Chapter 12
Beth stared up at Lily in shock before leaping up from the kitchen table. ‘Jeremy’s here?’ she gasped. ‘At Maple Tree Lodge?’
Lily sighed. ‘Dr Jeremy Prescott was how he announced himself to me a few moments ago.’
Ella crossed her arms and scowled. She was up to date with all of Jeremy’s philandering ways and once scorned, Ella’s good nature was lost forever. ‘Tiny,’ she said, looking across at the very large dog who had stood up to stretch. ‘Bite.’
‘He won’t bite,’ said Hannah, reaching out to stroke Tiny’s huge but extremely soft head. ‘I mean, if you want to hurt Jeremy we could always make Tiny sit on him.’
Lily nodded. ‘Honestly, he’s quite a weight now. With at least 50kg sitting on you, expelling the air from your lungs, I reckon it could do some damage.’
‘If not, I know of plenty of other ways that we could harm him,’ said Ella, her eyes glittering.
‘You know you’re quite scary sometimes,’ Hannah told her.
Beth took a deep breath and tried to calm down her racing pulse. ‘It’s fine,’ she announced. ‘I’ve got this. I can deal with him.’
She couldn’t believe that Jeremy was actually there and could feel everyone’s gaze on her as she left. She didn’t want to see him, she realised. It was too soon after he had broken her trust and her heart.
In actual fact, she had begun to wonder whether she had really missed him these past twenty-four hours.
Or was it just the idea of him that she had missed?
Had she tried to make him into something that he wasn’t?
Was he as awful as her friends kept reminding her?
She still wasn’t sure. Even so, she took her hair out of her bunches and smoothed it out before she left the kitchen, wishing she was wearing her miniskirt and not her dungarees.
She went out into the reception and there he was. Her ex-boyfriend. Her cheating ex-boyfriend.
Jeremy’s blond hair was damp from the rain outside, causing it to stick against his forehead in a not particularly flattering way.
He was wearing a tweed jacket, shirt and smart trousers, along with brogue loafers.
It all looked in stark contrast to everyone else’s more casual dress.
Not that he seemed to care. He appeared to be all effortless charm and ease that morning.
‘Sweetheart,’ he said, with his wide generous smile, and he opened his arms to greet her. ‘How lovely to see you.’
As a couple of guests came out of the dining room, and not wanting to make a scene, she felt she could only stand there and accept the kiss that he gave her on her cheek. ‘You’re looking as gorgeous as always.’
‘Hi,’ she stammered, wondering what on earth this could be about.
‘Good morning,’ said the elderly couple as they headed across the hall towards the entrance to leave.
‘Good morning,’ replied Jeremy, looking totally at ease and not at all like the panicked man she had left behind only two days previously.
‘Come with me,’ said Beth quietly, taking his elbow and walking towards the lounge.
Finding a couple of guests already in there, putting on their coats and also getting ready to depart, she smiled and nodded her greeting and carried on towards the snug, which was thankfully empty at that time of the morning.
Outside the window, the rain swept across the glass as the storm outside grew more intense.
Beth’s stomach felt equally squally at that moment.
She led Jeremy to the far side of the room, well out of earshot of any hotel guests, and immediately spun around to face him.
‘What are you doing here?’ she hissed, still keeping her voice low. ‘And how did you find me?’
‘You’ve talked about this place often enough,’ he replied, maddeningly calm and seemingly in control of the conversation. ‘Thought it was time to check it out for myself.’
‘You shouldn’t be here,’ she told him.
‘It’s a hotel,’ he replied, laughing. ‘I was hoping you’d be here and I was due some leave. Shall I book a room for us?’
‘I have a room already and there is no us,’ she snapped. ‘Do you not remember our conversation on Saturday night?’
‘You mean that ridiculous speech of yours about how I was cheating on you?’ he asked. ‘I put it down to hormones, to be honest.’
Beth had to physically stop herself from growling at him. ‘It wasn’t hormones,’ she told him through clenched teeth. ‘I know what I heard.’
He laughed again. ‘Darling,’ he carried on, drawing her into his arms. ‘How could I possibly cheat on you? You’re utterly adorable.’ He gave her a tap on the nose with his finger, smiling down at her.
‘I heard you,’ she told him, rigid in his arms. ‘Talking to another woman.’
‘An innocent mix-up,’ he said smoothly. ‘Something we shall laugh about in time, I’m sure.
You left so quickly that I didn’t have a chance to defend myself and show you just how innocent I am.
You really must control that quick temper of yours.
