Least Said (7 page)

I
no
longer
had
to
work
for
a
living
these
days,
and
the
house
we
lived
in
was
considerably
more
spacious
than
the
two
bed
terrace
we
had
left
behind.
However,
Jon
had
completely
understood
that
it
wasn’t
just
about
the
money
and
had
offered
no
objections
when
I
came
up
with
the
celebration
cakes
idea.
I’d
never
had
the
inclination
to
make
it
a
bigger
concern,
but
he’d
still
insisted
on
providing
me
with
my
own
business
premises,
attached
to
the
side
of
the
house.

William
had
grown
up
watching
Mummy
baking
and
decorating
all
manner
of
cakes
and,
even
at
his
young
age,
he
was
becoming
quite
a
dab
hand
himself.
His
birthday
cakes
were
the
envy
of
his
school
friends
and
a
lot
of
my
jobs
came
from
their
parents.

I
suddenly
came
to
and,
looking
down
at
what
should
have
been
a
delicate
trellis
pattern,
found
myself,
instead,
staring
at
a
higgledy-piggledy
pile
of
icing.
Deep
in
thought,
I
had
been
relentlessly
squeezing
it
from
the
bag
and
the
mess
I
had
made
was
now
adorning
the
cake
I
was
working
on.
Giving
myself
an
impatient
shake
I
worked
quickly
to
minimise
the
damage
and
reminded
myself,
quite
forcefully,
that
harking
back
really
wasn’t
helping
me
or
the
situation
I
found
myself
in.
What
I
needed
was
someone
to
talk
to
and,
just
like
that
other
occasion,
there
was
only
one
person
that
someone
could
be.

‘Wendy,
how
are
you?’
Tina’s
voice
was
light,
bright
and
happy.
She
was
probably
very
busy,
but
I
knew
how
blessed
I
was
to
be
secure
in
the
knowledge
that
she
would
never
be
too
busy
for
me.

‘Oh,
you
know,’
I
began,
trying
and
failing
quite
miserably
to
match
her
airy
tone.

‘What?’
she
said
immediately,
because
she’d
always
been
too
perceptive
by
half.
‘What’s
the
matter?
It’s
not
William
is
it,
or
Jon?’

‘No,’
I
could
feel
my
chin
begin
to
wobble,
tears
to
form
in
my
eyes,
‘it’s...,’
and
then
it
all
came
pouring
out.
The
recent
‘meeting,’
if
you
could
call
it
that,
with
the
rugby
player
from
that
long
ago
wedding
-
and
what
suddenly
seeing
him
again
might
mean.

‘You
bumped
into
this
guy
where?’
she
asked
when
I
had
finished
and
paused
to
draw
a
ragged
breath.

‘Southampton,’
I
said
miserably.

‘But
that’s
at
least
thirty
miles
away,’
she
pointed
out
in
her
sensible
way.
‘Hardly
just
down
the
road.’

‘It’s
still
too
close
for
comfort.’
I
insisted
with
a
shudder.

‘But
he
knows
nothing
about
you,
not
even
your
name
if
I
remember
the
details
you
shared
at
the
time
correctly.’

‘I
feel
sure
he
recognised
me,’
I
said.

‘Recognised
you
,
after
all
this
time?
Come
on,
it’s
been
seven
years,
Wendy,
and
your
time
together
was
pretty
brief.’

‘But
I
looked
back
as
I
was
leaving
the
shop
and
he
was
just
standing
there,
staring
after
me
–
and
I
had
Will
with
me,
Tina.
Even
now
he’s
probably
putting
two
and
two
together
and
realising
there
may
have
been
a
consequence
from
our
night
together.’

‘Why
would
he
care?’
Tina
reasoned.
‘After
all,
he
already
has
four
children,
remember.’

‘Oh,
I
know
you’re
right,
but
seeing
him
again
has
completely
unsettled
me.
There
are
far
too
many
coincidences
for
my
liking,
like
his
hair
being
dark
now,
like
Will’s,
the
fact
he’s
so
tall
and
everyone
always
commenting
on
how
big
Will
is
for
his
age,
and,’
I
gulped,
‘he
has
green
eyes,
Tina.
I’d
forgotten
that
–
and
Will’s
are
hazel.’

‘Your
hair
is
dark,
Jon
is
pretty
tall,
and
hazel
isn’t
green.’
Tina’s
patience
was
amazing
and
the
more
sensibly
she
responded
to
each
and
every
worry,
the
more
I
calmed
down.

‘I’m
being
silly,
aren’t
I?’

‘Not
silly,
no,
love,’
I
could
hear
the
smile
in
her
voice,
‘but
perhaps
a
tad
paranoid.
The
fling,
if
you
can
call
it
that,
was
a
moment
of
madness
on
your
part.
We
both
know
that.
However,
such
liaisons
were
probably
a
much
more
common
occurrence
in
his
life
and
he
was
unlikely
to
have
attached
any
importance
at
all
to
it.
Even
if
he
thought
he
knew
you
from
somewhere,
it’s
highly
unlikely
he
will
ever
actually
be
able
to
place
you.’