Chapter Eighteen
Reuben couldn’t believe that Belinda had turned up out of the blue. He hated to think what Jessica must be thinking now. Especially after what had just happened in the kitchen.
‘Who was that?’ Belinda said, her voice dripping with disdain when he returned to the kitchen.
‘My friend, Jessica, who also happens to be a neighbour, like she told you,’ he said. ‘There was no need to be so rude.’
She raised a beauty-parlour shaped and tinted eyebrow at him. ‘Really? Do neighbours always look disappointed when wives turn up. Did I interrupt something?’
Reuben shook his head at her. Jessica wasn’t the only one to look disappointed.
He could still smell the scent of coconut in her hair and the subtle smell of her floral perfume.
He had wanted to pull her back into his arms and not let her go.
Aside from the physical attraction, he had also really appreciated having the chance to talk to her about his dad.
And she had actually been listening to him.
Her eyes hadn’t glazed over and she hadn’t tried to change the subject.
Which was Belinda’s speciality. ‘Why are you here, Belinda?’
She smiled at him, lowering her lashes. ‘Come on now, that’s no way to talk to your wife.’
‘Belinda, you aren’t my wife any more. We’ve been separated for a while now. You are very much my ex-wife.’
‘Oh, that’s harsh,’ she said perching her bottom on the kitchen table. ‘Technically we are still man and wife.’ She flicked her hair over her shoulders and pouted at him.
He looked at her in astonishment, again wondering why on earth he had married this woman.
And what on earth had she done to her eyes?
Her eyelashes looked as thick as the tassels on his granny’s old sofa.
Had she always been so vain and self-absorbed?
And he just hadn’t noticed? Or had their very different lifestyles exacerbated the fault lines that were always there?
She had always taken care of her appearance and liked spending money on clothes and jewellery.
Reuben hadn’t really bothered about her lavish spending to begin with — some of his friends had told him their wives were exactly the same.
But after they had been married for a couple of years, she just seemed to want more and more and Reuben felt as though nothing he ever did would ever be enough.
It was as though she had a God-sized hole that she would never be able to fill.
Whether it was clothes, jewellery, trips away, expensive meals out, she was always on to the next thing.
Her salary didn’t match her expensive tastes and his income had taken a bit of a bashing too.
It was awful to admit, but he had actually felt a sense of relief when she was offered a job working for a large marketing firm in Dubai.
Reuben had refused to move there. His life and work were very much rooted in Glasgow.
She said there was no way she was turning the job down, and so they reached an uneasy truce when they agreed to try their marriage long-distance.
Belinda said plenty of people had long-distance relationships but Reuben knew in his gut that it wouldn’t work. And it hadn’t.
She smiled at him. ‘I take it you haven’t changed your mind about coming over to Dubai then?’
Was she having a laugh? What was going on with her?
Why was she here now? She must have known that wasn’t an option.
When Reuben had gone out to visit her, eighteen months ago, he quickly knew there was no way on earth he would ever live there.
Lots of people loved the way of life in Dubai but it wasn’t for him.
They had spent all of his visit socialising with Belinda’s work colleagues, whose idea of a good time was partying on yachts, drinking champagne and eating out in overpriced restaurants.
It just wasn’t him at all. Reuben had never been more relieved in his life to get off the plane — in fact, the flight had been the highlight of the whole trip — and take gulps of fresh, cold Scottish air.
It was never going to work. Belinda positively loved that kind of lifestyle and all it brought with it, and he absolutely hated it.
All he wanted to do at the weekends was be outdoors, whether it be walking in the hills, or messing about down at the loch, or having dinner in a cosy pub.
She’d refused to visit him in Glasgow and so they’d reached a stalemate.
Until she then told him, over FaceTime this time last year, that she had been having an affair with one of her colleagues and their marriage was over.
He hadn’t seen her since. Until now. He felt her hand on his arm, reminding him that she was still there and standing in his kitchen.
‘I think it’s fair to say that will never happen, Belinda.
Are you going to tell me what you want?’
‘Have you missed me?’ she purred.
He pulled a face. ‘No, Belinda, I haven’t. Not at all. Please just get to the point and tell me why you’re back?’ He moved away from her to create some distance.
‘Well,’ she chided, looking a bit put out that her charm hadn’t worked.
‘I was back in the country for a few days and I was in Glasgow,’ she said with a shiver of distaste.
‘I was planning on trying to catch up with you and knew you were down here.’ She looked around the cottage, bemused.
