Chapter 15
The phone call came completely out of the blue.
Jenna was collecting eggs with the twins, Carne dancing around them and almost tripping them up.
‘You crazy dog,’ she told him sternly. ‘Can’t you just stand still and behave for five minutes?’
‘If you trip us up, we might smash the eggs,’ Hallie added, wagging a finger at the little Jack Russell. ‘The Bennet Sisters won’t be happy if they’ve done all that hard work for nothing.’
Ada scooped Carne into her arms, where he wriggled desperately, wanting to be free.
‘Just till we’ve got the eggs,’ she told him, kissing his nose. ‘Be a good boy.’
Jenna’s phone rang and she took it from the pocket of her jeans and glanced at it. It was Joel.
Immediately her heart began to thud and her pulse started racing. She handed the basket of eggs to Hallie.
‘Can you finish off here, please? I’ve got to take this call,’ she said.
The twins were perfectly happy to get on with the job alone, so Jenna hurried over to the gate which led out onto the grazing land and answered the call, even though part of her didn’t want to.
She had a feeling she knew what this was about.
Tomorrow it would be two weeks since his last call, when he’d given her notice that he wanted them home within a fortnight.
No doubt he wanted to know if she was bringing the girls home today.
‘Joel,’ she said, hoping her voice sounded normal and not at all as if she was in a state of heightened anxiety.
‘I want to see the girls,’ he said, with no preamble.
‘I told you,’ she said, trying not to betray how nervous she felt, ‘I’m not coming home. We’re here for the summer holidays. If you want to see them you’re welcome to, but we’re staying—’
‘Yes, whatever,’ he said dismissively. ‘I’m not interested in you coming home. If you want to stay in that godforsaken dump, feel free. Nevertheless, I want to see them. Can you bring them to meet me in my lunch hour?’
Jenna gazed over at Jamie Fraser and Ellen MacKenzie, who were lazily tugging at the grass in their field, without a care in the world. How she envied them. ‘When?’
‘Today of course.’
‘Today?’ She glanced at her watch. Eight thirty. She had plenty of time, but even so, he was being a bit presumptuous.
‘It’s the least you can do, given that you’ve taken them away from me,’ he reminded her sharply.
Jenna’s mouth went dry as she realised he was probably on his way into work – and that she would probably be in the car beside him. Somehow, she managed to breathe while croaking, ‘Where do you want to meet us?’
‘I was thinking Gillan’s. You know, the burger place in Princes Quay? They do great deals at lunchtime, and there are children’s meals.’
Jenna hadn’t ever been to Gillan’s, although she sometimes shopped in Princes Quay, the great glass shopping centre that sat on stilts over the old dock in Hull’s city centre.
She couldn’t help wondering why Joel sounded so familiar with it, and a knot of jealousy formed in her stomach.
Had he taken her there? Is that where they spent their lunchtimes?
All cosied up in some burger bar, gazing into each other’s eyes?
She wanted to ask him but knew it would only lead to another row, and if they got into an argument, he might start making demands again about her taking the children home.
Besides, she didn’t want that woman to know she was upset.
She could imagine her sitting next to him in the car, craning her neck as she strained to hear what was being said, smugly believing that Jenna was still in the dark about their tacky affair.
She breathed deeply, calming herself down. ‘Okay. What time?’
‘Twelve fifteen. I’ll be free until one thirty. See you then.’
The phone went dead and she shoved it angrily back in her pocket. Wow, so he was going to spare his children a whole hour and fifteen minutes! How very gracious of him.
Then she realised with a sickening lurch that she hadn’t asked him if he was going to be alone. What if he brought her with him?
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ she muttered. He was hardly likely to bring Annette to meet his children, was he?
Not when he hadn’t even admitted to seeing someone.
Besides, she and Joel hadn’t discussed when – or if – to tell the girls that they’d separated.
She was still hoping that if she could put it off for long enough, they need never know.
‘Today? Bit short notice, isn’t it?’ Mum asked, after Jenna had ushered the girls back into the kitchen of Watersmeet, carrying the basket of eggs that they’d collected from the henhouse, and told her the news while the twins went to wash their hands. ‘What’s the hurry, all of a sudden?’
Jenna tried to sound nonchalant. ‘Guess he finally had some free time so wanted to make the most of it.’
‘Hmm. So it seems. Well, it’s a good thing, I suppose. The girls must have missed him.’
The twins were certainly excited at the idea of going into town and having burgers at Gillan’s, even though they had no real idea what Gillan’s was.
