Fandango in the Apse! (18 page)

            ‘It’s a work in progress.’  He grinned.

            ‘I wasn’t…’

            ‘Yes, you were.’

            Well, there’s nothing like being forthright.

            ‘I apologise, I wasn’t trying to cast aspersions on your
work, I just…’ What? What was I trying to say?  Jesus, I was backed into a
corner and this grinning Adonis knew it.  It was bullshit! 

            ‘You’re wondering whether I’m up to the job, right?’  Anger
glittered at the back of his big, brown peepers even though he was making an
effort to hide it.

            ‘No!’ I said rather too emphatically. ‘It’s just I would have
expected a builder’s house to be… well, perfect,’ I finished lamely, wishing
I’d kept my mouth shut.

            ‘Mmm, I get your point, but the problem is, good builders
never get time to do their own work, too busy doing everyone else’s, see?’

            It was a fair point well made, and now I was embarrassed.  How
had that happened?  Surely, I’m entitled to know if the builder to whom I’m
going to pay thousands  is capable of doing the work.  It was time I got the
upper hand here.

            I moved then, and Robbie followed. 

            ‘So… are you interested in giving me a quote?  That’s if you
have time, of course.’  Why had I added that bit?  Now he knew he’d riled me. 
So much for getting the upper hand.

            ‘I’m always interested, but as I said I’ve just got back, can
you give me a couple of weeks?’

            ‘Yes, of course, just drop in if you’re passing; I’m there
most of the time. I’m decorating at the moment,’ I said, indicating my clothes,
and grateful to be able to give a reason for the state I was in.  I left him to
sort out his fish tank.

            Back home I replayed the whole scenario.  There was something
about Robbie Collins; I couldn’t identify what it was, but it was damned
irritating.  He was sure of himself, almost to the point of arrogance, but that
wasn’t it.  In the end, I gave up trying to fathom it out.  What did it matter
anyway?  I didn’t have to like the guy, I just needed him to give me a fair
quote and a decent job. 

After my beans on toast and a hot bath, I propped myself up in bed and
dragged a volume of
Accounting Today
onto my lap.  Pretty soon I’d need
to get a job and I was trying to give myself a refresher course – not a good
read for bed though, unless you need a good night’s sleep, that is. 
Accounting, I was fast finding out, was just as boring as I remembered.  The
book held my attention for about ten seconds until an image of a half-naked
Robbie Collins replaced the written word.  I couldn’t get him out of my head;
well, to be honest, I wasn’t trying that hard. 

You know, sometimes I’m convinced I’m a real idiot.  Think about it, five
minutes after meeting him, I’m imagining, hot sex with Robbie Collins, although
I’m not even sure I like him.  That has to be a character flaw, wouldn’t you
say? 

I slung the book on the floor and snuggled into the covers willing myself
to sleep when a thought thundered into my head.  Without giving myself time to
think too much, I padded across the room to retrieve an old hat box from the
top of the wardrobe.  After a quick rummage I found what I was looking for.  I
don’t mind admitting my hands were shaking as I unfolded the sheet of paper.  I
laid the newspaper cutting to one side, I didn’t want to look at that.  Dawn
was actually breaking through the kitchen window when I finally put down my
pen.  I folded what I had intended to be a short note to Jethro, but in reality
turned out to be an eight page missive, and placed it into an envelope ready
for posting.  As I climbed the stairs again to grab a couple of hours sleep I
realised that for the first time in a long time I felt less alone in the
world.  Jethro’s reply arrived the following week and it was the start of a
correspondence that would be a great comfort to us both.

Eddie phoned
before they all set off to Portugal.  He wanted to let me know when he was
returning the boys.  I offered to meet him halfway as I’d done with Arthur, but
he wouldn’t agree to it.  That annoyed me.  I wasn’t ready to let him see the
house; I knew what his reaction would be.  I could see him now, turning up his
nose, picking faults and I could do without it.  He was determined however, and
I had no choice but to give in. 

The call galvanised me into action over the next few days.  There wasn’t
a lot I could do about the house, but the garden was a different matter.  I
rushed to Retford and with Alison’s help; we bought the gardening tools I
needed.  With a great deal of input from Alison, Mark and their children, it
took most of the week to return the overgrown wilderness to a garden.  The lawn
had been strimmed, mown and fed and the flowerbeds, with their rescued Rose
bushes and new bedding plants, provided a welcome wash of colour.  A neatly
clipped privet hedge now surrounded the garden and the drive looked great with
new gravel.  My last job was to paint the five bar gate, which Mark had
repaired one evening after work.

