Page 17 of The Summer Swap

“They’re not kids anymore. Todd is twenty-eight. He’s about to get married.” She didn’t want to think about that right now. “Hannah is twenty-four. And they’re proud of you.”

She tried to be tactful. It might be a bit harsh to point out that the time to be there for his kids had passed. That this sudden revelation might have had more relevance had it happened a couple of decades ago.

“Maybe what I’m saying is that I just want to spend more time with my family. When I was looking at Michael’s body, do you know what I was wondering?” His voice was still thickened, but steadier. “I was wondering when he last kissed Trisha. When he last made love to Trisha.”

This was surreal. “Er—a while ago, I should imagine. He’s been married to Candy for two years.”

“Yes, Candy. I—I meant Candy. Except—”

“Except what?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing. Just something that—no, never mind.”

Was it nothing or was it something? And if it was something then what was that something? And did she want to know?

Theo was all over the place, and it was so unlike him Kristen was alarmed. “You should sit down for a moment, Theo. Do you want me to come and get you?” She hoped he didn’t want her to, but if he said yes she would go because this was Theo, and they had two children together, and he was a good man, and she probably still loved him even though he hadn’t been there for her when her father died. (Why couldn’t she get that out of her head? It was buried there like a splinter.)

“I don’t need you to come and get me. I don’t know what I need. That’s why I’m coming home. The strange thing is we know better than most that life is fleeting and can change in an instant, but still we sometimes forget that. I’m not going to forget it again, Kristen, I promise.”

“Okay.” What did that mean? She didn’t recognize the guy on the phone. This just wasn’t Theo.

“I don’t know when I last told you I love you, but it was probably too long ago. I love you, Kristen. When did I last tell you you’re beautiful?”

“I—” She was about to say yesterday, and then remembered it had been Jeff who had told her that when they’d sneaked a quick meeting in a gallery coffee shop.

“You are beautiful. I thought so this morning when you were standing in the kitchen with the sun shining on your hair. I should have said so, but I was in a hurry to get to work.”

The conversation was becoming more unsettling by the minute.

It had been years since anyone told her she was beautiful, and now she’d been told it two days running by two different men.

“Theo, you need to breathe and calm down.”

“You probably think I don’t notice, but I do. I love your new hair. I love your new dress with the blue swirls that looks like a Monet.”

Theo never noticed what she was wearing. He didn’t notice when she’d done her hair, or when she had a new outfit. She’d accepted that as part of who he was. His mind was usually on higher things.

But now he’d noticed. And his attention could not have come at a worse time.

The irony wasn’t lost on her.

She’d smartened herself up for Jeff, and in doing so had caught Theo’s attention.

Michael was dead and now Theo was coming to the party because the death of his friend had affected him in the way the death of hundreds of strangers hadn’t. The loss of that particular life had made him question how he was living his.

And she understood because wasn’t that exactly what had happened to her? It had taken her father’s death to make her realize that she needed to do something about her unhappiness.

She’d waited all these years for her husband to be more present and now, when she’d finally found a way to fill the void, he decided to show up.

She wanted to scream at the unfairness of it. Images of her and Jeff sneaking a quick kiss in the rose garden were tarnished by another image that included Theo bursting through the blooms to look for her in this new spirit of closeness.

It was much easier to contemplate an affair when your husband wasn’t present in your life. She’d almost convinced herself that Theo wouldn’t even care. He was big on outsourcing—get a nanny, get a gardener, get a cleaner. In her head she was simply outsourcing her loneliness and her sex life. Get a friend and a lover.

All that would have to go on hold for now until Theo reverted to his normal self, which she was sure would happen quickly. Theo was addicted to work.

“You’ve had a horrible shock, Theo.” Her phone buzzed and she checked it quickly, but this time it wasn’t Jeff. It was Amelie’s mother.

Call me! Urgent.

---