Chapter Twenty-Five
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
If Ottilie hadn’t known Chloe was pregnant, she wouldn’t have been able to tell. Keeping a promise to Stacey to make up for the evening that had been hijacked by the search for Melanie, she’d gone round there after finishing work and grabbing a quick shower, feeling exhausted, as she always seemed to be these days. Simon and Heath would join them at some point for a drink at the pub.
‘She’s going to get taken away,’ Chloe said. ‘In one of those jacket things that have buckles on to hold your arms. That’s what I heard.’
‘You ought to know you shouldn’t believe everything you hear,’ Stacey said briskly as she bounced Mackenzie on her knee. ‘Especially not in this village.’
Chloe stretched to take up the entire length of the sofa, shrugged and went back to her phone. Stacey frowned from the opposite armchair.
‘I’d better go to talk to her when I get time,’ Ottilie said. ‘I told Victor and Corrine to let me know if they needed my help.’
‘They must be managing then,’ Stacey said.
‘It doesn’t sound like it. Who told you she went missing for hours on the hills?’ Ottilie asked Chloe, who simply looked up from her phone and shrugged again.
‘Don’t know.’
‘You must have some idea.’
‘I think I heard someone say it at the playgroup. She’s lost the plot.’
‘I wouldn’t worry about it,’ Stacey said. She reached for her phone and unlocked it to show Ottilie a website. ‘I found this shop. It’s in Sheffield – a bit far I know, but look at these dresses!’
Ottilie took the phone. She thumbed through images of tulle and silk fairy tales. Some were white and some were muted pastel colours.
‘The prices aren’t too bad either, considering,’ Stacey said.
‘Am I going to be a bridesmaid too?’ Chloe asked.
‘I haven’t worked out the budget for dresses yet,’ Ottilie said, hoping that would be enough of a hint to tell Chloe that she didn’t have the money for more than two – and that they would be Stacey and Fion.
‘Oh.’ Chloe went back to her phone. She typed rapidly. Ottilie assumed she was messaging Oliver.
Ottilie handed the phone back to Stacey.
‘You don’t like them?’ Stacey asked.
‘They’re lovely. I’m struggling to concentrate right now, that’s all. Can we look again another day?’
‘We could drive over there if you get a day off.’
‘That sounds nice.’
‘Does it?’ Stacey asked. ‘You don’t seem keen.’
‘I’m sorry…’ Ottilie sighed. ‘It’s just all this stuff. Do you think I ought to go and see Melanie anyway?’
‘And do what?’
‘Not a clue. I feel as if I ought to at least try.’
There was a knock at the door. Stacey put Mackenzie on the floor with a pile of toys and got up. A moment later, she returned with Heath and Simon.
‘I don’t think Ottilie wants to go,’ Stacey said.
‘I didn’t say that.’ Ottilie got up.
‘You didn’t have to.’
Simon glanced at Stacey and then back to Ottilie. ‘Listen, we can do the pub any night. If you two want to…well, if you need to do other things, we don’t mind, do we, Stacey?’
‘But I don’t?—’
‘Honestly, it’s all right,’ Stacey said. She turned to Heath. ‘Take her home, will you? She looks knackered.’
‘Come on,’ Heath said gently. ‘They’re right. You should have phoned me; I would have told you to have a quiet one – we could have given it a miss tonight.’
‘I don’t want to give it a miss, but maybe a quiet one is a good idea.’ Ottilie sent a look of apology to Stacey and Simon. ‘I’m sorry?—’
‘Don’t be daft!’ Stacey smiled. ‘Call me – we’ll rearrange. Go home and get some rest.’
Heath and Ottilie stepped out onto the pavement. ‘You don’t mind not going to the pub with them?’ Ottilie asked as she slipped her arm through his.
‘Of course I don’t. It was only a casual arrangement; we can do it any time, can’t we?’
‘I thought you might have something to say about me letting circumstances get the better of me.’
‘They’re bound to.’
‘You haven’t said anything to your gran, have you? About her having a go at Fion?’
‘No. I’ve thought about it, but you’re right – what’s the point? She won’t think she’s done anything wrong.’
‘And she’s not the only one saying things. Chloe just told us people at the playgroup were saying things about Melanie going off the rails.’
‘You did find her wandering the hills in her socks,’ he said. ‘Most would say that’s going off the rails.’
‘But if it’s what people are saying, it’s not fair – especially not to Victor and Corrine.’
‘Or you,’ he said, concern etched into his features as he looked down at her.
‘I’m all right.’
‘Liar.’
‘I’m more worried for Fion.’
‘To be honest, as time goes on, I’m worried for her too.’
