Chapter 22
Swann parked his car in the narrow driveway of his countryside cottage.
He sat for a moment, staring up at the blackening sky, a heaviness settling on his chest. It had killed him to pair Elea with Mitch, and he imagined them bonding while they watched the Thompsons’ address.
Elea didn’t do small talk, but Mitch was good at reading people and wouldn’t wind her up.
You had to be, Swann supposed, when you spent five of your teenage years living rough.
Mitch was a decent person, and, right now, Swann hated him for it.
With a sigh, he dragged himself from the driver’s seat, turning his thoughts to the family waiting for him.
Everything had happened so quickly with Alice.
They’d been dating for six months when he’d ended their relationship.
Work was demanding too much of his time.
Alice had always wanted more than he’d been able to give.
She gave him an ultimatum: his job or her.
He chose his job. Then she came round to see him one night, armed with his favourite blended Scotch.
Work had been tough, and he’d found himself letting her in.
He had always wanted children, but his relationship with Alice had run its course.
That was the night that she’d conceived the twins.
Swann opened the front door. The familiar scents of home greeted him as he entered the hallway.
He’d tried to finish early tonight and had texted Alice at half seven to say that he’d be home within the hour.
The savoury aroma of garlic and herbs wafted from the kitchen, but as he rested his coat on the hook in the hall, he picked up on two sets of voices. Who else was in his house?
Jazz music was playing low in the background.
It was from the Spotify playlist entitled “Dinner Party Music” that Alice used to play for guests.
That was back before they had the twins.
She was at her happiest when entertaining high-ranking colleagues and their wives.
She was rarely praised for her policing, but her cooking was something else.
He pushed open the door, the smile fading from his face at the sight of their dinner guest. Alice was sitting at the table with Elea, a bottle of red wine between them as if they were old friends.
Alice joined Swann’s side with the grace of a panther laying claim to her mate.
She rested a hand on his chest and planted a kiss on his cheek with wine-stained lips.
She was wearing make-up and had straightened her hair.
Gone was the shirt decorated with splurges of puréed carrot; this evening she was wearing a figure-hugging dress that he’d never seen before.
She flashed him a dazzling smile, but her eyes were disturbingly cold.
“I invited Elea over for dinner. I hope you don’t mind. ”
The awkward laugh that left his mouth came all on its own.
“Of course I don’t mind. You could have told me, though.
I would have bought some wine on the way home.
” He almost said, “You could have warned me,” but stopped himself in time.
It wasn’t Elea he was worried about. It was Alice, who, by the looks of it, didn’t need any more booze.
“All taken care of.” She raised the empty bottle from the table.
“Oops, gone already? Never mind, I’ve got another one here somewhere.
” A tinkly laugh escaped her as she turned to get some more.
He didn’t believe her cheerful tone for a second.
She was up to something, but what? He raised his eyebrows at Elea, who really shouldn’t have come.
This was no Fatal Attraction moment. Her body language suggested that she was just as uncomfortable as he was with the situation.
Elea delivered a slight, almost imperceptible shake of her head, a small acknowledgement of his surprise, and that he was right: she shouldn’t have accepted whatever invitation Alice had sent.
No doubt it wasn’t the first. She was probably trying to get Elea here from the moment she touched down in the UK.
His stomach knotted as the tension in the room grew. This was going to be a long night.
“How are my boys?” he uttered as Alice handed him a glass of wine.
“Asleep.” She looked at him over the rim of her glass as she took another sip.
Swann sat at the table, avoiding Elea’s gaze. Alice wobbled on her heels before muttering something beneath her breath and kicking them off. She filled his plate with osso buco, tortellini and sautéed asparagus, the rich aroma intensifying the uneasy churning in his stomach.
Elea thanked Alice for preparing the meal, her tone polite yet strained. “You shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble.”
“My pleasure,” Alice countered. “Now eat it all up!”
Swan caught the triumph in her eyes as she rested the veal on her plate.
Elea used to be a vegetarian. Now she ate some meat, but certainly not veal.
“I don’t eat babies,” she’d said to him once when he’d tried to persuade her to order some lamb.
But could Alice have known that? They never ate veal.
He stared at the bone sitting in a marrow sauce.
After topping up all their glasses, Alice took her place next to Swann, while Elea sat across from them. For Richard, this obvious show of unity was stiflingly hard to bear.
Alice’s smile turned brittle as she filled the silence. “I always cook for Richard, don’t I, darling? Family time is important, after all.”
Swann watched as Elea’s jaw tightened, but as she picked at her vegetables, she kept her tone light. “It must be exhausting, managing the household and the twins. I don’t know how you do it.”
“I make it work.” Alice picked up her wine glass. She took a large swallow, a plume of colour rising in her cheeks.
An awkward silence fell over the table as they chewed their food. Swann racked his brain for a neutral topic of conversation, but came up blank. He watched as Elea chased her vegetables around her plate.
“So, Elea.” A hint of a slur tainted Alice’s voice. “There must be more to your life than work, work, work. What do you do for fun?”
Elea’s fork paused mid-air, a piece of buttered asparagus hanging off the end. “There’s not much to tell. I keep busy.”
“Of course.” Alice leaned forward. “Because you have no life of your own, right? That’s why you want mine.”
“Hey, that’s enough.” Swann squeezed Alice’s arm, his voice low. He’d known that this was coming, but the outburst arrived sooner than he’d thought. When Alice got like this, alcohol accelerated her words.
She shook him off, eyes blazing. “What’s the plan, eh? Aren’t you going to share?”
“Alice,” Elea spoke calmly. “You’ll wake the twins.”
“Why are you worried about them?” Alice snorted. “You already have my partner. You want my kids, too? After all, you couldn’t hang onto your own.”
“Alice!” Swann stared in disbelief. But the damage was already done.
Elea slowly lowered her fork to the table. But Swann saw the flicker of pain in her eyes as she was reminded of her grief. She pushed back her chair and stood. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Richard,” she said softly. “Goodnight.”
She took her bag from the back of her chair before turning and leaving the room. Swann got to his feet, torn between going after Elea and dealing with the mess Alice had made. The twins’ cries drifted from the baby monitor, their sleep disturbed.
“What is wrong with you tonight?” He wanted to shake some sense into Alice as she stared down at her plate, her chest heaving with angry sobs.
“What’s wrong with . . . me?” Her words came in stops and starts. “She’s the one who won’t give you a divorce!”
But there was no sympathy from Swann as he leaned over her. “She’s lost everything.” He snatched the bottle of wine from the table. “And you’ve had enough.” He marched over to the sink and allowed the bottle to release its contents down the plughole.
He caught Elea at the front door, pulling on her boots. “I’m sorry . . .” he muttered, palms outwards in apology.
“I should never have come,” Elea mumbled, barely able to meet his eye.
“Then why did you?” Swann’s voice lowered to a whisper.
“Because she kept shitting well texting me.” Elea pulled her phone from her pocket and drew up Alice’s recent texts on the screen.
“Even so . . .” Swan sighed.
“The funny thing is, I was actually starting to feel sorry for her. She’d made such an effort.
It was pitiful really. But then that comment .
. . She couldn’t help but stick the knife in.
” She gave him a half-smile, the anger evaporating from her words.
“Go. Hug your babies and put them back to bed.”
Her exit was silent as she slipped out through the front door.
Sadness carried in her words, because Elea loved children.
Alice’s remarks would have cut her to the bone.
A floorboard creaked in the kitchen. Alice had been listening in.
The babies’ cries grew louder. Swann loosened his tie and popped open the top button of his shirt.
He was getting too old for this. He climbed up the stairs to settle his children, wondering if things could ever be made right.