Page 4 of Endgame

‘Are you tired of walking?’ I make fun of him.

‘Nope, just checking you’re still good.’ He laughs and we head to the main house. After a hard walk back, we sneak past the garden party on the other side of the hedge, childishly running past the openings to avoid detection. We make our way past my cottage, sticking closely to the rear of the house. On the other side, we are confronted with a humongous pavilion-style pool house and venture inside.

‘That fireplace is amazing! I’d easily come in here to read and fall asleep. This is not a pool, it’s…’

‘I know. It’s a bit much, right?’

‘How big is it?’

‘About a thousand square feet? Next door there is a gym, sauna, steam room, ice room, changing rooms, and it has its own kitchen. You’ll be pleased to hear that there are hot yoga and dance studios, so you can practise in the morning if you want.’

‘And this just sits here while the family isn’t here?’

‘Oh, no. It’s a fully functioning private country club and resort when we aren’t here. There are lots of weddings held here too. We get thirty days of private use every year so we don’t piss the members off.’

‘Is this where you got married?’ I recognised some bits from the picture he showed me at our first dinner.

‘Yeah. It was?—’

‘Six?’

‘You lost the privilege of calling me that five years ago, Mackenzie Miller,’ Dominic answers as if on cue.

We both turn around and there she is. The woman he was holding affectionately in the wedding picture, now his brother’s wife. I can feel her assessing us with her big, green, kind eyes. In real life, she is even more beautiful and fairy-like with her pixie-cut. All her short green fitted dress needs is a pair of wings and she could give Tinker Bell a run for her money.

They stand, seemingly spellbound, staring at each other and saying nothing for a few seconds. Actually, I think they’re saying plenty to each other, I just can’t hear it. She finally musters the courage to speak again.

‘Yes. I’m sorry. Please do you think I could have a few minutes?’ she asks, her voice shaking.

‘Sure.’ Dominic reaches for my hand and pulls me towards him. ‘What do you want?’ I can feel how tense he is.

‘Alone?’ she pleads.

I can see why Dominic fell in love with her. She looks so vulnerable, I want to give her anything she wants too. Dominic is silent for a moment. He sighs deeply before turning to me.

‘Aari, please can I meet you back at the party?’

Poor Dominic. She clearly still has a hold on him. Witnessing this interaction, I can see why he wanted me here to attend his parents’ celebrations with him, but this is a battle he will need to fight alone.

‘Absolutely,’ I respond quickly, relieved. I untangle my fingers from his and walk, as quickly as I can without breaking into a sprint, out of the pool house. He’s still in love with her, that much is clear. I really want to go back to my cottage, shower and get some sleep, but I find the strength to return to the party and face a bunch of people I don’t know. I eventually find the right hedge to pop through after a couple of errors and, as soon as I walk through, I am approached by a woman who could easily be Dominic’s sister.

‘Hello, Ariella. I’m Beatrice.’ I assume everyone knows my name now. ‘Where’s my brother hiding?’

‘He asked me to meet him here. I’m sure he’ll arrive soon.’ I try to evade her real question.

‘I saw you two sneak off earlier. No doubt he was showing off the size of his acreage.’ She winks at me. Oh no. Please don’t let it be one ofthoseconversations.

‘The grounds here are beautiful. Are you all equestrians?’

‘No, not really but you’d be forgiven for thinking so. Only Max and Dom managed to take full advantage of this property. Father didn’t acquire it until after he and my mother separated.’

‘How old were you when that happened?’ I try to keep the conversation on her so that she doesn’t ask what she really wants to.

‘I was ten.’

‘That must have been rough.’

‘It was, but then I got to know Selene. It took a while to realise that she was just a beautiful, harmless, crystal-wielding hippie and enthusiastic nudist. I think my father needed that. He’s always had a lot on his shoulders, as will Dominic. I think she lightens his load.’

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