“WILL YOU HAVE something to drink, Chloe?” Nicola asked. “Coffee, tea, a glass of wine maybe?”
“Coffee, please.” Chloe looked nervously around the room. “Um – you have a very nice house,” she said without enthusiasm.
Nicola felt sorry for her. It was really annoying the way Dan had turned up at the same time like that. She hadn’t expected him to arrive until at least an hour later and she had intended to spend some time with Chloe first – to prepare her before he arrived. But Chloe had been late and Dan had been way too early so . . .
Now the poor girl looked as though she couldn’t wait to get out of here.
“Do you need help? I could make the coffee if you like,” Dan piped up meaningfully.
Nicola let him follow her into the kitchen.
“What are you trying to do to me, Nic?” he hissed, when he was sure Chloe was out of earshot.
Nicola checked the percolator and turned to face him. “I’m not trying to do anything to you, Dan – in fact, I think I’m doing you a favour.”
“A favour? You’ve got to be joking!”
“No, I’m not. Chloe’s been curious about me for a long time now – I’m just setting her mind at ease.”
“Are you sure that’s all it is, Nic? Are you sure you’re not enjoying this just a little bit too?”
“Enjoying it?” Nicola looked at him. “What exactly is there to enjoy about this, Dan?”
“Well, why did you invite us here today then – both of us?”
“I didn’t intend for the two you to arrive together. I told you not to come until seven because I wanted some time alone with Chloe first to –”
“Dish the dirt?”
“No, you bastard – to explain! To explain what you couldn’t – to let her know that I’m no threat to her as far as you’re concerned! Something you should have done from the very beginning!”
“Look, I know that,” Dan ran a hand through his hair, “but I just didn’t know what to tell her . . . I was afraid.”
Nicola shook her head. “When I met you that day in Bray, I thought that you had changed – matured, copped onto yourself, even. But you’re still terrified by this, aren’t you? Even though you no longer have anything to do with me, you’re still afraid, aren’t you?”
“It’s not that, Nic . . . I don’t . . . I just couldn’t –”
“You couldn’t deal with it, Dan,” Nicola finished for him. “You couldn’t deal with it then, and you can’t deal with it now. That’s fair enough. But what I can’t understand is why you didn’t tell Chloe.”
Dan looked like a scolded child. “Look, you’re right. I know you’re right. It’s just I didn’t want to admit that . . . oh, I just didn’t know how she’d see it, maybe she’d blame me, maybe she wouldn’t understand what it was like for me.”
“Oh, for goodness sake, Dan. It isn’t all about you!” Her voice shook as she spoke. “Do you think I enjoyed bringing Chloe here today? Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not jealous of her or anything like that, but do you think it was easy for me being on show like this?”
“Look, I know it must be strange for you seeing me with someone else –”
“Whoa!” Nicola made a ‘hands off’ gesture with her palms. “Don’t think it’s anything to do with you. Whatever you and I had is long gone, over and done with. You’re just a little blip on the horizon as far as I’m concerned, and the reason I’m doing this is because I want you out of my life for once and for all!”
“Nicola –”
“Look, you have no idea how hard it was for me to come back here and start again on my own,” she interjected, annoyed that she was forced to drill this into his thick head, frustrated that she had to explain anything. “And I think I’m doing OK – I mean I was doing OK until all this started. I can go anywhere I want to go. I have my own house, a job I love – a man I love very much and who loves me. I don’t need to rely on anyone, Dan, least of all you.”
“I know, and it’s brilliant –”
“Don’t patronise me!” Nicola’s eyes flashed. “You’ve done that once too often.”
Dan looked suitably chastened and for a moment, neither one said anything.
Nicola glanced towards the living-room and her tone softened. “Look, can you just forget about yourself for once, and tell the girl the truth?”
He sighed. “I will. I promise. And I’m sorry, Nic. I didn’t really consider your side of it. I was angry with Chloe when she spoke to Carolyn but I still didn’t explain anything. I thought the fact that I was so annoyed with her would be enough to make her give in.” He scratched his nose. “I suppose I just didn’t figure how all of this would affect you.”
Nicola shook her head. “Same old story,” she said. “All you, you, you.”
“You’re right,” Dan wouldn’t meet her eyes, “but I promise I’ll tell her everything.”
“Good.” Nicola folded her arms across her chest but there was a flicker of amusement in her eyes. He looked genuinely sorry.
“Now in spite of my big spiel about independence, will you get that tray for me?” she asked easily.
“Sure,” Dan picked up the tray that Nicola had filled with coffee and cake and went back towards the living-room. Then he stopped, frowning. “Where’s that whining noise coming from?” he asked, his gaze moving around the room.
Nicola smiled mischievously. “I wasn’t sure whether or not Chloe liked dogs.”
Dan wrinkled his forehead. “She loves them, I think –”
“She does? Great.” Nicola opened the utility-room door, and Barney bounded forward, tongue out and bottom-half wagging. He stopped short when he saw Dan, and Nicola noticed the hairs at the back of his neck rise slightly at the sight of this particular visitor. Nice judge of character, Barn, she thought, smiling to herself.
