CHAPTER THREE
I thought about Zak on the way home, after I’d dropped Katja back.
He really was struggling with his writing. I was trying hard to be encouraging but I couldn’t seem to lift him out of his current gloom.
The traffic was backed up as I drove into Sunnybrook, the high street clogged with vehicles, every parking space taken. Paused at the lights, I frowned at the poster on the wall of the bus stop advertising the Winter Arts Festival. It was an initiative organised by the council to promote local arts and crafts, and there were currently events going on all over Surrey – from pop-up art galleries and crafting workshops to street entertainment and theatre productions.
As I passed the large marquee on the village green, a fanfare of trumpets followed by loud applause could be heard from inside, and I cringed inwardly, feeling Zak’s pain.
Our rented house was several streets from the green but the cheerful hubbub was still audible from his study and it was driving poor Zak slowly mad.
He’d escaped for a few days once before to his gran’s place by the sea to get inspiration for his writing, and he’d returned full of optimism and new ideas. But I knew that at the moment, with a baby on board and a house to renovate, he was reluctant to leave me here by myself with Maisie. I’d tried to tell him it would be absolutely fine. The builder we’d hired had been highly recommended by our friend, Lottie, so he didn’t have to worry on that score. And it wasn’t as if I was going to be knocking down internal walls myself or fixing loose roof tiles! All I’d be doing would be project managing the facelift.
What I hadn’t told Zak was that Rori, who’d been my right-hand woman at the glamping site – a joint venture with my friend, Milo – had just landed a job in a research lab in nearby Guildford.
She’d been really apologetic about leaving me in the lurch – almost in tears, in fact. But of course I’d ordered her to accept the job. It was a fabulous opportunity for Rori, not to be missed. I’d put an advert in the village store window for a new assistant, as well as on a couple of job websites, although so far no one suitable had responded. But it was early days, and I was perfectly capable of managing the day-to-day running of the glamping site myself until I found someone.
As I walked into the house, I was planning to put the kettle on and have a chat with Zak about going down to his gran’s. Agatha’s house boasted a self-contained one-bed annexe, which she sometimes rented out. Zak had stayed there before and gone for long walks on the beach to help him focus on his work, so if it was free, maybe he could do the same again. I was more than happy to handle everything at home myself while my talented author husband came up with his next brilliant plot!
Zak thundered down the stairs as I was shrugging off my coat.
‘Hey, I was thinking the best thing for you to do would be to –’ Turning with a smile, I saw his face and stopped in mid-sentence. ‘What’s wrong? Has something happened to Maisie?’ Fear gripped me as I thought of my gorgeous stepdaughter.
‘No, no.’ He raked a hand through his hair and let out a frustrated sigh. ‘I just wish you’d told me, Ellie.’
Alarmed, I stared at him. ‘Told you what?’ I asked, although I had a sinking feeling I already knew.
‘Well, that you’d contacted the estate agents to let them know we’re moving out ?’ He stared at me in exasperation. ‘Ellie, we hadn’t even talked about it. The new house is such a mess, it could be months before it’s in a decent enough state to move into. But I’ve just had a phone call from the office wanting the exact date we’ll be vacating this property – so they can get the bloody cleaners booked in!’
My face fell. ‘Really? Oh, no. I didn’t think they’d move that fast.’
‘Well, they have. They are. They’re going to be wanting to get new tenants lined up as soon as possible.’
‘But I gave the standard three months’ notice. It’s not as if we have to be out next week.’
‘No, but it’s still happening far sooner than I would have liked.’ He shook his head in despair. ‘We should never have bought the house so hastily. Ideally, I should have been in a solid position financially before committing to this mortgage, but right now, I don’t even know what my earnings will be in a few months’ time. We should have waited.’
‘But if we’d waited, someone else might have got in ahead of us and snapped it up,’ I argued eagerly. ‘It was too good a bargain to be missed. Don’t you think?’
Zak didn’t reply. He just gave a hopeless shrug. Pulling out a chair, he sat down heavily and stared gloomily into space.
‘Look, I’m sorry. I just thought we should start the process. But maybe I was too hasty.’
He looked up and I saw new worry lines etched on his face. ‘You should have talked to me first, Ellie. I just wish you’d slow down, that’s all. You’re taking on far too much when really, you should be taking it easy... looking after yourself and the baby.’
I swallowed, feeling suddenly tearfully hormonal, which seemed to happen quite a lot these days. Zak looked pale and defeated and it was all my fault.
‘I know. I’m sorry. Look, I’ll call the estate agents and tell them we don’t have an exact date, okay?’
‘I’m going to bed.’
‘Now? But I was going to make dinner...’
‘I had a bad night last night and I’m exhausted.’ He looked at me, his lips forming just a hint of a smile. ‘Sorry. I’ll be better company tomorrow, I promise. I just need to crash out right now, okay?’
‘Of course!’ I went to give him a hug but he turned and walked out before I could.
I sank down on the chair he’d vacated.
This most definitely wasn’t the right time to bring out the alluring new black satin bra and brief set...