Ottilie was about to reply when she felt him stiffen beside her. And then, before she could stop him, he marched towards a figure across the street. Ottilie reached out to grab his arm, but he shook her off. ‘I want a word with you!’
Damien turned in surprise. He may not have known what Heath’s problem was, but he couldn’t have mistaken the fact that there was one, or that he was at the centre of it. ‘Heath…?’
‘What the hell are you playing at?’
‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘Don’t you? Do you want me to spell it out? You’ – he prodded a shocked-looking Damien in the chest – ‘causing trouble. Worrying Ottilie. Taking advantage of her sister. Take your pick. It’s got to stop.’
Damien backed away, hands in the air in a gesture of surrender. ‘I’m not trying to cause trouble, and I’m not looking for it.’
‘If you don’t back off and leave Fion alone, you’re going to get it.’
‘Heath, I don’t have an argument with you – why are you starting one with me?’
‘I just told you why!’
‘You don’t understand?—’
‘I understand all right. Your marriage is on the rocks and along comes a good-looking girl who thinks you’re all that and you take advantage. You think, why not? My missus isn’t interested in me. Well, she’s the one getting all the grief around here, and you’re sitting pretty in your house up the hill out of the way. She comes home crying, and me and Ottilie have to pick up the pieces. It has to stop.’
‘Or what?’
‘Don’t make me show you.’
‘Heath,’ Ottilie pleaded, her voice low as she checked out who might be on the street to see. ‘That’s enough. This isn’t going to help.’
‘It is.’
Both Ottilie and Heath turned to Damien with surprise.
‘It does help,’ he repeated. ‘I suppose this is what everyone thinks? I’m the older man leading an innocent girl astray? I’m using her, having a bit of fun on the side because my wife isn’t interested in me? That maybe Fion is the reason my marriage is in tatters? Is that what everyone thinks?’
‘Are you surprised?’ Heath asked. ‘You must know that’s how it looks.’
‘I suppose I do, but I’d hoped the people of this village would be more open-minded. I should have known they wouldn’t be.’
‘There’s open-minded and then there’s open-minded,’ Heath replied. ‘You’re trying to say people have it wrong?’
‘Yes. You live with Fion. Surely you know how it is?’
‘She only tells us so much,’ Ottilie said, ignoring a look of warning from Heath. ‘It might help us to hear it from you.’
She supposed Heath was doing the macho thing, wanting to be the fixer, wanting to protect his lady and her sister. While she appreciated that it came from a place of love, she didn’t appreciate how patronising she found it. She hadn’t asked for Heath to defend her honour like this, nor Fion’s when it came to it. They were both perfectly capable of defending their own. She also felt she knew enough of Damien to see there was more to this than Heath was assuming. She’d heard what Fion had to say, her defence of Damien, which Heath – along with the rest of the village – hadn’t given any credence to. She thought Damien deserved to tell his side of the story too. ‘You must have known how people around here would react to what’s going on with you and Melanie, and how Fion’s now involved. It looks bad.’
‘It only looks bad because nobody has bothered to find out what the truth is. Mel’s going around telling people this and that, making me out to be the villain, making out like Fion is a victim, like I’m some degenerate or something, but it’s not like that. Mel started this. She was the one who had an affair, last year.’
Ottilie stared at him. She glanced quickly at Heath and could see the shock in his face too. ‘Is that true?’
‘Why would I say it otherwise? She’d have left me, if it weren’t for the fact he wouldn’t leave his wife. We decided to give things another go, but it’s not as easy as saying you’ll try to get back to what you had before. When the trust is gone, it’s only a matter of time before everything else falls apart. Our marriage was already over long before Fion arrived – we were just making a show of keeping it going.’
‘Why? What good does that do?’
‘I don’t even know why – it seemed easier, I suppose. There’s the house on Victor’s land, and the farm…’
‘It doesn’t change what you’ve done to Fion,’ Heath said. ‘You’re older – you should have known better.’
‘I’m older, yes, but there are bigger age gaps, and Fion’s not a child. She can make up her own mind about who she wants to be with. I don’t get why it’s such a problem to everyone.’
‘Melanie’s struggling,’ Ottilie said, and Damien grimaced.
‘I know. Do you think I don’t feel guilty about that? I still care about her. I care about Corrine and Victor too, but what can I do? I didn’t want any of this.’
‘But your intentions are genuine?’ Ottilie asked. Fion had said as much, and now she felt like she was the patronising one for not taking her sister seriously. Despite the way they’d gone about things, Damien was right. Fion was a grown woman with her own mind – she’d said it enough times to others, so why did she have such a hard time believing it for herself?