The rest of that week, I spent getting the paint on the boy’s walls and
my own room finished.  I was exhausted by the time Saturday arrived, but
incredibly proud of what I’d achieved.  For someone who had never decorated
before the results were surprisingly good.  Toby and Sam’s room was, I hoped,
exactly what they wanted.  The football theme looked a bit out of place in a
house the age of this one, but who cared – it was their choice.  My room was a
vision of calm with pale green walls, which I’d teamed with a mixture of
flowered and striped fabrics in pink and cream.  Very girly, I loved it.

Eddie had estimated they would arrive around five o’clock, at quarter to,
I made one last check of the garden.  With the intensive feeding and watering
Mark recommended, the grass was turning a lush emerald and the petunias,
geraniums and marigolds I’d planted were coming along nicely.

It was actually nearer six before I heard the crunch of tyres on the
gravel.  I hardly had the front door open before my excited sons engulfed me,
both chattering at once.  God, how I missed them.

I kneeled down to hug them both. ‘So, I gather you had a great time,’ I
laughed.

‘Aw, it was brill’ Mum, we got to go scuba diving and everything!’ said
Toby, while hopping from one foot to the other, desperate to tell me everything
in the first five minutes.

‘Err, I think you’ll find that was snorkelling Toby.’

I got up from my knees and came face to face with a tanned and relaxed
Eddie.  Apart from gaining a few more pounds he looked great, which made me
feel at a disadvantage straight away.  Pride had me making every effort to look
my best for this meeting, but let’s face it, I no longer looked as polished as
I used to.  I had neither the time nor money to lavish on myself, and it
showed.  We were still in the doorway and I was trying to think of a way of
avoiding having to ask him in, when he asked if Ethan could use the loo.   I
hadn’t noticed him in the car, so the question caught me off guard.  I didn’t
want to meet Ethan, but I couldn’t deny him the use of the bathroom.  Shit!

‘Of course, it’s through the kitchen to the left,’ I said, while inwardly
cringing about the avocado coloured suite and brown tiles.  I got my first
glimpse of Ethan as he flounced past me without a glance. The ignorant pig.  Who
did he think he was?  Then without warning, my mood changed.  What the hell was
I thinking?  I didn’t have to do this anymore – why was I obsessing about what
Eddie
or
his fancy man thought.  This was my home and bollocks to what
they made of it.  I made an expansive gesture with my hand as I asked Eddie in.

‘Welcome to our home,’ I couldn’t resist saying, for all the world as if
the place was a palace.

As soon as he stepped over the threshold, Eddie wrinkled his nose in both
a disparaging and intrinsically gay fashion.  Had he always been this camp, I
wondered?  No, surely I’d have noticed it.

‘Oh dear,’ he said. ‘This is certainly… rustic.’

‘Yes,’ I replied brightly. ‘Part of its charm I think.’

Eddie raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.   Ethan, back from the
bathroom went to stand silently beside him. He was good looking in an
effeminate way and his impeccable grooming screamed hours of preparation.  OK,
be civil, I warned myself.

‘Katie, this is Ethan,’ Eddie said with pride.  Obviously, he considered
the slim, boyish looking Ethan quite a catch, to be fair he was
very
pretty.  Ethan barely managed a nod in my direction.

The boys were in the kitchen getting drinks and the chink of glasses
reminded me of my manners.  I offered coffee and then hid my disappointment
when they both accepted.  There was no way I was offering food though – not so
much as a custard cream.

  Whilst I was filling the percolator with freshly ground coffee – an
extravagance I absolutely refused to give up, I could hear murmured
conversation from the two men in the lounge.  I’d have given anything to know
what they were saying.  Toby and Sam were reacquainting themselves with the
orchard when I returned to the lounge with the coffee tray.  I had stomach
lurching moment when I caught Ethan lovingly running his hand up and down
Eddie’s thigh as they sat together on the sofa.  For goodness sake, couldn’t
they do that privately?  It wasn’t something I wanted to witness.

