Lew listened to Charlotte’s side of the phone conversation with interest.
‘. . . I can’t, Regina. Lewis is off today and we’re going out . . . No, I can’t later either because we don’t know when we’ll be back . . . I can’t this week, I’m really busy sorting out decorators . . . I’ll ring you. Next week . . . we’ll do lunch. Bye . . . bye.’
She put down the phone and let out a long breath.
Lew raised his eyebrows. ‘Decorators?’ he questioned.
‘I couldn’t think what else to say.’
‘You are pulling back from her, aren’t you?’ Lew was impressed.
‘She can be hard to say no to though.’
‘But you managed. Anyway, you didn’t tell me what happened when everyone left on Saturday.’ Lew slathered blackberry jam on his toast. ‘Did you talk some sense into her? Did she tell you any more about the swinging scene?’
‘Nothing happened or I would have said,’ Charlotte replied. ‘I calmed her down, we had a chat and a couple more . . . we had a nightcap and then we fell asleep on the two sofas.’
‘What did you talk about?’
‘God, Lewis, I don’t know, I can’t remember. I’d had a drink and I was knackered by then,’ Charlotte snapped. ‘What is this, Twenty Questions?’
Lew held his hands up in a sign of peace. ‘Whoa, I’m only making conversation. I was curious to know if she’d realised that Patrick had left for good.’
‘I imagine so. Banging noises woke me up. When I went upstairs to see what she was up to, she’d already cut holes in everything hanging in his wardrobe and was smashing his watches.’
‘Oh God.’ Lew gave a despairing sigh, but he’d expected nothing less from Regina. He wondered if she knew yet that Patrick was going to engage Adriana as his divorce solicitor. He’d texted Lew that morning to ask if he could recommend a good firm of solicitors. He had taken up temporary residence in the local Holiday Inn but he and Marlene were reunited. He didn’t tell that to Charlotte though, just in case she let it slip to Regina before she was supposed to know.
‘I need a break from her,’ said Charlotte. ‘She’s too intense, too needy.’
Amen, thought Lew.
Chapter 44
The happy little bubble in which Bonnie existed burst on the Thursday of that week when the postman arrived at the Pot of Gold. Lew picked up the mail, sifted through it and handed a letter to Bonnie which had been addressed to her there. Bonnie immediately recognised the writing on the envelope and prickles of tension ran up her arms. She paled before Lew’s eyes and he guessed it must be correspondence from Stephen.
‘You all right?’ he asked.
Bonnie nodded, but it was an obvious lie.
‘Go and have five minutes to yourself,’ said Lew, thumbing towards the back room. ‘You can bring two cups of coffee back with you.’
Bonnie felt light-headed as she carefully tore the top of the envelope as if its contents might leap out and attack her.
Bonita,
I have received correspondence from your solicitor, which I have read with great amusement. You do not seriously expect me to comply, do you?
I have not contacted you because I hoped your nonsense and temporary insanity would work its way out of your system. I know that women of your age can experience hormonal problems and would advise that you visit a doctor and discuss.
So far as this ridiculous situation is concerned, I will grant you until the end of the month to return to your senses and to this house. If you do not, I will be forced to tell the authorities what happened on March 15th at approximately 7 p.m. five years ago and I do not think you would want me to do that.
I have been your guardian and support for almost fourteen years. Your disloyalty in the face of my devotion is inexcusable but I am sure given time I will learn to forgive you.
Yours
Your HUSBAND Stephen.
Bonnie could hear the pompous words in his supercilious voice, menace couched in his magnanimity, that shouted status of ‘husband’ as if to remind her that she was his property and she felt the contents of her breakfast stir in her stomach. It had begun. Seeing the threat in cold, hard print crushed her temporary illusion of being free of him. She didn’t want tears to make an appearance but they came rushing to her eyes, pulled there by panic and frustration and fear.
Lew’s head popped round the door and he caught her madly trying to wipe the tears from her eyes faster than they fell. And when she saw him, though her first reaction was to turn away, her body betrayed her with a huge hiccup of a sob. She dropped her head into her hands and hadn’t a clue what to do when she felt his arms close around her.