You know, that may be part of the reason why your career has never flourished, I’m sorry to say. ’
Beth took a sharp intake of breath. It was a sore point with her that despite all of her studying and hard work, she had never had a full-time job in astronomy. She felt she had so much to give and yet nobody appeared to want what she was offering.
Jeremy hadn’t sneered quite so much at the jobs she had needed to take to earn a living, such as administration and barista work, but he had baulked when she had told him about a part-time cleaning job which she had eventually declined.
Feeling a little perturbed, her hand automatically went up to the star pendant she always wore.
At the end of their tenancy in the shared house in London, she had given Lily, Hannah and Ella the same pendants.
Why? Because they were her personal stars.
Her support crew. It was a lovely necklace but more important had been the promise when the gift was given that the four friends would always look out for each other wherever they were in the world.
She felt the pointed edges of the star and drew strength from her friends who she knew were still nearby in the kitchen, ready to support her no matter what.
She straightened up and looked Jeremy square in the eye. ‘I don’t believe you,’ she told him. ‘I know what I heard.’
‘The woman was just an old colleague, a bit pushy between you and me,’ said Jeremy, reaching out to rub Beth’s arm. ‘There’s really nothing for you to worry about. Now, shall we discuss next month’s column?’
Beth temporarily stopped worrying about Jeremy’s other woman and felt a rush of relief. ‘I’m still writing for the magazine?’ she asked.
Jeremy raised a sardonic eyebrow at her. ‘Yes. You know, I had a conversation with Mike, the Associate Editor, this morning and was surprised to learn that your little column is one of the most popular features in our magazine, according to feedback. Who’d have thought it?’
Beth was filled with something akin to pride. ‘It is? My column?’ she said.
He nodded. ‘I know. People have the most peculiar taste, don’t they?
Anyway, we don’t want to upset the apple cart and all that, do we?
So we can continue as we were, so to speak.
And, by the way, I’d prefer it if you kept our relationship on the quiet as well.
No need for any kind of scandal. Especially as I’m still married. ’
Beth gave a start. ‘You told me you were getting a divorce,’ she snapped.
‘I am, darling. It’s just taking far longer than I thought it would with the wretched lawyers.’
She wondered what on earth she had seen in him.
In truth, she had been flattered when Jeremy had asked her out.
He was very famous in the world of astronomy and he still had a certain notoriety within their community.
So she had never wanted to rock the boat when she had been with him.
After all, she had felt amazed that he had even noticed her, considering the vast differences in their intellectual prowess.
He gave her a slow look up and down. ‘I’m not sure I like those dungarees but at least they cover your legs for once. By the way, do you need to wear skirts that short when we next go out? You’re not going to a nightclub and that would help keep the gossip to a minimum.’
Beth’s temper flared inside of her once more.
He had never liked her choice of clothes but she had always brushed off his criticism before now.
After all, everyone was different, weren’t they?
And yet, she had tempered her clothing whenever she saw him.
Not wanting to set him off again in one of his bad moods.
‘Listen, I’ve battled flooded roads and high winds just to get here to show you how wrong you are about me.’ Jeremy reached out and drew her into his arms, not seeming to notice how stiff and unyielding she was. ‘So why don’t you come back with me, where you belong?’
Where you belong.
For a second she was tempted. The happy ever after she had always wanted dangled in front of her once more.
But the truth was that she had never felt like she belonged with Jeremy.
Never felt like she belonged in his spacious, swanky flat either.
He worked with many private companies whom he advised and who he had taken rather large payments for.
It was all in stark contrast to Beth’s meagre salary and she had always felt like the poor cousin whenever they had gone out.
Especially because he frowned upon her use of vintage clothes, much preferring anything modern with a label. Jeremy was all about the labels.
She glanced back at Jeremy as he waited expectantly for a reply. She just didn’t know what to believe.
‘I’m going to stay here,’ she told him.
‘Well then, I’ll book a room for the night,’ he replied with a smug smile.
Beth sighed heavily. He was deliberately misunderstanding her.
Finally, Jeremy’s patient veneer appeared to crack a little. ‘We’re wasting time,’ he snapped.
His good-looking face disappeared and she could see how much uglier he looked when he was miserable and scowling at her like he was at that moment. Why hadn’t she seen it before?
At once her mind was made up.
‘Thanks for the offer but I’ll pass,’ she told him. ‘I think it’s best that you leave now, Jeremy. Goodbye.’
She walked out of the snug with her head held high, despite her legs being ever so shaky as she went.