The Perfect Husband, page 8
‘Thank you,’ I said as he poured.
Jay’s phone pinged. I watched as he took it out of his pocket and checked it.
I resisted asking who had texted him.
He looked back up at me, and smiled. ‘Well, ma’am, I’m afraid that I’m off duty shortly. I’m heading out for a bit, so you’ll have to cope by yourself.’
It took me a moment to realise that he was being serious.
‘Where are you going?’
He took a step back. ‘I arranged to meet Rachael in The Victory to go over this song I’ve written.’
I stared at him in disbelief. I felt the waspish, insecure voice inside my head stir.
‘It’s for you,’ he added as if that made a difference.
‘You’re seriously going out? We’re supposed to be spending the week together at home because we couldn’t afford a big honeymoon?’
‘It’s only tonight. We have all week. I don’t want Rachael to lose interest, and I’m excited about what we could have together.’
I bet you are!
‘Come on, Sophie! You have your writing. I never complain when you lock yourself away for days on end. Do I?’ he demanded.
‘It’s not the same,’ I countered.
‘Isn’t it? What do you think I do when you’re working twenty-four seven?’
I shrugged. It wasn’t comparable.
But Jay took my silence as evidence that he was right. ‘Precisely. So don’t begrudge me finding something that could lead to work. Okay?’
Unable to look him in the eye, I took another drink.
I didn’t remind him that he had promised faithfully that he would find a paying job, regardless of what it was, when we moved to Cornwall. Chasing dreams with some random singer he had just met wasn’t my idea of something that could lead to a lucrative income.
‘Anyway, I’m sure your mother or Grace will call tonight to catch up with you.’
‘Why didn’t you wake me this morning so I could come with you?’ I asked, annoyance loosening my tongue. ‘I didn’t know that Grace and the others intended to leave so early. I would have liked to have said goodbye to them.’
Grace had driven with Anna to Cornwall and agreed to give my sister and mother a lift to Newquay airport for their return flight to Edinburgh airport, where my mother had left her car to drive back to Broughty Ferry. Grace and Anna had always planned on leaving Sunday morning. But as for Liv and my mother, they weren’t supposed to go home until tomorrow. I was devastated when I had finally woken up, to be told by Jay about the new arrangements organised at dinner last night during my absence. Not only had I missed dinner, but I hadn’t even had the opportunity to say goodbye. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions without talking to either Liv or my mother first. I had questioned whether something – or someone – had upset them this weekend. Whether the events of Friday evening had caused them to leave earlier than planned or my conspicuous absence was the reason, I couldn’t say.
‘Joanna gave me strict instructions to leave you if you were still asleep, which you were, saying she would FaceTime you this evening when she got back home. The last thing I wanted to do was get in your mother’s bad books. It’s hard enough as it is living up to your family’s standards without constantly being in the shadow of your perfect, rugby-playing ex-fiancé who you were with for eleven years. And you know how I know? Because they talk about him all the bloody time! So, forgive me for doing what she said. And I apologise if whatever I do isn’t good enough for you. Including trying to get some semblance of a career here!’
I couldn’t move past the reality that my friends and family had left without even saying goodbye to me. And to make it worse, Jay was heading out to meet up with this woman he had only known for a short time. Yet, he felt close enough to her to invite her to our wedding.
Close enough to her for Liv to take note.
I frowned at him. I couldn’t understand how he could leave me on our first proper night together after getting married. However, that fact seemed irrelevant to him. I wondered if this was payback because of Ben. I was certain my family and friends didn’t mention him. However, Jay complained that they had repeatedly brought Ben up in the conversation. Surely they would have gone out of their way to avoid his name? No, this was about Friday night and the text Ben had sent me, the one Jay had read. Later followed by the voicemail when I was in A&E.
Not that Jay had mentioned reading them. No. He had simply accused me of cheating with my ex-fiancé.
Nor had I brought up his accusation.
