When Rhianna walked into the kitchen to make lunch for the children, Ursula was in there already, chopping spring onions.
‘Oh,’ Rhianna said. ‘Um, sorry.’ There was something about the stern au pair that left her feeling she needed to apologise for being in her own house. ‘I was just going to make the children some sandwiches to eat out on the lawn.’
‘Don’t you worry about that,’ Ursula said. ‘I’m preparing something for them now, Mrs Garrett. I’ll call you all in when the table’s set.’
Ursula intimidated Rhianna. She wasn’t warm and friendly like Avril had been. The steady, fun-loving twenty-year-old had been almost like a big sister to Max and Livvy. But there was no warmth in Ursula, although she worked hard. She reminded Rhianna of one of the strict, scary nannies from the beginning of Mary Poppins, and she often found herself wishing a stray gust of wind would come and blow Ursula away.
Such was Ursula’s effect on her, Rhianna was about to turn and walk out. Then she stopped herself.
‘It’s just, um, I thought it might be nice to eat in the garden,’ she said humbly. ‘I mean, with the sun shining and everything.’
‘Oh, no. We don’t want to encourage bad habits, do we? Mr Garrett asked me to be especially attentive to the children’s table manners.’ Ursula shot her a look. ‘He feels there’s been a slide recently.’
‘Right. Well, I suppose he knows best.’
Defeated, Rhianna went out to the garden, where the children were playing a subdued game of Monopoly on a blanket. James had bought them their own set after hearing Livvy rave about this new game she’d discovered. He was still in generous mood, denying the children nothing in his excitement at having got them back. He was denying his wife nothing either, showering her with little presents, taking her out for meals, being more affectionate towards her even than when they were first married. She knew she ought to be ecstatic. And yet…
Rhianna sat down on one of the lawn chairs. It was a gorgeous day, balmy and warm: just what a late July afternoon ought to be. The children seemed quiet but they were contented, and they had all that they needed. The scent of flowers filled the air, and in the distance she could hear the gentle chatter of the stream. Everything was just perfect. The garden had always been Rhianna’s favourite place to sit and think; her own little paradise.
And yet…
Max and Livvy left their game and came running towards her. Livvy bounced into her lap, and Rhianna, smiling, kissed her daughter’s hair.
‘Have you finished your game, darlings?’ she asked.
‘No,’ Max said, flopping at her feet. ‘It’s too hot to play today. Anyway, it’s not so fun without Aunty Brooke and you and Nana.’
‘Would you like me to play too? I can if you want.’
‘That’s OK.’
‘Mummy, when will we go home?’ Livvy asked, kneeling up to look into her face.
‘We are home, sweetheart.’
‘I mean, home to see Nana and Aunty Brooke.’
‘I think… not for a while.’ Rhianna hugged Livvy to her, pressing her face against the little girl’s hair as if the scent of it could give her strength. ‘Aren’t you happy here? You’ve got lots of nice things, and you don’t have to miss Daddy any more.’
‘I’m glad Daddy’s here,’ the little girl said slowly. ‘But now I miss Nana and Aunty Brooke as much as I missed Daddy when we were at their house. So it’s like swapping one missing for a different missing.’
‘You’d rather be here though, wouldn’t you? With your lovely big garden, and all your nice toys, and your riding and ballet lessons, and Daddy to play with?’
Livvy didn’t answer. She just shuffled round to throw her arms around her mum’s neck, hiding her face on her shoulder.
‘Daddy isn’t here to play with now,’ Max murmured. ‘He’s hardly ever here. He’s always at work.’
‘Well, he’s busy making money for you to have nice things,’ Rhianna said. ‘You have to remember that while it’s school holidays for you, adults still have to go to work.’
Max shuffled to look at her. ‘We’ll be going home in time for school again, won’t we? And my birthday party on Sunday?’
‘You’ll be going to Lennox House in the autumn, with your old Abbotleigh friends. It’s a very good school – it’s where your daddy went. Won’t you like that?’
‘I want to go to Ravenswood with Zach and Cara,’ he said, flushed and peevish from the heat. ‘What about my party? Aunty Brooke said I could have a chocolate fountain.’
‘Now, Max, don’t whine,’ Rhianna said, pressing her fingers to her temples. ‘My head’s throbbing today.’
