Sleeping Arrangements (30 page)

'There's no point staying,' she said at last. 'And I have no desire to see Gerard. Do you?'

'Not particularly.' Hugh reached for his wine glass, looked at it, and put it down again.

'Chloe, I have something to tell you about Gerard. He didn't know about . . . about us.'

Chloe's brow wrinkled in a frown.

'What do you mean? Of course he knew about us! That was the whole point. That was why . . .' She tailed away as Hugh shook his head.

'We just assumed he knew. Did you ever actually tell him? Because I never did.' Chloe stared at him, her mind working.

'I must have done. I must have . . .' She rested her head in her hands. 'At least . . . I thought I had . . .'

'Gerard arranged this holiday to put me and Philip in an awkward situation,' said Hugh.

'And I really think that's all. The other . . . factor . . . was just . . .'

'I always assumed he knew,' said Chloe, not looking up. 'I just took it for granted . . .' Hugh leaned forward, his face earnest.

'Chloe, the point is, we weren't manipulated. We didn't fall into any trap. We did what we did because . . . we had to.' Gently, he touched a wisp of hair falling over her face. 'We had to find the answers to our questions.'

Chloe looked up and slowly nodded. For a few moments they sat in silence, the even, regular breathing of the sleepers a backdrop to their thoughts.

'So, do you feel better toward Gerard now?' said Hugh eventually. 'Will you forgive him?'

'No,' said Chloe, and her face tightened slightly. 'I'll never forgive him. I don't care what he knew, or what he intended. He wanted to play with our lives. That's enough.'

She took a sip of wine, put her glass down and leaned back on her elbows, staring up at the inky sky. She was aware of Hugh watching her; of his eyes running over her. The two of them, alone in the night stillness.

'I'll never stop wondering, you know,' said Hugh after a while. 'What could have been. If we'd stayed together, all those years ago. We might have come here to this villa, as husband and wife. With Sam. I might have had Sam as my son.'

'You might,' said Chloe, moving her head in acknowledgement.

'We might have had six children together.' Chloe smiled faintly.

'Six! I'm not sure about that.'

'The worst thing is . .' Hugh rubbed his face. 'The worst thing is, we probably would have become discontented. After a few years. We probably would have lain here in the sun, feeling a little bored, wondering if we did the right thing in marrying each other. Not realizing how bloody lucky we were . . .'

His voice had risen a little, and, over by the children, Amanda stirred in her sleep. Hugh stopped speaking and kept quite still. Chloe was motionless, staring at the vast, star-dotted sky. Both waited silently until Amanda had turned over, subsided back into her dreams.

'It's late,' said Chloe at last. 'We should get some rest.' Hugh stared straight ahead, as though he hadn't heard her.

'We make so many decisions over a lifetime,' he said abruptly. 'Some turn out to be unimportant . . . and some turn out to be the key to everything. If only we knew their significance at the time. If only we knew what we were throwing away . . .'

'Hugh, we still are lucky,' said Chloe gently. She sat up straight, and looked seriously at him. 'Both of us are lucky. Don't forget that.'

'I know we are.' Hugh glanced over at Amanda's peacefully sleeping face, then leaned over and brushed away a leaf which had landed on her cheek. 'Amanda and I will be all right.

I do love her. And our life together . . . it works. It'll work.'

'I hope so,' said Chloe, following his gaze. 'I really do.' As they watched, Amanda turned, and gave a faint snore. Chloe took a sip of wine, hiding a small smile.

'God knows how much she's put away,' said Hugh wryly. 'She's out for the count.'

'I think Philip's finally relaxed,' said Chloe. She looked over at his peaceful face and felt a tender pang. 'He'll probably sleep better tonight than he has for months.'

'I expect we all will,' said Hugh. 'We deserve to, at any rate . . .'

There was a pause, and Chloe gave a sudden yawn. The silent darkness was becoming soporific, she thought, like a warm, soft blanket. She gave another yawn, and smiled shamefacedly at Hugh.

'It's getting to me, too. I never was much good at late nights.' She put down her glass and rubbed her eyes. 'We'll need to be up early in the morning. If we really are all planning to leave before—'

'Chloe,' interrupted Hugh quietly. 'Chloe, we never slept together.'

She looked up, taken aback. Hugh was gazing at her, his face serious in the moonlight.

