It Started at Sunset Cottage

by Bella Osborne

“It was never the right time. And it seemed childish to tell you that Shaun was saying mean things to me. You know, he even congratulated me on my inheritance at James’s funeral.”

  “Kate, I’m sorry.” Sarah shook her head, “That’s an awful thing to do.”

  “Sarah, that was just one of many nasty comments. Please don’t beat yourself up. He was such a good actor and he acted his best scenes with you.”

  “I’m a fool,” said Sarah, leaning back on the cushions.

  “It wasn’t that you were a fool, it was more that he played the loyal husband role so well he should have got a bloody Oscar for it. I often wondered what it was that attracted you to him. I just couldn’t see it.”

  “He poked me in the back with a ruler in biology class.”

  “Nice pick-up approach. As you got older, I thought you’d see him for what he was, but you didn’t.”

  “Beauty is in the eye of the beer-holder?” Sarah offered and she went to carry on, but Kate was feeling as if she was on a roll.

  “I thought he was having an affair when you were pregnant with Amy and then again just before James’s accident.”

  “Who with?”

  “The first time I wasn’t sure, but the second time I thought it was a barmaid.” She paused as she tried to recall the name. “Melissa or something like that.”

  “Melanie,” said Sarah quietly.

  “Yes, Melanie,” nodded Kate in recognition. “I couldn’t prove it and I wasn’t about to play sleuth. You kicked him out shortly afterwards anyway.”

  In the pause that followed, Sarah spoke with a quiet voice “But he wasn’t… having an affair?”

  “Well, it doesn’t really matter now, I suppose. But as it turns out, he was.” Registering the shock on Sarah’s face, she added, “Sorry, Sarah. Shaun and Melanie had been going on for a while. Phil told me after that pub cricket and barbecue night in the summer when he’d overdone the Pimm’s.” Kate stopped talking and noted that Sarah still held an awfully shocked expression, “Goodness, that feels better. That must be what confession feels like. I’ve not upset you, have I? I have, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  “Um. I guess it’s a bit of a shock,” said Sarah slowly, thinking that that was the understatement of the decade, up there with Custer’s “It’s just a minor problem with a few Indians”.

  “I am sorry, Sarah. I know he’s still Amy’s dad, but the bottom line is he’s a bad lot and you deserve far better and, like you said, he’s in the past.” There was a long silence.

  “I didn’t,” said Sarah meekly, biting her bottom lip again, harder this time.

  “You didn’t what?”

  “I didn’t say he was in the past.” Slowly, realisation dawned on Kate and her expression changed at least five times in the space of the same number of seconds.

  “Oh, God! No, you’re not. You haven’t. Have you?”

  “Got back together? Yes we have,” said Sarah, with a grimace.

  “Sarah!”

  “I know, I know. I’m clearly an idiot. He’s just been so nice lately; he’s paid off my credit card and Amy likes having him around and you were away and…”

  “Has he really changed? Has he stopped seeing Melanie?”

  “I don’t know. I want to think he’s changed but…I don’t know where he is half the time.”

  “And the other half of the time you do know, because?” said Kate her unease growing.

  “He moved back in. Sorry!” said Sarah, covering her face with her hands. Kate raised her eyebrows.

  “Okay, so what are you going to do now?”

  “Question too difficult…” sighed Sarah.

  “I’ll get the key lime pie and then we need a plan.”

  “A plan for what?”

  “We need to know if he is being faithful to you now. I take it that’s the key thing?”

  “Yep. If he’s shagging around, he’s definitely out.”

  “Any other criteria we need in order for you to kick him out?”

  “I should just kick him out anyway, shouldn’t I?” said Sarah “You would, wouldn’t you?”

  “I don’t know. I like to think I would, but if you’re kicking out your daughter’s father you need to be sure of your reasons why, because you have someone else you need to be able to justify it to.”

  The women sighed in unison. Kate silently got up and went to the kitchen. As she passed the front door, it opened and made her jump. Concetta came marching into the house.

