Chapter 55
‘I’ve known Neil since med school,’ Jax said, when she and Robin were sitting side by side on his sofa.
‘We started dating shortly after my first marriage fell apart and we’ve been living together for five years.
I guess we both took it for granted we’d get married one day. We work. At least I thought we did.’
Robin had spent six hours of the previous night in A&E.
The wound on the back of his head had been stitched, the bones in his nose reset and an X-ray had confirmed that his ribs were bruised, not broken.
Jax had been with him the entire time, had speeded the process up for him, only saying goodbye when she’d bundled him into an Uber and sent him home.
As Robin remembered the old Chinese curse about living in interesting times, he heard the beep on his phone that told him another WhatsApp message had come into the group that Tara had set up.
‘I think we’re very good at keeping our thoughts away from subjects that disturb us,’ Jax was saying. ‘Or maybe that’s just me.’
Robin thought, but didn’t say, that he’d never had any success keeping his thoughts away from Jax.
She frowned. ‘So, I think I’ve been having doubts about marrying Neil for some time, I just didn’t let myself dwell on it.’
‘You always seemed very animated about the wedding,’ Robin said. ‘I’d have classed you as one of my more enthusiastic brides.’
It had been more than that. Joy had shone out of her.
‘Yeah, that fooled me for a while.’ She gave a tight smile. ‘But then I realised, the only time I got excited about the wedding was when I was talking about it to you.’
Another ping on Robin’s phone. Jeez, not now, Tara. He glanced down. Not Tara, Holly.
‘After that, it didn’t take long for me to realise. It wasn’t the wedding that was doing it for me. It was you.’
She glanced down, as though embarrassed by her confession. Eyes fixed on the sofa, she said, ‘I was too young when we met. I wasn’t ready. You were exactly the right man, just at the wrong time.’
Robin took a deep breath. ‘You’ll be better off with Neil. He’s younger than me, fitter than me, definitely a hell of a lot more successful. I’m on the verge of bankruptcy and I never earned that much when things were going well. Frankly, I could be homeless before the year’s out.’
Her face fell. ‘You said you loved me. Were you lying? Was it a game?’
If he were even halfway decent, he’d lie now, send her back to a better life with her posh thug of a fiancé.
‘I love you so much it’s killing me,’ he told her truthfully. ‘You’re all I can think about. And if I’m pushing back now, it’s because I daren’t let myself hope.’
His phone pinged again. ‘Oh, for God’s sake, Holly.’
‘Who’s Holly?’ Jax asked, an edge to her voice.
The phone started ringing. Holly, of course.
‘I’m sorry,’ he told Jax. ‘I’ve got to take this. I won’t be a minute, I promise.’ He pressed receive. ‘Yes?’
‘Robin?’ Holly didn’t bother introducing herself. ‘You need to switch your TV on. The Peter Morgan show on Talk TV. His X account has been trailing a big announcement for the past ten minutes. He’s going to name the seven beneficiaries of the will. We’re going to be named on TV, Robin.’
Fair play, this was big. Robin took a deep breath that hurt. ‘Thanks for the heads up.’ He gave Jax an apologetic look. ‘You’re the most important thing in my life right now, Jax, but something is a bit more urgent.’
Getting to his feet, he found the remote. It took several seconds to find Talk TV but then the familiar face of the controversial journalist and show host filled the screen.
‘And now, as promised, I can exclusively reveal the names of the seven people who are due, before the end of the year, to inherit Logan Quick’s millions. They are …
Holly Baker, a junior barrister from Exeter,
Sabri Carter, an ambulance driver living in Truro,
Craig Lewis, a fire safety consultant from Newquay,
Tara Webb, a retired nurse living in Wadebridge,
Trevor Winter of Falmouth,
Cheryl Young of St Austell and
Robin Knight, a wedding planner in Bodmin.’
Robin turned off the TV when it was clear that Morgan had moved on to another story. Jax hadn’t said a word since he’d taken the call from Holly.
‘Well,’ she said, when the two of them made eye contact once more. ‘That feels like something you should have mentioned.’