Chapter Twenty Kate’s House #3
“I don’t know what to say,” said Amelia blushing with pleasure.
Evie was dismayed. She loved popping in to see Freya, it was like her second home but it wouldn’t be the same with Amelia there.
Freya clapped her hands. “That’s settled then. Pack up your things tomorrow morning and Evie can come and collect you and bring you to me.”
She added, “I’m going to hand this wee man back to his daddy to change his bum and when he comes back all clean and sweet smelling you can have a hold of him, Amelia.”
Evie, who adored Hari, had just been about to ask for a cuddle, but she kept quiet.
Should she be feeling a bit guilty for not offering her own spare room to Amelia?
The thought of having this strange woman in her house would have been like a dark cloud hanging over the place.
She thought, ‘She really is bringing out the worst in me, but just look at her, turning on the charm for everyone and they are all falling for it. Even Freya. Is it just me?’ She shook her head and tried to smile and join in the conversation.
Kate and Sophia made pots of tea and coffee, and everyone chatted until Andrzej said it was past his bedtime and he’d need to steal Maureen away so he could go home. He had been watching his wife like a hawk and could see that she was drooping from tiredness.
Andrzej could have continued drinking and talking into the wee small hours, but he rationed himself to a couple of zero-alcohol cans of Guinness (which he deemed the least worst of all the booze-free drinks) and feigned being tired so as not to let Maureen think of herself as spoiling his fun.
Of course, everyone saw through him, including Maureen, but that didn’t matter.
Soon after they left, a sleepy Ola and baby Hari were strapped into their car seats and Delima drove her big man child and her tiny children home. Jack had only had one beer and a nip of whisky but was gently snoring before she had even pulled out of Kate’s road.
Sophia asked Evie if she could stay at her cottage tonight. She was in no mood to go back to Finn’s, especially after five large glasses of Rioja. It would just end up in another argument.
Evie was so relieved. Having Sophia over was the perfect excuse for not asking Amelia to stay, and she also needed some time alone with her friend. “Sure thing. Let me call a cab for us both. You know I always have a spare toothbrush and a nightie.”
Back at Evie’s cottage, the two women sat on the sofa with a large whisky in their hands. Sophia had become tearful in the taxi, and now that they were safely back, the floodgates had opened. Sophia wept as she poured her heart out to her best friend.
“I feel as though I am stuck in Groundhog Day. We have the same argument over and over again. I love him, Evie. I’ve never felt this way about anyone, and I know he loves me too, but I don’t want to live like this, snatching a few days together a couple of times a month.”
She went on, “I want the kind of relationship my parents have. I want to say goodnight to him, and to wake up with him. I want to share all the silly little things like running out of bog roll or fancying a night in with a takeaway watching Better Call Saul all over again. I can’t keep doing all the running.
He needs to meet me halfway. It’s just not working. ”
Evie gave her a hug. “I’m so sorry, Sophia. I wish I had the answer. You know how happy I would be if you moved up here, but I don’t want you to have regrets and be miserable. It has to be the right decision for both of you, not just for him.”
Sophia wiped her eyes with a soggy tissue.
“I’ve gone over and over it in my head, but if he won’t even come to London for a visit and isn’t willing to make any compromises then how can he say he really loves me? I know his work is important, but I thought I was too.”
Evie sighed impatiently. “I know but you can’t be the one making all the sacrifices. Of course you both adore each other, and the sex is spectacular as you have told me on many occasions.”
“The sex really is utterly glorious,” said Sophia. “But is that enough? Is Finn really and truly in love with me or is it just pure lust?”
Sophia blew her nose, gave a watery smile and told Evie that they’d done nothing but talk about her own troubles and it was Evie’s turn now.
It was a sign of their strong friendship. Sophia was never just on transmit, she wanted to receive Evie’s news, and had noticed how unsettled she seemed by Amelia.
“Take my mind off Finn and tell me all about this long-lost relative from the US. What she’s like and how are you coping with it all?”
“Oh, I’m fine,” said Evie lightly, but Sophia knew her too well to let her get away with that.
“Come on now. Amelia seems to have gotten under your skin. I saw the way you looked at her tonight.”
Evie hesitated. She wasn’t proud of the twinge of jealousy she felt when Amelia was cuddling a contented Hari and when Freya had asked Amelia to stay with her, but she simply couldn’t help it.
She loved popping in to see Freya for a chat or a coffee and update her on the gallery.
It was her sanctuary and now she’d have to share it with a woman she barely knew, and it made her feel resentful.
“I don’t know,” Evie admitted. “I don’t know much about her. I’ve tried to ask her about her life and her background and about her father, but she just brushes every question aside or changes the subject.”
“Mm,” said Sophia. “She was certainly friendly enough tonight, though.”
“She was. I’ll give you that, but she didn’t give away a thing about herself,” said Evie. “It makes me think she has a secret to hide. Am I just being daft?”
But as she glanced back at Sophia, she saw how exhausted her friend looked after her long journey north and her arguments with Finn.
“Time to get you to bed, Sophia. You look done in and you need a good sleep. Things will look better in the morning.”
After tucking her friend up in the spare bedroom with a hot-water bottle in her comfy bed, even though it was the middle of spring, she vowed to do something to help Sophia.
She couldn’t help trying to fix things. After all, if she hadn’t told Andrzej that Maureen adored him, the two of them might never have admitted their love for each other and had that wonderful wedding and such a happy life together.
Evie had told Freya not to interfere, but maybe that was a mistake. They could both try and help Sophia and Finn find some way to stay together.