CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Rory would be home from his course late the following afternoon.
But as I worked in my office early that morning, I couldn’t decide if I was really looking forward to seeing him – or absolutely dreading it.
We’d need to have a conversation about Irene spotting him walking into that Lockley Meadow B&B with Lois and staying for a suspiciously long time.
I didn’t want to talk to him about it over the phone so I’d kept our mobile chats quite brief on the pretext of having things to do.
And actually, I wasn’t pretending. Since Magic of Dance had opened, I seemed to be busier than ever.
In my darkest moments since Irene’s revelations, I’d thought about phoning the Brighton hotel to check Rory was really staying there. Because what if he’d checked into the B&B so that he and Lois could carry on an affair, away from everyone who knew them?
But I didn’t make that call, because in the light of day, I knew Rory would never do something like that. If he wanted to start a relationship with someone else, he would break up with me first. I knew that for certain.
I couldn’t believe I was even thinking things like this.
But even before he’d gone away on the course, I’d been sensing that things had grown awkward between Rory and me. It was as if there was an invisible barrier between us and neither of us could climb over it, so we were just carrying on being strangely polite and distant with each other.
It was a horrible feeling, losing that closeness as a couple that you’d previously taken for granted. But were we really growing apart? Or was I just imagining it? (A result, maybe, of all the stress and exhaustion I’d been through, setting up Magic of Dance?)
Now, though, with Irene having voiced suspicions about Lois herself, I realised I wasn’t losing my marbles at all. Irene had also noticed things weren’t quite right...
And she was absolutely right about Lois behaving weirdly.
Only the night before, I’d arrived home late and run straight upstairs to get changed, only to find Lois in my bedroom looking through the contents of my wardrobe.
She’d looked uncomfortable when I’d asked her what she was doing and she more or less banged the wardrobe door shut and marched out, apologising on the way.
She’d muttered some excuse about all her white T-shirts being in the wash so she was hoping to borrow one of mine.
But when I took one through to her later, she said she didn’t need it anymore.
So not only had I caught her spying on my phone, I’d found her looking through my clothes as well.
It was a comfort at least to know that Irene thought the same about Lois. But not much.
Because now I needed to find out what on earth was going on...
*****
It was lunchtime and I was back in my office, trying to work but instead drifting off and driving myself crazy thinking of Rory and Lois being in that B&B together.
In the end, I got to my feet, just needing to do something instead of sitting there, obsessing about the pair of them and what the hell they were up to.
As I passed Studio Two, the Pussycat Dolls were belting out ‘Jai Ho’ in Jaz’s popular Zumba class, but I walked straight on to the café in rebellious mode. Something sweet and satisfying would temporarily block out the pain, and a pastry loaded with sugar and carbs was just what I needed.
The Little Duckling was empty when I walked in – apart from a couple of women chatting over iced coffee – although I knew it would get really busy in approximately twenty minutes, when the Zumba class ended.
Anika, who was busy cleaning tables with a sanitiser spray and cloth, smiled a welcome and came over to serve me. ‘What can I get you, Clara?’
‘Carbs, please. I need cheering up,’ I confessed with a smile.
We both looked over as the two women left the café, and Anika murmured, ‘Oh, dear. It sounds like you’re having the same sort of day I’m having.’
‘You, too?’
She nodded. ‘Man problems.’
I smiled ruefully. ‘Same. Sister problems as well.’
‘So what would you like? I reckon the triple chocolate cheesecake – a big wodge of that – would fit the bill on the carbs front?’ She held up the plate and I nodded.
‘Done. And why don’t you join me?’ I watched her cut me a large slice. ‘I reckon we’ve probably got a good fifteen minutes to put the world to rights before the Zumba class gets out.’
‘Really?’
‘Absolutely.’ I dredged up a smile as she brought over the cheesecake and my usual coffee and placed them in front of me. ‘You can’t expect me to wade through a slice of that on my own. I’d feel way less guilty if you were making a pig of yourself as well.’
‘Okay. If it’ll make you feel better.’ She chuckled, helping herself to a slice and coming over to join me. ‘It’ll certainly improve my mood.’
‘So... what’s up?’ I looked over at her as I stirred my coffee. ‘I mean, you don’t need to tell me, of course. I just thought maybe we could compare notes and feel a bit better in the process.’
‘Absolutely. A problem shared and all that.’
‘Great. So . . . why don’t you start?’
‘Okay. Well, here’s the thing... I’ve just gone and made the really stupid mistake of falling hard for a guy who I suspect might just be feeling sorry for me. Because of what happened to Dad.’
I grimaced. ‘Ouch.’
‘Exactly. Tragic, eh?’
‘But how do you know? That he feels sorry for you? Have you kissed him?’
‘I have, actually. A few times.’
‘Was it good?’
‘Very good. Exceptional, even.’
‘Wow.’ I frowned, considering. ‘Well, it doesn’t sound like pity was his motive. A kiss surely can’t be exceptional unless both parties are heavily involved in it, wouldn’t you say?’
Anika made a face. ‘I hadn’t thought of it that way. So you think maybe I’m just jumping to conclusions thinking Xander was just acting out of pity when he treated me to the ballet?’