He hadn’t meant to touch her. He’d expected to walk in and see her putting the kettle on, letter thrown down on the desk with the contempt it deserved, but he’d found her crying, looking lost and so very vulnerable and it had been instinct, not conscious thought, that had made him clear the distance between them in long strides to comfort her. She felt so breakable and she smelt of summer flowers and he knew that he shouldn’t be holding her like this, no matter how much he wanted to. Warning bells were sounding, pictures of Charlotte flashing in his head; he had pushed against a boundary and must step back.
‘What did he say?’ Lew asked, releasing her, moving things to a less intimate plane.
‘He received the letter from Adriana. He thinks I’m bluffing and he wants me to go back to him,’ said Bonnie, wiping her eyes and stuffing the letter into her bag. She couldn’t let him see it. ‘If I do, he’ll try to forgive me.’
Lew gave a dry chuckle.
‘I bet he would.’
Bonnie continued to look worried.
‘You wouldn’t go back, would you?’ asked Lew, tentatively.
‘God no.’ She looked sickened at the thought. ‘But I know that ignoring him will inflame him and yet if I respond he might think he’s reeling me in.’ She closed her eyes and shook her head. ‘I don’t know what to do for the best.’
Lew folded his arms over his broad chest. ‘He’s done exactly what he wanted to do with that letter: worm into your head.’
‘I know.’
‘It’s his way of clinging on. Let Adriana deal with it for you. And give her the letter, because it might be useful.’
‘Yes, I will,’ said Bonnie, knowing she wouldn’t. She couldn’t let anyone else see it because they would ask questions.
‘Adriana will tell you, Bonnie, that the law isn’t very tolerant of people trying to dodge it and thinking they can outsmart it.’
Which wasn’t as good news for Bonnie as Lew might expect.
After work, as Lew approached his house, he noticed that Regina’s white Mercedes was parked outside and it infuriated him. He couldn’t imagine that Charlotte, in her present mood, had invited her there, especially after telling her on the phone that she’d be far too busy all week to see her, which meant Regina had forced her unwanted company on his wife. He geed himself up for getting Regina out so he could relax with Charlotte but as he opened the door he could hear Regina’s screech from down the hallway.
‘. . . he can fuck off, I tell you. Dad’s solicitor is a bastard. He’ll be singing soprano by the time he comes out of the divorce . . .’
‘Oh hi,’ Charlotte greeted Lew with obvious relief when he strolled into the lounge.
‘Hello love, hello Reg,’ he went over to kiss Charlotte on the cheek. ‘I thought the decorators were coming this afternoon to talk you through things.’
‘I rang to cancel them,’ said Charlotte, grateful for his collusion. ‘Regina needed me so I’m hoping to see them tomorrow instead.’
‘And how are you, Regina?’ Lew said, bending stiffly to kiss his guest politely on the cheek and being immediately overpowered by the poisonous combo of spicy perfume and hairspray which clung to his lungs as he breathed her in.
‘Seen anything of my errant husband?’ Regina asked. She’d had a spray tan and was two shades nearer to mahogany t
han she was the last time he’d seen her and her spirally, black hair was at least a foot longer. She was dressed as if she was going out clubbing: short skirt, leather jacket, thigh-length black boots. She looked like someone who couldn’t decide whether to go to a fancy dress party as Cher or Dorian from Birds of a Feather so opted for a hybrid of both.
‘Nope,’ said Lew, noticing the four empty coffee cups on the table; so she’d been there for a while then. ‘Have you?’
She humphed by way of an answer. ‘I’ve been trying to drag your wife out for some badly needed retail therapy but I get the feeling she’s avoiding me,’ she went on with a smile on her lips and flint in her eyes.
‘I doubt she’s avoiding you, Reg,’ said Lew, unable to mask the irritated tone in his voice. ‘We’re about to start decorating the whole house so she hasn’t got time at the moment as she’s supposed to be picking out colours. I thought she’d already told you that.’
‘Oh, do you have books, Charlotte? Let me see,’ said Regina, clapping her hands excitedly. ‘I have the best eye for colour.’
