Stormy Weather at Castle Court

by Holly Hepburn

  ‘Have you seen much of Seb lately?’ she asked, keeping her tone as light as she could manage.

  Instantly, Adam’s eyes darkened. ‘No.’

  Sadie took in his tight-lipped expression warily. Hadn’t Cat described a similar reaction in Seb? What exactly had happened between them? ‘That’s a shame,’ she said. ‘I do hope it wasn’t because of your decision to leave Smart Cookies.’

  His mouth dropped slightly before he got a grip. ‘No! Why would you think that?’

  Now it was Sadie’s turn to shrug. ‘What else am I supposed to think? You left so quickly after Daniel and I decided to give things another go, and Cat is practically my sister. It isn’t a huge leap to assume that you and Seb disagreed over something to do with the way things worked out.’

  Adam’s jaw clamped suddenly shut and it was a moment before he spoke. ‘No, Sadie, it wasn’t anything to do with you. If you must know, Seb and I fell out over—’

  He stopped and turned away, fixing his attention on the bookshelves once more.

  ‘Over what?’ Sadie pressed, dying to know the truth.

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ he said over one shoulder. ‘Forget I said anything.’

  ‘Obviously it does matter,’ Sadie said, taking a step towards him. ‘It matters enough for you and Seb to argue.’

  ‘It’s none of my business,’ Adam said, his tone sounding strangled.

  ‘What isn’t?’ Sadie asked, touching his arm.

  There was a long silence that only ended when Adam let out a rough-sounding growl. ‘You have to promise me you won’t tell Cat.’

  Sadie felt the ground lurch under her feet. It was the last thing she’d expected to hear. ‘What?’

  He shook his head. ‘The reason Seb and I fell out concerns her.’

  ‘Concerns her how?’ Sadie said, foreboding gnawing at her insides. ‘Adam, what does this have to do with Cat?’

  His shoulders sagged in defeat. ‘I should have told you this ages ago. But I didn’t know how.’

  ‘Told me what?’ Sadie asked, taking a deep calming breath.

  Adam sighed. ‘Look, I think you’d better sit down.’

  Hardly daring to breathe, she did as he suggested, watching with apprehension as he took a seat on the battered old armchair opposite. ‘Go on.’

  ‘There’s no easy way to say this,’ Adam began, ‘so I’m just going to come right out with it. Seb cheated on Cat. With Elin.’

  Sadie let out a horrified gasp. ‘No!’

  ‘It happened while she was in Paris, sorting out the situation with her old boss and the lawyers. Seb and Elin got drunk, one thing led to another and it all got very out of hand. I encouraged Seb to tell Cat what had happened – he disagreed. It meant nothing, he said, and Elin felt the same. But I still thought Cat had a right to know. Which is why Seb and I fell out.’

  Sadie stared at him in shock. Whatever she’d expected, it hadn’t been this. But suddenly the pieces started to tumble into place. Cat had been convinced there had been something wrong with Elin – she’d been unusually cool and there’d even been one or two occasions when Cat had thought she’d been avoiding them. But Seb had been the same as ever. Almost.

  ‘I don’t believe it,’ she said, shaking her suspicions away. ‘He wouldn’t. Elin wouldn’t. How do you know – did you catch them?’

  ‘I saw Elin sneaking out of Seb’s early on Valentine’s Day. Let’s just say she didn’t look like she’d popped in to borrow a cup of sugar.’

  Sadie’s eyes narrowed as she racked her memory. ‘That’s the day you went home sick. And then you handed in your notice.’

  Adam didn’t meet her eyes. ‘It was obvious Cat was worried by what had happened in Paris and the last thing I wanted to do was give her more bad news.’ He hesitated, shame-faced. ‘And you’d just got back together with Daniel, so I wasn’t in the best place, mentally. It just seemed easier to run away.’

  ‘You didn’t run away,’ Sadie protested, feeling a sudden jumble of unexpected emotion at his words. Pity mingled with protectiveness and a hint of something else she couldn’t quite identify.

  ‘You’re very kind, Sadie, but I’m afraid that’s exactly what I did,’ Adam said. ‘And then I didn’t know how to put things right – I knew you and Cat would be furious with me for leaving at such short notice. So I told Seb exactly what I thought of him and did my best to forget all about you and Castle Court.’

