‘It's bit sudden isn't it?’ asked Anna, trying not to sound as shocked as she felt.
‘We've been thinking about it since Luke came home last week. We just wanted to make sure it was definitely what we wanted before we spoke to you.’
Not known for his tact, Mark was at least trying to be more empathetic and understanding, acknowledged Anna.
‘What about your A levels?’ Anna looked at Luke, who so far had let his dad do the talking.
Luke looked up from the floor he had been focused on throughout the conversation, obviously uneasy himself with how his mum would react. ‘I could just put them back a year.’
‘There's nothing to stop Luke studying over there,’ said Mark. ‘He could help at the academy too, gain some coaching qualifications.’ He paused and looked at Luke questioningly. Luke nodded. Mark continued, this time even more gently. ‘He might like it out there and want to stay a bit longer. Maybe go to uni, or college as it's called in the States.’
‘Move out there permanently?’ God where did that come from? One minute they were talking about six months, the next forever!
‘It's early days, just a thought really,’ said Mark, coming to sit beside Anna. He put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. ‘Let's cross that bridge if, and when, we get to it.’
Anna got up, moving away from Mark. She knew he had been trying all week to be more considerate and thoughtful, so much so that a few times she had been reminded of the man she had married. However, the thought of the photos that he refused to give up was a great counter-emotion.
As for Luke going to the States, it was a bittersweet pill, that was for sure. Anna was so pleased for Luke that Mark had finally made that bond with their son but, ironically, that bond was now threatening to take her son to the other side of the Atlantic.
‘I can easily come back in the holidays. It's not like I'm never going to see you again,’ said Luke enthusiastically. ‘We can see and speak to each other on Skype all the time. Email. Text. It'll be just like I'm here really.’ Anna didn’t look convinced, so Luke tried another tactic. ‘If I stayed here, did my A levels and was then going to uni in somewhere like Manchester or, I dunno, Wales or Cornwall, anywhere like that, you wouldn't object. It's just the same really.’
In a small, reasonable part of her mind, Anna knew that Luke was right. ‘It's just so far away,’ she said weakly. She let out a sigh. ‘I'm okay about it really. I just didn't have any inkling that you wanted to go. I'm pleased you and your dad are getting on so much better. Really, I am. I'll just miss you, that's all.’
‘I know. I'll miss you too, Mum.’
Face pressed against the window, hands cupped to block out the reflection, Tex tried to see through a chink in the closed Venetian blinds of 2 Coach House Cottages. No good, he couldn't see anything, it was too dark inside. He banged on the door for a third time and leaned on the bell. No answer. Surely there would be someone in at nine o'clock on a Sunday morning.
‘What's all this noise about?’ Mrs Meekham appeared on her path, looking over the garden to her neighbour's property. ‘Oh, it's you.’
‘Good morning, Ma’am,’ replied Tex politely. He really didn't need nosey Mrs Meekham right now. ‘Sorry if I disturbed you.’
‘If it's Anna you're after, then you're wasting your time,’ said Mrs Meekham, folding her arms.
Tex stopped trying to look through the letterbox, and walked across the little paved front garden to the boundary hedge between the two properties. ‘Is she out?’
‘You could say that,’ said Mrs Meekham, revelling in being the holder of crucial information. ‘They're all gone. All three of them.’
‘All three of them?’ echoed Tex.
‘Yes. Mark, Anna and Luke. They've all gone. To America.’ Mrs Meekham gave a nod of her head, as if confirming what she was saying.
‘To America?’ Tex couldn't quite comprehend what she was saying.
‘So I believe,’ said Mrs Meekham. ‘New family moving in on Monday. You've only just missed the Barnes’s, they went on Friday.’
‘Are you sure?’ Tex ignored the irritated feeling that shot through him on hearing them referred to as a family unit.
‘I may be old but I haven't lost my marbles yet,’ scolded Mrs Meekham. ‘Told me himself did young Luke. They were moving to America. Anyway, can't stand here gossiping, I've got things to do. Cheerio.’
Tex felt his gut twist. He had been so sure last week that Anna would turn up on Sunday. That she had finally accepted how much he loved her, and he had been equally sure that she would realise she loved him too. At least he thought she did.