‘I bumped into some of the boys at the pub the other night in the west end,’ she said in explanation.
She dramatically placed her hand on her heart.
‘So I jumped in my car and decided I would just come straight down and see you. It’s always better to chat in person, don’t you think? ’
Reuben inwardly groaned. ‘You should have called to let me know you were back.’
‘Oh,’ she said, clearly not impressed. ‘Well, anyway, now that I’m here, we may as well chat. I wanted to see you because . . .’
As her voice trailed away, he looked at her again as objectively as possible, realising how once upon a time he had been absolutely devoted to her. He would have done anything for her, aside from move to Dubai. Now, he really just wanted her to leave. ‘Because?’ he said impatiently.
‘We were good together, babe.’
Babe? She had never once called him that when they were married.
And he certainly didn’t want her to start calling him it now.
Had she been watching too much Love Island or was that the lingo over there with the crowd she ran about with in Dubai?
‘That was then, Belinda, and things have changed now.’ His stomach sank when he realised it had started to snow outside.
‘But, Reubs . . . I think I made a mistake. I still love you.’
He looked at her now, incredulous that she was bringing this up after a year of being separated.
‘You had an affair, Belinda. This time last year you called me to tell me you were seeing some bloke from work. And that our marriage was over.’ He paused, watching her brow furrow and the seductive smile disappear from her face.
‘Let’s face it,’ he said, trying to make sure his voice was a bit gentler, ‘we weren’t meant to be together. We wanted different things.’
She chewed her bottom lip for a moment, suddenly looking unsure of herself, but the look quickly passed. She walked over to him, placing a hand on his chest and then letting her finger trail down it. He hated the way his body responded to her touch, a memory of what they once had.
‘How about we give it another go,’ she said, leaning closer to him. ‘Don’t you remember how great we were together?’
Reuben remembered the good times they’d had together when they were first married. But that had been fleeting and he also reminded himself of the hurt Belinda had caused him. Then he thought about Jessica and how good it felt to be with her and to kiss her.
Belinda smiled seductively at him, like a cat who knew it had caught its prey, and her hand lingered on the waistband of his sweatpants. ‘For old time’s sake at least,’ she said suggestively.
But he cleared his throat and gently pushed her away. ‘No,’ he said firmly. ‘Our marriage is over, Belinda. In fact, I think we should get on and make plans to finalise our divorce.’
She looked as though he had slapped her.
It had obviously been a while since anyone had knocked her back and he was reminded again of how nasty she could turn if things didn’t go her way.
Narrowing her eyes, she shook her head and threw her shoulders back.
‘If that’s what you want, then fine.’ She looked over his shoulder and out the window.
‘But look, Reuben, it’s snowing outside.
’ A smirk crossed her face. ‘You can’t possibly expect me to drive back to Glasgow in that.
The roads will be treacherous. You know how long it takes anyone to get out there and clear them or grit them.
It will be hellish. Surely you don’t want me to take any chances? ’
And she was right. He wanted to actually scream when he turned to see the snow falling thicker and faster.
He couldn’t let her head off when it was snowing so heavily.
He silently prayed that the snow would stop, pronto, and pulled out his phone to check the weather forecast. But it didn’t look like it was due to stop for another hour or so.
‘It might well clear up.’ His voice was brisk.
‘And if it doesn’t?’ she said suggestively.
‘Let’s hope it does.’ Reuben couldn’t bear the idea of being stuck indoors with Belinda this way. ‘If it doesn’t stop snowing, then . . .’ He took a very deep breath. ‘Then, of course, you can stay here.’ He added quickly, ‘I’ll sleep on the sofa.’
She beamed, her eyes triumphant. ‘That sounds like a deal. How about we get some takeaway for dinner? I also brought some champagne with me.’ She brandished the bottle she had pulled from her bag. ‘We could make a night of it.’
‘No thanks,’ he said brusquely. Sharing champagne with his estranged wife was the absolute last thing he wanted to do. ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea.’
‘Can I have a glass of water then, please?’ she said shrewdly.
‘Sure.’ He filled her a glass at the sink and took it over to the table where she sat. He walked over to the cupboard and pulled it open. ‘If you’re hungry, let me see what I can rustle up. Something on toast. Beans or grilled cheese perhaps?’
Belinda didn’t answer. Reuben heard the pop of a cork. When he turned round, she had filled the tumbler with the fizz. She looked at him defiantly, drained the glass and then poured herself another.