  He looked so vulnerable that Sadie wanted to hug him. None of this was his fault – he’d been caught in the romantic crossfire from all sides and she could hardly blame him for washing his hands of it.

  Another thought occurred to her as she watched regret play across his face. ‘That’s around the time that Elin got together with Jaren. Does he know about Seb?’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Adam replied. ‘Jaren is a very straightforward guy – he’d want everything out in the open, especially given how well he and Cat get on. No, I think I’m the only person who knows, apart from Seb and Elin.’ He sat back and puffed out a long breath. ‘So there you have it.’

  ‘I wish you’d told me sooner,’ Sadie said, hating the hint of rebuke behind the words. ‘I know Seb is your friend but I thought I was too.’

  Adam looked away. ‘I’m sorry. I wanted to.’

  The contrition in his voice made her feel even worse. ‘No, I’m sorry. This isn’t your fault.’ She sighed and stared up at the ceiling. ‘What a mess. You do know I have to tell Cat everything, don’t you?’

  ‘I know. How do you think she’ll take it?’

  Sadie managed a short laugh. ‘I think she’ll want to kill him, at least at first. But she isn’t as tough as she seems – this is going to hurt her, at a time when she’s already struggling. So, I don’t know how she’ll react but I wouldn’t want to be in Seb’s shoes.’ She thought for a second. ‘Or Elin’s, for that matter.’

  Adam studied his mug of tea for a moment, as though it held all the answers to the situation. ‘I’ll get you that honey,’ he said finally, placing the cup on the table to one side of his chair.

  Sadie watched him go, her heart heavy. Why was nothing ever straightforward where she and Adam were concerned? It was almost as though they were cursed – something always seemed to get in the way of their friendship.

  In typical Adam style, he refused to accept the money Sadie tried to give him at the front door. ‘I couldn’t. Not like this.’

  ‘Take it,’ she insisted. ‘And give me a receipt – it’s a business expense.’

  ‘Consider it a gift,’ he insisted. ‘An apology for dumping a load of bad news on you.’

  Sadie stared at the carrier bag she now held, laden with four jars of clear amber honey. ‘I think it’s going to take more than honey to make this right,’ she said. ‘But none of it is your fault – you’re just the messenger.’

  ‘I wish I didn’t have to be.’

  ‘No, I can understand that.’ She glanced up into his wretched expression and shook her head. ‘Thanks for telling me.’

  He nodded. ‘Yeah. Take care, Sadie.’

  It took a lot of willpower for Sadie to turn away from Adam; seeing him had reminded her how much she missed his company. But he’d obviously been more hurt than she’d realised by her reconciliation with Daniel, made all the worse by Seb’s behaviour, and he’d hidden himself away to lick his wounds and recover. And it might be that he needed more time before they could begin to pick up the pieces of their friendship. Or it might be that they never would. The thought of it caused tiny needles of distress to prick at her heart.

  She got halfway down the path before she plucked up enough courage to throw caution to the winds. ‘Look,’ she said, stopping and turning around with a quick, nervous huff, ‘you might not fancy it but we’re going to have a little re-opening celebration as soon as the shop repairs are finished. You’d be very welcome to join us, both as a past employee and as a friend.’

  His expression was unreadable as he watched her. ‘W
ill Seb be there?’

  ‘I think it’s highly likely Cat will bash his brains in with his own cocktail shaker, so no,’ Sadie said with a slight twist of her mouth. ‘I’ll let you know the date, shall I?’

  He managed a small wavering smile that planted hope in Sadie’s soul. ‘Please do.’

  Chapter Seven

  ‘I don’t believe it.’

  Cat stared at Sadie, who shifted on the edge of the sofa that lined one wall of Cat’s living room. Her voice sounded shrill and accusatory even to her own ears as she went on, ‘Seb wouldn’t do that.’

  Sadie glanced across to where Lissy sat on the carpet with her dinosaurs. ‘It’s hard to believe, isn’t it?’ she said, her voice low. ‘But too many details add up. Besides, why would Adam lie? He’s got nothing to gain from splitting you and Seb up.’

  A dull ache started behind Cat’s eyes as she willed herself not to cry. ‘I don’t know. Maybe he’s trying to get back at you.’

