Hidden Cottage (49 page)
‘Not my place. My golden rule is never to get involved in other people’s marriages or relationships. Much too risky. And before you ask, I haven’t discussed it with anyone else either.’
Owen drank some of his tea. ‘What’s your opinion of Jeff?’
‘Classic example of a man with a colossal ego who needs to be fully in control at all times. That’s not to say I don’t like him – he’s always been fine in small doses and very helpful in the village when help has been required. I can’t say I’ve ever really understood what the glue is in Mia’s marriage to him, other than the children, but since I’ve never been married, I don’t consider myself qualified to judge or truly comprehend.’ She took a long sip of her tea. ‘I think it would be fair to say I’ve tolerated him for Mia’s sake. It’s what friends do.’
He drank some more of his tea, pleased that Muriel was being so honest with him. ‘It was good of you to come here,’ he said.
‘Again, I did it because Mia’s a friend. As are you, Owen.’
‘Thank you. So what’s the current situation? How far has Wendy spread the gossip?’
‘Pretty extensively, I’m afraid. If she’s to be believed, the pair of you were rolling around on the floor of The Birdcage Cafe going at it hammer and tongs.’
He shook his head. ‘It’s ironic that she should see us when we weren’t actually doing anything wrong. Presumably you knew, or had guessed, that Mia had stopped seeing me after Daisy’s accident.’
‘Yes. I put it down to guilt, to her wanting to wipe the slate clean in some way.’
‘You’re right, it was.’
‘I think a lot of slates are in need of being cleaned right now.’
‘Meaning?’
‘Mia said that you told her Jeff had been with two call girls the night of Daisy’s death, which does, at least, explain why he didn’t answer his mobile when she was trying to get hold of him.’
‘What do you mean, I told her? Surely Jeff did.’
‘No, I distinctly recall her saying you told her. Apparently you were drifting in and out of sleep at the time. You weren’t making it up, were you? Or having a hallucinogenic dream?’
Alarmed, Owen said, ‘Muriel, are you sure about this?’
‘Absolutely sure. It’s not me who has concussion, you know.’
‘But this is bad. Seriously bad. I never meant to tell her. I told Jeff I wouldn’t. Oh my God, what have I done?’ He put down his mug, pushed back the duvet and swung his legs out of bed.
‘Hey, where do you think you’re going?’
‘I can’t sit here knowing what you’ve just told me. How did she seem? Was she very upset?’ He looked about him. ‘Where the hell are my jeans?’
‘Owen, calm down. Mia was angry rather than upset. And trust me, I lectured her at length to drive carefully. I suggested that I should go to the airport and she stay here with you, but she decided against that, didn’t want to put me to any more trouble. She promised to text me when she arrived.’
‘Has she?’
‘Yes. Now get back into bed before I roll up my sleeves and I’m forced to give you a cold bed bath. And don’t think I won’t!’
They had reached the point of no return. It was over between them.
An eye for an eye, a betrayal for a betrayal – that’s how Jeff could have played it, but he hadn’t. He’d stood there in their kitchen and thrown Mia’s guilt at her while hiding his own, and that, on top of the savage beating he’d given Owen, was unforgivable.
Not until the following day, when she had challenged him with what Owen had inadvertently told her the night before, did he admit his own infidelity. It was the last conversation they’d had and a week had passed since then.
Jeff’s first reaction had been to go on the attack. ‘Owen said he wouldn’t tell you! Not that I should have trusted him to keep his word. Why would he after what the two of you have been doing?’
When Mia had said that she felt he was missing the point, that it was irrelevant how she’d found out, he’d said, ‘So I make one mistake and that’s it? After everything I’ve done for you and this family?’
‘You surely can’t be serious?’ she’d said. ‘You’ve done nothing but divide this family. It’s been me who’s held it together all these years. I’m sorry, Jeff, but I’ve spent the greater part of my life trying to save you from yourself, and now I’m going to save myself.’
He’d stared at her uncomprehendingly, but then that was exactly what she had anticipated. Right to the end he would somehow be able to kid himself that the dark realities of life had nothing to do with him, that anything that remotely resembled a truth was an exaggeration or a fabrication to suit someone else’s misguided viewpoint. For Jeff, emotional issues were a distraction, something to be avoided at all costs for fear that they might hit home. It was that wall of determined avoidance, she could only assume, that had at last crumbled and led to him breaking down at The Hidden Cottage. Finally an emotion had hit its target and his grief for Daisy had been thoroughly exposed.