‘The ballet? That’s expensive.’
‘He bought us front row seats in the grand circle but I thought his motive might have been guilt.’ She shrugged. ‘Because he felt bad about his brother being involved in the raid on the jeweller’s.’
I looked at her, shocked. ‘Oh, my goodness. Your poor dad ended up in a coma in hospital as a result. And Xander’s brother was involved?’
‘His twin brother, yes. Freddie.’
I reached over and pressed her hand. ‘Your dad’s on the mend now, isn’t he?’
She nodded.
‘I’m so glad, Anika. It was such a terrible thing to happen to him when he was simply an innocent bystander who got in the way of a crime.’
She swallowed hard at that and looked away, and I wished I hadn’t mentioned her dad because she was clearly still struggling with what had happened to him.
‘I don’t think you should give up on this Xander.
’ I quickly changed the subject. ‘Maybe he did feel bad that his brother caused such a terrible thing to happen, but it would be normal to feel bad and want to make things better, wouldn’t it?
Especially if you really liked someone?’ I shrugged.
‘He didn’t just give you a bunch of flowers.
He gave you a night at the ballet, which you wouldn’t do for just anyone. ’
She looked up at me, her face flushed. ‘Maybe.’ She didn’t sound too sure.
‘Is there something else making you think Xander’s not the guy for you?’
Anika sighed. ‘Well, I know it probably sounds weird, but I keep thinking about twins and the genes they must share.’
‘Genes?’
‘Yes. You know. If Xander’s twin, Freddie, has gone down a path of crime, who’s to say Xander – who must have similar genes to Freddie – doesn’t have leanings in that direction as well?’
I nodded. ‘I see your point. But just because they’re twins doesn’t mean their personalities are necessarily the same. In fact, I know a few sets of twins who are actually polar opposites to each other in character.’
‘Xander and Freddie are identical twins, though.’
‘Yes. But they’ll still have different personalities.’
She nodded. ‘Freddie sounds like the sort of person who takes what he wants without bothering that he might be hurting other people, whereas Xander... well, he’s really kind and caring.’ Her eyes shone at the mention of him.
‘There’s your answer, then. Xander sounds lovely, by the way. I think you should go for it.’
‘You do?’
‘Absolutely.’
She paused. ‘He did lie to me about a lot of things but I suppose that was because he felt bad about his brother.’
‘Lies told to protect someone are generally permissible, don’t you think?’
‘Maybe. My dad... well, he kept some things from me which I’ve only just found out. But I know he had his reasons for doing what he did. I was shocked at first but I’ve sort of forgiven him. So maybe I should forgive Xander as well. For keeping me in the dark.’
I nodded. ‘I think you should.’
Her face relaxed into a smile. ‘So what about you, Clara? Why do you need the triple chocolate cheesecake today?’
I was finding Anika so easy to talk to that I started telling her all about my romance with Rory and how my step-sister, who was also his ex, seemed to be trying to upset the smooth-sailing of our relationship.
‘Is she jealous, do you think?’ Anika asked.
I frowned. ‘Maybe. I don’t know.’
‘What does Rory think?’
‘Again, I’m not sure. I really don’t know how he feels towards Lois now.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because I’ve never asked him.’
‘Well, why don’t you? Ask him?’
I chuckled. ‘Because we never seem to have the time to talk these days, what with us both being tied up with work. Rory took over a thriving stables business and he works late all the time. Just like me.’
‘Right. Well, it seems to me you need to talk to each other, face to face. Get all your worries out in the open.’
I nodded. ‘You’re right, of course. It’s just finding the time.’
‘You need to make the time. Rory’s worth the effort, isn’t he?’ she asked gently.
‘Of course he is.’
She smiled. ‘I’m thinking... romantic dinner for two somewhere really special?’
I nodded slowly. ‘I like it. And actually, I know just the place.’
Our conversation was interrupted at that moment by a sudden storm of applause and cheers emanating from Studio Two.
Anika grinned. ‘Better get back to work.’
‘Good idea. Before the hungry hoards descend on you.’ I pointed at our barely-touched cheesecakes. ‘We’ve been talking too much. I think we need two takeaway cartons, don’t you?’
‘I’ll get them!’ And she dashed off, looking much lighter of spirit than when I’d first walked into the café.
I smiled as we scooped our cheesecake into the boxes. It was amazing what talking about your worries could achieve.
Because I felt a little lighter of spirit, too.
Before I went back to my office, I told Anika about a project I was putting together and asked her if she’d like to contribute some photographs of her mum and dad in their dancing days.
‘I’m envisaging an entire wall in here devoted to blown-up images of local dancers through the years. Your mum and dad won so many amateur dancing competitions and it would be wonderful to include them. But only if you’d like me to.’
‘It’s a fabulous idea,’ she agreed. ‘I’d have to speak to Dad about it, though...’
I nodded. ‘Of course.’
‘I’m just not sure what Dad would think. We have a big box of family photos in the spare room, which includes pictures from their dancing days, but ever since Mum died, as far as I know Dad hasn’t looked in that box even once.’
Anika frowned. ‘And to be fair, neither have I.’