  The look Sadie gave her was full of sympathy. ‘But this isn’t getting back at me – you’re the one who’s hurt. And I don’t think he’s the vengeful type. I’m sorry, Cat, I think he’s telling the truth.’

  Cat pressed her lips together hard. If she was honest with herself, she’d known something was going on inside Seb’s head for a while but she hadn’t suspected this. Or at least, she hadn’t suspected it would be with Elin. She was well aware that women found Seb attractive, and that he enjoyed their attention, but the fact that he’d chosen to be unfaithful with someone Cat considered a friend almost hurt more than the betrayal itself.

  She put her head in her hands. ‘That shit. I knew something like this would happen one day.’

  Sadie cast a nervous look Lissy’s way but the little girl was engrossed in her game and oblivious to the adult conversation happening on the sofa. Moving nearer to Cat, Sadie put her arm around her. ‘I’m sorry. For what it’s worth, I thought he was one of the good guys.’

  Cat managed a short laugh. ‘Good guys? Is there any such thing, outside of fiction? And on Valentine’s Day too, when he knew I had the stress of being dragged over to Paris by François de Beauvoir’s lawyers.’ She shook her head furiously. ‘Do you suppose he waited until I’d left the country to go sniffing after Elin or did he plan it before I went?’

  ‘I’m sure it wasn’t like that,’ Sadie murmured. ‘From what Adam said, it was a drunken mistake. I don’t think either of them planned it.’

  The misery that had been threatening finally overcame Cat’s determination not to cry. ‘It doesn’t matter whether they did or they didn’t,’ she said, sniffing as hot, stinging tears rolled down her cheeks. ‘The end result is the same. Bloody, bloody hell.’

  She buried her face in Sadie’s shoulder, trying her hardest to muffle her sobs so that Lissy wouldn’t hear. Images flashed across her brain – glances exchanged between Seb and Elin that she’d assumed were innocent but that now took on much more significance; the moments when she’d wondered whether she’d done something to upset Elin; Seb’s anger with her last night. It all made sense now that she knew the truth.

  Gradually, the tears stopped although the dull ache behind her eyes remained. Sadie rummaged in her bag for a tissue and Cat took it with a grateful sniff. As she dabbed at her cheeks, feeling foolish and hurt, a small hand touched her arm.

  ‘It’s okay to cry, Auntie Cat,’ Lissy said, her face solemn. ‘Mummy says tears wash the sadness away so that happiness can grow again.’

  She sounded so serious that a fresh crop of tears pricked at the back of Cat’s eyes. Doing her best to smile, she squeezed the little girl’s hand. ‘She’s right. I’m sure I’ll feel better soon.’

  Lissy held out her beloved triceratops toy. ‘You can borrow Travis if you need to. He gives really good hugs, as long as you don’t mind his spikes.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Cat said, and this time she didn’t need to force a smile. ‘If I need a hug, I’ll know exactly where to come.’

  She and Sadie talked over endless cups of tea, until way past Lissy’s usual bedtime. When Cat caught Sadie checking her watch, she told her to go home.

  ‘But I don’t want to leave you on your own,’ Sadie said, even as Lissy opened her mouth wide into a yawn. ‘What are you going to do?’

  ‘Make a gingerbread effigy of Seb and stick pins in it,’ Cat said. She glanced towards the windows that overlooked the darkening canal. ‘Maybe throw it in the water for good measure.’

  ‘Be serious,’ Sadie said, although Cat saw the worry lines on her best friend’s forehead lessen slightly. ‘Are you going to be all right if we go? I can ask Daniel to come over once I’ve put Lissy to bed – then I could drive back here and we can talk things through properly. With a bottle of wine and a whole lot of pins.’

  For half a moment, Cat was tempted. But it was too much to ask; Sadie was already anxious about spending so much time away from her daughter and there was no way Cat was giving Daniel ammunition to suggest his wife cut back on the time she invested at Smart Cookies. ‘I’ll be fine,’ she reassured Sadie. ‘I was only joking about making a gingerbread effigy. Wax is much more effective.’

  ‘Just promise me you’re not going to confront him tonight,’ Sadie said, getting to her feet and reaching for Lissy’s hand. ‘Sleep on it at least.’