'We never slept together,' he repeated urgently. 'I want to sleep with you all night long, Chloe. Just once. I want to hold you in my arms and . . . feel you sleeping with me . . .' There was a sheen to his eyes. 'I want to see what you look like when you wake up.'

Chloe stared at his fervent face, knowing that she should say no. That she must say no.

Then, very slowly, she nodded.

Silently, they stood up and headed a few feet away from the others. Hugh spread a duvet on the ground. For a few moments they stood, trembling slightly, looking at each other in silence. Hugh took hold of Chloe, not moving his eyes from hers and slowly they sank down to the ground. They curled up together, as they always had. As she felt his arms around her again, Chloe's face was taut with unshed emotion.

'Good night,' whispered Hugh, and kissed her forehead.

'Good night.' Chloe gently touched his cheek, feeling the faint scratch of stubble against her fingers. The roughness against the smooth.

She lay with her head in the crook of his arm, staring up into the darkness. Trying to stay awake; trying to register every last sensation. This would be her memory. Perhaps one day it would be her solace. But her eyelids soon began to droop. Her mind could no longer fight the tiredness.

Hugh watched as she drifted into sleep. The last thing he remembered was a smile coming to her lips as she dreamed of something. Then he, too, fell into sleep, holding Chloe tightly to him.

The morning crept pale and bright over the horizon, sending tiny shafts of sunlight into the sleepers' eyes. Chloe was first to wake, stretching uncomfortably against the uneven surface of the ground, slowly coming into consciousness. Her head was still nestling against Hugh's shoulder, her hand on his chest, her body warm against his. For as long as she could, she fought against waking up properly. She wanted to prolong this final moment for as long as possible.

But after a while she could pretend no longer, prolong no longer. She moved her sleepy face backwards and forwards against his shirt, trying to rub the consciousness in, to force herself back into the real world. As she opened her bleary, bloodshot eyes, Hugh stirred. His eyes opened a chink and he stared straight at her, his eyes full of a sleepy love.

'Yes,' he said indistinctly. 'I knew it.' Then his eyes closed and he was asleep again.

Shielding her eyes from the brightness all around, Chloe rolled over, onto the ground beside him. She lay quite still, listening to the sound of a nearby cicada, mustering her energy.

Then she opened her eyes and looked straight up into the blueness.

She felt pinned to the ground. The sky was no longer a conspiratorial veil of darkness, but a huge blue eye watching her and Hugh. Her and Hugh, sleeping together, in the open air.

Chloe felt a ridiculous beat of alarm and turned her head to reassure herself. Immediately she felt a fresh, more urgent jolt of fear. Beatrice Stratton was sitting up, wide awake, watching her with mild curiosity.

Flushing slightly, Chloe stood up, trying not to rush, and walked over to a patch of unoccu-pied duvet. She sat down, reclining on her elbows, trying to establish a lived-in look, as though she had been there all along.

A moment later, Amanda stirred.

'God, my head,' she groaned, and struggled to a sitting position. She opened her eyes and winced. 'God, it's bright.'

'Morning,' Chloe said casually. 'Sleep all right?'

'OK, I suppose.' Amanda rubbed her face blearily. 'How much did I drink last night?'

'Mummy?' said Beatrice.

'What?' said Amanda. She focused on Beatrice with visible difficulty. 'What is it?'

'Why was she sleeping next to Daddy?' Beatrice pointed at Chloe.

Amanda stared blankly back at Beatrice.

'Because there's been a flood in the house,' said Chloe, her heart beating fast. She forced herself to smile brightly at Beatrice. 'I know it seems very strange, us all sleeping together like this . . . I shouldn't think you've ever slept outside before, have you?'

She glanced swiftly at Amanda, prepared to amend or supplement her explanation, even change it altogether. But Amanda was now staring at the ground and didn't seem to be listening at all. Beatrice was frowning, puzzled.

'But—'

'What do you think you'll have for breakfast, Beatrice?' said Chloe quickly. She looked around for further distraction. 'Oh look, there's Jenna coming!'

'And Sam,' said Beatrice.

'Yes,' Chloe said more slowly. 'And Sam.'

She watched as Sam sauntered across the field towards her, trying his best to look cool and nonchalant. But there was a glow to his face which he couldn't begin to suppress. Jenna, Chloe noticed, looked pretty pleased with herself, too.

'Morning,' she said, attempting a tone which was friendly yet not entirely approving.

'Morning, Chloe,' said Jenna, and grinned widely at her. 'Sleep well?'