Still staring at her, he’d said, ‘It was you who had the affair.’
‘And it was you who paid for sex,’ she replied, ‘so that makes us equally culpable.’
‘But what I did didn’t mean anything,’ he exclaimed fiercely. ‘It was just sex, a one-off thing.’
‘It still counts, Jeff. I’d feel more respect for you had it been a proper affair and you’d been in love with another woman.’
He’d given her a sour look. ‘If you had come with me to Monte Carlo, it wouldn’t have happened. But you were too busy having your
proper affair
with Owen to be bothered with me, weren’t you?’ His tone was nasty and his eyes cold and steely.
‘If it makes you feel better, I’ll happily take the blame. And the consequences. You can paint yourself as the wronged husband if you want, but nothing will justify what you did to Owen. You’re damned lucky he hasn’t gone to the police. You could go to prison for a vicious attack like that.’
For the first time, he’d looked rattled. ‘I told him I was sorry.’
‘So he says. But do you really think that’s enough?’
‘I lost it, Mia. The red mist came down and I was out of my mind.’
‘That’s as maybe, but I can’t be around a man who’s capable of losing control to that extent.’
‘It was grief that made me do it. Owen understood that.’
‘Oh, I understand, Jeff, but I can’t condone it. Nor will I condone or forget that you were prepared to let me think I was the only one to have done anything wrong. If Owen hadn’t told me, would you have kept quiet?’
‘I was going to tell you. I’d planned to. I really had. But you didn’t give me a chance to get the words out.’
‘My fault again,’ she’d said bitterly. ‘I might have known.’ With nothing more to say, she’d added, ‘I think it would be better if you didn’t come home next weekend.’
Bristling, he’d replied defiantly, ‘This is my home as much as it is yours. You can’t throw me out.’
‘I’m not throwing you out. I just can’t bear to be anywhere near you for the time being. If it suits you better, you can stay and I’ll go.’
‘Straight to lover boy, I suppose?’ he’d sneered.
‘That’s not what I plan to do. If necessary I’ll stay with Muriel.’
In the days that followed, Mia had known there were plenty of rumours flying around the village as people continued vicariously to enjoy the thrill of the unfolding drama. Word had quickly spread – delivered first-class by Karl the postman – that Owen’s car had been trashed and it didn’t take too many guesses to work out who had done it.
But it wasn’t until now, when they were all gathered in the village hall for the talent show, that people had got their first glimpse of Owen since last weekend and they could see for themselves that it wasn’t only a car that had been harmed. Some were savouring the chance to gawp, while others looked shocked.
That night when she had collected Jensen and Tattie and Madison from the airport, Mia had kept her counsel until she was dropping them off. Taking Jensen aside, she had given him a hurried account of what had gone on. ‘I’m sorry I lied to you about Owen,’ she’d said. ‘I hated doing that to you. But I just couldn’t tell you the truth; I felt too ashamed. And it was over by then anyway.’
‘And now?’ he’d asked.
She’d shaken her head. ‘Nothing’s changed. But I’m going to stay the night at The Hidden Cottage. I don’t want Owen on his own, not until I’m sure he’s all right.’
‘Can I give you some advice, Mum? Don’t lose the opportunity to be happy. Grab the chance while you can. Do whatever it takes. You know you have my backing.’
Tears filling her eyes, she’d patted his arm and kissed him goodbye.
Returning to Owen’s, she had thanked Muriel for helping and after making herself something to eat downstairs in the kitchen, she had slept in the chair next to his bed.
In the morning his hand looked even worse and he was clearly in pain. She had told him he had no choice; she was taking him to A & E. He had given in grudgingly and allowed her to help him dress. ‘I didn’t realize you were so bossy,’ he’d said as she carefully eased him into his jacket.
‘Lots of things you don’t know about me,’ she’d replied.
She had been right to insist that he be properly checked out; X-rays showed he had four broken fingers and two cracked ribs. He was suitably strapped up, his fingers splinted and bandaged, and asked several times how he’d come by the injuries and each time he said he’d fallen down the stairs.
She observed Owen now as he and the other two judges – the Reverend Jane Beaumont and her husband, Richard – gave their comments on Joe’s hilarious Jessie J impression – it didn’t bear thinking how Joe had squeezed himself into those electric-blue Lycra leggings. Mia was amazed at Owen’s forbearance and his courage to face people here this evening.
