Chapter 5
FIVE
JUSTINE
It was almost three in the afternoon. Justine tried to call Craig again but he still wasn’t answering.
‘Mum, have you seen my footie boots?’
She flinched and put her phone away. Craig might not return her call for ages.
Maybe he was in yet another meeting. All day?
She second questioned everything now. He’d been travelling back and forth to Newcastle for weeks trying to set this new accounting system up for the multinational company he worked for.
She looked at her boy, almost the spitting image of his father with his green eyes and flaming-red hair that she loved so much.
He too always wore a cap to tuck his sprawling mop into, which she hated. Both he and Craig had gorgeous hair.
‘I put them in the garage. They were getting mud all over my lovely floor and Pixie was trying to lick them. I didn’t want her to get sick.’ She nodded to their very old bulldog who lay snoring in her basket.
‘But I need them and I’m late.’ Danny slammed the back door to go to the garage.
She shrugged and she didn’t care. For years she’d cleaned his boots and his kit but he was an adult now, he could do those things for himself and if he couldn’t, his dirty boots and trainers would live in the garage.
After heading upstairs to her office, she turned her computer off.
The bridal shop video edit could wait until later.
For now, she had her yoga class to attend and she wasn’t going to miss that for the world.
She lived for the smoothie bar there and the time spent with her friends that came after.
The house shuddered as Danny slammed the front door.
She glanced out of the upstairs window and watched her son running towards the bus stop.
Late – always late. Not bearing the mental load of organising his life was doing her the world of good and she knew it would help Danny to become more independent, too.
He needed to learn to organise his own life now.
She was being cruel to be kind, only he couldn’t see that yet.
One last mirror check. She was loving her new crossover jumpsuit in fern green – just perfect. She checked her messages and tried to call Craig again, this time he answered. ‘Is everything okay?’
‘Are you out of breath?’
‘No, but you did get me out from under a desk. I was having a fight with a cable that had dislodged itself from the back of a computer. Is everything okay?’
She sighed, wondering if now was the right time to tell him how much it upset her when he forgot to call her.
She felt like just another wife of a man who worked away and forgot she existed.
She was a cliché. No, she was turning into her mother.
Her father was the type to leave her mum wondering when he’d be home, not only that, he’d been a prize cheater.
Her stomach dropped slightly. Deep down she knew that Craig had been cheating on her and when he got home, they were going to have to talk.
‘I guess. You didn’t call me back last night and you weren’t answering today. I thought something had happened.’
‘So sorry, love. I’ve just been working hard to get this project finished so I can come home. I worked late, got back to the hotel and fell asleep. I was out early this morning to battle the traffic. I knew you were working on the wedding shop video and I didn’t want to disturb you.’
Disturb her. She’d been trying to call him. No, her gut was telling her not to trust him one bit. This type of job only normally lasted a couple of weeks but Craig had been at it too long for her liking. ‘You said you’d be back by now.’
‘And everything is running behind. I’ll be back soon, I promise.’
‘How soon?’
The call ended abruptly. She FaceTimed him instead and he answered immediately looking a bit red and flustered.
His freckles were far more prominent than usual, like he’d got hot and bothered, or like whenever he’d been out running.
‘Sorry about that. I think the signal dipped. As you can see, I’m okay and I’m working my socks off.
’ He held a piece of cable up and smiled. ‘I’ve had it up to here with leads.’
‘It’s just nice to see your face. I miss you.’ She tried to peer at the office he was in but all she could see was a blank wall.
‘I miss you too.’ He blew a kiss at her.
They’d been married twenty-two years which is how she knew something had changed between them. She couldn’t put her finger on when things had changed but she could put her finger on the light red scratch on his neck if he’d been in the room with her. ‘Have you hurt your neck?’
‘Err.’ He scrunched his brow and felt the line. ‘I did it shaving, the other morning. It’s just a nick.’
‘How did you really do it?’
His smile turned into a frown. ‘Justine, I am not doing this now. I’m at work and people are listening. I did it shaving, okay. I love you. There is no one else. Do we have to go through this every time I work away? It’s exhausting. Is that why you had to FaceTime me?’
She let out a long breath. It wasn’t good to argue, not with him being so far away.
She needed him home. Maybe the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach was just her missing him and everything was okay, but that scratch wasn’t caused by shaving and she resented him treating her like she was stupid.
‘I’ve got to go. The boss is coming. Love you.’ He ended the call.
She grabbed her yoga mat and gym bag and stormed out the door.
She was going to find out who her husband was sleeping with if it killed her.