  “Senora Kay, you hom!” said Concetta and she hugged her. The shock of a friendly welcome from Concetta and her attempt at English were a lot to take in. Kate nearly fell over and, once she was balanced back on two feet, she stared at Concetta but had no words, so she nodded and smiled in a strange sort of role reversal.

  “Endy ’as gonna, si?” said Concetta very slowly.

  “Si. You’ve learnt some English,” said Kate, who was mightily impressed that they could exchange words, even if it wasn’t very many and they weren’t grammatically correct or in the right order.

  “Endy help me,” grinned Concetta, showing teeth Kate never knew she had. It was a bit disconcerting having Concetta smile at her.

  “Well done Andy, then. He’s a nice man.” At this Concetta started giggling like a four-year-old and waved her headscarf at Kate as she went to hang up her coat. Kate cut three slices of pie and took them into the living room.

  “Was that Concetta?”

  “Yes, it was. Did you know Andy was teaching her English?”

  “Those two have been thick as thieves, laughing and joking together. I think aliens came and swapped her,” said Sarah, thrusting a fork into the pie. She sat there savouring the mouthful. Sarah had been doing lots of cooking lately, which she knew she only did when she had something on her mind. She’d been fretting for the last three weeks, ever since she’d had a drunken fumble with Shaun and the next day he’d turned up with his things, as a surprise, and announced to Amy he was moving back home. She knew she should have said no immediately, but there was a tiny part of her that wanted him back. Right now, she hated that part of her. It was clearly a defective gene from her father’s side. Sarah wished that, just sometimes, she would take time out to think things through instead of leaping in with both feet. They heard footsteps in the hall again.

  “Concetta, we’re in here,” called Kate. Concetta appeared in the doorway and repeated the scary smile, which made Sarah nearly choke on her pie. “Would you like to join us?” asked Kate, proffering the pie.

  “Si, Senora. I like vherry much.” Concetta smoothed down her apron and flamboyant skirt and sat gingerly on the edge of the sofa. She looked a little uncomfortable, but then started to eat. Andy clearly hadn’t covered food in his English lessons as all Concetta could manage was an exaggerated rub of her stomach, which they recognised as a positive thing. The three women sat in silence and ate.

  “Nice pie, Sarah, thank you. Now have you had a think about Shaun?” asked Kate, putting down her plate.

  “He bad man. He no love you,” stated Concetta, jabbing towards Sarah with her fork and sending a few crumbs into the air. Sarah was more than a bit taken aback.

  “Do you know Shaun, Concetta?” asked Sarah.

  “Endy tell me. Shwarn is bad man, he no love Sarah.”

  Kate and Sarah exchanged looks. This was news to both of them that Andy had a view on Shaun and Sarah’s relationship, and one which he was prepared to discuss with Concetta.

  “Thanks, Concetta, that’s good to know,” said Sarah.

  “Well come, lady,” said Concetta, who was now looking very satisfied that she’d managed to get her point across. She polished off the pie in record time and cleared away the plates. “I work.” And she smiled at them both and disappeared.

  “Did you see her legs?” whispered Sarah, as soon as Concetta was out of earshot.

  “No, why?” said Kate.

  “They were so hairy a yeti would take photos!”

/>   “They do things differently in Spain. Anyway, ring Andy. See what he knows.” Kate leaned over and passed the phone to Sarah.

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Make out you know something and see if he confirms it.”

  “Mmm, okay,” said Sarah, perking up a little. Andy answered on the second ring.

  “The wanderer returns! Welcome home, Kate. If the house fell down it wasn’t me. Honest!”

  “Hi Andy, it’s me.”

  “Oh, hi Sarah. Is Kate okay?”

  “She’s fine, you can speak to her in a mo. I just need to ask you something.”

  “Fire away.”

  “I know Shaun is seeing Melanie and I wanted your help in chucking him out,” she said, as convincingly as she could.

  “What time shall I come over?”

  “So you knew?!”

  “Er, yes. Look you’re never quite sure with those two, though, because they split up and then make it up all the time.”

  “You didn’t tell me,” said Sarah, her voice suddenly a lot softer. She felt as if she’d been punched. She was getting an emotional battering this afternoon.