As if on autopilot, Tex drove away from the house, away from Mrs Meekham's twitching curtain. He only made it around the corner before he had to pull over. Holding on to the top of the steering wheel, he rested his head on his hands, closing his eyes. This wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to go back to Mark. She certainly wasn't supposed to go to America. Tex sat upright, still holding on to the wheel, his arms locking at full stretch. The tension ran from his neck, through his shoulders, down the length of his arms, causing his fingers to curl and uncurl around the steering wheel.
‘Fuck it!’ he shouted out loud, and with a clenched fist, thumped the inside of the door. Taking a long, deep breath and exhaling slowly, Tex struggled to keep his anger and frustration under control. He needed to think straight. He closed his eyes, dragging his hand down across his face, rubbing his chin, trying to clear his mind and block out the feeling of loss. It was painful, too painful. Just when he thought he had her back, she had slipped from his grasp, like a child desperately trying to grab the string of a helium-filled balloon as it lifted into the sky, up and away, never to be seen again.
The bleeping of his phone brought him out of his thoughts. A message. Anna? He rummaged in his jacket that was lying on the passenger seat and pulled out his phone. No, of course it wouldn't be her. She was in America. With her husband! Just thinking of Mark being her husband made Tex’s face contort into a snarl. He looked at his phone. Jamie.
You all right mate? Fancy coming over for brunch?
He wasn't in the mood for being social. In fact, he hadn't been in the mood all week, brooding over Anna and her lack of contact. He had tried ringing her on Thursday, but it had just gone to voicemail. Perhaps he should have left a message, but it had seemed so impersonal, an automated voice telling him to speak after the tone. He needed to speak to her in person. He just wished he could see her one more time. Touch her. Hold her. Tell her how much he loved her.
Tex shook his head. What was he thinking of? He had done all that on Saturday at his apartment. What good had that done? Built his hopes up, only to have them dropped from an enormous height. His hopes free-falling without a parachute. Hitting the ground. Decimated.
He phoned Jamie. Not that he really wanted brunch but he needed to ask him if he knew anything about Anna going to America.
‘Sorry, mate, I thought you knew,’ said Jamie apologetically. ‘She's resigned. Sent me a letter by post.’
‘What did it say?’
‘Just that she had to resign with immediate effect due to personal reasons. Why? What's up?’
‘She's gone to America. With him.’ The bitterness was all too apparent.
‘Ouch!’
Tex could hear Yvonne's voice in the background. ‘Make sure he comes over.’ Then down the telephone she called directly to him, ‘You get yourself over here now, Tex. No brooding on your own. Understand?’
‘Yes,’ he sighed before hanging up.
He reached for his jacket again to put his phone away and heard a jangle in his pocket. Anna's watch. He took the watch out and held it across his fingers, rubbing the face with his thumb. This was the closest he was going to get to her. He was going to give it back to her today. That and the envelope sitting on the passenger seat.
Tex looked at the watch. What was the point in keeping it? A painful reminder. He didn't know where t
o send it, and if she was in America, would she ever get it? Then a thought struck him. Jamie would have to wait a bit longer.
‘She's not here,’ said Zoe after a few seconds’ hesitation.
‘I know,’ replied Tex. ‘Can I come in?’
‘You can, although these days my breakfast meetings usually consist of Coco Pops, riot control and baby winding.’ Zoe stood back, holding the door wide open. ‘As it happens, Nathan has taken the boys swimming this morning so I have a relatively free window, apart from Emily, that is. Come in.’
Tex stepped into the hall and waited while she closed the door, then followed her down to the kitchen.
‘Coffee? I can't do an espresso but I can do a black coffee.’
Tex nodded. ‘Black will be fine. Thank you.’
Radio 2 played in the background, the presenter relaying messages of love. Bob wanted to tell his gorgeous wife Judy how much he loved her, and how happy he had been for the past twenty-five years. Jessica, who was looking forward to seeing her boyfriend today, wanted to wish him happy birthday and tell him he was the love of her life.
Great, just what he needed. Tex closed his eyes momentarily.
‘So?’ said Zoe, putting the black coffee down in front of him.
