‘He’s at the activity weekend.’ Now wasn’t the time to point out that she had mentioned that to her only a matter of days ago. Eva headed back into the kitchen, trying to picture her mother with a boyfriend but just couldn’t do it.
Ben was buttoning up his shirt when Eva returned to the kitchen. Her eyes were drawn to the muscular contours of his chest, which were now so achingly familiar, and sent a small shiver up her spine. God, he looked gorgeous. Forcing herself to concentrate, she explained who her unexpected guest was.
‘My sister is here,’ Eva whispered. ‘Apparently my mother has a boyfriend.’ Ben shot her such a quizzical look Eva couldn’t help giggling. ‘Knowing my sister, it could be nothing. She’s probably got hold of the wrong end of the stick or something. She’s pretty upset … it’s a bit awkward and er –’
‘And you don’t want her to see me?’
‘Maybe not the best time for introductions. I’m sorry, I really didn’t expect this to happen.’
‘You do what you have to, don’t worry about me. I’ll sneak out the back door – not something I’ve had to do before,’ he said, winking at her.
‘Oh God, I’m sorry about this,’ Eva said trying to cover her disappointment. This wasn’t exactly how she hoped today might unfold. Ben hooked his finger under her chin and tilted it upwards. He bent his head down and kissed her thoroughly, leaving her feeling slightly dazed and wishing things hadn’t been brought to such an abrupt end. It felt farcical to be smuggling a man out of the house – she was a grown woman in her own home.
After Ben left, Eva quickly dressed and returned to Sarah, who appeared not to have moved an inch. She sat down beside her, speaking quietly. ‘So do you want to talk? Tell me what happened?’
Sarah let out a dramatic sigh, her mouth quivering for a moment as she found her voice. ‘You know Mum got a new kitchen fitted recently?’
‘Yes, she seemed very happy with it.’ Eva frowned, wondering where this was going.
‘Last night I called round to Mum’s. I don’t usually go to hers on a Friday night but I’d had a terrible day at work.’ She paused, twisting a ring round and round her finger.
‘Anyway, I thought I’d go and see Mum, take a bottle of wine, thinking we could just chat. I phoned her first but there was no answer so I thought she must be with her friend Deidre. They sometimes meet on a Friday afternoon and go shopping. I decided to let myself in and wait for her. But when I went in the house –’ Sarah gulped, her eyes blinking back tears as she came to the painful part. ‘I saw Mum and, and – him in the living room. They were on the sofa and they were, well they –’ She stopped, unable to continue.
Eva’s mouth hung open. ‘What, Mum and the kitchen fitter?’ she said incredulously.
‘Not the fitter.’ Sarah glowered, shaking her head in frustration at Eva’s inability to keep up. ‘The man who owns the kitchen company.’
‘Oh, I see.’ Well, that sounded slightly more plausible.
‘I had seen him at her house – every time I went he seemed to be there, showing Mum different designs and layouts for the kitchen.’
Eva remembered how well Helen had looked last time she’d seen her, a definite glow about her. Now she knew why. ‘So what happened next?’
‘Mum was flustered, you know. Her hair was all over the place, a total mess.’ She shook her head sadly.
‘And, um, what were they doing exactly? You know, were they actually –?’
Sarah looked at Eva in horror. ‘No! They broke apart when I came in. Mum asked me to stay for a drink – tried to act all normal.’
‘And then what happened?’
‘We sat and had a drink together. Made polite conversation – it was awful. Then I left and went home. I tried to sleep but couldn’t. So this morning I got in the car and came here.’
Eva pondered exactly why Sarah had come here. Had she come all this way, after all this time, just to tell her that their mum had a boyfriend? Evidently she was upset about it but Eva couldn’t help sensing there was something more to it. She felt a surge of pity for Sarah. She looked totally worn out and Eva realized it was going to be difficult to make any sense of anything while Sarah was clearly so exhausted.
‘Listen, would you like to have a lie-down? You haven’t slept and things always seem worse when you’re tired.’ Eva thought she might resist but Sarah immediately acquiesced. She led the way upstairs showing Sarah into her coastal-themed bedroom, which was ready for the guest arriving on Monday.
Opening the door Eva allowed herself a quiet moment of satisfaction seeing the look on Sarah’s face as she registered the room. The bed was made up with plump pillows and crisp fresh navy and cream bedding. Eva drew the curtains as Sarah lay down on the bed. Eva covered her with a spare blanket and she was asleep in seconds.
***
Ben started to run as soon his feet hit the sand. He’d changed into his running gear after leaving Eva’s and headed straight to the beach, glad it was practically empty and no one could see him because he was sure he was grinning like an idiot. But he was one very happy, satisfied idiot. He couldn’t remember ever feeling like this before. He hadn’t truly appreciated just how unhappy he had become until now, as if something had been broken and now it was fixed.
He knew there were implications from what happened last night, the most important being Jamie. But he would let Eva decide how to handle things on that front. Last night with Eva had been incredible and the intensity of their passion had surprised him. His only regret was the sudden ending this morning. Still, there would time in the future … at least he certainly hoped there would be.
He’d always kept himself reasonably fit but recently he hadn’t done much exercise. Today he felt physically strong and energized, as if he could run for ever. He picked up his pace and lengthened his stride, wanting to push himself and feel the strength of his own body. He ran until his lungs and muscles screamed in protest and eventually he allowed his body to slow down.
He stopped and bent over, resting his hands on his knees, letting his breathing return to normal. He straightened up and stretched and began to walk back to his house. In the kitchen he filled a glass with water and drank thirstily, wondering how Eva was getting on with her sister. Halfway up the stairs his phone rang and his heart plummeted when he saw the caller ID. ‘Hello, Arthur?’
‘Hello, Ben. I’m sorry to bother you, especially at the weekend.’ Ben heard the older man’s voice, knowing it would be impossible for him to bother Ben in any way.
Arthur and his wife Mary lived next door to the house where Ben had grown up and had been family friends for years. Arthur was a true gentleman, from a different generation. The house was a bungalow in a quiet cul-de-sac in St Albans near London. Ben hadn’t known what to do with it after his mother had moved into the care home – even kidding himself that one day she might return. After a while he’d handed over the property to a letting company who had secured a long-term let. The arrangement had worked well but the tenants had recently moved out.
Having it lying empty wasn’t ideal but Ben couldn’t bring himself to sell it and had been putting off making any decisions. Arthur had always kept a spare set of keys and an unofficial eye on the place and Ben knew he’d only be phoning if there was a problem. He braced himself for bad news.
‘There’s been a break-in, Ben. I called the police and luckily it looks like they were disturbed. They don’t seem to have taken anything – not that I could see anyway.’
Ben rubbed a hand over his face. ‘Do you know how they broke in?’ he asked.
‘Back of the house – they broke a panel of glass in a downstairs window. I’ve managed to board it up for now – but obviously it needs to be fixed