  “How could I when you seemed so pleased that Shaun was back? I did tell Shaun I’d kill him if he cheated on you again.”

  Sarah was looking at Kate, but was speaking into the phone. “You must despise me for being so weak.”

  “No!” replied Kate and Andy together, and Kate came over to put her arms around her. She took the phone from her.

  “Hi, Andy. Can you meet us at Sarah’s in about an hour?”

  “No problem. I’m sorry, Kate. Please tell Sarah that I’m really sorry.”

  “I will. Don’t worry, she’ll be fine.”

  Kate and Sarah jumped out of Kate’s car as soon as they caught sight of Andy’s van. They took it in turns to hug each other and there was a quiet determination amongst the three of them. Sarah unlocked the door and was relieved that Shaun wasn’t home. Kate handed her a bin bag.

  “Here, put his clothes in this. I’ll do shoes and bathroom,” instructed Kate, as Andy appeared at the front door with his tool box. Sarah looked at him with a puzzled expression.

  “Changing the lock,” said Andy, as he threw a new key to Sarah. Kate and Sarah worked quickly and swept through the house collecting up anything that was Shaun’s. When they deposited the two full bags on the front-door step, Andy was already working on the back-door lock.

  “Shaun’s going to flip,” said Kate, looking worried.

  “Yep, and I’m going to flip out when I see that sodding Melanie,” said Sarah.

  “Be careful. You want to keep your job and, if you lose it with her, Phil won’t have a choice, he’ll have to sack you. Don’t give her the satisfaction,” exhorted Kate.

  Sarah knew that Kate was right, but she also knew how good it would feel to let out all her anger in Melanie’s direction. At least now she understood why Melanie was always so off with her and why every attempt of hers to be friends had been met with a frosty reception.

  “Right, job done,” said Andy, smoothing his thumb over the edge of the door. “I’ve also added two new bolts top and bottom on both doors, just in case he… well, just in case.”

  “How about you fetch Amy from school and we’ll wait here for Shaun?” suggested Kate.

  “No, I want to tell him what I think of him,” said Sarah.

  “I think I may have a better idea,” said Andy. “Why don’t you both get Amy from school and go back to Kate’s. We can tell Amy it’s a sleepover. I’ll stay here and wait for Shaun.”

  “What am I going to tell Amy? She’ll be upset,” said Sarah, as if realising for the first time the implications for Amy.

  “Come on, we’ll think of something,” said Kate. “Grab some things for Amy and let’s go.”

  “Dear boy, not a good time. Niamh and I are at the theatre,” said Marcus into his mobile, as he ignored the glares from those around him, Niamh included.

  “Which theatre?”

  “New Wimbledon, why?”

  “I’ll be there in less than five minutes. I was on the way to yours anyway,” said Tim before the line went dead.

  “Tim, no, the bloody show is about to start,” said Marcus, in vain.

  “Marcus, the band is setting up. Look!” Niamh pointed to the front of the stage, where the band members were shuffling about below.

  “I’ll have to speak to him outside or he’ll come barrelling in here. He sounds in a tizz.”

  “Okay, but please be back before it starts.”

  Marcus apologised to the rest of the row in turn as he shuffled along the seats and made his escape. He hadn’t been outside long when Tim’s car pulled up and the rear door opened to reveal Tim looking pale and wearing his trademark sunglasses.

  “Get in,” he instructed firmly.

  “No, the show’s about to start. What’s so blathering urgent? Are you all right?”

  “No, I’m not well.” He saw Terry’s eyes flick to the rear-view mirror and decided that perhaps this was a conversation better had outside the car. “I’ll be ten minutes, Terry, okay?”

  “Thank you, Terence,” added Marcus. Terry saluted to them both. Marcus ushered Tim up to the top of the theatre’s cream steps, where they sat down. “What do you mean by ‘not well’. Is it serious?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t slept properly for two or three weeks. I can’t face food and I’ve had time off the set,” said Tim. Marcus looked suitably shocked.

  “Good heavens. What does your doctor say it is?”

  “I’ve been to a couple and they’ve done tests but can’t find anything physically wrong.”

  “This needs referring to a specialist.”

