, from their local butcher. She’d defrost them and throw them in the oven with some potatoes. They’d be perfect with a salad.
Simon arrived in and threw his keys on the counter. ‘Good of you to come home.’
‘Simon, I’m sorry about missing the dinner but I left you a message.’ When he said nothing, she motioned to the sausages. ‘I was just about to start some dinner for us, actually.’
‘I’m not hungry. I’ll get a bowl of soup later on.’
It was worse than she thought. Simon liked a proper dinner every evening. As far as he was concerned, soup was strictly for lunch.
He turned away, but Jess put a hand on his arm. ‘Simon, can we please talk about this? I’m sorry I forgot about your business dinner. Nana fell and broke her foot, and I had to stay with her. I rang and left a message.’
He spun back. ‘I’m sorry to hear that. I hope she gets better soon, Jess, really. But somebody else in your family could have stepped in.’ He shook off her hand and gave a small belch. A strong smell of alcohol wafted towards her.
She stared at him. ‘Have you been drinking?’
‘Yes, I thought I deserved a couple of drinks after work, given the utterly shitty day I’ve had.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘So you said.’
Jess pulled her hair out of its ponytail and tried to smooth it down. ‘Look, there was nothing I could do. Nana couldn’t reach Dad, so she rang me. After I left you a message, I had to turn my phone off because it was out of battery, and I’d no charger with me. And I had to stay overnight with Nana.’
Simon shook his head. ‘You know, it wouldn’t be so bad if I hadn’t persuaded Liam to let me entertain him and the client. Liam would have taken the guy out, except that he’s so weird about restaurants. And then Liam told me he’d have to get caterers into his place, just for a bloody dinner. I thought I was doing the right thing.’
He tugged off his tie and threw it beside his keys. ‘Liam was depending on me, Jess, and I fucking screwed up. I didn’t pick up your message until it was too late, and I’d no time to cook anything, so I ordered in, and the fucking restaurant lost the order.’
Jess blanched. Simon never cursed. ‘What did you do?’
‘We went out for dinner.’ Simon gave a short, mirthless laugh. ‘The restaurant had no atmosphere; the service was appalling and the food was mediocre. I had to sit there and watch a potential client become sourer by the minute. In the end, he cut the night short and told Liam he’d be in touch.’ Almost savagely, he pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. ‘I lost a huge client for my firm. I haven’t a hope of making partner now.
Jess tried to think. ‘Just blame it on me. Why didn’t you blame me?’
