Page 61 of Meet Me Under the Mistletoe
“What did Guy really say?” asked Ameerah.
Jenna bit her lip. “That Camille was too attached to the children.”
“How can you be too attached to your children?” asked Nory.
“He also told Charles, though I’m not supposed to know, that Camille suspects him of having an affair.”
Nory gulped.
“Is she right to?” asked Pippa.
“I don’t know.” Jenna was wringing her hands. “Charles wouldn’t tell me, but I got the impression that something was going on. You know what they’re like with their bloody boys’ club. All the little secrets they keep.”
“Jesus! They’re not at school anymore, they can’t keep covering for each other,” Ameerah snapped.
“I don’t think Jez knows anything about it,” Jenna added.“He hasn’t been in the country much, and they aren’t as close as they used to be.”
“Jenna, I’m just going to come right out and say it,” said Pippa. “Are you sure you want to marry the kind of man who covers for his friend’s infidelity?”
“It’s no different than when we keep each other’s secrets,” Jenna blurted. “Just because Charles keeps a confidence doesn’t mean he condones it; he’s simply being a good friend. So, if you’re asking me if I want to marry the kind of man who has his friends’ backs no matter what, without judging them, then yes. I do.”
Ameerah touched Jenna’s arm, and she flinched.
“Jen, as someone who prepares arguments for a living, I recognize a rehearsed speech when I hear one.”
Jenna opened her mouth to argue, but Ameerah held up her hand.
“Pip’s not questioning Charles’s love for you. We all know he’s loved you for years. But we’d like to feel that, along with his being an excellent friend, he will also be an excellent husband. You are too fierce to want to end up like Camille.”
“You think he’s going to cheat like Guy?”
“No,” said Nory. “We want to be sure thatyoudon’t think he’s going to cheat on you.”
“I know he won’t. We’ve talked about it. Charles knows that if he ever did, it would be over. He knows about my dad and what his actions did to me and my mum, and he has sworn on his mother’s life that he will never cheat.”
“Well,” Pippa exclaimed, clapping her hands. “Why didn’t you say so? That settles it. We all know what an abysmal mummy’s boy Charles is, so if he’s sworn on Mummy Montague-Smythe’s life, that’s good enough for me.”
The tension in the room broke, and they all laughed, taking turns to smother Jenna with kisses. They were still messing about when the sound of glass shattering jolted them into silence.
“You are an arsehole!” Camille’s scream reached down into the morning room and drew the four women out into the hall. The shouts were coming from upstairs.
“I did it for you!” Guy’s voice was whiny.
“For me? How was any of this for my benefit? I didn’t want to leave the children, you knew I didn’t; all I’ve done all week is fret about them.”
“That’s exactly my point!” Guy was shouting now. “You’re obsessed with the children. They’re all you think about.”
“They’re my children, Guy! Of course I’m bloody obsessed with them.”
“So where does that leave me? The children take upallyour time. What’s left for me?”
“What?”
“Don’t look at me like that. It’s not normal, Cam. And it’s not only me; my mother thinks it’s weird as well.”
Nory winced.
“Should we be listening to this?” she whispered.
