Page 16 of My Husband's Wife
I look closer. My hair is sticking out slightly. Why did I choose a slightly off-centre shot? My cheeks burn with shame as I rake my hair back into place. My fingernails are slightly russet-brown from where I’ve scraped the dried blood from my scalp with them. Putting my phone in my pocket, I decide not to reply now, especially as Hallie is beckoning me over. She shakes her head and rolls her eyes. ‘We’ve just had a call and it’s not good.’
I frown. ‘Who was it?’
‘Madison Chalk from Madison and Theo.’ She passes me their folder.
‘What’s the problem?’
‘She’s cancelled.’
‘Is the wedding off?’ It’s me. Theo is Hugo and he knows I recognised him, which is why they’ve cancelled.
‘Yes, she told us to keep the deposit and said they’d secured a cancellation at another venue. They want to get married sooner and we simply can’t fit them in before August.’
I know they’ve changed their mind because of me. A part of me is relieved. I don’t think I could watch Theo marrying Madison, knowing that his life is a whole lie. I also hoped they’d be back in so I could see him in person again. I needed to see if I’ve got it all wrong.
‘I booked a falconer for them.’
‘It’s okay. Miss Chalk said she’d pay the balance and just tell the falconer that they’re needed at a different venue. I said you’d contact her about the invoice. They said they’d deal with the change of time and date.’
‘Accounts have sent it to me. I was just about to forward it to her. How did she seem on the phone?’
Hallie shrugs. ‘I don’t know. Matter-of-fact – but she was letting us down, I guess. I don’t think she’d have enjoyed making that phone call.’
‘No.’ I blow out a long breath. ‘I’ll send the invoice now.’
‘Okay. Oh, you’ve had a couple of enquiries and I’ve added two appointments to your calendar.’
I thank her and she hurries off. On entering my office, I place the folder on my desk then open it up to Madison’s personal details and I call her.
‘Hello.’ Her voice is low, almost sombre. The baby cries in the background.
‘Hi, it’s Eva from the Sea Horse Hotel. Just calling about your cancellation.’
‘If you’re calling to change my mind, you’re wasting your time.’ It’s almost like she’s shouting at me. She seemed so pleasant and cheery when I spoke to her last week.
‘It’s not that, although I am sad you’ve cancelled. I was looking forward to planning your wedding.’ I’m trying here. Planning her wedding was hurting me. Maybe it’s for the best that they’re not getting married here. ‘Hallie, my colleague, told me that you’ve found another venue?’
The baby shrieks. ‘We want to get married as soon as possible because we’ve decided to move. The Sea Horse was also our second venue choice. We really wanted the Clifton House Hotel. Theo has been calling them regularly, hoping for a cancellation, and one came up on the tenth of May and it’s a Saturday, which is perfect.’
I make a mental note of where and when. I also can’t stop thinking that she said they want to move. Madison has a life here with her salon.
‘I told your colleague that we’ll pay in full for the falconer as soon as you email the invoice, and I want to thank you for sorting that out for us. I’m really sorry that we’ve let you down.’
‘It’s okay. These things happen.’ As far as the Sea Horse is concerned, we have their deposit and I can take a new booking for that date if we can get one.
I hear Hugo’s voice. ‘Who’s that?’
‘It’s Eva, from the Sea Horse,’ Madison replies over the baby’s cries.
‘Oh, I see. Come on, Pumpkin.’ I hear shuffling over the phone as the baby is probably being handed to him, then I want to cry. Hugo always called Caiden Pumpkin when he was a baby.
As soon as Madison ends the call, after several more apologies, I search through my phone and come across the photo of baby Caiden sitting in a pumpkin. Hugo chopped out the leg holes and we popped an orange hat on our baby’s bald head. As he snapped the photo, Hugo said, ‘Smile, Pumpkin’. And our little pumpkin beamed the biggest gummy smile, the same smile I’m looking at now.
Everything is telling me to drop this now. It’s not good for me. But I can’t. It’s not possible that Theo is Hugo, but I know he is and I can’t drop it. I need to know the truth before this feeling eats me up. There’s only one thing I can do. I pull out Madison’s card and make a call to the salon, and I book a hair appointment for this Thursday, making sure I specifically ask for Madison.
Twelve
Thursday is a dreary day and to make it worse, I feel sick to my stomach. The crashing of the sea against the rocks makes me realise how powerful nature is. As I ramble over the rockpools, in the shadow of the cliff and hills above, I take in the tiny pools of molluscs and fish trapped in this temporary refuge from the rough sea. My heart starts to bang as I think of what I’m about to do. It’s like the hills are closing in on me. Freddie presses his nose onto the surface of a pool and quickly withdraws it to bark at a seagull.
