by Lilac Mills
‘Over my dead body,’ Lottie muttered savagely.
And even if this was only a fling – Only? Huh! – it sounded the death knell on their marriage, because how could she ever trust him again?
Whichever way she looked at it, if Henry was having an affair, their marriage was doomed.
Chapter 16
Lottie
She should have told Henry where she was going today, Lottie thought, as she checked and double checked the rucksack. Hat? Tick! Gloves? Tick! Change of clothes? Yes, and she’d also made sure to put in an umbrella because, although the forecast was for it to be dry and cold, one could never be 100 per cent certain that it wouldn’t rain in Wales. And when she’d checked out the Winter Fayre online last night, she’d noticed that the castle had the most amazing grounds with a reindeer and elf trail to keep the little ones occupied; it would be a shame to miss it because they didn’t have anything waterproof with them.
The number of snacks and drinks she’d packed could have fed a small army, and she’d also felt around in the bottom of the backpack for the first aid kit she usually kept in there, and counted the plasters and packets of Calpol. One of the boys was certain to fall over or develop a poorly tummy. It was almost a given.
With a quick check of her stock of wet wipes and tissues, she was finally ready. Blooming heck, she thought, not for the first time, going on a day out with a young child takes as much time, effort and forethought as I used to give to packing for a week in Majorca when I was single. Minus the Calpol, obviously.
She walked the children to school early for the two oldest to take part in the breakfast club, and left Sabrina and Robin with a kiss and a command to behave themselves. The sour looks she received in return made her smile; she felt a little guilty about not taking them, but the autumn term hadn’t ended yet, and she didn’t want them to miss anything. Besides, she’d have to pay for Sabrina and Robin’s entry into the castle and its grounds, and taking two more children meant considerably greater expense because no doubt they’d want to go on something, buy something, or demand something to eat that wasn’t wrapped in tin foil and came out of her rucksack.
Once back in the house, she encouraged Morgan to have a wee, then she waited impatiently for Delia and Tyrone to pull up outside.
The journey was uneventful, if somewhat long, and after the first half-hour ringing with choruses of, ‘Are we there yet?’ and, ‘Mummy, I’m hungry’, both boys dropped off to sleep, leaving Lottie and Delia to chat amongst themselves and enjoy the scenery.
* * *
When they reached the outskirts of Builth Wells, the town nearest the castle, Lottie reached into the back of the car and gave the children a nudge, wanting to allow them plenty of time to wake up before they arrived. They parked the car and made their way up a slope towards the impressive and immense main entrance to the castle. Already Lottie could smell mulled wine and roasting chestnuts, and her mouth watered. Built in red stone, the castle perched on a hill, and had gardens sloping off on three sides. As she waited for Delia to present their tickets at the gate, Lottie could hear the excited squeals of children and the sounds of carols being played, and despite her worries she felt the familiar excitement that the anticipation of Christmas brought. She almost felt like a child herself as the four of them strolled under the enormous stone archway and into a courtyard packed with stalls selling all kinds of wonderful crafts and food. A man dressed in a Victorian costume and balancing on stilts was handing out maps of the castle. A choir, the women wearing red cloaks and black bonnets, the men in capes and top hats, was standing off to one side, and the jaunty refrain of ‘Deck the Halls’ filled the air.
‘Shall we have a hot chocolate and a mince pie first, then have a look around the castle?’ Delia suggested. ‘Many of the rooms have been reconstructed exactly as they would have been several hundred years ago.’
Penygraig Castle wasn’t a medieval ruin. It was more along the lines of Windsor Castle, and the family who owned it still lived there, although most of it was open to the public and Lottie was looking forward to seeing inside.
The boys were more than happy to have a drink and biscuit each before beginning their exploration, and were soon clambering up staircases and trotting through huge rooms crammed with valuable furniture, artifacts and paintings. Lottie especially loved some of the bedrooms, which had four-poster beds and sumptuous soft furnishings. The boys, typically, loved seeing the armour and the swords on display. A coat of chainmail that they were allowed to touch, much to their delight, proved to be a firm favourite.