Lew felt his skull prickling with annoyance. He made a deliberate show of checking his watch.
‘Look, Reg, I hate to be a party pooper and Charlotte won’t say because she wouldn’t want to come across as rude but we’re going out to dinner tonight with a business client and you – ’ he addressed Charlotte ‘ – don’t have long to get ready.’
Regina planted her cup on the table and stood. ‘Charlotte, you should have said.’
‘I didn’t want you to think I was shoving you out of the door. I know you’re upset,’ Charlotte sighed, though Regina looked the least upset person Lew could imagine. ‘I’m sure that the . . . your clients can wait if we’re late.’ She widened her eyes at Lew, imploring him to play ball and he wondered what the hell she was playing at. ‘We’ve time for another coff—’
Lew cut her off sharply. ‘Darling, bless you for being sweet and Reg knows we wouldn’t say this if we didn’t mean it, but I’ve been waiting to screw these people down to a date for a long time and turning up late will give them an initial impression I would rather they didn’t have of me.’ He zapped his own message via his eyes to his wife: work with me on this, not against me.
‘Going anywhere nice?’ asked Regina, picking up that horrible white crocodile bag.
‘Client’s house, near Castleton.’
‘That’s a long way,’ said Regina, giving Charlotte an air kiss at either side of her cheek.
‘Worth it, I hope,’ said Lew, letting her repeat the double mwah against his face as he held his breath. They both escorted Regina down the hallway, although she looked more as if she were heading for a dancing pole than the door.
‘Take care, Reg,’ he said.
‘I’ll see you both very soon.’
Not if I can help it, said Lew to the back of the door when it closed on her.
Charlotte almost slid down the wall in relief.
‘I didn’t think she’d ever go. She’s been here two hours.’
‘So why the bloody hell were you asking her to stay longer?’ Lew raised his eyebrows in puzzlement. ‘I was giving you a lifeline and you were preferring to drown.’
‘I don’t want to upset her,’ said Charlotte.
‘She’s got the hide of a galvanised rhino. You can’t possibly upset her. She doesn’t want Patrick, she just can’t stand the idea that someone else has him.’ He shuddered at the thought of having Regina as his wife. It would be like being married to a giant lamprey.
‘She’s found out that he and Marlene are together and he’s employed a divorce solicitor so she’s had a giant bonfire and burnt everything Patrick left in the house.’ Charlotte winced.
‘Ouch. I hope he sues her for criminal damage. You know, I’m looking forward to going out with just you and Gemma and Jason in the near future. And one day soon maybe Patrick and Marlene too can join us.’
Charlotte gave him a horrified look. ‘What if Regina found out?’
‘What if she does?’ said Lew, kicking off his shoes.
‘Well . . . nothing. Just wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of her. She can be . . .’
‘Evil,’ Lew supplied the word for her. ‘I imagine she would be deadly when wounded. Oh I hope his solicitor goes for her bloody jugular.’
Charlotte nodded heartily in agreement. ‘She will say anything to damage Patrick, don’t you think? She’d lie and manipulate to get what she wanted. I wouldn’t trust a single word she says. I think she enjoys causing troub—’
Lew cut her off. ‘No more talk of her, please. Now, shall we really go out and have dinner somewhere nice and nod to the fact that we actually enjoy being married to each other?’
He felt a sudden and overwhelming need to celebrate that he didn’t have all the problems that Patrick and Bonnie had and that he was damned lucky he wasn’t going to be another client of Adriana de Lacey. He needed to give his wife some attention and chase away the thoughts he was having about Bonnie that really shouldn’t be anywhere near his head.
Chapter 45
Bonnie sat at her table filling up the last of twenty bags of sunflower table confetti for a wedding. She had pressed the shapes out and then dotted the middles with a brown pen. It had taken ages, but they looked lovely and it was nice to offer a more detailed service than others did. She’d spent her whole day off pressing out shapes and building up some stock. She’d treated herself to a fish and chip lunch and when she went into the Co-op on the High Street, she found they were giving out free samples of new salted caramel latte sachets. The woman had given her a handful. ‘It’s your lucky day,’ she had said to Bonnie.