I watched as he stood up. He drained his champagne glass and walked over to the kitchen, placing it in the dishwasher.
‘Is that it? You’re leaving?’ I spluttered, incredulous.
He looked at me. ‘I don’t think there’s anything left to say. Do you?’
‘What?’ I questioned, incandescent.
‘I never took you for the jealous type, Sophie. You know I don’t do jealousy. That was my ex’s thing.’
‘Me? Jealous?’ I demanded. I couldn’t believe him.
I watched as he picked up the keys and his wallet.
‘What about our wedding gifts and cards?’ I demanded, gesturing to the dining room table behind me piled high with unopened gifts, cards and the remnants of our wedding cake.
He walked out to the hallway without saying a word.
‘You’re leaving? And you dare to call me jealous? Why don’t we discuss you reading my texts and listening to my voicemail from my ex? And then your jealous rage afterwards?’ I shouted out after him.
He continued down the hallway.
‘How do you explain this?’ I yelled, raising my broken wrist.
Startled, Sebastian glared at me, then jumped from my lap onto the waxed wooden floor and sauntered off, swishing his tail in objection.
The next thing I heard was the front door slamming.
I was acutely aware we still hadn’t had sex. Not that I wanted to be physically intimate after what had happened. I still didn’t understand how Jay could have radically changed within hours of me marrying him. My mind masochistically turned to Rachael, the singer he was meeting. The one that Liv had singled out as a problem in our new marriage. We couldn’t have been more polarised in our looks if we had tried, or our personalities. She towered over me, and Jay, with her razor-sharp, bobbed black hair and angular features, enhanced with lustful full red lips and black, enticing eyeliner. She was in her mid-forties and exuded the confidence of the years of experience behind her.
It was only the second day of our marriage, and Jay had left me in pursuit of what? Another woman?
9
I heard the Transporter screech down the narrow cliff road.
‘What the…?’ I muttered to myself.
The first moment we had some alone time without guests or family, Jay had made arrangements to be with someone else. Some person he barely knew who suddenly mattered more to him than me. Someone that I had met just once, and that was at my wedding.
Rachael…
I went to my study for my journal and pen to document what had just happened. I returned to the couch and opened it to the last entry: the morning of my wedding.
I felt sick as I read my gushing, love-struck words bursting with happiness at what was about to happen that day.
It was supposed to be the happiest day of my life… So how could it have all gone so wrong?
How could I be here alone, without my new husband, family or best friends?
My phone suddenly started to ring. I was surprised that it wasn’t Jay calling me to apologise; it was Grace.
‘Hi,’ I answered, trying to sound upbeat. ‘Are you back home?’
‘Yeah. Long drive because of horrendous traffic and being diverted, but finally here.’
‘And Anna?’
‘I dropped her off earlier.’
Before I had a chance to speak, she suddenly asked: ‘Are you okay?’
‘Of course. Why?’ I lied. I was struggling with the question of whether my mother, sister and best friends would really leave without saying goodbye.
But they did, Sophie. They left.
How could they do that to you?
‘Just odd that we didn’t see you last night or this morning. Anna and I haven’t seen you since your wedding night.’
‘I know and I am devastated that I haven’t seen you or Anna. I swear I slept straight through yesterday afternoon to today. I only wanted a nap as I didn’t feel so great, and I woke up to find eighteen hours had passed,’ I explained.
I could hear her inhaling deeply on a cigarette.
I assumed she was internally questioning why Jay didn’t wake me.
Or did she suspect something?
‘Why didn’t you come to the cottage? You know how much I wanted to show it off?’ I asked. I was gearing up to ask how she and Anna could have left without coming to see me first. It wasn’t like them.
What had happened for them to leave without even a goodbye?
‘Because we didn’t feel welcome,’ she answered.
‘What?’ I hadn’t expected that reply. ‘You know you and Anna are always welcome?’