“Oh!” Dan looked clearly uncomfortable, and Nicola allowed herself a little grin as she made her way back to the living-room. Her ex was petrified of dogs – always had been.
Barney followed immediately behind Nicola, spied yet another visitor and raced across to Chloe, sniffing her ankles speculatively.
“Oh, he’s fabulous!” The younger woman forgot her discomfort for a second, and appreciatively stroked Barney’s glossy coat. The dog responded by nosing her palm and nudging himself against her legs, tail wagging all the time.
“I don’t know what I’d do without him,” Nicola said with a smile, pleased that Chloe no longer looked quite so uptight. “Chloe, will you have a muffin or a slice of gateau, maybe?”
“I won’t, thanks,” Chloe was demure.
“Watching your weight for the wedding, I suppose,” Nicola said pleasantly. “I’d imagine you’re really looking forward to it.”
It was obvious Chloe didn’t know how to answer that. All of a sudden, Nicola felt guilty. She hadn’t meant for this to be uncomfortable for Chloe – she was the innocent party here and her fiancé was the one who deserved teaching a lesson.
Just then Dan’s mobile shrilled and, in his haste to answer, the phone fell out of his pocket and slid away from him on the wooden floor. Barney jumped up and immediately retrieved the phone with his mouth, offering it to a surprised and more than a little nervous-looking Dan.
Chloe looked at Nicola in astonishment. “How clever!” she exclaimed, the arrival of Barney setting her more at ease, as Nicola suspected it might. Barney never failed to impress people with his antics.
Nicola grimaced. “Dan doesn’t seem to think so,” she laughed, watching her ex distastefully wipe the handset with his handkerchief before answering the call.
Dan spoke hurriedly into the telephone. “Can’t someone else handle it?” Nicola heard him say to whoever was on the other end. “Well, look I’m in the middle of something here.” He gave an apologetic shake of his head as he retreated to the kitchen, and Nicola wasn’t sure if the look was intended for herself, or his fiancé.
Seizing the chance to speak frankly to Chloe, she turned to her.
“Look, I’m sorry for surprising you like this. I didn’t mean for you and Dan to arrive here together. I had hoped you and I would get a chance to chat a little first beforehand.”
Chloe nervously cradled the coffee mug in her hand. “I’m the one that should be sorry,” she said, not meeting Nicola’s eyes. “I shouldn’t have gone behind your back like that . . . if I had known –”
“Look, it’s OK, really it is. I know Dan hasn’t been exactly forthcoming.”
Chloe, clearly troubled, shook her head. “I had no idea.”
“How could you? Look, I can understand your curiosity about me, especially with my being away for so long and then turning up like this – just before your wedding and everything. But you must realise that I didn’t come back to Ireland to win Dan back.” She gave a short laugh. “There was never any question of that. I’m with someone else now, someone I love very much.”
There was a pause. “I did wonder why Dan was so anxious to see you,” Chloe said, “and why he was so hesitant to discuss the details of your break-up. When it comes to you he can be quite, quite –” she searched for the right word.
“Defensive?” Nicola offered.
Chloe nodded. “I think I felt threatened.”
“I can imagine.” Nicola reached down, and scratched Barney behind the ears. “But Dan’s not defensive about me – he’s defensive about his own behaviour. Still, now that we’ve met, do you still feel that way? Threatened, I mean.”
Chloe shook her head, obviously finding it all terribly unnerving. “To be honest, Nicola, I don’t know how to feel. I certainly didn’t expect you to be so . . . well, so nice.” She gave a rueful smile. “I’m sorry, I don’t suppose I’m handling this very well.”
“It’s OK.” Nicola smiled.
Dan came back into the room and looked from one woman to the other.
“That was the office,” he said flatly. “There’s a problem at work – Temple Architects are threatening to move their account. They called and left messages for John four times this week and he hasn’t returned any of them. I’ve tried John’s mobile and I can only get his message-minder.” He shook his head. “Now I’ll have to go and try and sweet-talk Harry Temple into keeping his precious firm with us. I’m getting sick of this.”
Nicola knew an excuse to leave when she heard one.
“You’re going – now?” Chloe asked, the relief in her voice almost palpable. “Well, I’d better be going too.” She stood up. “Nicola, it was nice to meet you. Thanks for the coffee.”
“You’re very welcome. It was great to meet you too.”
“Um, you should come and see us sometime.”
Nicola tried to keep her expression neutral. “I will – sometime.”
“Right.”
Dan looked at his watch. “Sorry we have to rush off like this, Nic, but we’ll talk soon, yeah?”
“Sure.”
Chloe and Dan headed towards the hallway and let themselves out, Barney accompanying them to the door.
From her sitting-room window, Nicola watched the two retreat to their cars. Chloe walked slowly beside Dan, and Nicola didn’t need to be an expert in lip-reading to make out what the younger woman might be saying to her fiancé.
“Jesus, Dan,” Chloe was whispering, her expression shocked and confused. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”