E for England (19 page)

‘How much?'

‘Six hundred for the starter motor and I should get new tyres.'

‘Okay, I'll put nine hundred into your account.'

‘Thanks.'

‘No problem, and we'll think about replacing it.'

We again? Annie frowned. She glanced across at Julia who was now typing studiously.

‘I have to go. I'll call you later.'

‘When can I see Mattie and Floss?' he said quickly.

‘I haven't told them you're back yet.'

‘Tell them, Annie. I really want to see them.'

‘All right. I'll tell them tonight.'

‘Great. Perhaps we can do something together over the weekend.'

‘With me. Not on your own!'

‘Whatever you say.'

Annie hung up, the dread dissolving away, leaving her light-headed with relief.

‘Problems with the husband?' Julia asked.

Annie shook her head. ‘No. He's being amazingly co-operative.'

Julia smiled. ‘See. I told you to give him a chance.'

‘You were right.' Which was by far the easiest way to prevent more questions.

To Annie's surprise, Leonie phoned that evening just as she was contemplating collapsing into bed. She rarely called when she was away. Out of sight out of mind. Too long single with no-one to check-in with at home.

‘Hello, how are you getting on? Is everything all right?'

‘Yes fine, how are you and Mattie and Floss?'

‘We're fine. The car broke down which is a drag.' She paused, anticipating the effect of her next item of news. ‘And Kevin has reappeared.'

‘Really? And what's his excuse? I hope you told him to bugger off.'

Vintage Leonie. ‘No. Well, I did at first. He phoned me at work and I hung up on him, but I decided at least I had to meet him and see what he wanted.'

‘And?'

‘He's very apologetic. He wants to see the kids and he's paying for the car repairs.'

‘He bloody well ought to want to see his kids! He's not trying to wheedle his way back in to your life, is he? Has he agreed to a divorce? You did ask him, I hope. He can't expect…'

Annie cut across the diatribe. ‘Leonie, he's gay. That was his whole problem, he was in denial for years but decided he really had to get himself sorted.'

A choking snorting sound erupted into her ear. ‘Oh my God! You're kidding.'

‘I'm not.'

‘The total bastard. Didn't it occur to him to tell you or even discuss it with you before he cleared out?'

‘Obviously not. His excuse was that it was a very confusing time for him. Everything he said was all about him and how hard it was for him, with the occasional sorry tossed in for my benefit. I nearly threw my soup at him at one point.'

‘You should have, it might have dawned on him there are two of you with problems. So…what? Does he have a boyfriend?'

‘Not that I know of. He's not really comfortable admitting it publicly yet, I don't think.'

‘Why not? It's not something to be ashamed of.'

‘I know.'

‘So he'll be happy to get a divorce then, that's good.'

‘Well…no. He said he hadn't thought about a divorce. Get this — he'd like us to still be a family. He said he still loves me, and he expected me to say that made what he did okay.'

‘Now
he's
kidding. Why would either of you want to stay married? You don't need to be, you'll always be the kids' parents.'

‘But there's no rush if neither of us particularly needs to get a divorce. I'm happy as long as he takes his share of the financial responsibility again and takes care of them sometimes. I can restart the MBA and stop worrying about money for a while.'

‘That's true to a point. But don't you want to be independent of him?'

‘I can't be until the children have grown up a bit.'

‘What if you want to remarry?'

‘That's the last thing I want! But if I did then I'd rethink it.'

‘And what if he disappears again?'

‘I'd hire a hitman.'

‘Mmm. Anyway. Why I rang…'

‘Yes, why did you?' Clearly not to see how Annie was doing. Leonie assumed things were going well unless someone said something to the contrary. It was up to them to say so if they weren't happy, she maintained, she wasn't a mind-reader.

‘I'm in Tokyo and I love it. In fact, the people I'm working with here asked if I'd like to relocate offices and head up their overseas legal department. I've talked about it with Henry back in Sydney and he thought it was a good move, although he wasn't all that happy about it. They'd like to have someone they know in that branch, plus it's a promotion of sorts.'