‘Are we? Seems that’s not the case any more,’ she stated.
‘What do you mean?’ I questioned, feeling my anxiety building at the unfamiliar hostility in her voice.
‘I had suggested last night at dinner that we call by this morning before we left for London, so we could have a tour of your new home, but your new husband was adamant it wasn’t happening. He said you wouldn’t be up to it. I insisted that you wanted us to see it. But he point-blank refused. If anything, he was really off about it. I mean, you broke your wrist at your wedding reception and Anna and I haven’t seen you since, which we both find weird.’
Why the hell would Jay say I wasn’t up to them calling in?
I could hear the concern in her voice over Jay’s behaviour.
Controlling behaviour…
My phone started to buzz: it was Liv.
Damn!
I didn’t want to cut Grace off, but I had no choice. I needed to speak with Liv.
‘Look, Liv’s calling. I need to talk to her. I’ll phone back. Okay?’
‘I’m in court all week and have a pile of notes to prepare for the morning. Let’s try to speak next weekend,’ Grace asserted.
‘Next weekend?’ I questioned, hurt that she wanted to leave it that long.
I didn’t know whether she heard me before she cut the call. Grace was a successful lawyer and consequently in high demand, which meant her downtime was sparse and precious. It was evident she felt put out that she had made this effort to come to my wedding for a long weekend, and I had been absent for most of it.
Or were you drugged?
I discounted the paranoid thought that kept niggling at the dark recesses of my mind.
‘Hey, Liv,’ I answered. ‘What happened?’
‘What do you mean?’ Liv coolly replied.
‘Why did you and Mum leave a day early?’ I refrained from adding: When I had a broken wrist and needed your support, not desertion.
I heard Liv take an intake of breath. Then there was mumbling in the background – my mother.
‘Is Mum there?’
Liv hesitated.
‘I want to talk to her. Put her on,’ I instructed. ‘Liv? Liv?’
It suddenly went quiet. I realised that Liv had put me on mute.
How could she? And what were they saying that they didn’t want me to overhear?
‘Look. Mum’s really tired, Soph,’ Liv explained, coming back to me. ‘She’s got one of her horrific headaches and doesn’t feel up to talking. The weekend has really taken it out of her. And she insisted on driving home from the airport.’
‘She doesn’t feel up to talking to me? ME?’ I repeated.
‘Sorry,’ Liv replied.
Sorry doesn’t cut it!
‘What’s going on, Liv?’ I asked, inwardly raging at my mother’s refusal to talk to me. Not to even ask how I was feeling. I hadn’t seen her since I felt unwell yesterday afternoon.
Rage quickly dissipated, turning to panic.
What had happened for your mother not to want to talk to you?
I thought about what Grace had said about Jay refusing to let them come back to the cottage.
I could feel the panic unfurling inside me, rising up to catch me at the back of my throat.
‘Liv?’
‘Look, you really should have made an effort to come and thank Mum for coming to your wedding. You know how difficult it was for her without Daddy.’
Guilt silenced me.
‘And… well, we travelled a long way to support you. You spent no time with us—’
I abruptly cut her off. ‘I fractured my wrist in two places! I spent my wedding night in hospital. How could I have spent that time with you?’
‘You didn’t even invite us to see your new home.’
I could hear the hurt in her voice.
I knew I personally hadn’t, but Jay had invited them over.
He had, hadn’t he?
‘Didn’t Jay invite you last night at dinner to come here this evening?’ I asked.
‘No. He didn’t say a word.’
‘I promise that we planned on having you over for dinner this evening. Why do you think I was so shocked when I found out that you had left.’
‘Maybe if you had come to see us off, then you would have had the opportunity to tell us?’ She faltered for a moment, before continuing, ‘Jay made it abundantly transparent he didn’t want us there.’
‘I have no idea why he wouldn’t want you to call by. Of course he would want you to see the cottage. We both do.’
