Chapter 7
Sean
‘You seem happy, Seany.’ Cherry glanced into the scrambled egg pan before landing upon the spread of veggies on the kitchen island. ‘This is healthy.’
‘I’m always happy, Cher.’ This was true. Sean was a genuinely upbeat person, grateful for his lot in life, despite recent loss. ‘And I’m trying to be a better cook, despite still recovering from the disaster that was Scrambled Eggs Whisky Irn-Bru.’
She laughed. ‘Sounds…um…’
‘Like a shocker? Aye, nobody needs that. Nobody. Take a seat, and I’ll bring you something nicer.’
Cherry tentatively seated herself at the table, and Sean brought her a glass of orange juice and a plate near overflowing with scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and spinach.
‘Hope you like all that stuff. Most of it was in the freezer, but I’m a bit low on supplies.
’ With a plate of his own, he sat opposite her.
Was she thinking about yesterday? What was she thinking?
She was acting like there was nothing wrong, but it may be just that – an act.
He hoped so. Because if she was fine and dandy with the annulment then that meant the end, but with hope of her pretending came a chance of saving their marriage.
‘I love it all.’ Cherry held her fork over the plate. ‘I don’t know where to start. Do you always do mornings hotel-breakfast style?’
‘Nah. Except on the weekend after I’ve been surfing. I figured, after all the travel, you might want a decent meal. And I need to start eating healthy for the Kintyre Way.’
‘Bad habits?’
‘Kind of. When I’m at work, I’ll grab a BLT from the shop, telling myself it’s healthy ’cause it’s got lettuce in it.
Then add on some chocolate and Irn-Bru. And I’m surrounded by lads doing the same thing, so it’s become a habit.
At home, I try to cook something decent – a bit of a drag when I’m exhausted after work and surfing or training. ’
‘How many miles are you cycling again?’
‘A hundred... You want to come?’
Cherry lifted a shoulder into half a shrug. Sean regretted suggesting she commit to something else with him when she wanted out of the first thing.
‘Sorry... Listen...’ He hoovered over the awkwardness. ‘I’m going to lay it on the line here.’
‘You are? At 8 a.m.?’
‘Aye, I’m a “lay it on the line at 8 a.m.” type of guy.
You’ll find that out if you stay married to me for long enough, which is what I want to talk to you about.
’ It was stupidly early to embark on this conversation, but Sean had a fitful night’s sleep and wanted the swarm of thoughts in his brain to calm down.
Fuck off, preferably. However, in the swell of last night’s insomnia, an idea had appeared that might buy them some time and some hope.
Cherry chewed hurriedly on a piece of hash brown. ‘I can be out of here this morning if you show me where the bus stop is.’
‘What? Don’t be daft. You literally got here last night. Why leave today?’
‘I don’t know. It didn’t seem right saying goodbye yesterday.’
‘Or you didn’t want to?’
Her wide-eyed expression suggested he’d hit the nail on the head. ‘Yeah, I didn’t want to, but nothing has changed overnight.’
If that meant her feelings about him then it was a good thing.
‘Okay, I’ve been thinking, and I have a proposal for you.
Only this one’s a bit different.’ Sean put down his cutlery, threw back some orange juice and cleared his throat like he was about to deliver the groom’s speech he never got to.
‘Look, for some reason, you’re here. You could have stopped at your mum’s, but you stayed in the car for five hours – even if you did ignore me by sleeping most of the time – and now we’ve spent our first night under the same roof as husband and wife.
I won’t pressure you to stay married, but I have a suggestion.
It might be something you can work on while the annulment or whatever is coming through. ’
Cherry laid her fork on her plate. ‘Hit me, hubby.’
Jesus! ‘That kind of talk is practically foreplay, so stop it. Wifey.’
‘Sorry.’ She glanced down at the remainder of her breakfast and returned to him, seemingly composed. ‘Tell me your idea please. Sean.’