‘Wow! Good for you! How's your Japanese?'

‘It's reasonable, but I'll be fluent in no time living here. The thing is, if I take it I'll have to give up the apartment. There's over two months on the lease which of course you can use up, even if I'm not there. Unless you want to take it over, but it's not really suitable, is it? Kevin came back at just the right time, didn't he? I felt really bad about having to throw you out, but if he's here to help pay you'll be able to find somewhere decent. A proper house with a garden. I'm so relieved.'

Annie gasped as her lungs emptied. ‘When are you leaving?'

‘They want me as soon as possible but I can't move instantly. I need to look at the contract carefully first. I'll have to find somewhere to live here, and pack up the apartment there and organise shipping and maybe storage. I'll be back home next week to start sorting stuff out, but only for a few days because this project is still underway.'

‘Goodness. It's so sudden.'

‘I know but it's a great opportunity.'

‘It is, it's wonderful. Congratulations.'

‘Thanks Annie, and guess what?'

‘What?'

‘I've filled in P for Portugal. Joao. Met him in the hotel bar my first night here.'

Annie gave a shout of laughter. She missed Leonie. ‘Blue or red?'

‘Red-hot. I'll see you next week, probably Wednesday. I'll let you know the flight. Love to the little rascals. I miss them.'

‘We miss you, too.'

On Wednesday Annie left work an hour early to collect the car. Kevin, true to his word, had transferred the money to her account. She'd checked.

‘This should get you around for a while longer,' said the mechanic.

‘My husband wants to sell it.'

‘Good idea. That oil leak will cost you big money soon.'

‘As long as it gets me home today.'

‘It will.'

‘Thank you.'

Annie collected Mattie and Floss from the after-school minder and headed for home. She still hadn't told them their father had returned, but he'd come good with the money so she had no excuse not to now.

‘Is the car all fixed?' Floss asked.

‘Yes, but we might get a new one soon because this one is getting very old.'

‘A shiny new one?' Mattie clicked himself into his seat. ‘Can we have a red car?'

‘Maybe.'

‘Have we got enough money?' Floss asked.

Annie caught Floss's eye in the rear-view mirror. The little face wore a worried expression. Her heart contracted. Children were sponges and they heard and absorbed far more than adults gave them credit for. What would they think when she told them they'd be moving again? The enforced move had upset them the first time, especially on top of Kevin's disappearing act.

She couldn't possibly afford to stay on in the apartment alone and it wasn't suitable anyway.

‘Daddy will help us.'

‘But Daddy's not here,' said Mattie.

This wasn't how she'd planned to tell them, but… ‘Daddy's back in Sydney.'

‘Can we see him?'

‘Is he coming to live with us?'

‘Where is he?

The excited questions flooded over into the front seat. Annie said, ‘I'll tell you all about it when we get home but I have to concentrate now, there's too much traffic to talk.'

Floss bounced up and down as well as she could while strapped into her booster seat, clapping her hands. Mattie joined in laughing and clapping with his sister and chanting, ‘Daddy's back, Daddy's back.'

They poured into the foyer of the apartment block in an untidy scramble of schoolbags and children. Floss ran to press the button for the elevator and this time Mattie let her. Annie waited, clutching her purse to her side, her mouth a grim line. Her hitman remark to Leonie was no joke. If Kevin let these two down again she'd track him down and kill him herself.

James came out of his apartment dressed for a night out.

‘Hello everyone,' he called.

‘Hello James, our Daddy's back,' said Floss.

‘He can play football with us,' said Mattie.

James cocked an enquiring eyebrow at Annie. ‘That's good news.'

‘We'll see,' she said.

‘And we're getting a new car,' said Mattie. ‘Daddy will help us. I want a red one.'

‘Red is good. They go faster.'

‘Do they?' asked Floss. ‘Why?'

The elevator clunked to a halt. Annie chivvied the children inside. ‘Bye, James.'

‘See you later.' He waved and continued on his way. No doubt the news would reach Hugh very quickly.

