‘He was yummy,’ Jodie said, returning to the shop after emptying the final bucket of water down the sink out the back.
‘Matt?’
‘Unless you’re hiding any other hunky plumbers behind these boxes.’
I felt my cheeks colour as my stomach did another backflip. ‘I’ll admit that he was pretty easy on the eye.’
‘You’re blushing.’
‘I am not.’
Jodie placed two fingers against my cheek and made a fizzing noise. ‘Matt and Charlee, sitting in a tree…’ she chanted.
‘Give over! I’ve got a boyfriend and Matt’s got a fiancée.’
‘An evil fiancée.’
‘True, but still a fiancée.’
‘There’s no harm in a little window-shopping, though, is there? Just don’t try the goods. Unless your name is Karl, of course, in which case you shag everything that moves.’
‘Have you heard from him lately?’ Every so often, Karl emailed or texted Jodie, begging her to forgive and forget, but she always ignored him.
Jodie didn’t answer. She stacked the buckets together and moved them against the wall.
‘Jodie…?’
She turned towards me, shoulders slumped. ‘I did something really stupid.’
‘What sort of something stupid?’
‘I went out with him.’
‘Oh my God! When?’
‘Last weekend. He rang me when I was back in Hull packing up my stuff. He’d heard that I was leaving and asked if I wanted to go out for a drink for old time’s sake. I was about to say no but then I thought that it might be a good way to get closure before I moved away.’
I cringed inwardly. That had definitely not been a good idea and from Jodie’s frown and the flatness to her tone, it clearly hadn’t gone well.
‘Why didn’t you tell me he’d made contact?’ I asked gently.
‘Because you’d have tried to talk me out of it.’
‘Probably, but I understand the need for absolute closure so I’d have supported you if you’d still wanted to meet him. You know that, don’t you? And why didn’t you tell me afterwards?’
She lowered her eyes and my heart sank.
‘Jodie! Please don’t tell me you slept with him.’
She slid down the wall and slumped onto the floor, legs crossed. ‘We spent all weekend in bed, but there wasn’t a lot of sleeping.’
I crossed the shop, sat down beside her and gave her an affectionate nudge. ‘I’m listening.’
‘It was the best weekend of my life. And the absolute worst.’
‘What happened?’
‘I already knew that I was going to sleep with him as soon as I agreed to a drink. I told myself it was my final goodbye and that it was my choice and not something he’d talked me into.’ She sighed. ‘It was amazing, Charlee. Not just the sex, although that was pretty spectacular. He’d certainly learned some stuff. The amazing thing was the connection. We talked loads. Really talked. We laughed, we cried, we talked about the future. It was just like old times but better. By Sunday morning, he’d all but convinced me to stay in Hull and give things another go.’ A tear slipped down her cheek. Poor Jodie. Getting back with Karl wouldn’t have been the right thing for her at all.
‘But Karl conveniently forgot to tell me he already had a girlfriend.’ Jodie wiped at another tear. ‘A girlfriend who he lived with who conveniently happened to be away that weekend.’
‘The idiot! Dare I ask how you found out?’
‘She walked in on us.’
‘Having sex?’
‘Worse than that. Oh, God! It was awful. As I said, Karl’s learned a thing or two and he asked if I’d be up for something a bit different. He’d…’ She coughed slightly. ‘He’d er… he’d handcuffed me to the bed, hands and feet, and blindfolded me.’
I clapped my hand across my mouth, mortified for her.
‘Oh my God, Charlee, it was the most erotic thing I’ve ever experienced. You and Ricky should try it.’
I blushed as I thought of our afternoon on the sofa. He’d barely touched me since then, though. I couldn’t fathom him out. But I needed to stop thinking about my problems and focus back on Jodie. ‘And his girlfriend caught you like that?’
‘The poor woman. That’s a sight you really don’t want to arrive home to. I lay there, handcuffed and blindfolded while they yelled at each other. She knew who I was. Apparently he was “obsessed” with me. Karl told her that she shouldn’t be surprised and that she’d always known he was still in love with me and was only with her for a bit of fun.’ Jodie shook her head. ‘He was so nasty to her, Charlee. It was like listening to a stranger. He told her she could come back later and get her stuff because I was going to be moving in instead. She ran off sobbing.’
I put my arm round Jodie’s shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze. ‘You weren’t to know it would end up like that. I take it you told Karl where to go?’
She giggled through her tears. ‘In a roundabout way.’
‘What did you do?’
‘Well, you know how actions speak louder than words? He tried to make out that she wasn’t really living with him, that she meant nothing, and that I’d always been the only one for him. I just smiled and said, “No more talking. I understand what’s happened.” I told him that he’d given me what I needed and it was my turn to give him what he needed. I handcuffed him to the bed and blindfolded him. I got dressed, telling him that I was going to get some chocolate spread from the corner shop, but I’d squirt some cream on him ready for my return. I wrote WANKER across his body with the cream, took a photo of him, then left.’
‘You didn’t!’
She took her phone out of her jeans pocket and I squealed at the image. ‘Did you just leave him there?’
‘I was tempted, but I called his brother and suggested that Karl might need a hand, and that he should approach him with caution, preferably with his eyes closed.’
I looked at her phone again, giggling.
‘If I ever find myself thinking fondly of my time with Karl, I can look at this picture and remind myself who he really is.’
I hugged her to me again. ‘I’m so proud of you.’
‘It’s only taken four years, eh? I’ve finally got my closure, though. I just wish I hadn’t been so weak to fall for his charms again.’
‘You wouldn’t have got your closure without that slight lapse in judgement. And you wouldn’t have had the best sex you’ve ever had.’
Jodie laughed. ‘Every cloud…’ She stretched her arms out and yawned. ‘Karl and Hull are firmly behind me and we have a shop to get ready. What’s first, now that Niagara Falls has stopped?’
‘I need to get my store cupboard sorted out. Ricky’s been promising help all week and was finally going to do it today after you moved in but he’s abandoned ship again so it’s down to us. I’ve got some power tools and I know how to use them. Are you up for it?’
‘I certainly am.’
I stood up and pulled Jodie to her feet. ‘Thanks,’ she said.
‘What for?’
‘For not having a go at me for getting back with Karl, albeit temporarily.’
‘It would have been your decision to make and I’d have supported you whatever you’d decided to do.’
‘Speaking of support, what’s going on with Ricky?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I’m sensing trouble in paradise. You don’t talk about him as much as you used to and, when you do, there’s an edge to your voice.’
‘That’s probably because I’m seriously pissed off with him today. He went to work when he’d promised he’d do the shelving and help you move in, he recommended some incompetent muppet to do my plumbing, and he hasn’t returned my calls.’ I counted each point off on my fingers, very much aware that Jodie was right and there was a definite edge to my voice.
She gave me a gentle smile. ‘Tell you what, let’s get on with the shelving and save the man-bashing for a bottle of wine later.’
‘Sounds good.’ I pointed Jodie towards the drill that I’d put on to charge that morning while I picked up a box of wall plugs. Was she right? Was there trouble in paradise? I hated to admit it, but there probably was.