Tex took the watch from his pocket, and together with the large envelope he had been holding, slid them across the table to Zoe. ‘Can you make sure Anna gets these?’ He wondered if he looked as fatigued as he sounded. He couldn't sum up the energy or enthusiasm to even pretend to be upbeat.
Zoe looked at the watch and envelope over the rim of her coffee cup. ‘I can, but why don't you do it yourself?’
‘I don't know her address.’ Tex hadn't meant to sound quite as bitter as he did. His emotions were swinging wildly, from a deep sense of loss to a bubbling anger and all the feelings in between.
‘I can tell you where she is,’ began Zoe, before being cut off by Tex.
‘No. I do not want to know the details.’ Tex took a mouthful of the coffee; it wasn't particularly pleasant, but he didn't really care. He spoke again, this time more gently. ‘How is she? Have you heard from her?’
Zoe studied Tex's face for a moment. ‘She's okay. I haven't spoken to her since she moved but she did send me a message to say she was settling in.’
‘Is she happy?’
‘What do you want me to say?’ sighed Zoe. ‘Do you want me to say that she's fed up and miserable or that she's happy and content?’
Tex screwed his eyes up and rubbed his temples. A bit of straight-talking wouldn't go amiss.
Zoe continued. ‘Why don't you ask her yourself?’
‘What is the point? She obviously doesn't want to speak to me.’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘Standing me up. Ignoring my calls. Moving to America. I get the message, loud and clear!’ Tex could feel the frustration zipping through every part of his body. Zoe was looking at him as if he was talking another language.
‘Whooaaa! Wait a minute, Tex,’ said Zoe, frowning and holding her hands up. ‘Just run that by me again.’
‘Forget it,’ snapped Tex. He should go. This conversation was just making him more frustrated. He needed to be alone. He really wasn't good company. He stood up to leave. ‘Just make sure Anna gets the stuff, please.’
‘Anna hasn't gone to America,’ said Zoe evenly. She raised her eyebrows slightly and nodded towards the chair.
Obediently, he sat back down again. ‘She’s not in America?’
‘No. Not at all. She’s still here in the UK. Still here in Chichester in actual fact.’ Zoe crossed her arms in front of her, cocking her head slightly to the left. Another raised eyebrow look.
Tex looked at her, trying to decipher the meaning of the subtly placed eyebrows. They seemed to be saying ‘what do you think to that then?’ What did he think? He wasn't sure, but he was aware that his heart had done a three-sixty flip.
‘But her neighbour, Mrs Meekham. She said they had gone to America. Luke had told her.’
‘Luke and Mark have gone to America. Anna hasn't.’
A moment of relief, quickly replaced by the feeling of his heart now dropping to the pit of his stomach. ‘She didn’t turn up on Sunday. Sent me a message.’
‘Under the circumstances, it's hardly surprising. I think you're being unreasonable.’
Tex shook his head. ‘What circumstances?’ He fished out his phone and scrolled through his text messages, finding the one from Anna. ‘I don't think I am being unreasonable.’ He handed the phone over to Zoe. She read the text a couple of times, pursing her lips and tapping the table slowly with her fingernail.
‘Anna sent you this?’
Tex nodded.
‘Did she ring or text you again?’
A shake of the head this time.
‘And did you try to contact her?’
‘Once. It went to voicemail. Obviously she didn't want to speak to me.’
‘And you didn't leave a message?’
‘No.’ Tex felt like he was being cross-examined by the Counsel for the Defense. Any minute now Zoe would shout ‘Just answer the question. Yes or no?’ or ‘Objection!’ or maybe ‘Do you honestly expect the court to believe…’
‘So you received a text from Anna, dumping you in effect?’ Zoe was summing up. ‘You received no further contact from her, and you only tried to contact her once.’
Tex opened his hands, palms up, before dropping them back to the table. No words needed.
‘Did you notice anything strange about the text?’
Bewildered, Tex shrugged. Zoe was in full courtroom mode, leading him down a path which he had absolutely no idea where it went. The only certainty was that the Defense Counsel was about to trip him up or state the blatantly obvious, dismissing his version of events.