'Yes, thanks,' said Chloe. 'And you?' Immediately she wished she hadn't asked. The last thing she felt like hearing was some smutty, suggestive reply. But thankfully Jenna merely grinned even more widely, nodded, and disappeared off towards the house, Sam in happy tow.

'So you're off, are you?' said Amanda, pressing her fingers to her temples.

'Yes, I think so,' said Chloe. 'How about you?' Amanda shrugged.

'Hugh seems to want to leave straight away. Personally, I think it's fine here, but I suppose we'll do what he wants . . .' She opened her eyes and stared up at the translucent blue sky. 'Is it my imagination, or is it hotter today?'

There was a rustling sound, and Hugh sat up, his face bleary and confused, his hair rumpled.

'Morning, darling,' he said to Amanda. His gaze shifted to Chloe. Morning,' he said casually.

'Morning,' she replied. She met his eyes briefly, then stood up. 'I'd better get going.

There's a lot to do.'

It was mid-morning before they had mopped up every drop of water, packed up every belonging, and assembled the cases on the landing. Amanda and Jenna gathered all the children and took them downstairs for a drink, while Chloe peered under the beds for stray belongings. Eventually, as her head began to spin, she gave up. What was lost would have to remain lost. Wiping her brow, she sat down on a suitcase, then looked up as Philip approached. He was holding a screwdriver and wearing a pleased expression.

'There,' he said. 'I think I've sorted out that fuse.'

'Really?' said Chloe. 'Are you sure?'

'Well, the air conditioning's working again. I've written a note for the maid, just to be on the safe side. And I guess we should leave an explanation for Gerard.'

'Yes,' said Chloe. 'I guess we should.'

Philip sat down beside her. For a while they were silent, thinking their own thoughts. Then Chloe looked up.

'You were right about Gerard,' she said frankly. 'You were right all along—and I was wrong.'

'Oh, Chloe.' Philip put an arm round her and kissed her. 'I wasn't right. I had no idea all this was going to happen. I just . . . don't like the guy. I'm jealous, I suppose.'

'Jealous?'

'I don't want to share you with anybody.'

'No,' said Chloe after a pause. 'No . . . and I don't want to be shared.'

She kissed him back, closing her eyes, pressing into him with a sudden passion. Refamili-arizing herself with his touch, his skin, his smell. Like coming home.

'It feels like it's been forever,' she murmured against his neck.

'That's because it has been for ever.' Philip pulled away and stared at her, his eyes darkened with desire. 'How soon do we have to leave, exactly?'

The people-carrier was loaded to the brim.

'Where are Philip and Chloe?' said Amanda for the third time. She looked at her watch. 'If we're going to find anywhere to stay tonight, we're really going to have to crack on.'

The door of the villa opened, and Philip appeared, followed by Chloe. Both were slightly flushed.

'Sorry,' said Chloe. 'We got . . . held up.' She met Hugh's eye and looked away again.

'Right,' said Amanda. 'Now, where have the girls got to? They aren't in the pool again, are they?'

'I'll go and find them,' said Hugh.

'No, it's OK,' said Amanda. 'I'll do it—'

'Wait,' said Chloe, and held out the piece of paper she was carrying. 'I've written a note for Gerard from us all.'

She unfolded the paper and read aloud:

' "Dear Gerard. Thanks for the villa! Sorry we had to leave early. We had a fabulous time.

Adios!" ' She looked up.

'And then we'll all sign.'

'That sounds great,' said Amanda. She reached for the paper and scribbled her name, then strode off towards the swimming pool. The other three looked at each other.

'It's very friendly,' said Philip. 'Do we want to be that friendly?'

'I don't think it's friendly at all. I think he'll understand perfectly,' said Hugh. He reached for the page and signed his name, then Philip followed suit.

'Good,' said Chloe, signing with a flourish. 'So that's it.'

'Back to real life,' said Philip. 'I think I'm ready for it.'

'When's your flight?' asked Hugh.

'Five o'clock. Plenty of time.'

'And they changed it all right?'

'Put on a small surcharge,' said Philip. 'That's the price you pay, I guess. And you?'

'We'll drive around,' said Hugh. He ran a hand vaguely over the people-carrier. 'I'm not really sure what I want to do.'

'Well, when you get back to Britain,' said Philip, 'be sure to give me a call. We can go down to the job centre together.' He gave a crooked smile. 'The unemployed unite.'