Chapter 13 #2
‘I want you to know – I hope you do know – how much I value and appreciate our relationship and the time we spend together. How much I…’ He cleared his throat again. His face was flushed. ‘How much I love you.’ As he spoke, his left hand reached for his jacket pocket. ‘I want you to have this.’
His hand emerged from his jacket pocket, and placed something on the table between them. Only when he removed his hand did she see it – a single key, attached to an elegant silver key ring in the shape of a heart.
‘It’s the key to the front door of my house,’ he said, more relaxed now that his short speech – and the key – had been delivered.
‘I had it cut for you. I’d like you to feel at home there, to regard it as your second home.
I want you to feel that you can come and go as you please, not as a visitor, but as a partner. ’
Relief, love, excitement… Julia was awash with emotion.
‘Why Sean! Thank you. I… I appreciate that, I do. And I do feel at home there. And I feel… I love you, too, and our relationship brings me great joy, and friendship, and contentment.’
‘I’m so pleased,’ he said, beaming.
‘Did you speak to Jono? It’s his home, too…’
‘Jono’s delighted. Now, I was thinking—’
Rather to Julia’s relief, a young waiter interrupted Sean with their food, the grilled salmon for her, the beef fillet for Sean.
‘Bon appétit,’ said Sean, with a smile.
Julia’s salmon was perfect, lightly seared on the outside, and cooked just through – she didn’t like the trend of serving it as raw as sashimi inside, but at the same time, she firmly believed it was a sin to overcook fish.
The green beans tossed with preserved lemon and almonds were likewise perfectly cooked with exactly enough crunch.
She put her cutlery down to savour the moment and the view.
A woman in khaki trousers and walking shoes was crossing the lawn, walking towards the river.
She had her mousy brown hair tied back into something between a ponytail and a bun.
She swung a large canvas bag from her shoulder to a bench that was well positioned on the bank for a delightful view of the river and the willows beyond.
On the other side of the bench sat a fat ginger cat, who seemed to be watching the river.
That bench appeared in many wedding photographs, including Peter and Christopher’s, and if the photographer was clever or lucky, there might even be a swan floating down the river in the background, behind the happy couple.
‘Five pounds says that’s the environmental officer,’ she said to Sean, tilting her head in the woman’s direction. The woman had taken a small net out of the bag.
‘I’m not taking that bet,’ he laughed. ‘You’re shameless, trying to win easy money off an old man, having already turned his head with love.’
Julia felt herself flush. In the early stages of their relationship, Sean had been reluctant to use the L-word.
For months he’d skirted around it with a variety of terms: ‘I have feelings for you’ and ‘you mean a great deal to me’ and – Julia’s personal favourite – ‘you have many excellent qualities, which I admire’.
But once he’d broken through the L barrier, he became quite enthusiastically expressive.
‘Oh, look,’ she said, gesturing towards the river again. ‘Those are the children I saw this morning. The ones who are staying here at The Swan.’
They, too, were heading towards the water. She worried, for a moment. Where was their mother? And could they swim? She assumed so; they were both in double digits, and it wasn’t easy to fall into the river.
The environmental investigator person was nearby, which put Julia’s mind to rest. She looked like a sensible sort.
In fact, she gestured the children over and pointed towards something down in the reeds.
A frog, perhaps, or a dragonfly. There were loads of both, at this time of year.
How sweet of her to share the treasures of nature with two awkward youngsters.
Sean put his knife and fork down and settled back with a contented sigh. ‘Now that was a fine piece of steak. Someone knows the meaning of medium-rare.’
‘My salmon was perfect, too,’ she said.
‘Do you mind if I get the bill?’ he asked. ‘I’m sorry to rush, but I have a patient at two forty-five.’
‘Of course,’ she said. ‘I should be getting back, too.’
As she gathered her glasses and phone in preparation for leaving, Julia saw a tall, handsome woman in a camel-coloured trouser suit and brown leather boots get up from a little two-seater table behind her.
Her glossy black hair, cut to her shoulders, swung forward like a waterfall as she reached down to pick up a stylish satchel from the unoccupied chair across from her.
Good for her, treating herself to a nice lunch, thought Julia, who had found it a difficult adjustment when she was first divorced.
The woman had an unusual style, understated but well put-together.
As Julia picked up her own, less stylish, bag, she wondered if the woman was travelling alone, on holiday from some exotic foreign land…
Argentina!
Was this the Argentinian wife? What was her name, Sofia?
When Julia turned to look again, she saw the woman disappear into the ladies’ toilets. A quick glance at Jake confirmed that he was still fast asleep. If she listened carefully, she could hear a soft snore coming from his barrel chest.
‘You go; I know you need to get back to work,’ Julia said to Sean as she leapt to her feet. ‘I’m going to go and wash my hands. Thanks for the key and for lunch – it was wonderful. Chat later.’