Attics at the top of the castle held the servants’ rooms, where the corridors were narrow and the rooms so much smaller than the ones below, which would have been occupied by the nobility. Lottie joked that if she had been alive then, she’d have been one of the servants and not one of the aristocracy.
‘Yeah, but look at the fabulous views they’d be missing,’ Delia said, hoisting first one small boy and then the other to look out of the windows and down onto the gardens below.
Trust Delia to see the brighter side of things, Lottie thought fondly. ‘Come on, let’s go and see the dungeons.’
There weren’t any as such, but there were huge kitchens (two of them), a laundry room, and school room, which still had old desks with inkwells in them.
Finally, though, the boys were tired and ready for a spot of lunch, which they ate in the orangery prior to visiting Santa in his grotto. As soon as their batteries were recharged they darted off in the direction of the reindeers, which were in a pen not too far away.
‘I want a reindeer,’ Morgan stated firmly when Santa asked what he wanted for Christmas. ‘And a sword, and a rugby ball. And a—’ The list was comprehensive and some of the items on it were new to her, but as Morgan changed his mind every time the words ‘Christmas’ or ‘Santa Claus’ were mentioned, Lottie wasn’t too bothered. She’d seen a plush reindeer on one of the stalls, so she’d buy him one if Delia could distract him, and she had a bit of wood that she could turn into a sword without too much difficulty, and she’d already bought him a rugby ball. Robin had one of his own and although she always encouraged the boys to share, Robin loved his ball to bits and guarded it jealously.
By the time they’d walked around the gardens following the reindeer and elf trail, where the boys found clues, all four of them were exhausted. They’d walked for miles, and their senses had been assaulted by so many sights, sounds and smells that they were ready to call it a day. Six hours was plenty, although it wasn’t anywhere near enough time to see everything there was to see. Lottie wished she could have brought the two older children because they would have thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and maybe even Henry, although it was difficult to say these days what would please him and what wouldn’t. Maybe they could all go together as a family next year?
Feeling as though she’d been away from Applewell for a few days and not just a few hours, Lottie made her way outside the castle, following Delia as they headed towards the car park.
‘That was bloody brilliant,’ Lottie said. ‘I had a fantastic time, and Morgan did too. Thank you for bringing us.’
Morgan, bless him, was sitting in his pushchair with a glazed expression on his face and sucking his thumb, something he only did these days when he was upset or tired. She knew he’d sleep on the journey back. Once he was in his car seat, he gazed sleepily out of the window and she smiled. It was rare that she managed to wear her youngest son out this early in the day. She knew she was in for a tricky evening, because he’d have a nap on the return journey and probably quite a decent one at that, so he’d be refreshed and raring to go by the time they got home. Unfortunately Lottie wouldn’t be. She couldn’t fall asleep in the car (it wouldn’t be fair on Delia, who was driving) and she wouldn’t be able to nap when she got home either, because she’d have to prepare the evening meal. At least Meryl had offered to give Sabrina and Robin their tea after she’d picked them up from school, so that was a bonus, but no doubt
Henry’s mother would want to chat when Lottie went to collect them. Unless she could persuade Henry to do it…?
A small flame of discontent and resentment flared in her stomach. Yesterday, when she’d asked Henry if he could possibly collect the children from school, he’d looked flustered and rather put out, telling her he had an appointment he simply couldn’t miss, and that she’d have to make other arrangements. He hadn’t even asked her where she was going, and by that point Lottie seriously didn’t feel like telling him.
Although she’d really fancied telling him where he could go.
As if Morgan was privy to her thoughts, he said, ‘Daddy.’
‘Yes, darling, we’ll see Daddy when we get home.’ She rested her head against the back of the seat and sighed deeply. Delia was weaving her way through the traffic in Builth Wells, and was concentrating hard, and Lottie fought to stay awake and keep her friend company.
