The First Mistake(20)

‘No, I’ve checked with her.’

‘Well, it’s probably one of her friends’ then.’

I watch as his brain goes into overdrive, much like mine has been doing for the past eighteen hours, the only difference being, he must know the answer.

‘Have any of them been in your car?’ I ask.

He shrugs his shoulders.

‘You know what it’ll be,’ he says suddenly. ‘I bet it’s the valet parking company at the airport.’

Funny how our minds think alike.

‘You hear all sorts of crazy things going on with them; some cars get taken home by the staff for the weekend, or even worse, get written off by some nineteen-year-old employee who thinks he can handle a three-litre engine.’

I nod, unconvinced.

‘So, who are they from?’ he asks, tilting his head in the direction of the flowers.

‘You, I guess,’ I say, bluntly.

He smiles. ‘If I’d known what kind of mood you were going to be in this morning, I can assure you I would have sent them to put a smile on your face, but alas, I’m not a psychic. Maybe they’re from lover boy.’

I look at him, momentarily bewildered.

‘David Phillips.’ He smiles. ‘Crikey, how many possibilities are there?’

I pull the florist’s card from my pocket and throw it across the worktop towards him.

‘Who’s Rachel?’ I ask tersely.

He shrugs his shoulders. ‘I haven’t the faintest idea. Where did this come from?’

‘You must think I’m stupid,’ I hiss.

‘What on earth . . .’ he starts, as I snatch the card from his grasp.

‘Please forgive me,’ I mimic snidely. ‘I love you.’

He looks at me as if I’m mad.

‘What have you done wrong, Nathan? Why do you need to apologize to Rachel?’

‘This is ridiculous. What the hell has got into you?’

‘Don’t make this my problem,’ I say, unable to stop my voice rising. ‘Just tell me what’s going on.’

He makes a good show of looking baffled and I can almost hear his brain whirring. ‘I have no idea who Rachel is or what you’re going on about.’

‘So, these flowers –’ I pick them up and throw them back down angrily – ‘have absolutely nothing to do with you? That’s really bad luck on your part if they’ve inadvertently been sent to your wife instead of your mistress.’ I laugh sarcastically. ‘You couldn’t make it up, could you?’

‘Are you honestly being serious?’ He attempts to laugh. ‘Where is all this coming from?’

I snigger derisively and shake my head. ‘So you’ve no idea who they’re for or who they’re from?’

‘No,’ he says eventually. ‘But if it makes you feel better, I’ll give the florist a call – see what’s going on.’

‘You do that,’ I snap.

Sophia gingerly puts her head around the kitchen door and I immediately hate myself for giving into my insecurities, knowing that they will only manifest themselves in her as well. I pack my anxieties away and resolve to only reveal them when she’s not around.

‘I’m going into town with Megan,’ she says quietly.

‘Do you want me to drop you at the station?’ asks Nathan. ‘I’ve got to get the car cleaned anyway.’

And check it for any other jewellery? I say to myself.

‘Can we get Megan on the way?’

‘Sure,’ he says, and Sophia offers a smile before heading up the stairs.

I busy myself with wiping down the worktops. ‘If I haven’t got my car back in time, I’ll need you to pick the girls up from ballet and drop Millie back to her house.’

He groans. ‘Do I have to? That means I’ll get stuck talking to another nutty mum from school.’

‘It’s Beth,’ I say. ‘She’s as far removed from a nutty mum as you can get.’ Though if he knew her life story he might beg to differ. ‘She’s the one I go out with.’

‘You see her a lot, don’t you?’

I nod. ‘We get on really well. She’s the only mum at that school who is remotely on my wavelength.’

‘Yet I still haven’t met her?’ He poses it as a question, and when I look at him, he raises his eyebrows as if he expects an answer. ‘For all I know, she could be a completely fictitious figure that you’ve invented as a cover story.’

‘What?’ I say, incredulously. ‘Do you want to come on one of our girlie nights out?’

‘Well, how do I know that’s where you’re really going? You could be doing anything. You certainly claim to see “Beth” a lot.’ He puts her name into speech marks with his fingers.

I can’t help but laugh.

‘It sounds preposterous, right?’ he says.

‘Absolutely.’

‘So imagine how I feel when you bandy ridiculous accusations around. It wouldn’t ever occur to me that you’re doing anything other than what you tell me. I trust you with all my heart and I thought you did me.’

I bow my head, almost embarrassed for the way I’ve behaved. I’m not a vulnerable teenager in a tempestuous relationship. I’m a grown woman who has never questioned Nathan’s loyalty in the nine years we’ve been together. So, why am I so quick to now?