Chapter 51

The lights were on in the flat. Joel was at home. Which was lucky, seeing as she’d tried to call him but his phone was switched off.

Anyway, she was here now. About to press the intercom, Evie stepped back as the front door opened and the bearded man from the top flat emerged. Recognizing her, he held the door open and let her in on the way out.

“Who is it?” called Joel a few seconds after she knocked on his door on the second floor.

Evie knew him too well; assuming it could only be one of the other residents, he would open the door anyway. She waited and sure enough heard the lock turn.

“Oh.” Joel looked as if he’d just run headlong into an electric fence. “What’s this? I thought you were working.”

In that moment she knew.

“The party was canceled. I thought I’d surprise you.”

“Brilliant! I was just on my way out! Give me two minutes and I’ll meet you downstairs… we’ll go for a drink and you can tell me what happened.”

Evie struggled to keep a straight face. He was wearing a dark blue terry cloth robe. “Can’t I come in?”

“Seriously, I’d be embarrassed. The place is a pit, the cleaner didn’t bother to turn up…”

“Didn’t she? But that’s OK, I can give you a hand with the tidying up!”

“No, no, I couldn’t let you do that.” Joel shook his head, winced with pain, and pressed the flat of his hand against his abdomen. “Look, to be honest I haven’t been feeling too well…”

“Oh no, poor you,” Evie exclaimed. “I tell you what, why don’t I go home and leave you in peace? Maybe you’ll feel better tomorrow.”

His expression cleared. “That makes sense. It’s probably just one of those twenty-four-hour bugs. Yes, let’s do that.”

“OK.” Evie nodded in agreement. “And then we won’t have to deal with that embarrassing situation where you’ve got someone else here but you’re trying really hard to hide it.”

“I… I…”

“Don’t know what to say?” suggested Evie. “Can’t work out how to wriggle out of this? I know, it’s an awkward one.” She paused. “Oh well, never mind. If it’s any comfort, the reason I came over was to tell you we weren’t going to be getting back together. So no need to feel too guilty. In a way, this is probably a good thing to happen. At least now I know I made the right decision.”

“Oh shit.” Joel closed his eyes briefly. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean this to happen.”

“I know. You never do. Who is she, by the way? Anyone I know?”

He avoided her gaze. Which meant yes. Evie said, “It doesn’t matter, I’m not planning on bursting into tears.”

“All the same, I’d rather not say.”

“Have you been seeing her for long? Is it one of the girls from the wine bar?” Evie watched his reaction. “Does she know you had sex with me last night?”

Joel flinched, just slightly, and mouthed no while shaking his head. Evidently having been eavesdropping from the bedroom, Emily Morris promptly appeared in the hallway behind him; tall, blonde, and bare-legged, she’d at least had the decency to throw on a dress.

“Are you serious? You and Joel?” She was hyperventilating with indignation. “You two slept together last night?”

“I know,” said Evie. “Shocking, isn’t it?”

“But… but… you bastard!” Outraged, Emily confronted Joel. “You told me she’d begged you for sex and you turned her down! You told me I was the only one!”

“Brace yourself. This is pretty earth-shattering.” Evie almost felt sorry for her. “He lied.”

***

This time she did have to call a taxi to take her home. Thankfully the driver wasn’t a chatty one. Evie sat in the back and knew she’d made the right decision. The realization had struck her at lunchtime, in the center of Bath, just after she’d picked up a coffee and a sandwich from Caffè Nero. Waiting for a gap in the traffic in order to race across Milsom Street, her stomach had disappeared as she recognized the white van slowing in front of her.

The next moment she saw Ethan behind the wheel, indicating with a raised finger that she should cross in front of him. Then, belatedly realizing it was her, he broke into a smile and turned the hand gesture into a tentative wave. Terrified she might start to blush, Evie pretended she hadn’t seen him and hurried across the street in front of the van. Reaching the other side she heard him buzz down the window and call out, “Evie!”

Don’t turn, don’t react, just keep on walking as if you haven’t noticed… you can’t hear him, you can’t hear him…

But once she’d reached Queen Square, Evie sank down onto a wooden bench and discovered she was trembling. Ethan McEnery had inadvertently revealed his true colors; he’d turned out not to be the man she’d thought he was. But she still hadn’t been able to forget the way he’d made her feel before she’d found that out. He may lack Joel’s looks and glamour but being with him had just felt so… right. It had been like unexpectedly stumbling upon the missing piece of jigsaw you’d been searching for for years.

That was the sensation she hadn’t been able to dismiss. It was also what had made her mind up about Joel. OK, so maybe neither of them was the right man for her, but there had to be someone else out there capable of making her feel complete.

Also, capable of not being charming on the surface but rotten underneath.

The taxi reached Arlington Road. Letting herself into the house, Evie found Lara in the kitchen with Jacqueline Cumiskey from next door. There was an almost empty bottle of red on the table between them.

“Hey, you’re early. Come and sit down.” Lara waved her over, pulling out another chair. “There’s plenty more wine. Jacqueline popped round to ask if we’d sponsor her; she’s doing a parachute jump for charity.”

“Hey, that’s brilliant. Definitely.” Evie fetched herself a glass.

Jacqueline beamed. “Ah, thanks.”

“She came over two hours ago,” said Lara. “We’ve been sitting here yakking ever since. About men, mainly.”

“And pedicures,” said Jacqueline.

“And mascara.”

“And vacations.”

“And leaping out of planes with only a flimsy bit of material to keep you alive, and what happens if you crash into a bird on the way down. But mainly,” Lara concluded, “we’ve been yakking about men.”

Jacqueline shook her head. “They’re a mystery.”

“You’re telling me.” Lara opened another bottle of Rioja.

“I slept with Joel last night,” said Evie.

Lara’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

“Just to remind myself what it was like. For fun, really. He kept saying he wanted us to get back together.”

“Blimey,” said Lara. “And?”

“It was fun! But he thought it meant we were a couple again, and I didn’t want that. I went over there this evening to tell him,” Evie went on, “and guess what? He was in bed with another woman.”

“Bastard!” Lara was indignant on her behalf. “Are you upset?”

“No, I’m glad. I did the right thing.” It felt fantastic to say it. Evie felt her whole body relax.

“Joel.” Jacqueline was frowning. “Is he the one I gave a lift home a while back? When he was drunk and you couldn’t get hold of a taxi?”

“That’s the one,” Evie agreed. “Basically, he’s never going to change. He just doesn’t know how not to flirt.”

Jacqueline’s dark eyes were bright, her cheeks flushed. “He did it with me that day. Made quite a pass, actually. Told me I was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen and begged me to go with him into his flat. I didn’t,” she added hastily. “But, you know, he was incredibly charming and persuasive. I did get the impression it was the kind of thing he probably did rather a lot.”

Was this how a bird would feel upon being unexpectedly released from a cage? Evie sat back and smiled. “I think you’re probably right.”