I’m not sure who is more shocked, me or Isabel. For a moment we stare at each other in disbelief and then she says in a small voice, “I’m sorry, Karen.”
I shake my head slowly. “But it can’t be. Tom isn’t Eddie, I know he isn’t.”
She looks at me with worried eyes. “Are you sure, I mean he is the spitting image of him? I know he said he didn’t know me, but do you think it was all an act?”
I almost shout, “No! I know Tom and he can’t lie. I watched him closely and there was nothing — not a hint of recognition from the moment he laid eyes on you, he’s not that good an actor.”
An awkward silence falls between us before I say in a hard voice, “Do you have a photograph of Eddie?”
Isabel looks a little embarrassed and says in a small voice, “No.”
“No?”
Shaking her head, she sighs sadly. “This is going to reinforce your opinion of him, but he never wanted his photograph taken. He always took them of me and if I did manage to get one, he always deleted it.”
She laughs bitterly. “I was a fool, wasn’t I, Karen?”
I look down at the watch and think about Tom and what he used to be like. Is it possible that Eddie is Tom? There’s only one way to find out.
Looking up at Isabel, I try to gather whatever dignity I have left. “Do you mind if I keep this? I think I need to speak to my husband.”
She nods, looking embarrassed and I stand to leave.
“I’m sorry. I need some time to think about this. I’ll talk to Tom and try to figure this out. If he is Eddie, I’ll soon know about it.”
Isabel looks at me with tears in her eyes and says sadly, “Do you want me to come with you?”
“No. I think I need to do this on my own. I’ll let you know what happens, one way or the other.”
I’m not sure if I’m mistaken, but a flash of excitement sparks in Isabel’s eyes. It slightly unnerves me because in that split second, the shy, embarrassed, sweet woman she is, has been replaced by one who looks almost triumphant. Maybe if I didn’t see that look it would make this easier, but it strikes me as odd after the last half an hour. Is Isabel all that she seems and can I really believe what she told me? When you weigh up the evidence, I only have her word to hold on to.
Making my excuses, I leave as quickly as possible, clutching Tom’s watch in my hand, completely unsure about what to do next.
When a storm hits, it is natural to run for cover. The trouble is, the only place I can run is into the eye of it and as I sit in my car, I struggle to think of a place I can go to think. Some women would race home immediately and confront their husband. They would shout and scream and demand answers, but I’m not one of those women.
The trouble is, there’s that part of me that doesn’t want to know. Things have been so good between us since he was mugged. I don’t want anything to affect that. As I think back to the days before the attack, I wouldn’t hesitate to believe Tom was Eddie. Could it be that the mugging made Tom realise his priorities and knocked some sense into him? It’s likely because from what Isabel says, it was about that time that Eddie disappeared. There are too many coincidences for it not to be Tom, but I know what I saw. I was looking out for it and when Tom saw Isabel there was nothing to suggest that he had ever seen her before.
Clutching the watch, I run through every possible scenario in my mind but can’t ignore the obvious. Isabel has Tom’s watch and how did she come to be in possession of it? The only rational explanation must be because Tom left it there.
I can’t face going home, so head off to see the only other person I confide everything to outside of my husband. My best friend – Tina.
Luckily, the boys are at a friend’s house this afternoon and I’m not due to pick them up for another hour. As I knock on her door, I wonder if I should confide in her. After all, there may be a simple explanation for all of this. Tom will be angry if he finds out I’ve discussed it with her before him. However, it involves him and he could be the problem. I need to talk to someone neutral in all of this before I go mad.
* * *
One look at my face and Tina immediately knows something’s up. She grabs my hand and pulls me inside, saying with concern, “What’s happened?”
I follow her into the kitchen and sit down heavily on the bar stool and lay Tom’s watch on the counter.
She looks at it in confusion and says, “What? It’s a man’s watch.”
The tears well in my eyes and I say roughly, “Tom’s watch.”
Cocking her head to one side, she shrugs, “So, what’s the problem?”
“Isabel had it.”
“Why, did she find it or something?”
I laugh bitterly. “Yes, beside her bed when her fiancé left it there.”
The shock in Tina’s eyes almost makes me laugh like a madwoman. She just stares at me in confusion and then says firmly, “Right then, start at the beginning.”
By the time I fill her in on what Isabel said, she looks as sick as I feel.
Shaking her head, she says roughly, “Listen, I know this looks bad, but can you trust her account of things? I mean, when you look at the actual evidence, all she has is this watch. The rest is just her words and I’m not going lie Karen but there’s something odd about that woman. This is all a little too textbook for my liking. Do you think she’s taken a fancy to Tom and is setting out to destroy your marriage?”
“But why? She didn’t know Tom until the barbecue. This story was told long before that meeting.”
Tina shrugs. “So what? She may have seen him somewhere before. Who knows, she may have worked with him in the past, gone to school with him — anything? I’m not sure you can completely trust her story.”
Shaking my head, I pick up the watch. “But how did she get the watch? Surely that’s enough evidence in itself. There is no way she could have this unless…”
Tina looks shocked. “Do you think Isabel mugged Tom?”
I almost laugh at the thought of the petite woman inflicting the type of injuries on Tom that I saw and shake my head.
“No, I don’t think it was her. However, you do have a point. Maybe it was Eddie who attacked him? That would work. Perhaps Eddie mugged Tom, took his watch and possessions. He could have been hiding behind a false identity and even made himself look like Tom.”
Tina nods emphatically. “That’s it. Of course, it is.”
She reaches for the kettle and says happily, “You know, I knew there would be a simple explanation for this. Tom is besotted with you, of course, he would never cheat.”
I try to share her belief but the saying ‘and pigs might fly’ comes to mind. The Tom he used to be would be more than capable of cheating. However, am I prepared to ruin this perfect life we have now by challenging him with this, and does it matter anymore? Should I just paper over the cracks and carry on as normal, putting this down as a fanciful tale?
As Tina hands me the mug of tea, I think I come to a decision. I am. Rightly or wrongly, I can’t go back to how things were before. I just can’t.