‘Is dinner ready?’ Livvy asked. ‘Lunch, I mean. It’s fish finger sandwiches on Thursdays when it’s holidays.’
‘No fish fingers, I’m sorry. Ursula’s making a salad or something. She’s going to call you in when it’s ready to eat.’
Livvy shuffled round as if preparing to make a case against such brutal treatment, when suddenly her eyes went wide. She shrieked, then bounced off her mum’s lap to run towards a stranger entering the garden through the gate.
Rhianna shielded her eyes from the sun. ‘Who is it, Max? Is it Daddy?’
Max stared, then he jumped up too.
‘It’s Aunty Brooke!’
He ran off towards her. Brooke, laughing, had already swung Livvy up into her arms by the time Max cannoned into her legs.
She waved to Rhianna, who stood up.
‘Brooke,’ she said in a low voice when her sister joined her, still carrying Livvy and with Max gripping her belt as if worried she might disappear again. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Visiting.’ Brooke gave Livvy a kiss before putting her down again. ‘Gosh, I’ve missed you monsters. Do you know how quiet it is without you causing chaos? I can hear myself think and everything. Honestly, it’s horrible.’
‘We missed you too!’ Livvy yelled, bouncing on her heels.
‘Is Nana here? Are we coming back to your house?’ Max asked breathlessly.
‘It’s just me today. Sorry, Maxie.’ She glanced at Rhianna. ‘I came to talk to your mum.’
There was the sound of a throat clearing, and they looked around to see Ursula on the terrace with her arms folded.
‘Lunch is ready,’ she said, not quite concealing a disapproving glance at Brooke’s exposed tattoos.
‘Ursula, this is my sister,’ Rhianna said. ‘She’s come to pay us a surprise visit.’
Ursula looked as if she approved of this state of affairs about as much as she approved of Brooke’s tattoos.
‘Will she be wanting to eat with us?’ she asked, in a tone that said she’d better bloody not do.
‘Don’t worry about that. Just take the children inside,’ Rhianna said. ‘Brooke and I will sit out here. We can fetch ourselves something to eat if we want to.’
Ursula nodded, and beckoned to Max and Livvy. Reluctantly, they followed her to the house.
‘Don’t go without saying goodbye,’ Max whispered to Brooke.
‘I promise, Maxie.’
Max and Livvy disappeared into the house. A second later, Livvy came running out again, flung her arms around Brooke’s waist, then ran back in.
Brooke laughed. ‘I think they might’ve missed me nearly as much as I’ve missed them. I didn’t think that was possible.’
‘What are you doing here, Brooke?’
‘Is James here?’
‘No, he’s at work.’
‘Good.’ Brooke gestured to the garden furniture. ‘Can we sit down? I was hoping we could talk.’
‘I said all I had to say on the phone. My life’s here now. I’ve made my decision, and… I’m not going to change my mind.’ She softened her voice when she saw her sister’s hurt expression. ‘I mean, don’t think I’m not grateful for everything you’ve done for us. You’ve been a gem, you and Mum both. It did the children so much good, occupying a different world for a while, and it taught me some lessons I badly needed to learn. But eventually there has to come a time when reality kicks in. I can’t be hanging on to your skirts forever, and… well, this was my only other choice.’
‘Please, sit down,’ Brooke said. ‘There are things I need to say to you. Things I didn’t want to go into over the phone.’
Rhianna frowned as they both took a seat. ‘Mum’s all right, isn’t she?’
‘Mum’s fine. Still loved up with Martin. This is about me and you.’
Rhianna shook her head. ‘If you’re planning to try and talk me out of it, you’re wasting your time. I’ve thrown my lot in with James now. For better or worse, as our wedding vows say.’
‘“Forsaking all others” is another thing they say.’
Rhianna winced. ‘That’s behind us now. This was the right thing to do, Brooke. It’s what’s best for all of us.’
‘Are you trying to convince me or yourself?’
Rhianna turned her eyes away. ‘I don’t need to convince myself. This wasn’t a spur of the moment thing, Brooke, whatever you might think. I’ve been weighing it up ever since I walked out in the first place. Five days ago, I came to a decision and I stand by it.’ She gestured around the perfectly manicured garden. ‘You see how happy the children are? Everything they have here? James has promised to get them a pony.’
