Chapter 26
TWENTY-SIX
Marian stood rooted to the spot as Sean walked towards them.
‘Hello,’ he called. ‘Are you the nice people buying my house?’
‘We are indeed,’ Theo replied.
Sean smiled and then, when he came closer, he spotted Marian. ‘Oh wow, it’s Marian, my muse,’ he exclaimed. ‘And this must be the missing husband? I see you’ve found each other again.’
‘Yes, well…’ Marian started.
‘This is quite a coincidence,’ Sean said. ‘Like a plot twist in one of my novels. Strangers meet on a plane and their paths cross again and again. I should write it down so I can remember the details. Reality meets fiction yet again.’
‘We’ve had quite enough of that,’ Marian snapped. ‘We don’t need any more.’
‘I suppose,’ Sean said apologetically. ‘But can I still call you my muse?’
‘How can I stop you?’ Marian asked, with a sense of impending doom.
‘I beg your pardon?’ Theo cut in, looking confused. ‘Marian is your muse? And what’s that about me being a missing husband? And you met on a plane? How did that happen?’
Sean shook his head, laughed and held out his hand. ‘I’m sorry. I should have introduced myself first of all. I’m Sean Duvivier, also known as John Peters, and this is my house.’
Theo reluctantly shook Sean’s hand. ‘I’m Theo Watson. So this is your house? How come you have two names?’
‘I’m an author,’ Sean explained, ignoring Marian’s warning look.
‘And I write under the pen name John Peters. I met Marian on the plane from Sydney to Dubai and we chatted through the night over several glasses of airline plonk. She told me all about the Fleury family which sort of inspired my latest novel.’
‘Did she now?’ Theo said, shooting a suspicious glance at Marian. ‘And what else did she reveal?’
‘Oh, nothing much,’ Sean said. ‘Just that you two were separated. But now I see you’re back together and buying a house – my house. That’s great news. I’m delighted you’re brave enough to take it on. It needs a lot of work.’
‘Yes it does,’ Theo said and backed away from Sean. ‘We haven’t quite decided if we’ll buy it, though. It might not suit us right now, actually.’
‘Oh?’ Sean said, looking disappointed. ‘That’s a pity. Well, let the estate agent know what you’ve decided.’
‘I will,’ Theo said. ‘But now we have to go. Goodbye.’
‘Bye for now,’ Sean said pleasantly. ‘See you at Pierce’s office, Marian. I really enjoyed our dinner the other night. Must say, you and Pierce did a fabulous job with the media coverage. Can’t wait to get started.’
‘Thanks,’ Marian said as Theo pulled her away. ‘Bye, Sean.’
They walked down the hill in silence and Marian could see that Theo was fuming. When they were out of earshot, Theo stopped suddenly and glared at Marian, folding his arms.
‘So,’ he said. ‘I think you have a lot to explain.’
‘I suppose I do,’ Marian said, trying to think of way to tell him what had happened on the plane that would appease him. ‘Well, as you know I was upset when we said goodbye and I left for Sydney to catch the plane to Dubai,’ she started.
‘Yes, we were both a bit upset,’ Theo agreed. ‘But is that an excuse to blab about our problems to a complete stranger ON A PLANE?’ he shouted.
‘Please, don’t shout,’ Marian begged, looking around to see if anyone had heard him.
But the street was deserted and she calmed down.
‘I was so tired and then we had a few glasses of wine, so I wasn’t really thinking straight.
He was so nice and charming and asked about me and my life and so on.
I started talking about myself and then I just happened to mention that I was sad about what we were going through. ’
‘You just “happened” to mention that we were separated as well?’ Theo asked in a scathing tone. ‘I never felt we had gone that far. But you obviously had a different idea.’
‘I suppose I did,’ Marian mumbled. ‘That’s how I felt then. But then I couldn’t go on about it so I started to tell him about the family instead and all the old stories came out.’
‘All those old scandals that everyone is now gossiping about all over town?’ Theo enquired. ‘Dominic told me about that. And that story about Sylvia that has upset her so much she’s forced to go public about it? Was that your doing as well?’
‘No,’ Marian argued. ‘I never mentioned Sylvia. That was something he made up all by himself. I had nothing to do with that.’