‘Mummy, look. Daddy.’
Lottie twisted around in her seat to peer over her shoulder at her son, wondering why he’d gone from semi-comatose to wide awake, and saw Morgan gazing intently out of the window. He jabbed at it, leaving a smear of sticky fingerprints on the glass.
‘No, it’s not Daddy.’ Lottie didn’t even bother to look.
‘It is!’ Morgan insisted. ‘It is Daddy. Daddy!’ he yelled, at the top of his voice.
Lottie shushed him, smiling apologetically at Delia who was tapping her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel and shaking her head at the volume of traffic, then she glanced out of the window, wondering what had set Morgan off.
The car was stationary at some lights, and she peered in the direction Morgan pointed.
Suddenly she sat up straighter, almost pressing her nose against the glass.
It was indeed Henry, opening the door to a rather smart coffee shop and gesturing for the woman behind to go in ahead of him. What was Henry doing in Builth Wells? He hadn’t mentioned he’d be out this way today, although she knew he covered a fairly large area. What a coincidence.
Wondering whether she should rap on the glass and attract his attention, she decided she couldn’t be bothered.
And then she was glad she hadn’t, as the woman who he’d opened the door for turned back to Henry and gave him a wide smile. It wasn’t the sort of smile a woman usually gave to a stranger who just happened to hold the door open for them; it was the sort of smile a woman gave to somebody she knew.
In the few seconds left to her before the lights changed to green and the car pulled away, Lottie scrutinised this unknown woman. She was slim, quite tall, and had bleached-blonde hair cut to her jaw and sculpted in at the back of the neck. Even from this distance Lottie could tell she was pretty. She appeared to be somewhere between thirty and forty, and was very well dressed in a trouser suit and a blouse. Lottie caught a flash of red lips and pearly white teeth, and she smarted. What she also saw just as the lights turned green and the car moved off – she had to crane her neck back to make sure of it – was the strange woman and her husband take a seat at the same table.
This wasn’t a casual encounter. This was somebody Henry knew.
Was this her? Was this the other woman?
With the cafe now out of sight, Lottie slumped back in her seat and closed her eyes, trying not to cry.
‘Daddy,’ Morgan said.
‘Yes,’ Lottie agreed, flatly. ‘Daddy.’
Chapter 17
Henry
Builth Wells was awkward to get to from Applewell. There wasn’t a straightforward route unless you were prepared to travel for miles along single track mountain roads, over high moorland and down through sparsely populated valleys. So Henry decided to go the longer way around, sticking more or less to the main roads, and he had booked in a couple of clients along the way to keep his current employer happy.
He’d set off from his final appointment of the day in plenty of time, but by the time he arrived at Builth Wells it was already three thirty, although thankfully his appointment wasn’t until four. When Sally Chisholm had suggested meeting in a cafe in Builth Wells he’d readily agreed. He could understand her reasons for choosing the location; as she’d informed him on the phone, she was popping in to see a major client who was based nearby, and it seemed an ideal opportunity for them to meet, considering the company’s head office was in Suffolk, which would have been one heck of a way for him to travel.
He parked just off the main street and made his way into the centre of the town, glancing up at the signs outside the various establishments he passed to make sure he didn’t miss the cafe she’d suggested meeting at.
Ah, that must be her, standing outside a coffee shop. Sally had told him she’d be wearing a navy suit and that she had short, blonde hair. She had a large handbag slung over her shoulder and was carrying a folder bulging with papers. It had to be her.
‘Ms Chisholm?’ he asked, stepping up to her and hoping he wasn’t about to make a prat of himself.
Her smile was warm and genuine. ‘You must be Henry Hargreaves,’ she stated, holding out her hand. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you. Did you have any difficulty finding it?’