‘And yet the first thing they said to me was that they couldn’t wait to come home.’
‘It’ll take them a little time to settle into the old ways again, yes, but they’ll soon get used to it.’
‘And what about you?’ Brooke said gently. ‘Will you get used to it? What about your self-respect, Rhianna? Is that worth selling off to the highest bidder?’
Rhianna flushed. ‘Self-respect is a lovely thing to have, but when you’re a mum, it takes a back seat to your kids the same as everything else. Besides, James has sworn it won’t happen again.’
‘And you believe him?’
She twisted her wedding ring around her finger. ‘I don’t have a choice.’
‘That’s what I came to talk to you about.’ Brooke took out her mobile. ‘I wanted to bring you something.’
‘What?’
‘A choice.’ She showed Rhianna a photograph: three signatures on a sheet of paper. Brooke Padgett, Jane Padgett… and Nick Weyborough. A line for a fourth signature, under Brooke’s and her mum’s, had been left blank.
‘What is this?’ Rhianna whispered.
‘It’s a contract. Between us and Willowtree Taverns. All it needs is your signature, then the sale of The Highwayman’s can go ahead and you’ll be £400,000 richer. That wanker Nick’s waiting for you to call him up and arrange it.’
‘But… why? Why would you do that?’
‘Why do you think? For you, Rhia. To give you the independence Dad wanted for you.’ She pressed Rhianna’s hand. ‘I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to realise what a selfish bitch I’ve been. I should’ve done this as soon as you told me you needed money. I’ve been beating myself up ever since you left, knowing I was responsible for forcing you back here.’
‘But you love that place.’
‘I love you, Rhia. The pub’s just a pile of bricks, in the end. I don’t want bricks, I want you and the kids back.’
Rhianna shook her head. ‘I can’t let you sell the pub.’
‘You’d bloody better.’ Brooke set her mouth into a firm line and pointed to it. ‘See? This is my mind-made-up face. You’re not going to be able to talk me out of it, or Mum either, so you might as well just agree.’
‘Brooke, I… I don’t know what to say.’ Rhianna leaned over to peck her sister’s cheek. ‘That’s the most generous, wonderful thing anyone’s ever done for me. Thank you.’
‘Then you’ll come home?’
A cloud came over Rhianna’s face. ‘No. No, I… I’m sorry. It’s not just the money. I signed up for this and it has to be my life now.’
‘No it doesn’t!’ Brooke took her hand. ‘Rhianna, you can be free,’ she said softly. ‘Don’t you get that? You can be free. You don’t have to be dependent on James, or on anyone.’
‘He’s my children’s father, Brooke,’ she said in an expressionless voice. ‘To tear them away from him was a wrench the first time around. To do it again… I can’t keep moving them from place to place, school to school, while I’m dithering about my feelings. It isn’t fair.’
‘He cheated once, Rhianna. He’ll do it again.’
‘He swore to me he wouldn’t.’ Rhianna’s lips flickered with a smile. ‘He’s been so attentive since we came home. Treating me to meals, buying me presents. It’s like it was in the early days, almost.’
‘Almost. Because unlike in those days, you don’t love him any more. Do you?’
‘That’s… not true.’
‘Yeah? Look me in the eyes and swear to me you do.’
Rhianna turned to look at her. ‘I do. I… I love him.’
Brooke laughed. ‘You’ve always been the worst liar, Rhia.’
‘Well, it doesn’t matter. I’ll learn to love him again, with time. We just need to rebuild the trust between us. The main thing is that he’s Livvy and Max’s father.’
‘Are you sleeping with him?’
Rhianna flinched.
‘You’re not,’ Brooke said, sounding satisfied. ‘I didn’t think so.’
‘It just… takes time. We’ve had a long break. Things can’t just snap back to how they were.’
‘Has he booked you onto that postgrad course he promised he’d pay for?’
‘Not yet. It’s too late to get in for next term. He will though, he promised.’
Brooke rested a hand on her shoulder. ‘Come back, sis. You don’t have to make yourself do this. The kids are better off out of a home where their parents are trapped in a loveless marriage. It damages children, something like that, especially if they feel their parents’ unhappiness is their fault.’
