Page 81 of The Little Island Flower Stall
‘Just a minute…’ Rory said, shaking his arm free of Lisa’s hand. ‘Lisa, start back; I’ll catch you up. There’s something I’ve got to talk to Bella about.’
For the first time during the encounter, Lisa regarded Bella with something like suspicion. ‘Can’t it wait?’
‘Just what I was thinking,’ Bella said. ‘You can speak to me tomorrow during office hours if you need to. I might be your genealogist, but I’m not on standby twenty-four-seven.’
‘Bella, please, wait…it’s not what you think – we’re not together!’ he blurted out. ‘Lisa and me, we’re not?—’
‘Rory?’ Lisa squeaked. ‘I don’t?—’
‘Whatever this is,’ Bella cut in, ‘I don’t want to be a part of it.’
With Rory’s voice in her ears, she hurried away. She half wondered if he would chase her, but from what she could tell, a heated discussion had begun with Lisa, and he was probably too busy.
Her phone buzzed in her coat pocket a few minutes later as she marched towards Villa Rosa. She pulled it out and grimaced at the screen.
‘Rory,’ she said, trying hard not to sound as rattled as she felt. Of course he’d phone now, while she was busy working out what she was going to do about him. She needed more time, but it seemed fate had other ideas.
‘Bella, what you just saw…it’s not what you think.’
She held back a hiss of impatience. Part of her wanted to hear a reasonable explanation because she hated the notion that she’d made a total fool of herself for this man. She’d liked him a lot, and she wanted desperately to think that they could still have something. But she wasn’t going to allow her intelligence to be insulted – Sean had done enough of that to last her a lifetime.
‘Please,’ he continued. ‘Give me five minutes to?—’
‘You know what?’ she cut in, her tone cool and measured. ‘It’s on me. I should have known you were too good to be true; I should have realised you’d be married.’
‘But that’s just it! I’m…I suppose I’m married, technically, but we’re not together. Isn’t that just like your situation?’
‘You looked fairly together to me. If you’re not, perhaps you ought to tell your wife that. She did come all the way to Jersey to be with you, after all.’
‘Yes because she was trying to patch things up. I didn’t ask her to come – I don’t want her here.’
‘Charming. Poor Lisa.’
‘It’s not like that. I’d already told her I wanted a divorce, but she’s struggling. When she arrived here this morning, I hadn’t the heart to send her away. I still care about her. I was going to tell you when I got a moment. I planned to explain it all to you when we met today?—’
‘You should have told me at the beginning!’
‘I know. Do you think I don’t realise how stupid I’ve been? I should have been straight with you. I should have been straight with you both. But I didn’t imagine what happened between us was going to happen, and by the time I realised, it was too late. It all just spiralled out of my control.’
‘Instead you decided to lie to both of us.’
‘I know. Please believe me – I was going to tell you when we met up again.’
‘And you expect me to buy this? Why did you tell Lisa I was a genealogist? If you’re not together, why hide our…I don’t even know what it was. But why hide it from her? You had no reason.’
‘I didn’t want her to get weird about it.’
‘So your solution was to keep us both in the dark so you wouldn’t have to have a couple of potentially awkward conversations? Great work. Your great-grandfather may have been a deserter, but it looks to me as if you’re a bigger coward than he ever was.’
‘Grandfather…? I don’t understand.’
‘Probably not. I would have explained it, but I don’t feel inclined to now.’
‘Bella, don’t hang up!’
‘I’ve heard enough. Forgive me if I don’t trust another word that comes from your mouth. I wish you well, Rory, but I think we’re done.’
She ended the call. A second later, her phone began to buzz again, but she ignored it. Maybe Rory did have a goodexplanation, but she was afraid to hear any – good or bad. How could she trust it to be the truth? She’d been taken in more than once by Sean – what made her think it would be any different with Rory?