Henry laughed. ‘Not at all, I’m used to finding my way to strange places.’ Not that Builth Wells was strange – far from it, it was a lovely little market town – but he hadn’t been there in years as it wasn’t part of his patch.
‘Shall we go inside?’ She gestured towards the coffee shop. ‘We can have a drink and a proper chat. I want to get a feel for you, to see if we want to move it forward from here.’
Henry hurried ahead of her to open the door and she swept inside, stopping when she was just over the threshold to give him another warm smile.
‘If that’s OK with you?’ she asked.
Henry returned her smile and nodded. At this point anything was OK with him. If she’d wanted to meet him on the top of Snowdon he’d have hiked up the mountain without a murmur. It was a bit strange she was conducting a first interview in a coffee shop, but it wasn’t unheard of. He had no doubt any subsequent interview, should he be lucky enough to be invited to one, would take place under far more formal conditions at their head office.
He was glad he’d worn his suit, and he fully intended to treat this like any other interview he’d had, regardless of the location. He’d had a change of clothes in the car, as he hadn’t wanted to risk getting his suit covered in cow muck or any other unsavoury substance, and after he’d left his last client he’d pulled into a service station and used their loos to change out of his scruffy work clothes and into his suit. Although he didn’t have any other clients booked in after meeting with Sally Chisholm, he fully intended to change back into his usual work clothes before he went home. He didn’t want Lottie asking any awkward questions.
Sally sat at a free table by the window and he joined her, sitting down. Almost immediately he stood back up again as he remembered his manners.
‘Would you like a coffee? Or something else?’ he offered.
‘It’s OK, I’ll get these; they can go on expenses. And it’s waitress service here, so there’s no need to go to the counter.’ Sally Chisholm held up two fingers and mouthed ‘Coffee,’ at someone behind him, then turned back to him. ‘So, tell me about your present role,’ the sales director said.
Coffee was fine; Henry would have preferred tea but he wasn’t going to quibble and he launched into the spiel he’d prepared while in the car earlier. He’d gone over every single question he thought she could ask and had tried to come up with some answers. The question he was dreading was the one she was bound to ask, and that was why he wanted to leave his current position. All he could do was to be honest, and hope she didn’t think Baldwin Ltd was letting him go because they didn’t think he was up to the job. It was pure economics. People were made redundant all the time. His situation was hardly unique.
After they’d chatted for a few minutes, Henry began to relax and get into his stride. Sally seemed pleasant, she asked intelligent questions and
he thought he gave her intelligent answers. He hoped he sounded knowledgeable about selling in general, although he had a fair way to go when it came to bringing himself up to speed regarding fertilisers, despite the research he’d done on it to prepare for this meeting. But he was sure he would get there eventually. With a little bit of training on product knowledge, he’d be able to hit the ground running.
Another cup of coffee and a half-hour later, when the interview was about done, Sally asked him a question which raised his hopes. ‘If you were offered the job, when could you start?’
‘I’d be able to start next Monday,’ Henry said. He couldn’t believe that three weeks had passed already since Redundancy-gate.
‘Good,’ she said. ‘I think it’s a wrap.’ She stood up and offered him a hand, which he took and shook briefly, and once again he held the door open for her as they left the cafe.
‘I’ll be in touch,’ she promised.
‘Could I just ask – I’m assuming there will be a second interview?’
‘I don’t think so. I never see the need, although it drives HR wild.’ She smiled at him with a twinkle in her eye and he nodded, trying to suppress a smile.
Hopefully, this was in the bag.
‘There is one final thing,’ she said, as they stood on the pavement preparing to go their separate ways. ‘I didn’t ask how you feel about travelling.’
‘I travel quite extensively as it is,’ Henry said. ‘It’s nothing new, although I do like to be in my own bed in the evening,’ he added in a joking voice, although he wasn’t joking at all. He did prefer to go home at night, and not live out of a suitcase.
‘I see. Well, thank you, it’s been a pleasure.’