‘But your story sparked his interest, I bet,’ Theo remarked. ‘He wouldn’t have started digging if he hadn’t met you, that’s for sure.’
‘Maybe not,’ Marian said with a sad little sigh. ‘I know it’s all my fault. So there you are, the whole truth all laid bare for you to see.’
‘Except one thing,’ Theo said, his eyes full of pain. ‘You had dinner with him the other night? On some kind of date?’
‘No, it wasn’t a date,’ Marian protested. ‘We just happened to bump into each other and then he invited me for a drink and we stayed for dinner. It wasn’t what you might think. I was trying to get him to rewrite the novel so that my family wouldn’t have all their secrets exposed.’
‘I see.’ Theo paused for a moment. ‘And you were upset about a letter from an old flame I hadn’t been in touch with for a long time? That doesn’t begin to compare with the damage and hurt you’re causing me and the whole Fleury family right now.’
‘That letter seemed quite recent,’ Marian argued. ‘So I thought you were still in love with this woman. Helen, I mean.’
‘It wasn’t recent,’ Theo snapped. ‘And I wasn’t in love with her. Well, you must see that now, when I’ve flown all the way across the world to be with you.’
‘Yes,’ Marian whispered, ‘I do see that now.’ She averted her eyes from his angry glare and glanced at the brochure she had found, suddenly noticing the message scribbled at the bottom of the first page.
‘“This house looks great. Go and have a look and let me know what you think, love, Helen,”’ she read out loud.
Marian stared at Theo. ‘Helen?’ She looked at him and then everything seemed to make sense.
‘What’s going on?’ she asked. ‘Did Helen give you the tip about the house?’
Theo looked suddenly awkward. ‘Oh, okay. Yes, Helen told me about it. That’s what I was trying to tell you but you didn’t want to hear it. She works for Lisney estate agents in Dublin but she spotted this house for sale in Dingle in their lists and told me about it. That’s all.’
‘That’s all?’ Marian asked, her voice hoarse with shock and indignation. ‘You said you hadn’t been in touch with her for a long time.’
Theo sighed. ‘I hadn’t. But then when I told her I was here in order to patch things up with you and I was willing to settle down here, she gave me this tip. It was just to help us, really. Can’t you see that?’
‘Not really.’ Marian took a step back. ‘I only see that you seem to run to Helen for help whenever we’re having problems.’
‘She’s a good friend, nothing more than that.’ Theo stared at Marian. ‘But we’re getting away from the real problem here. Your involvement with that author and your behaviour on the plane.’
‘That’s worse than your relationship with your old flame?’ Marian asked.
‘Much worse,’ Theo said, his eyes cold. ‘You must see that what you’ve just told me has changed things for me. I don’t think I want to go ahead with the house now.’
‘Neither do I,’ Marian snapped. ‘Why don’t you move in there with Helen?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Theo retorted. ‘But you know what? I need to be on my own for a bit. I had no idea you were hiding all this from me. That has shaken me up, big time.’
‘I was going to tell you,’ Marian said.
‘When?’ Theo asked, his eyes boring into hers.
Marian squirmed. ‘Soon,’ she said. ‘But then you surprised me with this house-buying plan and the job with Dominic and everything. I was so amazed by all of it that everything slipped to the back of my mind. It seemed so perfect all of a sudden. I’m sorry about everything.
I don’t want to argue like this. Why can’t we forget about Helen and Sean and just try to get back what we had?
Last night, when you were so loving and you gave me breakfast in bed, I was beginning to feel we were going to be okay. ’ She tried to take his hand.
‘It’s too late for that.’ Theo snatched his hand away from her touch. ‘I’m going back to the B&B to check out now. And then I’m leaving.’
‘Where are you going?’ Marian asked, feeling tears well up in her eyes.
‘I don’t know yet,’ he said and then started to walk away from her down the hill. ‘Tell Noel the whole thing is off,’ he said over his shoulder. ‘Bye, Marian. I’ll be in touch about what we should do next.’
Marian watched him go, feeling all her hopes and dreams that had seemed so perfect only minutes ago crumbling to nothing.