Rhianna shrugged the hand away. ‘Brooke, please. Just go, will you? Go back to The Highwayman’s. It’s yours now; I’ll sign my share over to you if you want, and maybe one day you and Hayden can run the place together. I’ve made my life here and I’m determined to see that through.’
Brooke lowered her gaze. ‘Hayden’s… it’s still off. I can’t get hold of him. I think I burned more than one bridge that day I drove you away.’
Rhianna sighed. ‘Well, I’m sorry. Still, one way or another, it ought to be your name over the door of the pub.’
‘I don’t want the bloody pub. I want my big sister back.’
Rhianna patted her arm. ‘And you’ve got her. But I belong here, Brooke. This was the life St Mary’s trained me up for. I ought to stay and make the best of it.’
Brooke examined her face.
‘Where did you say James was?’ she asked.
‘At the office. Why?’
‘Been spending a lot of time there, has he?’
Rhianna flushed. ‘It’s Thursday afternoon. Where else would he be?’
‘Evenings too, though. Am I right?’
‘Well, yes, a couple. But that doesn’t mean anything. It’s a demanding job, and he’s on deadline.’
Brooke nodded to Rhianna’s mobile phone, sitting on a glass table between them. ‘Is that thing still synched to his Fitbit?’
‘I guess so. I haven’t deleted the app.’
‘Why not? If you trust him then you may as well, right?’
Rhianna shrugged. ‘I just didn’t think of it. I forgot it was on there, to be honest.’
‘So you haven’t checked it.’
‘Well, no. Why would I? He swore to me it was over and I believed him. We start couples’ counselling next week.’
‘You weren’t even slightly tempted to look?’
Rhianna turned away. ‘Why would I be? I told you, I forgot I had it on there.’
‘That’s a whopper if ever I heard one.’ Brooke picked up the phone and held it out. ‘I dare you.’
‘I don’t need to.’
‘All right, then for me. If I’m going to walk away and leave you in this place, I want to know your recently cheating spouse is managing to keep it in his pants.’
‘No.’ She folded her arms. ‘I won’t. I can’t throw myself back into married life while there’s an atmosphere of distrust.’
‘Is that it? Or are you afraid of what you might find out?’ Brooke asked, raising an eyebrow. ‘If he’s got nothing to hide then you’ve got nothing to fear.’
‘Fine.’ Rhianna snatched the phone from her and unlocked it. ‘If that’s what it takes to prove it to you. But after this, you have to promise to go back home and let me live the life I’ve chosen, all right, Brooke?’
‘If that’s your decision, fine. I can’t make you leave him. I’d just like to be able to tell Mum he isn’t up to his old tricks.’
Rhianna felt a churning in her stomach as she watched the Fitbit app load. She tried to ignore it. It was going to be fine. There was going to be nothing there to see.
She tapped on the icon that would bring up James’s last seven days’ worth of heart rate statistics. For a moment, there was silence.
‘I’m sorry,’ Brooke said quietly.
‘How did you know?’ Rhianna whispered, turning the phone off again.
‘It’s like Mum always told us. Cheats don’t change.’ She stood up to pull her sister into a hug.
‘Oh Brooke,’ Rhianna whispered, letting out a sob. ‘I’ve been such a fool. For the second time, that man’s made a complete fool out of me.’
‘No he hasn’t. You were trying to do what was best for your kids. Don’t blame yourself when you could be blaming that cheating prick.’ Brooke held her back to look into her face. ‘You’re not going to stay now, are you?’
Rhianna gave a damp laugh. ‘Are you kidding? I didn’t pawn all my self-respect when I came crawling back here. There’s still a sliver left.’
Brooke pulled her back into the hug. ‘Thank God for that.’
‘Just give me the rest of today,’ Rhianna murmured. ‘There are a few things I need to do.’
‘What?’
‘I need to get the kids packed and… go through some bits and pieces.’
‘Anything I can help with?’
‘Not really. I saw a letter on James’s desk this morning and it made me think… well, I don’t want to say anything until I know. I’ll fill you in later.’ Her brow knit with determination. ‘But most importantly, before I leave I need to tell that piece of shit I’m married to exactly where he can fucking go.’