It made no sense.
Liv didn’t say anything.
‘Anyway, Jay said Mum instructed him not to wake me this morning. That if I was still feeling unwell, to let me sleep. That she would FaceTime me when you guys got home.’
‘No, Mum insisted that she saw you before we left,’ Liv argued. ‘She wanted to talk to you in person about something. She made that quite clear to Jay.’
I was the one who was now silent. It didn’t make any sense. Jay had said the opposite to me.
‘What did Jay say then, when he showed up this morning without me?’ I asked.
‘He didn’t.’
‘What do you mean he didn’t?’
‘Exactly what I said. Jay didn’t show up.’
Jay didn’t show up?
I had assumed he had seen them off because he wasn’t home when I woke up around midday to see the missed calls and texts alerting me to the surprising news that Liv and my mother were at Newquay Airport waiting to board.
Where was he then? Or had he even come home last night?
I had no idea…
I realised I would never have known as I was out of it.
Had he drugged you with something in the chamomile tea?
I rejected the notion as quickly as it came to me. It was a ridiculous idea. For where would he have spent the night?
Or with whom?
Rachael came to mind.
‘You can see why Mum’s upset with you?’ Liv pointed out.
‘Yes, of course I can. Look, you know Jay and I are spending this week at home together because we can’t afford a honeymoon? Why don’t we drive up and you guys can spend some time getting to know him and I can make it up to Mum? Instead of staying with the two of you, I’ll book a hotel in the Ferry.’
‘Nice idea, pity Jay’s already booked your honeymoon,’ Liv curtly replied.
‘He what?’ I asked, stunned.
We had no money left for a honeymoon.
‘Oh shit!’ muttered Liv. ‘Sorry, it was supposed to be a surprise.’
Not that she sounded sorry.
I didn’t say anything and waited for her to continue.
‘Jay swore us to secrecy when he told us last night. He was worried about your broken wrist and whether the airline would let you fly, so he asked our advice. If he hadn’t been worried about losing over eight grand, I doubt he would have said anything to us. He’s booked some luxury hotel in Barbados. Even said the name, but I can’t recall it,’ Liv answered.
Her words, ‘Over eight grand’, made me feel nauseous.
I was stunned into silence.
‘He’s waiting to see what the orthopaedic consultant says at your hospital appointment tomorrow as to whether you can or can’t fly,’ explained Liv in response to my lack of reply.
Again, I didn’t say anything.
‘Oh shit, Soph! I’m so sorry I’ve spoiled it for you. Just act all surprised, will you, when Jay tells you?’
If he tells you…
I didn’t trust him. Nor did I know him. Not any more.
We had agreed that we couldn’t afford a honeymoon.
Why would he make a unilateral decision on something so big?
‘I really hope the consultant tells you that you can go. Christ! Eight grand’s a lot to lose. And he didn’t take out any insurance, so he can’t claim the money back because you broke your wrist.’
I felt sick. I couldn’t imagine where he had found the funds to pay for such a lavish honeymoon.
I swallowed, trying to dislodge the tight knot at the back of my throat.
‘Are you sure he said that? I mean eight thousand pounds on a honeymoon?’
It didn’t make sense. Jay said he had no money. Surely Liv must be mistaken? He was reliant on my income. We both were, and would have to wait until the submission of my next novel to release my advance. I had explained all this to Jay before we’d relocated to Cornwall, which was why I was so eager for him to get a job.
‘Mum and I have noticed that Jay…’ She faltered.
‘What?’ I questioned, not sure if I wanted to hear it.
Liv sighed. ‘Just that he seems to have done everything he can to keep us from seeing you on your own.’
‘No, that’s not true…’
Or is it, Soph?
‘Is that what Mum wanted to talk to me about before you both left?’ I questioned.
Liv didn’t reply.
‘Liv?’
What are you scared to tell me, Liv? Did you witness something between Jay and Rachael?
