The Guilty Couple(8)

Once, when Olivia was in prison and Grace was away at school camp, he and Dani spent a whole evening together. He put on the film The Ghost and Mrs Muir and, partway through, Dani disappeared off to the kitchen to get another bottle of wine. When she didn’t return after fifteen minutes he went looking for her and discovered her sitting on a stool at the counter, halfway down a bottle of red, scrolling through Instagram on her phone. It was the last time he tried to introduce her to one of his favourite films. It wasn’t that her reaction made him feel old – he was only thirty-nine, and he was pretty sure there must be some twenty-six-year-old women who loved old black and white films – but it made him realise he’d overstepped the mark. Sharing your passions wasn’t something people who were casually screwing did, that was boyfriend/girlfriend type shit.

The next day he told her he thought they should take a step back, give each other a bit of space. Dani looked surprised but didn’t argue. Dominic’s resolve lasted all of two months until he had too much to drink at a work do. He texted her, asking if she wanted to come over for a nightcap. She didn’t reply until the next day: I was on shift but I might be free Sunday night. Any good?

No recrimination, no anger, no angst, nothing – she turned up, shared a bottle of wine with him then led him upstairs to the bedroom. The next morning she left before he or Grace got up and she didn’t bother to text to say thanks or ‘That was fun’ or ‘When can we do that again?’ She was so laid-back it was refreshing. He’d never met a woman quite like her.

‘Right so, first off have you got any paracetamol?’ Dani presses a hand to the side of her head. ‘I’ve got a shitload of case work to get through today and I haven’t got time for a hangover.’

Dom nods and waits for her to continue.

‘Also, don’t freak out about this.’ She waves a hand back and forth over the stretch of bedsheet between them. ‘What happened happened. It was fun, as always, but, um …’ for the first time since she began speaking she looks uncomfortable, ‘I was going to mention this yesterday but you got in first and dumped me.’ She laughs. ‘It didn’t seem appropriate to mention it after that. I feel like we’re friends, in our own way, so I’m asking you now, before I go.’

‘Asking me what?’ Dom steels himself. It’s either going to be money, or she’s found something out. He really hopes it’s money.

‘It’s Casey,’ she says. ‘She’s relapsed again, in a big way.’ She runs a hand through her hair, teasing her fingers through the tangled ends. ‘She needs to go back to Carmichael House for treatment. I’ve done everything I can to save up but I’ve got nowhere near enough – a couple of thousand tops – and she needs to stay there for six months this time. Whatever causes her to take drugs, is still there, inside her. It hasn’t gone away.’

Dom drops his gaze. He couldn’t give her that kind of money even if he wanted to. He just hasn’t got it anymore, not since his investments crashed and burned five years earlier. Ironically it was shortly after he gave her five grand because he was feeling flush. He lost everything, nearly every penny of his and Olivia’s savings. He’s been living off his earnings as a chartered surveyor ever since, not that there’s much of his pay packet left after he’s bought food, clothes and flute lessons for Grace, paid the bills, given his parents the rent for the house, and forked out for his rental car. Not that Dani knows any of that. To her, and to almost everyone else he knows, he’s a big shot in the City with a large house in Crouch End and an Audi Spyder in the driveway.

He kneads his temples and closes his eyes. She’s not the only one with a hangover.

‘I’m sorry Dani, I can’t.’

‘Are you sure?’ There’s surprise in her voice. ‘I know thirty grand is a lot but we can draw up another arrangement. I’ll pay you back every penny, I promise.’

Dominic stands up and pulls on his dressing gown, keeping his back to her so she can’t see the expression on his face. ‘Have you tried the bank?’

‘They don’t lend money for this sort of thing.’

‘Say it’s for a car.’

‘I can’t get a loan.’ She says each word separately, the emphasis on get. ‘My credit history is shit. I’ve got a five grand overdraft and I pay the minimum amount of interest on my credit card.’

‘I thought you said you had a couple of grand saved up?’

‘It’s not enough. I still—’ she breaks off with a sigh. ‘Is this because Olivia’s out?’

Dom stiffens. ‘How do you know about that?’

‘I rang someone I know in the prison service.’

Alarm bells clang in Dom’s brain. In the five years he and Dani have been sleeping together she hasn’t brought up his ex-wife once.

‘Why?’ he asks tightly.

‘Because I heard you on the phone to your daughter’s school, the last time we hooked up. You said you were worried about Olivia turning up at Grace’s school.’

He remembers the phone call. It was to Grace’s head of year. He’s been in frequent contact with the woman since his daughter started secondary school – mostly about the bullying.

‘What’s that got to do with you?’