‘I’m surprised you bought somewhere like this, Katie.  I wouldn’t have
thought it was your sort of thing,’ Eddie had the cheek to say when I’d handed
him his mug. 

Ethan, who up until now had maintained an expression of bored

condescension, sniggered childishly. My hand itched to smack him in the
mouth.

With supreme effort, I gritted my teeth before answering Eddie. ‘Well, as
needs must…’ I said philosophically, determined not to rise to his baiting.  He
knew exactly why I’d had to buy a place like this. ‘And anyway it a work in
progress,’ I continued, borrowing Robbie’s phrase. 

Then, as if I’d conjured him up, he was miraculously standing in the open
doorway.  I blinked a couple of times to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. 
Wow!  Not only was he gorgeous, he had great timing too.  He couldn’t have
picked a better time to do the quote.  At that moment, he was like manna from
heaven. Without thinking it through, I rushed over and grabbed his hand.

‘Robbie! Sweetheart, I wasn’t expecting you this early,’ I gushed.  ‘Come
in, you’re just in time to meet my husband and his... um…partner.’

Good grief, what possessed me to say that?  I was about to be uncovered
as a prized fool when Robbie quite rightly asked me what on earth I was on
about.  Oh God!  I gave him an imploring look to back me up.  To his credit, he
caught on straight away.  I had a few tense seconds until I saw the realization
dawn in his eyes, but then his quick squeeze of my hand had my heartbeat returning
to normal.  This was great.

Eddie launched himself off the sofa, as I made the introductions.  I
assumed he felt at a disadvantage sitting down.  The sheer size and good looks
of the man impressed him; I could see that, but being a person with his head up
his backside, he couldn’t help sneering at Robbie’s cement encrusted jeans and
rigger boots.  Beside me, I felt Robbie stiffen at the undisguised insult.  Why
Eddie should feel the need to be such an arsehole escaped me, after all, he was
happy enough to flaunt his
paramour.  Ethan, much to Eddie’s annoyance,
had perked up considerably and was positively salivating over Robbie’s muscled
physique.  Robbie turned and smiled at me.

‘Sorry darling, I didn’t know you had company, I’ll call back later if
you like?’

‘We’re just leaving, so don’t go on our account,’ Eddie said stiffly. 
‘I’ll just go and say goodbye to my boys.’  With a nasty look at Ethan, he made
his way to the back of the house with Ethan following behind like a kicked
hound. 

‘What was that about?’ Robbie whispered once they were out of earshot.

‘Shush, I’ll tell you in a minute… I’ll have to see them off.  I’m so
sorry Robbie, I feel such a fool.’ 

I rushed out to the drive, desperate to see Eddie go.  What on earth was
I going to say to Robbie? 

Ethan was already ensconced in the passenger seat of a sleek, silver
Mercedes and Eddie was giving the boys their suitcases from the trunk when I
reached them.  With a last hug for their father, they dumped their bags and the
rest of the paraphernalia they had accumulated on the lawn and scooted back to
the orchard. 

‘So, you like a bit of rough these days,’ Eddie couldn’t resist saying
once they’d gone.

Don’t rise to it, I reminded myself.  It’s what the bastard wants. 

‘No Eddie, what I like is a real man these days and Robbie is certainly
that.’

 I slid my gaze up and down his flabby body with as much disgust as I
could muster before letting rip with my parting shot. ‘I mean, come on Eddie,
even Ethan could see that.’

He reacted as if I’d slapped him and as he took a step towards me, I felt
an arm round my shoulders.

‘Everything all right, sweetie?’  Robbie enquired casually.

Sweetie?  Oh, that was going too far.

‘Yes fine hun, they’re leaving now.’

Eddie swung round and got in the car without another word.  One to me, I
mentally chalked up, as I stood in Robbie’s embrace watching Eddie trying to
manoeuvre round Robbie’s van parked in the lane.  

I allowed myself a moment to enjoy Robbie’s arm around my shoulders,
before stepping aside once the Mercedes had disappeared from view.  I couldn’t
look at him though. We were both silent for several seconds, then Robbie
cleared his throat.

‘Your husband is gay?’

‘Soon to be ex – but yes, he’s gay.’

‘Jesus.’

‘Yeah.’

I wanted to thank him for his act of kindness, but he cut me off before I
could finish the sentence.