It did. The knock came while she was on the phone after dinner, in the kitchen telling Kevin about the car, and he was asking when they could meet on Saturday. Mattie and Floss were sprawled on the couch watching a family movie on TV, unaware who she was talking to.

‘Hang on, someone's at the door.' Hugh, no doubt.

But Mattie was already letting him in and telling him Daddy was back.

‘Come in, Hugh,' she waved him in and put the phone to her ear. ‘I have to go. I'll call you in the morning.'

‘First thing,' said Kevin. ‘I want to see my children.'

Annie hung up.

‘Watch the movie with us, Hugh,' called Floss. ‘It's about dogs that can talk.'

‘No, I need to talk to your mum,' he said and smiled at Annie. He sat on one of the high stools at the kitchen bench.

‘Drink?'

‘Tea, please.'

She turned her back and filled the electric jug. When they moved he'd leave a gaping hole in her life. How had that happened so fast? He'd moved from fantasy man to friend in no time at all. No, he was still her secret fantasy of a lover. He was perfect. He was both. Would he miss her?

‘Got any cake?'

Miss her cooking, maybe. ‘No, I haven't had the time to bake this week. Or the energy.'

‘Hey, I was kidding.' Had she snapped and growled without noticing? He was off the stool and by her side before she realised. ‘You've had a rotten week.'

And he only knew half of it. She spooned tea into the pot, face averted. If she looked into his eyes and saw the sympathy she knew was there she'd crumple. It was bad enough he was so close she could feel the warmth radiating from his body. The temptation to lean against him and snuggle in was almost irresistible.

‘We have to move,' she said softly. ‘Leonie's been offered a position in Tokyo and she's most likely taking it. It's a promotion so she'd be mad not to, and she loves it there, she said.'

‘When?' The shock in his voice was real and spontaneous.

‘Now. She's coming back next week to start packing up. They want her there as soon as she can be organised.' She grabbed two mugs from the shelf.

Hugh stepped away. ‘Where will you go?' He opened the fridge and found the milk.

She flung a worried glance at the living room. ‘Keep your voice down. They don't know yet. The lease has two months left and Leonie said we can stay until that runs out.'

‘She's very generous.'

‘Yes, she is.' The jug clicked off. Annie continued making the tea on automatic.

‘Two months.'

‘I'll have to start looking straight away.'

‘Will your husband help?'

‘He'd better. He paid for the car repairs and he said he'll help buy a new one so he's being co-operative for the time being.' Annie heaved a vast sigh. ‘Why does life have to be so difficult?'

Hugh didn't answer. He was probably thinking she had it easy compared to a lot of other people. Millions of other people, for that matter. Her problems weren't problems in the grand scheme of things. She and the children were healthy, she had a job, a home for the time being and Kevin was back and willing to pull his weight.

‘I'm sorry,' she said. ‘I'm feeling sorry for myself again. Sorry. I'll stop whingeing now.'

His arms closed around her. ‘You're not a whinger. And things are tough for you at the moment but you'll survive, Annie. You're a strong woman. A wonderful woman.'

She looked up into his face, surprised by the intensity of his tone, and his lips landed on hers with a firmness that surprised her even more. This wasn't the reassuring kiss of a friend offering comfort and support; this kiss was something else entirely. Annie froze for a moment, trying to decipher such an unexpected development from a man she'd dreamed of kissing since she'd met him but who wasn't the slightest bit interested in a family. He knew her situation. Why would he kiss her like that? What was happening? She couldn't allow herself to enjoy this; it was too dangerously addictive and would lead nowhere. A dead-end.

Hugh slowly released her mouth from his as disappointment threatened to swamp him. She hadn't reacted, at least not in the way he'd hoped. She hadn't returned his kiss. True she hadn't pushed him away, just waited politely for him to stop. Intense embarrassment followed, hot and uncomfortable. How on earth could he look her in the eye again?

‘Now,
I'm
sorry,' he said.

‘Why? I didn't mind. It was nice. Surprising, but nice.'