Jenna made sure they weren’t wearing shorts and T-shirts, but were dressed neatly in cotton summer dresses, with their hair brushed and tied up in ponytails.
She hated herself for doing it, but she changed into a skirt and top, straightened her hair and applied make-up and perfume, muttering curses to herself as she did so.
She was trembling as she fastened the girls into their car seats. Mum watched her through narrowed eyes.
‘Everything’s okay, isn’t it?’ she asked, as Jenna gave an exasperated cry at having failed to clip the straps on Ada’s seat properly for the second time. ‘Do you need a hand?’
‘No honestly, I’m fine.’
Thankfully, both girls were finally secure in their car seats and Jenna dropped a kiss on her mum’s cheek.
‘I should be back by half past two at the latest,’ she promised.
‘Don’t hurry back on my account,’ Mum said. ‘If you fancy doing a bit of shopping in town or even taking the girls to the museums or to the cinema, that’s fine by me.’
‘Do you want rid of us?’ Jenna asked warily.
Her mum’s eyes widened and she pulled Jenna into a hug. ‘Of course not, you daft ha’p’orth! I just want you to have a nice time, that’s all. I worry about you, love.’
Jenna managed a smile. ‘Thanks, Mum. I’ll be—’
‘Fine,’ her mum finished for her with a roll of the eyes. ‘Yes, you keep saying. See you later, love. Have a good time.’
She waved them off and the twins shrieked with excitement to be on their way to see their father after what must have felt like an eternity to them.
But as they made their way to Hull, Jenna couldn’t help noticing that all their talk was of visiting the shopping centre and getting burgers and milkshakes.
It was as if meeting their dad had no significance to them at all.
As Joel explained to the twins the different types of burgers they could choose from, Jenna was left in no doubt that he’d been here before. Probably more than once. Definitely more than once.
Jealousy prickled her skin as she listened to him rabbiting on about how delicious the fries were, and how they could have one of the yummy ice creams for dessert if they ate all their burgers.
‘Let’s call it an early birthday treat,’ he suggested. ‘You can have whatever you like.’
Joel had never been one for burger bars, and she’d have thought he’d have been pretty scathing about this one, with its bright orange and yellow decor, and the staff dressed in their green dungarees and jaunty hats.
He wouldn’t have chosen to eat here if it had been up to him, so someone had suggested it to him. Probably insisted on them eating there.
Her.
No doubt about it. How many times had Joel and Nettie come here to eat in their lunch hour, Jenna wondered, while she’d been at home or at work, completely oblivious to what was going on behind her back?
She felt sick, and the smell of fried food wafting through the air towards their table didn’t help.
Joel glanced up at her. ‘What do you want to eat?’ he asked bluntly, no hint of warmth in his voice.
‘Just a coffee for me,’ she said. ‘I’m not very hungry.’
He didn’t express any concern or try to persuade her to eat something. He just nodded and said to the girls, ‘I won’t be long.’
She watched him heading over to the counter to place their order.
He looked well. Tall and fair and smart as ever in his work suit.
His hair was neatly combed. His tie was straight.
His shirt was ironed. He didn’t look at all crumpled or stressed or tired.
She doubted he’d had a single sleepless night since he’d left her. Well, not because of worry anyway…
Her stomach turned at the thought of another reason he might be having sleepless nights, and she shoved the menus back in their stand on the table with undue force.
The twins gave her sideways looks, clearly aware that all wasn’t well.
She couldn’t help thinking that they hadn’t exactly rushed into their father’s arms when they’d spotted him sitting at this table.
‘Oh look, there’s Daddy,’ had been Hallie’s casual remark as they’d walked into the burger bar and stood, scanning the room.
Ada had waved and ‘Daddy’ had waved back.
Jenna had just been grateful to see that he was alone.
They needed to talk and she really hoped they’d get the chance.
Maybe Joel’s sudden need to see them was a sign that he was missing them.
Missing home life. Missing her. Maybe, after today, he’d remember what he’d walked away from and see sense.
Maybe, just maybe, he’d come home tonight.
His first words to her, however, weren’t exactly reassuring. As she’d sat down opposite him at the table, he’d stared at her and said, ‘Oh, are you staying?’
Jenna’s face had burned with embarrassment and hurt. ‘Of course I am. I can’t leave them alone, can I? You’re going back to work soon.’
‘I thought maybe you’d be shopping or something…’ He shrugged. ‘Oh well. I suppose it’ll be okay.’