Page 28 of You Were Always the One

‘Oh, stop, will you?’ Charley’s phone buzzes. She picks it up, then looks at me. ‘Would you excuse me for a moment?’

As she slips outside, Jake looks at me. ‘How’s she doing?’ he says. ‘Really? Only I get the feeling she doesn’t tell me everything.’

‘It’s for Charley to tell, really,’ I say. ‘But she’s doing remarkably OK. She has a scan coming up. After that, she’ll know more about whether the treatment is working.’ I pause. ‘She said how great you are with Tallie.’

‘She’s a brilliant kid.’ His voice is warm with love. ‘I’m just glad I could take some time off to be here for them.’

‘Where did you live before?’ I ask.

‘I used to live in Manchester – I worked up there.’ He pauses. ‘But my best mate has a farm. I’d been spending a lot of time with him and I’ve always envied him his way of life. So I’m giving it a go while I look after Charley – not that I’m allowed to say that. You know what my sister is like!’

‘I think I do.’ I find myself liking this man.

‘It’s tough on her,’ he goes on. ‘She thinks she hides it from me. But I know how worried she is.’ He pauses. ‘Does she talk to you?’

‘A bit,’ I say. ‘It’s really tough for anyone to go through something like this.’

He looks at me. ‘Your job must be quite challenging at times.’

I smile at him. ‘It can be. But I love it. I wouldn’t do anything else.’

The door opens and Charley comes back in. ‘Sorry. That was the school.’

‘Is everything OK?’ Jake asks.

Charley frowns. ‘Not really. Apparently, Tallie was upset this morning. Her teacher’s had a chat with her and she’s fine now. Fucking cancer,’ she says savagely. ‘I hate what this is doing to her.’

But I’ve seen it so many times, the way cancer doesn’t just affect one person. It affects families.

‘She’ll be fine,’ Jake says. ‘I’ll pick her up and have a bit of a chat.’

‘Thanks,’ Charley says. But instead of the usual fight in her voice, she sounds defeated.

JUNE

10

RIGGS

Over the next few weeks, the book I’m writing flows in the most wonderful way. And OK – so in between, I fantasise about being with Holly again. About the time finally being right for us. So much for waiting for the moment when everything falls magically into place. I should know by now, it doesn’t happen like that. In any case, plans are like trains. Even the most carefully, methodically thought-out ones are subject to total disruption at short notice.

That’s exactly what happens the next morning, when I awake to the sound of my phone buzzing. Picking it up, I see Emma flashing on the screen.

‘Hey. Are you in?’ she says.

‘Um, yes.’ Rubbing my eyes, I wonder what’s so urgent.

‘Can I come and see you?’ she says.

‘Sure.’ I glance at my watch. It’s 7.30 a.m. ‘It’s a bit early,’ I say.

‘Is it?’ she says vaguely. ‘Anyway, you’re awake now. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.’

This isn’t how I planned on starting my day, but no matter. Getting out of bed, I dunk myself under the shower, then pull on jeans and a T-shirt, before making coffee. I’m assuming Emma wants to talk about our divorce or money, shoehorning me into spare minutes before she goes to work or whatever it is she’s doing today. Then it occurs to me. Maybe she’s had second thoughts about us.

The thought stops me in my tracks. I imagine Emma turning up in one of her sexy dresses, seductively draping her hair over one of her shoulders. Giving me one of those looks I could never resist. But when she arrives five minutes early, instead of the sexy dress I imagined, she’s wearing saggy old jogging bottoms and a shapeless sweater.

I stand in the doorway. ‘Hi.’