‘Of course they are!’ Damien threw his hands in the air. ‘What did you think? All this trouble and you’re asking me if I’m genuine? Of course I am! I want to be with her more than anything!’
‘You’re not saying that because we’re here confronting you?’ Heath asked.
‘Throw a punch if it will make you feel better,’ Damien said in a withering tone. ‘It’s obvious you’re itching to. Beat me to a pulp – it won’t make any difference. Believe me or don’t, but my feelings for Fion are genuine. I care for her, and she cares for me.’
‘You care for her?’ Heath said. ‘That’s all very well. I cared for a cat I had when I was fourteen.’
‘Do you love her?’ Ottilie asked.
‘To put up with all this?’ Damien said. ‘I suppose I must do. Yes, then, since you’re asking, I love her.’
Ottilie had no reply. Faced with his words, she didn’t understand how she’d misjudged his intentions so badly. Perhaps the pressure from a disapproving community, or the misplaced desire to protect a younger sister who was capable of protecting herself had coloured her judgement. Why had she found it so hard to believe that what Damien and Fion had was genuine? Was it because she thought herself older and wiser than Fion? Again, she had to conclude that her actions had been horribly patronising. If someone had treated her in the same way, she’d have been angry and offended. And yet Fion had been patient and understanding, even when she was trying to offer an explanation that was only falling on deaf ears.
‘Neither of us thought it was going to be easy,’ Damien continued. ‘We both knew there would be people who’d take a dim view of what we were doing. What I didn’t count on was how hypocritical Melanie would be. If you want someone to blame for the village being turned inside out over this, she’s where you want to look.’
‘I’m not sure that’s fair,’ Ottilie said. ‘She might have made a mistake before, and she might be the reason the trouble in your marriage began, but she’s going through her own pain.’
‘I’m sorry; you’re right,’ Damien said. ‘And what makes me sad is what it’s doing to her family as well. We were all close once. They’re still speaking to me, and I don’t think they blame me, but it’s never going to be the same.’
‘Do you want me to talk to Melanie?’ Ottilie asked.
Damien shook his head. ‘No point. She doesn’t want to listen. In some ways, I think it’s best to let her have her version. Let her believe that’s how it is, if it makes her feel better. My reputation’s already in the gutter – there’s not much further down I can go, so why worry? I’ll be the villain if that’s what she needs, as long as she leaves Fion alone.’
‘What are you going to do?’ Heath asked, and Ottilie could tell from his tone that he felt as guilty about his treatment of Damien as she did. ‘You can’t carry on as you are.’
‘I’m going to talk to Fion. If she wants to, we could look at moving away.’
Ottilie’s eyes widened. ‘Leave Thimblebury? But you’ve just got your business up and running! What about that? And Fion? She’s only just moved in with me, and I…’
Ottilie wanted to say that she didn’t feel she even knew her sister properly yet, that she’d miss her, but then she was forced to remember that it wasn’t about her.
‘It’s not what I want,’ Damien said. ‘But if it’s what we have to do, then…’ His sentence trailed off. There was no need for him to finish it because they all knew the reality.
‘Perhaps it’s for the best,’ Heath said. ‘Even if it’s only temporary until the dust settles. People have got short memories and they’ll soon move on. Then you can come back.’
‘I don’t know about that,’ Damien replied ruefully. ‘People might have short memories, but I don’t know if mine is short enough to forget what happened here. There’s Victor and Corrine too. Do they want to be reminded of all this trouble every time they see me and Fion around the village? It’s a small place, too small to avoid one another for long.’
‘They’re not the sort of people to hold a grudge,’ Ottilie said.
‘It’s not what I’m saying.’ He shook his head slowly. ‘There must be a bit of you that thinks your life would be easier without all this too.’
Ottilie exchanged a loaded glance with Heath. It was obvious he was thinking the same as her – there was no denying that life would be easier for them.
‘It’s not about us,’ Ottilie said. ‘You know we’ll support you, whatever you decide.’
Damien looked at Heath. ‘So you’ve changed your mind about knocking my block off now?’
‘I’m sorry,’ Heath said. ‘You have to understand?—’
Damien halted him. ‘I’d have probably done the same.’ He held out a hand, and Heath paused before shaking it. ‘I’m sorry for all the trouble this has brought to your door.’ He looked at Ottilie, and she forced a smile. ‘You have to believe this wasn’t what I wanted. I want to do right by Fion, though, and if you have concerns about that, you don’t need to have.’
Ottilie nodded and pulled at Heath. Damien had talked of leaving Thimblebury with Fion, but the way she was feeling right now, perhaps she and Heath ought to think about it too.