For Your Own Protection(4)
A mischievous thought crossed Matt’s mind. ‘James hasn’t put you up to this, has he?’ He felt his face flush. ‘Trying to find out if I’m returning to the company? Wanting to see whether the way is clear for him further up the ladder?’
‘Matt, how could you think that? Of course not.’
‘Because I am coming back, in the next month or so.’
Matt simmered.
‘I can understand how you feel about James and me being together, but please, try to be happy for me and Charlie.’ Beth’s tone was conciliatory. ‘Charlie gets on really well with James. He’s happy.’
‘He was happy with us.’
‘Before things went wrong,’ Beth countered. ‘You know he was affected by the arguments, by the atmosphere.’
Matt conceded that point. ‘You’re right – of course you are.’ Charlie had become withdrawn and anxious when they were splitting up. Now he seemed back to normal. Matt had never really thought about James’s role in that. He hadn’t wanted to think about James’s role in Charlie’s life, full stop.
Just then, Matt’s phone vibrated. It was Catherine.
Looking forward to lunch xxx
Matt slid the phone back into his trouser pocket. ‘I’m sorry, Beth. It’s just that it’s still hard, you know, seeing you with someone else.’
‘But you are—’
‘It’s nothing serious,’ he said, waving away the idea. ‘Just a few dates. But you and James, it’s obviously different. Even though it’s only been six months, it seems serious. Are you living together?’
The directness of the question threw Beth, who immediately reddened. ‘James . . . does stay over.’
‘Most of the time?’
Beth sighed. ‘Recently, yes. Most but not all of the time.’ She gave him a look as if to say, Are you happy now?
Matt tried to look unaffected by the admission, even though the thought of James taking over his family and now his house wounded him deeply. What next? Charlie calling him ‘Daddy’?
‘How did it come to this?’ he said quietly.
Beth, too, softened. ‘You know how it came to this.’
‘I still love you,’ Matt found himself saying. ‘You and Charlie, you mean the world to me.’
Beth shook her head. ‘Don’t.’
‘Why?’ Matt said, reaching out for her hand. She drew it away, but not before they touched momentarily.
‘Because,’ she said, looking down and closing her eyes briefly, steeling herself to say something. Then she stared directly at him. ‘Because it makes this all the harder.’
‘What? What is it?’
She swallowed. ‘James has been offered a promotion. A transfer to UGT’s Sydney office. It’s just for two years in the first instance.’
The realisation of what she was saying hit home. ‘No, you can’t. Please, don’t.’
‘James wants me to come with him, and of course that means Charlie too.’ Beth ploughed on, as if she were unable to stop the words from flowing, for fear that they’d be too hard to say once the momentum was lost. ‘I’d need your blessing, to be able to go there with Charlie. After all, you’re his dad. I couldn’t take him there without you being happy with the situation.’
Matt struggled to contain his anger. ‘Happy with the situation? Are you kidding me? Happy being thousands of miles away from my son, while another man brings him up?’
Beth bit her lip.
‘No way,’ Matt said, his raised voice drawing the attention of the girl behind the counter. ‘No way will I give my blessing to that.’
‘Just have a think,’ she muttered.
Matt slid his chair back, scraping it along the tiled floor as he got to his feet. ‘You tell James he’s not stealing my son.’
CHAPTER THREE
Matt didn’t stop to look back as he exited Giuseppe’s, putting some distance between him and the cafe before pausing by a wall just outside a newsagent’s. Already he felt some remorse for how he had reacted – the look of shock on Beth’s face was not something he had taken pleasure in – but he was still angry.
He looked into the shop, and for the first time in many years felt an urge to smoke. Beth hated smoking, and Matt had quit within a month of their first date.
You’ll never get Beth back if you start on those.
He turned away and pulled out his mobile, just in case Beth had sent a text message – although he didn’t know what he expected her to say.
There were no new messages.
He circled around on the pavement, trying to think. Was it worth calling Beth and trying to continue the discussion, but this time more rationally? Maybe he could persuade her that the whole idea of Australia was a bad one. Beth wasn’t fond of heat, or insects, or long plane journeys.
But she was fond of James Farrah, obviously.
Matt kicked at the low wall, then glanced at his watch. It wasn’t even ten yet. There were another two hours before he was due to meet Catherine in central London. He pulled out his phone again and called Beth. Her mobile rang through to voicemail.
‘Beth, I’m sorry I flew off the handle. It’s just that it was such a shock. Can we talk some more about it? Are you still around? I can come over to where you are. I’m just down the street.’