Originally he was going to be one of the acts, playing the piano, but even Muriel had to accept that it would be a stretch for him to perform in his current state, so he’d been roped in as a judge instead, to replace Randall who, in company with several others, had succumbed to the cold doing the rounds. Muriel had been adamant that she wanted Owen involved, if only to secure his place within the village – that of a key and fully participating member – and to show he wasn’t afraid of a bit of gossip. A typical case of understatement from Muriel!
Knowing his presence would attract the wrong sort of attention, Owen had doubted the appropriateness of his involvement tonight, but Muriel was having none of it. ‘Don’t you dare bail out on me,’ she’d told him. ‘I need every man, woman and child to make this work. At the rate we’re going I’ll be doing an act myself if anyone else lets me down.’
To one side of Mia was Jensen and on the other was Eliza with Simon, who, Mia was happy to know, had become a permanent fixture in her daughter’s life. Madison was backstage with Luke and Edmund, and Georgina was there keeping them calm while they waited to take their turn to do their act. Up on the small purpose-built stage, dressed in a shimmering silver full-length dress with white faux fur draped around her shoulders, Tattie was compèring the show as Marilyn Monroe.
Next to Mia, Jensen started to fidget, drumming his fingers on his leg while bouncing his knee up and down at a furious rate. She was reminded of when he’d been a boy and was nervous. She nudged him. ‘She’ll be fine. Owen told you she can play her piece in her sleep.’
He smiled ruefully. ‘Now I know what you must have felt like watching us as kids. Does it get any easier?’
‘Not really.’
Up on the stage, Tattie introduced the next contestant. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, put your hands together and give it up for Madison Morrow!’
Everyone applauded and Jensen let out an ear-piercing whistle. Like the pro she was, Madison ignored them and settled herself at the piano that had been positioned in the middle of the stage. She had chosen one of her exam pieces to play, which Owen had been teaching her – the tarantella. She flexed her fingers, straightened her back and began.
In the hushed hall she played beautifully and when she came to the end of her piece, she stood to take her bow. Everyone clapped and cheered and Jensen stuck his fingers in his mouth for another ear-splitting whistle.
When the applause died down, and with her arm around Madison’s shoulders, just as she had with all the contestants, Tattie turned to the judges and asked them for their comments. ‘And be very careful what you say,’ she said. Turning pink with embarrassment, Madison poked her mother with an elbow.
The judges were unanimous; Madison definitely had talent. The vicar said that she wanted to sign her up straight away to play in church; Owen said he didn’t care if he was accused of bias, but he couldn’t find a single fault with her playing; and Richard said she was a star and a credit to the school.
Madison took another bow and, clutching her music, she left the stage, but not before sneaking a look over her shoulder at Jensen, who gave her a thumbs-up. She beamed back at him.
The piano was then moved to the side of the stage and Tattie announced the next act – Jedward. When Luke and Edmund bounced into view like a couple of hyperactive kangaroos, the hall erupted with laughter and applause. They started off well enough miming to the music that was belting out, throwing their arms in the air and shaking their heads, but then they seemed to forget everything they had practised with Georgina and after Luke tripped Edmund up, they started to chase one another round the stage. It was bedlam and the audience loved it. They were still chasing each other when the music stopped and it was only when Georgina came on stage and grabbed them both that they seemed to remember where they were.
‘From the sublime to the ridiculous,’ Eliza said with a laugh as everyone cheered madly.
In spite of everything that had happened, Mia had kept her word to help with refreshments and when the interval was over, she and Georgina were left to clear up. With the hatch to the kitchen closed, surveying the chaos of crockery and glasses, Mia said, ‘Shall I wash and you dry?’
‘Fine by me.’
With music and applause now coming from the other side of the hatch, they set to work. Mia had been so very concerned that her friendship with Georgina might have been damaged because of her affair with Owen, but Georgina had been reassuringly understanding. However, she had been surprised – surprised that she hadn’t noticed anything, but more importantly that Mia hadn’t confided in her. Not just about Owen, but how bad things were with Jeff. But then she’d made a confession about her own marriage and shared with Mia that things hadn’t always been as rosy as friends and family had thought. ‘At one point I actually thought of leaving him,’ Georgina said, ‘but then I found I was pregnant and everything changed. I never told a soul,’ she went on. ‘It was pride; I couldn’t bear for anyone to know that we weren’t the happy couple everybody believed us to be.’