‘Look at the text, Tex. When has Anna ever sent a message in shorthand?’ She paused. Obligingly, Tex shrugged. ‘Never, is the answer,’ said Zoe. ‘Anna always texts in full. To is never the number two. You is never the letter u. Come on, Tex. It's obvious. Anna didn't send that message.’
Tex felt like his heart was on a yo-yo string. Shooting up one minute, dropping the next. Case dismissed? Not quite. ‘Why didn’t she turn up on Sunday then?’
‘Luke ended up in hospital. She spent Saturday night there and most of Sunday morning. He had alcohol poisoning. She couldn't just leave him.’
‘But he’s okay now? I mean, if he’s gone to the States.’
‘Yes. He's fine.’
‘She hasn't contacted me though.’ No matter what explanations Zoe could offer, Tex couldn't get away from the fact that Anna had neither turned up nor tried to contact him at all.
‘Not for lack of trying. She's adamant that she sent a message and phoned you, but you didn't reply.’ Zoe frowned. ‘Look, something's not right, I don't know what it is but it all sounds a bit odd.’ She paused for a minute, holding Tex's gaze, then nodding, as if coming to a decision. ‘Look, there's something you should know. Anna made me promise not to say anything but I think that promise has been overtaken by events. I'll make you another coffee.’
Tex politely sipped his second, equally unpalatable, coffee as Zoe told him about Mark's blackmailing scheme. Tex shook his head, mumbling expletives directed at Mark and exasperations towards Anna.
‘She should have told me,’ he groaned. What a mess. He could have put it all right in an instant. He should have told her about Mark blackmailing him. They could have sorted it out together, sooner. It hadn’t needed to come to this.
‘You all right, Tex?’
‘Yeah, I’m good. Everything is falling into place now.’ He regarded the envelope. ‘The photos are in there.’
The incredulous look on Zoe’s face warranted an explanation. ‘Mark was blackmailing me too. Looks liked he played us both for jerks.’
‘Neither of you two told the other? How come you ended up with the photos?’
Tex exhaled. ‘Trade-off. He’s got secrets of
his own, you know. Looks like he’s had the last laugh though, sending that message.’
‘It would be typically spiteful of Mark to do that.’
‘But what I don’t understand is why Anna didn’t contact me during the week.’
‘She told me she did. Sent you several texts. Tried to phone you a couple of times but your phone was always switched off. She thought you didn't want anything to do with her.’
‘My phone is never off. She knows that.’
‘I'm only telling you what she told me,’ sighed Zoe. She leant back in the chair and absently pulled her hair into a ponytail before letting it drop back down. ‘I don't understand either. Why don't you just ring her now?’
There was nothing Tex wanted to do more than to ring Anna. To see her. To take her in his arms and tell her everything would be all right. That there had been a misunderstanding. He was there to make things better. But instead, he shook his head slowly. Sad eyes looking across the table at Zoe.
‘No. I’m not gonna ring her.’ Now it was Zoe's turn to look confused. ‘She needs to ring me.’
‘Isn't that a bit childish?’
‘Not at all. Look, she’s been under a lot of pressure. I don’t want to add to that, make her feel she owes me something. Just give her the envelope; I’ve put a note in, there’s other stuff there too. She may not take too kindly to my interfering. If she wants me, she’ll know where to find me. But it has to be because it’s what she wants.’
‘You're making this very difficult,’ said Zoe, a slightly impatient tone creeping in.
‘Please give her the stuff, and tell her just to remember what I said the last time I saw her.’ Tex stood up. ‘Thank you for the coffee.’
‘So where will you be? How can she get hold of you?’
‘She will find a way. If she really wants to.’
Chapter Thirty Five
Anna rummaged around in yet another box, in what was increasingly becoming a futile effort to find her phone charger. It was a cardboard box with the words ‘work files’ written across it in black marker pen. Huh! Work files, that was a laugh, she didn't exactly have a heap of it. Not since she'd resigned from Jamie's company. At the time it had seemed the only option. She couldn't face the possibility of bumping into Tex unexpectedly. Okay, it was a slim chance, but a chance all the same she wasn't prepared to take. She had to be strong now and focused. Seeing Tex had the potential to totally unnerve her.
The Little Shop of Afternoon Delights Page 94