  ‘I will,’ Cat said, crossing her fingers behind her back. ‘See you tomorrow.’

  It wasn’t until Sadie and Lissy had gone that Cat felt the emptiness take hold. She stared at the black screen of the television, running everything Sadie had told her through her mind. Should she have known it had happened? Were there warning signs she should have looked out for? She had no idea. The more she thought about things, the hotter the embers of betrayal became, until finally she couldn’t stand it any longer. Getting to her feet, she reached for a coat and her keys. There was only one person who could give her the answers she needed.

  *

  Cat thought about confronting Seb in the bar, considered causing a scene in front of all his customers; that would give them enough juicy gossip to last for weeks. But the trouble with that was that Castle Court was also her workplace – filled with people she had to continue to face each day – which meant that as satisfying as it would be to publicly shame Seb for cheating, it was also a really bad idea. Instead, she settled for using the key he’d given her to let herself into his garret apartment in the attics of Castle Court and waiting until he came upstairs.

  The jolt he gave when he opened his front door and saw her might have been almost gratifying if it hadn’t also flooded her body with adrenaline. It was a relief to see he was alone; Adam had said the thing with Elin had been a drunken one-night-stand, but Cat wasn’t sure she could have maintained her dignity if Elin had followed him into the small living room.

  ‘Cat,’ Seb said, recovering from the shock of finding her there. ‘I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight.’

  ‘I thought I would surprise you.’

  He tilted his head and frowned at the obvious flatness in her tone. ‘Is everything all right?’

  Cat swallowed hard; she’d told herself she would be coolly detached throughout the coming exchange but her body had other ideas and her voice was already thick with emotion. She shook her head, determined not to show how hurt she was. ‘You can drop the concerned boyfriend act, Seb. I know about you and Elin.’

  It was as though someone had flicked a switch; the colour drained from his face. ‘What?’

  ‘Don’t even think about denying it,’ Cat went on, fighting for just the right level of aloofness. ‘Sadie spoke to Adam. He told her everything.’

  His gaze skittered guiltily away. ‘Cat, I—’

  The shame on his face was all it took to sweep Cat’s self-control away. ‘How could you?’ she cried, the words catching in her throat. ‘And with Elin, of all people – why couldn’t you have picked some anonymous party-girl that I wouldn’t have to look in the eye every time we have a shopkeepers’ meeting?’
>
  Seb’s shoulders sagged. ‘It’s not what you think. We didn’t mean for it to happen – it was an accident.’

  Cat jumped up, her hands balling into fists. ‘Oh, it was an accident? That makes all the difference. That makes everything all right!’

  The last two words came out as an undignified screech that Cat was sure half the Court must have heard. Her heart thundered as she glared at Seb. His face was filled with remorse as he tried to meet her eyes. ‘Calm down, Cat. Can’t we at least be adult about this?’

  ‘Adult?’ Cat echoed, feeling her fury erupt into white-hot rage. ‘No, we cannot be adult about this. The adult thing would have been not to get drunk and sleep with your ex, Seb. I think it’s a bit late to try and claim the moral high-ground now.’

  He ran a tired hand over his face and sighed. ‘What do you want me to say? I drank too much and made a bad decision – we both did. Elin was mortified the next day, especially when you turned up before she could leave. She was all for—’

  The room lurched sideways. ‘What?’ Cat whispered, a sudden roaring filling her ears. ‘What did you say? She was still here when I arrived? She was here while I was spilling my guts about everything that happened in the meeting with François?’

  Seb opened and closed his mouth. ‘Yes. In the bedroom.’

  Cat couldn’t help glancing at the door that led to Seb’s bedroom. She let out an incredulous laugh. ‘I don’t believe it. What did she do – hide in the bloody wardrobe?’

  ‘It wasn’t like that,’ Seb insisted. ‘You make it sound so sordid.’

  Again, she felt a bubble of laughter threaten to escape. ‘I hate to break this to you but you cheated on me. It is sordid.’

  ‘I know,’ he said, hanging his head. ‘And it’s been eating away at me all this time. Elin too, especially once she got together with Jaren. We agreed that it didn’t mean anything – that it was just a mistake – and tried to forget about it. But I knew you’d react like this when you found out.’ He sighed and stared at his feet. ‘I knew you’d be hurt.’