‘That’s better. Okay, here’s the thing. I’d like you to stay in Kinshore and organise a celebrity-pro-am charity poker tournament to raise money for MND.
I did some research, and it shouldn’t take longer than a couple of months to set up, promote and host. Presuming you know the professionals, I can sort the amateurs. ’
She shifted forward in her seat. ‘Oh, wow! That’s an awesome idea.’ Then she leaned back. ‘But… I dunno, Sean. Your soon-to-be-ex-wife hanging around like a bad smell organising a big gambling event? Not sure that’ll go down well in a small town where you’re seen as a prince.’
Sean choked on his orange juice. ‘Seen as a prince! I likened the family reputation to royalty, not myself to a prince. You’ll need to try better than that to get out of it.’
Silence from Cherry, which he decided was a good thing.
‘Do I sense you coming round to the idea?’
‘Mmm. Could be.’
‘Come on, you love it. You said so yourself. It’ll be like nothing you’ve ever done before, I can guarantee. Bring all your mates, presuming you know loads of poker players?’
‘Yes, I know lots of people. Hmm…’ Cherry examined all four corners of the room at least ten times. Was she imagining what it would be like to live here for two months? Finally, she settled back to him. ‘Okay. Okay. I’ll do it.’
Sean grinned. ‘Great! This will be so good, Cherry. And when it’s over, you can head off, I guess. Go back to your old life. Whatever you like. But with your connections and mine, we can raise a decent amount for a really good cause.’
She didn’t say anything else. To be fair, she had committed to a lot and would need time to get her head around it.
‘It could be good for you, too,’ he added.
‘Staying here for a bit, getting out of the poker touring circuit. You can still play online, but in between, you can go for walks on the beach, feel the Scottish wind in your face, eat well, sleep in the same bed every night – which is the one you slept in last night, by the way.’
‘Really?’ Cherry gaped at him.
‘Really what?’
‘You want me to do all this whilst living under your roof, and you don’t expect me to sleep with you?’
Sean laughed, more incredulous than amused. Did she think this?
‘I don’t know what sort of guys you’ve been with in the past, but that’s not my MO.
I’m asking you to do something that means a lot to me.
As much as I’d like to sleep with my wife, I want you to be okay with it.
So there are no other expectations on top of that.
What sort of guy would I be if I made that part of the deal? ’
‘I see. I just wanted to check.’
‘Actually…’ He thought for a second, fast-forwarding through the next two months and what this would be like for him in this tiny wee town where everyone had something to say about everyone else’s business.
He wasn’t ready to admit to all the naysayers that his whirlwind marriage had been one giant mistake.
Have people say, Sean Butler’s lost it since his father died and made another one of his stupid decisions.
And if he could change Cherry’s mind then people never needed to know. ‘I do have one request.’
‘Please, go on.’
‘Behind closed doors, you can be whoever you like. We sleep in separate rooms, if that’s what you want.
I won’t ignore you, but I’m going to be busy, anyway – at work, training, surfing, doing odd jobs for folk.
However, because I have some pride, in public, we are husband and wife, okay?
For two months, we are madly in love and nothing can prise us apart.
The marriage was not a mistake; it was the best fucking decision either of us made.
Nobody knows we are breaking up. Nobody. ’
Cherry examined him. Had he proposed a stupid idea? Was it unreasonable to ask her to pretend for two months whilst helping him raise money for the cause that was so dear to his heart? Faking it was part of her job, so it couldn’t be that hard.
And he could pretend everything was fine. He did that any time he had a problem. The hard part would be trying not to fall for her any harder.
Surely, though, they could both employ their best self-discipline for the sake of charity. Fake it without making it. Or fucking things up.
Or fucking.
And to Sean’s relief, Cherry seemed to be on the same script because, finally, she nodded and repeated his words back to him. ‘Okay, the best fucking decision either of us made. Sure, hubby, I can go along with that.’