  “He referred me to some counsellor and I’ve just come from a session.” Tim looked agitated, stood up and started to pace up and down along the step that Marcus was sitting on.

  “And what was his conclusion?”

  “That’s the thing, it makes no sense,” Tim snorted uncomfortably.

  “What doesn’t?” Marcus was momentarily distracted as he heard the band tuning up inside. Tim spun on his heel to face Marcus, his hands clasped together under his chin.

  “The counsellor thinks… he suggested that it might be… that I’m in love,” said Tim slowly, his pale forehead slightly creased.

  “Good Lord! And are you, dear boy? Are you in love?”

  “I’m not sleeping, I’m not eating and generally I feel like shit, so I’m thinking ‘no’, because everyone tells me how wonderful being in love is.”

  “So what did you tell the counsellor that led him to this conclusion?”

  “That she occupies all my thoughts. I can’t concentrate on anything. The more I try not to think about her, the more I go over every conversation, every touch and relive it. It’s like some weird obsessive thing.” The band struck up into an intro and Marcus got to his feet.

  “It sounds like love to me, too, so my hearty congratulations, dear boy, I’m thrilled for you and Lumina. We must do dinner, but right now I need to go or I’ll be getting a divorce,” and he turned to leave.

  “Kate,” said Tim quietly to Marcus’s back. “Not Lumina. It’s Kate.”

  Chapter 11

  When they got back to Kate’s house, Sarah took Amy into the living room to talk to her. She tried her best to explain the situation with Shaun in a way she hoped Amy understood. Amy sat quietly looking at her mother.

  “We’ll be fine, just the two of us, and you can still see Daddy. It’ll be just like it was before. Okay?” Sarah studied her daughter’s face for some clue as to how she was feeling about this sudden change of events.

  “Is Daddy going to get cross?” asked Amy, her face now showing concern.

  “I think he will, a bit. That’s why Andy is going to talk to him and we’re going to stay here. Just until he’s stopped being cross.”

  “Can I always stay with you? I don’t like it when Daddy gets cross. He says bad thi
ngs.”

  “Of course you can always stay with me. That’s what mummies are for. I’ll always keep you safe, Amy. It’s up to you when you want to see Daddy.” Sarah brushed the soft ringlets behind Amy’s ear and stroked her smooth cheek. She didn’t know if Amy was okay with what was happening, but she knew in her heart that it would be best for both of them.

  “Can we make pancakes?” asked Amy, suddenly perking up.

  “Yes, I’m sure we can.”

  “Yay!” cheered Amy, giving her mother a quick hug before skipping off into the kitchen, leaving Sarah slumped on her knees in front of the sofa. Sarah’s phone started to ring in her pocket and, as she pulled it out, she could see it was Shaun. Her stomach lurched but she pressed the button to answer it anyway.

  “Sarah, what’s going on?”

  “It’s over, Shaun, it always was.”

  “Come on. Can’t we stay friends?”

  “That’s like Amy asking if we can keep the hamster even though it’s dead. So, no.”

  “You never look at things from my point of view,” said Shaun, anger bubbling in his words.

  “That’s because I can’t get my head that far up my own arse!”

  “You bitch! You can’t lock me out of my own house and kidnap my daughter. You’ve really lost it this time. I’ll have the police and social services onto you. You stupid cow, did you really think you could get me out of your life that easily by just changing the locks? I’ll always be here.”

  “Thanks for the call, Shaun. Now go and play happy families with Melanie. Don’t bother calling social services, I’ve already made them aware as I guessed you’d be making threats.”

  “You think you’re so superior. You won’t win, you know. I’ll see you in court!”

  “I’d like to see you inside a chalk outline! But I’m not that lucky!”

  “You won’t win Sarah, the cream always rises to the top.”

  “So does scum!” With that, Sarah poked the red “off” key and threw the mobile onto the sofa. It just wasn’t the same as slamming down a receiver on someone. Almost instantly, Kate’s mobile sprang into life and she bounded in from the kitchen to answer it.

  “It’s Andy,” she said to a worried-looking Sarah before she answered the call. “Hi, how did it go?”