She was on her third – they really were too nice – as she began stapling her Rainbow Lady label to the tops of the confetti bags. She had a Will Ferrell film playing on the TV in the background to keep her company and she’d giggled to herself at some of the lines and hearing herself, had marvelled that it was possible to be so content with so little. If only it could last, because she knew that no amount of wishful thinking would stop the brightness draining out of the rainbow that had coloured the last two and a half weeks for her. It would soon be back to ‘Sherman grey’ with no gift of a pot of gold at either end.
She hadn’t heard from Stephen since the letter had arrived, eleven days ago. Adriana had told her exactly what Lew had: that Stephen was trying to make her dance as if she were his marionette and that the only way to thwart him was to ignore him. And Bonnie had wished that it were all that easy. None of them had any idea what he could do to her.
She’d received a postcard from Valerie that morning which had cheered her. The words were written in her beautiful scrolling hand:
My dear friend, I hope this finds you well and happy and living safely in a house full of fine furniture. I am in a good place where I can bear now to savour my memories and appreciate how loved I was. Despite everything, I consider myself one of the lucky ones. Life offers no promises and chances should be taken when they fly close enough to catch. I have not booked a flight yet, but you will be the first person I shall call on when I’m home. I am thinking of you. You have more friends than you know, Bonnie. Do not be afraid to ask for help if you need it. Now back to the sunshine. Wishing you the best of everything and thinking of you.
Valerie x
It made Bonnie realise how fond she was of the older woman and that by the time she had returned from Italy, their friendship would have changed. It would either be closer and deeper or not exist at all.
There were four days until the end of the month. Bonnie wondered how many of those friends would be shaking their heads at the thought that a man like Brian Sherman could have produced such a daughter.
Chapter 46
The next day, Lew was in the back room, searching on the computer for gift ideas for Charlotte’s birthday at the weekend, when he realised the date: it was today that the Chinese cup and saucer would be auctioned off. How the hell had that slipped his min
d? Then again, there were plenty of things in his head serving to divert his attention. Charlotte wasn’t herself. She was jittery, nervous, upset about something, though she insisted she wasn’t. Regina was making a bit of a pest of herself and Charlotte, for some reason, was reluctant to tell her to get stuffed. So much so that when Lew said he was quite happy to do it for her, Charlotte reacted very strangely, jumping to Regina’s defence. She argued that Regina was more upset about Patrick than she was letting on and it would be cruel beyond measure. Lew didn’t get it at all; one minute Charlotte wanted to extricate herself from Regina, the next she was letting herself be pushed into spending the day at the Trafford Centre with her. He threw in the towel and told Charlotte that if she wanted to go out and socialise, he wasn’t going to stop her, but if she made any arrangements which included him, he would not be going.
And Bonnie was on his mind too, much more than he wanted her to be. She turned up for work every morning dressed in bright colours – not a designer name amongst them – and he couldn’t help that his spirits lifted every time his eyes came to rest on her. And it worried him that his heart liked her so much and that his thoughts drifted to her so often, as if they were magnetised.
Stephen was resisting the divorce and the strain was telling on her. She was as smiley and friendly with the customers as always, but sometimes he caught her off-guard, staring into space and wondered at the activity going on in her head. She looked lost, stunned and so dreadfully tired when her mask slipped.
He could hear her now talking to Stickalampinit and his girlfriend who, despite being a rather big girl, exploited her passing facial resemblance to Sharon Stone with great aplomb. She was known (secretly) amongst the other traders as ‘Sharon Seventeen Stone’. Today she was Catherine Tramelled up to the nines with a very short, sleeveless, high-necked dress on and her hair greased back from her – it had to be said – very pretty face. Stickalampinit didn’t have a very scintillating line of chat but Bonnie always listened to what he had to say as if he were as interesting as Jeremy Paxman. She had a way of making people feel special and he was glad that the traders had made her feel special too with their recent kindness of a load of furniture and envelopes of money.
The Queen of Wishful Thinking Page 22
